Laytonwoman3rd Chapter the Third 2022

Clearly, I started as I meant to carry on.

A brief introduction, or reminder of who I am: My name is Linda, and I am a retired paralegal. I've spent most of my life in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with brief interludes for college, my husband's military service and paralegal training in Central PA, New Orleans and Philadelphia, respectively. Since giving up the legal grind, I have kept busy with volunteer work centered around libraries, cemeteries, and genealogy. I concluded a two-year term as President of the Board of Trustees of the Scranton Public Library at the end of 2021, but continue to serve on the Board, and several of its committees. I currently serve as President of the Equinunk Cemetery Association, and do as much grave-hunting and photographing as time and weather will allow for the website Find-A-Grave.com. I hope to contribute to the reclamation and restoration of a long-neglected cemetery in my local area that has recently been the subject of a lot of journalistic attention, and has spawned a robust volunteer effort. We have filed the necessary paperwork to create the non-profit Friends of Shady Lane Cemetery so we can raise money for its maintenance.

LT has been an essential part of my life since I joined in 2005, after my daughter @lycomayflower told me about "this site where you can catalog your books." My response was something like, "Why would I want to do that?" HA! I simply can't imagine life without it anymore. I never knew how much I needed a reading community, until I found one. There are links on my profile page to my earlier reading threads. My goal is always to read more of the books I already own, and to acquire fewer books than I remove from the house. In past years this has been a big joke, but it has become an absolute necessity due to space considerations, and the older I get the less stuff I feel the need to keep, so not only books, but a lot of "I-might-want-that-someday" nonsense is being deaccessioned these days. In the immediate Now, this process has included downsizing my mother-in-law's (and hence, my husband's ancestral) possessions so that she could move from a 2-bedroom apartment to a senior living facility. That went well, but much of her stuff is still hanging around in our attic and garage.

I've been hosting an American Authors Challenge in the 75 Book Challenge Group for a few years, and details of this year's monthly challenges can be found downthread.

And as some of you know, I'm averse to gifs and listserve-type greetings, but I LOVE visitors who comment on my reading, or on other topics introduced here. Everyone is welcome to lurk or engage, as you see fit.

I was dumb, and did not use the continuation feature when starting this new thread. My last 2022 thread can be found here, and from there you can navigate to even earlier ones, if you care to.

Here will be a list of the books I read in the current quarter of 2022. (I usually have one thread per quarter, but it may only be three in some years.)
I use some shorthand to help me keep track of my reading trends:

ROOT identifies a book that I have owned for at least a year at the time I read it.
CULL means I put the book in my donation box for the library book sale after finishing it, or otherwise gave it away.
DNF means I didn't finish the book, for one reason or another, usually explained in the related post.
ER means I received the book from LT's Early Reviewer program.
GN refers to a graphic novel, GM a graphic memoir This is not a category I use much, but it is the featured theme for January 2022 in the AAC, so I hope to do 2 or 3 this year.
An * asterisk indicates a library book.
LOA means I read a Library of America edition;
SF means the book was a Slightly Foxed edition, (NOT science fiction, which I so rarely read);
VIRAGO means it was an original green-spined Virago edition from my own collection;
FOLIO indicates a Folio Society edition.
AUDIO and e-Book are self-explanatory, and probably won't appear very often.
AAC refers to the American Author Challenge.
NF indicates a non-fiction read.
TR indicates a work in translation
RR means it's a re-read for me

Clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book.

DECEMBER

82. The Trouble I've Seen by Martha Gellhorn ROOT, AAC
*81. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
80. Jane Jacobs' First City by Glenna Lang NF
79. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng ROOT, CULL
*78. Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves
77. Silk by Alessandro Baricco, tns. by Guido Waldman ROOT, TR
76.Wishbone poems by Don Share
75. My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson and two others Il. by Glenna Lang

NOVEMBER

74. The Grass Dancer by Susan Power ROOT, AAC
73. The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich ROOT, AAC
72. Literary Murder by Batya Gur TR
71. Now in November by Josephine Johnson

OCTOBER

70. Village School by Miss Read ROOT
69. Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh ROOT, CULL
*68. Giuliani by Andrew Kirtzman NF
67. The Sins of the Father by Lawrence Block ROOT
66. Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher
65. The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee AAC, NF
64. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson ROOT

SEPTEMBER

*63. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
*62 So Big by Edna Ferber AAC
*61 A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
*60. Ill Wind by Nevada Barr
59. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead ROOT, AAC
58. Booth by Karen Joy Fowler CULL
*57. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell NF

AUGUST

56. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
55. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Ill. by Charles van Sandwyk FOLIO, RR
54. A Stranger in the Kingdom by Howard Frank Mosher ROOT
53. The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
*52. The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty
51. A Superior Death by Nevada Barr

Here is a list of books read earlier this year. Again, clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book.

JULY

50. Upstream by Mary Oliver ROOT
49. Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford ROOT
*48. City on Fire by Don Winslow
47. Openwork by Adria Bernardi ROOT
46. Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickham ROOT
*45. The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves
44. The Witch's Grave by Phillip DePoy
43. The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy

JUNE

42. Black Pearls by Sascha Feinstein NF
41. Millville: The First 200 Years by Dean Girton NF
40. Death on the Aisle by Frances and Richard Lockridge ROOT, RR
39. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss ROOT, CULL

MAY

*38. Forensics by Val McDermid NF
*37. My Face is Black is True by Mary Frances Berry NF
36. Here is New York by E. B. White ROOT, NF, RR
35. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
*34. Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
33. Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh
32. The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage

APRIL

31. The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A. E. Hotchner CULL
30. Stars of Alabama by Sean Deitrich
*29. The Post Script Murders by Elly Griffiths
*28. Looking Through You; Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan NF, AAC
27. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan ROOT, CULL
26. The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp ROOT

MARCH

25. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
24. Hondo by Louis L'Amour ROOT, CULL
23. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
22. The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew NF
21. Anna's Book by Barbara Vine CULL
20. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tns by Simon Armitage TR, ROOT, RR

FEBRUARY

19. Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery NF
18. The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad TR, ROOT, NF
17. Barnacle Soup by Josie Gray with Tess Gallagher AAC
16. The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
15. At the Owl Woman Saloon by Tess Gallagher ROOT, AAC
14. The Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur TR
*13. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

JANUARY

12. Pastoral Song by James Rebanks NF
11. Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov TR
*10. A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch
*9. Mary's Monster by Lita Judge
8. The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan ROOT
7. Haikus for New York City by Peter Goldmark
6. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola ROOT, TR
5. Scenes From Village Life by Amos Oz ROOT, TR
*4. The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri TR
*3. A Contract with God by Will Eisner GN, AAC
2. American Indian Stories by Zitkala-SA NF, ER
1. Colored People by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. NF

For my new acquisitions

JANUARY

1. Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
2. The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew
3. She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmer
4. There Once Was a World by Yaffa Eliach
5. The Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
6. The Literary Murder by Batya Gur
7. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
8. Haikus for New York City by Peter C. Goldmark, Jr.
9. Black Pearls by Sascha Feinstein

FEBRUARY

10. 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman
11. Autumn Rounds by Jacque Poulin
12. A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
13. This is Happiness by Niall Williams
14. Barnacle Soup by Josie Gray and Tess Gallagher
15. Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan
16. Cochise by Edwin R. Sweeney

MARCH

17. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight et al., tns by J. R. R. Tolkien
18.-19. Malamud Novels and Stories of the 1940s, 50s and 60s LOA editions
20. The Penguin History of Canada by Kenneth McNaught
21. The Thousand Mile War by Brian Garfield
22. The Indian Frontier of the American West by Robert M. Utley
23. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

APRIL

24. The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell
25. My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
26. The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage

MAY

27. Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh
28. A History of the Black Mardi Gras Indians by Maurice M. Martinez
29. The Witch's Grave by Phillip DePoy
30. The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy

JUNE

31. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
32. Matrix by Lauren Groff
33. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
34. Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher

JULY

35. Superior Death by Nevada Barr
36. The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne
37. The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

AUGUST

38. Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

SEPTEMBER

39. Conversations with Robert Graves
40. Jane Jacobs's First City by Glenna Lang
41. The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee
42. My New American Life by Francine Prose

OCTOBER

43. The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee double entry
43. The Army of the Potomac Trilogy by Bruce Catton
44. Peace by Garry Disher

NOVEMBER

45. Dust Child by Que Mai Phan Nguyen
46. High Country by Nevada Barr
47. The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger
48. The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri
49. The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri
50. Liberty Falling by Nevada Barr
51. Borderline by Nevada Barr
52. Winter Study by Nevada Barr
53. Forest Hill Cemetery by Margo Azzarelli
54. Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

DECEMBER

55. Old Poets by Donald Hall
56. Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
57. Thus Spake the Corpse by Andrei Codrescu and Laura Rosenthal
58. My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ill. by Glenna Lang
59. Wishbone by Don Share
60. A Visit to Don Otavio by Sybille Bedford
61. Maxine Hong Kingston: The Woman Warrior, China Men (LOA)
62. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell FOLIO edition
63. News of the World by Gilette Jiles
64.-65. The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. II and Vol. IV
66. Wreckage by Sascha Feinstein
67. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
68. Mutinous Women by Joan DeJean
69. Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham
70. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
71. Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
72. When the Frost is on the Punkin James Whitcomb Riley, Ill. by Glenna Lang
73. The Runaway by Robert Frost, Ill. by Glenna Lang
74. Hijinks from the Horn of Plenty by Walt Kelly
75. Nineteen Reservoirs by Lucy Sante

I try hard to clear out books no one in the house is ever going to want to read or read again....but this is how that usually turns out:


Here is a list of the volumes I manage to donate to library sales or otherwise hand off this year:

1. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
2. Mrs. Ames by E. F. Benson
3. Miss Zukas and the Island Murders by Jo Dereske
4. Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death by Jo Dereske
5. An Irish Country Welcome by Patrick Taylor
6. Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
7. Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
8. Taltos by Anne Rice
9. The Vampire Companion by Katharine Ramsland
10. Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
11. Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
12. Lasher by Anne Rice
13. Tenney's Landing by Catherine Tudish
14. The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy
15. Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman
16. I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
17. Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming
18. Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
19. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
20. Breath by Tim Winton
21. Canada by Richard Ford
22. Home to Harlem by Claude McKay (duplicate copy)
23. Anna's Book by Barbara Vine
24. The Chimney Sweeper's Boy by Barbara Vine
25. Anastasia by Peter Kurth
26. The File on the Tsar by Summers and Mangold
27. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
28. Hondo by Louis L'Amour
29-30. Children of Time, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchiakovsky
31. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
32. Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine (duplicate copy)
33. The Haunting by Shirley Jackson (duplicated in LOA collection)
34. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
35. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
36. The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
37. The Devil's Hearth by Philip DePoy
38. The Witch's Grave by Philip DePoy
39. Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh
40-66. Time-Life series we'll never read again (Nature, Voyage Through the Universe)
67. Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
68. The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
69. Vendetta by Michael Dibdin
70. Cabal by Michael Dibdin
71. Far Appalachia by Noah Adams
72. Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks
73. Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
74. Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White
75. In the Woods by Tana French
76. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
77. The Fugitive Wife by Peter C. Brown
78. Openwork by Adria Bernardi
79. Justice by Larry Watson
80. Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer
81. West by Carys Davies
82. Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson
83. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
84. Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery
85. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
86. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
87. Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks
88. The Searcher by Tana French
89. Wishbone by Don Share
90. Enon by Paul Harding
91. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (replaced by Folio Society edition)

Here are the selections for the 2022 American Authors Challenge:
I will post links below to the monthly threads as they go live.

And I will note my own selections for each month as I read them.
The General Discussion Thread for this year's challenge is here.

JANUARY Graphic novels and/or non-fiction
Here is the thread for January.
Finished A Contract with God by Will Eisner
Finished Mary's Monster by Lita Judge

FEBRUARY Tess Gallagher
Link to the Gallagher thread
Finished At the Owl Woman Saloon and Barnacle Soup

MARCH Bernard Malamud
His thread is here.
Started The Fixer, but gave it up as too tough for the times. Read two short stories, which did not end well either. Enough.

APRIL Jennifer Finney Boylan
Here is her thread.
Finished Looking Through You; Growing Up Haunted

MAY 19th Century American Author of your choice
Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Will continue reading the rest of the stories in this collection


JUNE John Dos Passos Read a few selections from his travel writings and an essay about American literature that did not impress me.

JULY Gish Jen
Read about half of Who's Irish story collection Got the feel of her writing, which is very good. Not being a short fiction fan, I left it at that.

AUGUST Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Finished Colored People in January
Currently reading In Search of Our Roots

SEPTEMBER Pulitzer Prize Winners
Finished The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Finished So Big by Edna Ferber

OCTOBER John McPhee

Finished The Survival of the Bark Canoe

NOVEMBER Native American authors, themes and history
Finished The Reason You Walk in March I expect to read on this theme fairly regularly throughout the year.
Finished The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich and The Grass Dancer by Susan Power

DECEMBER Martha Gellhorn
Finished The Trouble I've Seen

WILD CARD SUGGESTION: A book written about or set in the state, province, city, etc. where you now live. (Or anything else you feel like substituting.) Here's a thread for posting your wild card reads.

I've dropped reference to other challenges from this post, because I'm simply not even pretending I might participate in any others. This post in my last thread has a list of what little I managed before giving up.

Just reposting the link to the current AAC Challenge thread, for Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

OK, then. Welcome, come on in.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Linda! Is that you in the topper? Such a perfect thread pic!

Happy new one, Linda! Love your topper photo.

Happy new thread! Love the cartoon of the book weeding!

Happy new thread, Linda.

>1 laytonwoman3rd: What a lovely topper. xx

Happy new one!

That daguerrotype of you in >1 laytonwoman3rd: is so adorable! Who knew they put trousers on girls all the way back then.

>9 foggidawn:, >10 jessibud2:, >11 katiekrug:, >12 mstrust:, >13 PaulCranswick:, >14 drneutron:, >15 richardderus: Thanks for dropping by, EVERYBODY! That is, indeed, me in >1 laytonwoman3rd: above, demonstrating two life-long propensities: reading, and wearing pants (or trousers, as Richard would have it). The expression on my face suggests I might have been mentally red-penciling, too.

Found and starred, Linda, happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Linda!

Happy new thread!

>1 laytonwoman3rd: Very cute.

>6 laytonwoman3rd: I immediately identified with your post and the lovely image that matches what happens when we try to down size. I'll be 70 in September, and this milestone is causing me to look around the house at what I really do not need so that my family does not have to sort through tons of books I never read.

I'm not maudlin about turning 70, just simply cognizant of what happened when my sisters and I went through my grandmother's house after she passed away. We often could be heard saying "Why in the world did she have this?" "What did she do with 24 matched glasses?" And, also amid those comments, were signs of feeling loved because she saved so very many of our book reports, copies of our diplomas, and even plastic cups she purchased for us. I'm not sure which one of us took a bite out of our plastic cup, but we had lots of happy memories about this.

I've donated approximately 300 plus books to the local library. I found many duplicates, and others that I purchased during a fury of book buying at a local library sale.

You are amazing at all the volunteer work you do. You are enjoying retirement..for sure!!!

>17 FAMeulstee:, >18 quondame:, >19 figsfromthistle: So glad you all found my trail!

>20 Whisper1: I'm going through the same thing here, Linda. I've cleaned out two houses and an apartment for elderly or deceased relatives. A lot of stuff was saved, I think, because it is so much trouble to get rid of things! I'm concentrating on organizing family history and heirlooms so their meaning is clear to those I will leave behind, and to reducing the amount of probably meaningless accumulation in the attic...things that I thought, 40 years ago, might be useful "someday".

Linda, When Will died, I started getting rid of things in the attic. The young lady (Ashlee) whom Will and I deeply loved, helped me carry 34 huge plastic green containers that were filled with Will's old clothes, including a lime green polyester suit. The image of Will actually wearing this brought a lot of laughter.

The story of Ashlee and Will is a beautiful tale of a relationship and healing. Ashlee and her little sister came to our house a lot to make cookies and cupcakes from the time they were three and five years old. Ashlee was always the shy one of the two children. They lived across the street from us.

She was born deaf, and had a learning disability. As the level of technology in hearing aids increased, she could understand more and, she proudly wore them. She was made fun of on the school bus, and she usually came home crying. But, with Will's help, she overcame some of the shyness and learned how to stand up to bullies. Her parents spent a lot of money in tutoring to no avail. I watched as Ashlee slowly interacted with Will. He understood her and never overwhelmed her. Gradually, she came to Will with difficult problems. Then, each night, she came with homework in hand and knew Will would always help her. Her parents thanked Will for "unlocking her brain."

When Will had his heart surgery and then three long months of trying to help him recover, Ashlee went with me almost every night to visit him in the intensive care unit at the hospital. The short time he was home, she was here helping me help him. She was 12 years old, and I was hesitant near the end, wondering how it would be for her. When I suggested she stay home those final difficult days, she was upset and begged me and her mother to let her go be with "Mr. Will." She even told the nurses that she was strong and she needed to be with him.

When he died, this incredible young soul was an integral part of planning Will's lakeside service. Bravely, she told her story about her relationship with Will and why he was so important to her. To know what she overcame, and the bravery of her commitment to telling the group how he transformed her life, was one of the most heart-felt tributes made!

We traveled to the lake the day before the service so that I could show her where she would be standing and the beauty of this special place that Will loved. Amazingly, that day and the next brought sunshine sparkling on the water, and butterflies fliting in the air. One butterfly on the ground, walked a short distance to Ashlee the day of the service.

The bottom line, while we were able to give away a lot of his items, the essence of Will and his impact on all of us will never end!

Thanks for letting me share this story on your thread!!

>22 Whisper1: Things are the least important of what someone leaves behind, however important they were to the living person.

>22 Whisper1: That is a beautiful story.

>22 Whisper1: Linda, that is a beautiful beautiful story. Thank YOU for sharing it here.

51. A Superior Death by Nevada Barr Ooof. This one was so well done that it was nearly impossible for me to read parts of it, averse as I am to the idea of being under water, or way out on open water. NPS Ranger Anna Pigeon has been transferred out of the desert to the Isle Royale park on upper Lake Superior. She's not real happy about it, missing the clean dry heat and fog-free environment of her previous assignment. But she's got the hang of small boats, is certified to dive, and finds many aspects of the job personally, if not financially, rewarding. Her co-workers, both permanent and seasonal, are a motley assortment of competence, quirkiness and stupidity. She suspects some of them are up to unethical, if not criminal pursuits. When the body of one of the best professional divers on the lake is found drowned without gear, and oddly dressed at that, on an old shipwreck, her suspicions are confirmed, but nothing, from the water down there, to the air above, and many actions taking place in between, is clear. Lots of good bits of business in this one, offbeat dark-ish humor, and some near-deadly underwater action (which I truly had to force myself to read without skimming). Can't wait to see where Anna finds herself next.

>26 laytonwoman3rd: I see that's #2 in the series, so it would be next up for me. Excellent review.

>27 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. Barr does a really good job with secondary characters. Of course, while reading, one is never sure which ones are secondary, and that's part of the fun.

Checking in on the new thread, Linda!

>26 laytonwoman3rd: A Superior Death was one I had really looked forward to since we have long lived in Wisconsin
and enjoyed the roiling beauty of Lake Superior - but it was really scary!

TRACK OF THE CAT is still my favorite.

>26 laytonwoman3rd: I have had Superior Death sitting on my "TBR soon" shelf for at least a year since I want to work on that series. My wife thinks this is the best series she has read, and she has read a lot of series writers. She wants to re-read the Nevada Barr books, although she warns that the later ones get a bit TOO dark at times.

>29 alcottacre: Hi, Stasia!

>30 m.belljackson: Scary it certainly was!

>31 RBeffa: "best series" is quite an endorsement, as there are SO many. I've found a number of series seem to get darker as they go along.

>32 laytonwoman3rd: I think Melanie told me it was the character development for Anna Pigeon that won her over for best. I had told her I thought the Pendergast series was her favorite but she says Nevada Barr wins out despite not liking a couple of the last books in the series.

>33 RBeffa: Character development is what I remember about series fiction. I can re-read some of my favorites without having any idea "whodunit" or why, because those details are of secondary importance, as long as they aren't utterly preposterous.

Signing in, Linda. Seeing what you've been up to. All good. I myself am adrift, not having gotten a purchase on what I want to read, etc. I'll work it out.

>35 weird_O: I do hate when that happens. I have a few "go-to" things that usually bring me around, an old mystery series, some favorite young readers' stories, Stephen Jay Gould's natural history essays...

Happy weekend-ahead's reads, Linda3rd! *smooch*

>6 laytonwoman3rd: I can identify with this.

I love the Nevada Barr books, Linda. Enjoy.

From your previous thread, Upstream sounds like one I would enjoy.

>37 richardderus: My weekend did include some good reading time, so thanks for the vibes, Richard.

>38 BLBera: I must try not to binge on Anna Pigeon. I find if I read too many books in a series too close together, I start to pick them apart because it's hard to keep up the suspension of disbelief necessary when one human being has SO many astounding adventures.

52. The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty There's been a lot of talk here and there in my LT circles about McKinty's series featuring Sean Duffy of the Royal Ulster Constabulary during the Troubles. I was happy to find the first book available at my library. This is a police procedural set in Northern Ireland in 1981, and the protagonist is a Catholic peeler on a predominately Protestant force, who isn't all that much about procedure. Chaos reigns in Carrickfergus and other neighborhoods surrounding Belfast, while the news is full of preparations for Prince Charles's wedding, someone has tried to assassinate the Pope, hunger strikers are beginning to die, bombings and fires are a daily occurrence, and a copper who doesn't check under his car every morning for a bomb must have a death wish. Official attempts to contain the terrorists of both factions aren't working well and respect for the police is virtually non-existent. Nevertheless, Sgt. Duffy's rogue tactics don't go over with his superiors, nor with the criminals or the political operatives whose loyalties can't be sorted without an alphabetical concordance. It's a miracle altogether that he remains alive to carry on in another book. I enjoyed this for the most part, but the level of violence is very close to my threshold of tolerance. I will go on to No. 2 because Duffy is a complex and fascinating character. We'll see how long I can stand to share his world.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: - I think the series just gets better and better, but the body count remains high throughout.

>41 katiekrug: I expect lots of bodies in a series like this, Katie. It's how much fun the author seems to have wallowing in the details that can break it for me. For now, I'm hooked on this one, and you're partially to blame.

>42 laytonwoman3rd: - Sorrynotsorry.

>40 laytonwoman3rd:, >42 laytonwoman3rd: I am also in the "blame Katie" camp! I liked this first installment too. Yes, it's grittier and more violent than my usual mystery reading, but I liked both the setting and Sean Duffy. Reading this book also made me buy sweetened lime juice to make gimlets, although we had ours in smaller glasses than the pint glass Duffy uses. How he remains upright after that is beyond me.

>44 lauralkeet: LOL! If we weren't on the wagon around here, I'd have been making myself one of those gimlets too! Sounds very refreshing, but you're right, quantities would have to be adjusted.

I agree, Linda. Sometimes I pick up books in a series too close together and end by being disenchanted with them.

I don't usually post my Wordle results, but today's irritated me a little. I rejected the correct solution from my 3rd guess on, because "back in my day", this word was an ethnic slur directed at people of Hungarian or Eastern European descent. early, sunny, funky, punky, hunky

Wordle 420 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

>47 laytonwoman3rd: Wow. I've never heard that before. Only ever heard this word in the context of a strong good looking guy.

53. The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton This was fun. A "highly fictionalized" (according to the wiki gods) account of the planning and execution of the theft of gold bullion (worth approximately 1.2 million dollars in today's money) from a train in motion on the London to Folkestone run in 1855. The word "novel" is prominent on the cover, so no one should be misled, but it reads very much like good narrative non-fiction. For sheer 19th century hi-jinks, though, this is right up there with The Wild, Wild, West, and almost as preposterous. Liberties are taken with the facts, but it did happen, and almost caused an international incident as the gold was bound for France. As usual, Crichton's story-telling is irresistible.

>49 laytonwoman3rd: It was a really fun read in my memory. I'm glad to have adult confirmation that it really *was*.

>47 laytonwoman3rd: I remember that usage as being very old-fashioned. A friend's grandmother heard me refer to a guy in our class as "hunky" and, a Bohemian immigrant in infancy, unloaded on me. I was stunned, never having heard the slur before!

>47 laytonwoman3rd: I certainly never heard that word used as a slur before. And in San Francisco there were a lot of mild "slurs" available for just about anyone. That was always the big buff guy. Your second to last guess was a word I always used to use, having gotten it from my mom. I used it at work one day, maybe 20 years ago to describe my condition before leaving, and absolutely everyone looked at me cross-eyed and said they had never heard it before.

>51 RBeffa: My grandmother used to say she felt "punk", which she meant as a general malaise, I believe.

>48 lycomayflower:, >50 richardderus:, >51 RBeffa: I believe it's a variant of "bohunk", an equally offensive sobriquet, at least in good old NE PA.

Yes, yes. In my area of PA, a great many people of eastern European origin worked in the steel mills, in coal mines, in other heavy labor occupations. Eastern Orthodox Christians, worshipping in churches with onion-shaped domes. I can picture those churches in parts of Allentown and Bethlehem, in Palmerton, Minersville, Frackville. The churches in the centers of Hunky neighborhoods.

I still hear punk or punky used to describe one's health or mood.

>53 weird_O: well I am glad that punk and punky have not gone completely out of use!

>1 laytonwoman3rd: Love it.

>3 laytonwoman3rd: You will be making Molly jealous...

>53 weird_O:, >54 RBeffa: The common usage of "punky" that I am used to is to describe a piece of wood that has gone soft and crumbly inside, therefore good for nothing. That's what I figured was the origin of my grandmother's term "feeling punk (or punky)"---she felt used up inside, and worthless for productive activity.

>55 Caroline_McElwee: HA....well, if Molly would pose so appropriately, I'd use HER photo instead.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: the level of violence is very close to my threshold of tolerance That worries me a bit - not that my local library has the series anyway.

>49 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Linda.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

I love what you wrote at the top or the page. I feel much the same. Do you remember when "Talk" began (M & I thought Sept 2006?)

To be honest, I came over to see if you might have read Booth yet. I finished it and still really think you would like it ;-)

>57 alcottacre: Ha, Stasia----I hope you manage to get a book OUT of the Black Hole from time to time! I really think you'd like The Great Train Robbery.

>58 avaland: I'm plowing through a pretty good story at the moment, but it's taking me forever. Over 400 pages of close print, little white space on the page, and an occasional "quoted" document within the story in even smaller print. My eyes can't stick with it long at a stretch even though I am enjoying it. With that behind me, I'll definitely be ready for Booth. I'm really looking forward to it.

54. A Stranger in the Kingdom by Howard Frank Mosher A bit of a slow starter, but a good immersive story of life in 1952 in a tiny rural Vermont village with a long and slightly odd history that continues to influence events down the centuries. As if "the Kingdom's" own long-held mythologies and secrets were not enough to keep the common pot simmering, not one, but three strangers come to town, adding unfamiliar seasonings and more than a dash of spice. A particularly brutal murder, a bigoted sheriff, a self-assured Black clergyman and a variety of upstanding but unpleasant citizens raise the temperature until the stew is boiling over in a big way. Thirteen-year-old James Kinneson watches it all, and interprets what he sees with help from the dissimilar but complementary perspectives of his mother, his father and his adult brother Atty. Charlie Kinneson. Father and elder son do not see eye-to-eye, and have established a method of communicating with each other only through James, even while face to face. One can make comparisons to Faulkner (miscegenation, ancient grudges, the past is never dead!), Wendell Berry (rural life is better for people but human nature is the same everywhere), Harper Lee (a black man accused of molesting--then murdering--a white girl) and even Norman Maclean (fly-fishing as religion), but Mosher's story-telling style is not convoluted, nostalgic or particularly philosophical. It's just downright compelling. Initially my enjoyment of this novel was hampered by its physical form---it's long, and the type in my copy is not as crisp as it ought to be, and is cramped onto large pages with very little white space. I found I couldn't--my eyes couldn't--stick with it for long at a stretch. But I persisted, and at some point realized I didn't care anymore--I simply had to keep reading.

55. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Ill. by Charles van Sandwyk Folio Society edition

I have nothing new or profound to say about Alice's adventures. But the Charles van Sandwyk illustrations in the Folio Society edition are brilliant. He has not so much re-imagined the characters we know so well from the vintage Tenniel illustrations, as simply re-drawn them in his own style, which I love. A few examples:

Ooh those illustrations are excellent!

>62 lauralkeet: I have become a devotee of van Sandwyk's art. The Folio Society has brought out something new in each of the last few years, and I'm hoping to collect them all.

>63 laytonwoman3rd: Hint taken.

>64 FlamingRabbit: Aha! Look who's here....

>60 laytonwoman3rd: The only book of Mosher's that I have read is his Walking to Gatlinburg that I read and enjoyed several years ago. I am going to have to see if my local library has that one.

>61 laytonwoman3rd: Lovely artwork!

Have a terrific Tuesday, Linda!

>66 alcottacre: I have Walking to Gatlinburg on the shelf too. I'll have to hope it was printed in better quality, but I will definitely be reading it before terribly long.

56. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin I haven't been tempted in the past to dip into LeGuin's Earthsea world, but @lycomayflower gave it to @flamingrabbit for Father's Day, and he shared a few bits with me while he was reading (as he does, no matter what he's reading) and it did sound intriguing. So I took it up when he finished it. I have to say it's VERY good. A fairly simple story about becoming a wizard (as LeGuin points out in her updated Afterword, they couldn't all start out as white-bearded wise old men), but more importantly about becoming, and understanding, who you really are. I grumbled a bit early on that there was no suspense to it, but then I realized what was truly going on, and stopped wanting that element. I am not entirely sure I'll read any more of these. I don't have a vast appetite for fantasy, but if I get a craving it seems LeGuin will satisfy.

>69 laytonwoman3rd: Color me surprised! I do not have a large appetite for fantasy either, though I do enjoy it on occasion. Mostly not tho. When I first read this in 2011 I promptly read the next five books. I had been intrigued after watching a Studio Ghibli film. I've not read Harry Potter books or Lord of the Rings and things but I am very glad I read these. I was only disappointed in one of the Earthsea books.

>69 laytonwoman3rd: Ah HA!

>69 laytonwoman3rd: Earthsea is one series in which each book goes somewhere the earlier books did not, but all are part of one world, if of two eras in our own literary history.

>70 RBeffa: Well, my household has been quite devoted to Tolkien since my not-yet-husband first encountered him in college. And we've all read Harry Potter in toto. My brother actually read and re-read The Silmarillion. But it takes a pretty strong recommendation these days to get me to try anything new (that is, new to me) in that genre. As you suggest, it's a pleasant surprise when it works.

>72 quondame: I suspected that might be so.

>71 lycomayflower: Oh, hush, you.

The Alice illustrations are lovely.

>74 BLBera: They are, aren't they?

Here we go into September, and the American Authors Challenge features Pulitzer Prize Winners.

57. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell A quick but info-packed read about the philosophical head-butting between commanders over strategic, precision bombing vs. area bombing in both the European and the Asian theaters of operation in WWII. Having recently watched Twelve O'clock High for the first time ever, this was a timely and fascinating library find. Highly recommended if tactics, aviation and/or the morality of war are of interest.

>76 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Linda.

Have a fantastic Friday!

58. Booth by Karen Joy Fowler Fowler has envisioned family life in the Junius Brutus Booth household from the early days of his bigamous marriage to Mary Ann Holmes, through the lives and deaths of his 10 children, including, of course, John Wilkes Booth. Dysfunctional barely begins to describe the madness, compulsions, and passions of this group of actors, alcoholics, and abolitionists, even before John Wilkes's political leanings create a rift among the siblings. The sisters, Rosalie and Asia, are much too fond of their famous brothers, who are much too fond of drink, like their father, who is prone to violence and unreasonable demands. Their mother verges on nervous collapse much of the time, due to multiple pregnancies, a mostly absent (also drunken) husband, and the loss of four children at early ages. Fame and fortune rise and fall, suitors come and go, the family moves back and forth between Baltimore and "the farm", and that inconvenient first wife and son show up, to the utter disbelief of Mary's brood, threatening to consign them all to illegitimacy and the poorhouse. Fowler invented a good deal of this story, of course; almost nothing is known of the eldest daughter, Rosalie, other than her vague unspecified "invalid" state, nor of the youngest son, Joseph, who did not follow his father and older brothers into the theatrical life. Yet a strong foundation of research underlies the narrative, and in fact some portions read more like history than fiction, with references to 20th and 21st century consequences tucked in.

>78 laytonwoman3rd: I have it on the shelves as it was longlisted for the Booker, Linda, but I haven't seen much warmth for it. Don't really get a sense from your review as to whether you liked it or not - would you recommend it?

Karen Joy Fowler ... I've read at least a dozen if not more of her shorter stories the last several decades - science fiction stories. I had no idea she was writing "mainstream" stuff now.

ETA: I see she has written quite a lot outside the science fiction and fantasy world

HI Linda. You are reading at a fast pace. >61 laytonwoman3rd: The illustrations for Alice in Wonderland are stunning!

>79 PaulCranswick: You know, I struggled with that question myself as I was finishing my review...would I recommend it? I rated it 3 1/2 stars, which is a little step above "OK", for me. The writing was fine; there was no drama or suspense to speak of, and I had very little connection to any of the characters; I certainly did not develop any sympathy for John Wilkes Booth, nor did I gain any insight into why his views on the war, slavery or Lincoln were so wildly different than those of his family. I think I would much prefer to have read a good narrative non-fiction account of the history of the Booth family. I'm left feeling that the author's efforts and imagination were somewhat wasted on this story. All of that seems to add up to a "probably not", in answer to your question.

>80 RBeffa: I did not know she wrote sci-fi! See, that's why we're all here together.

>81 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda. I do love the van Sandwyk renderings of all those beloved familiar characters.

Hi Linda - I'm delurking to say I agree with your tepid reaction to Booth. I was absorbed for much of the time (although the middle seemed to drag) but nothing monumental was revealed nor did I feel any connection to any of the siblings. I was surprised to see it on the Booker longlist since it doesn't seem to meet the judges' parameters, unless they were seeing some relevance to our politically polarized times.

>82 laytonwoman3rd: Based on your comments, Linda, I think I will take that one out of the BlackHole. I infinitely prefer nonfiction to fiction and would rather read a good biography of Booth from the sound of it.

Have a marvelous Monday, Linda!

I myownself think John Wilkes Booth figured he had to be contrarian to stand out among that crowd. Like Joseph choosing not to go into the family business and fading into obscurity. (A decision I think probably came into solid fruition when JWB did what he did.)

Booth holds no interest for me largely because, like you with this book, I read Fowler's work and always, always end up just a little underwhelmed.

>83 vivians: Tepid is a good word for it, Vivian. I did like Fowler's afterword, or author's note, in which she mentioned the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election, and said "The shock and despair of this waylaid me for more than a year. It seemed pointless to be writing about anything else and it took much longer than it should have for me to realize that I wasn't writing about anything else. The more I read of Lincoln's warnings concerning the tyrant and the mob,...the more brightly lit the road from there to here became." The lesson is clear, to those of us who already knew it. It's also clear that who qualifies as a "tyrant" depends a good deal on your pre-existing mindset. The rhetoric seems to be interchangeable.

>84 alcottacre: A pretty good decision, I think, Stasia.

59. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead It's been on my shelf for a long time, and I hesitated to pick it up, because I knew it would be an emotionally difficult read. Decided to plunge in now, because it is Pulitzer Prize month in the AAC, and this novel was Whitehead's second winner. I am very glad to have read this powerful story. It was wrenching, yes, but not unrelentingly so; it had an affirmative ending, and a sneaky twist that I suspected just a few pages before it was revealed. Dickens's orphans have nothing on the students of the Florida Industrial School for Boys, a/k/a Nickel Academy, a reform school where the slightest departure from the rules can result in beatings, solitary confinement, or a trip "out back" from which there is no return. From the outside, this institution looks serene, well-tended and not at all forbidding. The students perform community service, put on shows which are attended by the public, and an annual Christmas fair that draws visitors from across the panhandle of the state. Behind the scenes, there is cruelty and corruption without sanction or consequence to the perpetrators, and the victims are almost exclusively black. The most horrifying part of the story is that it is grounded in fact, and that thousands of young lives were lost or irreparably damaged in the actual school that provided Whitehead's model for Nickel, a school that continued to operate well into the 21st century despite repeated investigations into charges of abuse.

60. Ill Wind by Nevada Barr Anna Pigeon is anti-social; her job as NPS ranger has suited her well in her previous two assignments, in National Parks where the primary objective was to protect the water, the land and its wild inhabitants. But now, she is posted to Colorado's Mesa Verde, where the ancient ruins mysteriously abandoned by the lost Anasazi civilization draw crowds of tourists, and where Anna is obliged to live in dormitory-style housing with a group of younger seasonal employees whose late-into-the-night parties are not conducive to peace or privacy. Anna is still mourning her long-dead husband, but finds herself attracted to a married ranger with a lot of baggage. The universe gets up to its usual tricks, people turn up dead, evil spirits may be in the mist, and Anna charges head-long into danger to seek the truth and make things right. She even takes a step toward facing her own demons. No spoiler here---she lives to fight another day.
R & R fiction at its best.

Hi Linda. I found your new thread.

>69 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for those comments about Wizard of Earthsea, Linda. Like you, I've not felt pulled to read this although I read The Left Hand of Darkness in college and loved it. I can't remember now what compelled me to buy a copy of WoE a few months ago but it's now on my shelves and your comments make me more interested to give it a try.

>89 EBT1002: I'm very glad you found me, Ellen! WoE is one of those books that I think I'd be glad to have read, even if I hadn't enjoyed it as much as I did...I gave LeGuin rather short shrift when she was up for the AAC, and now I feel I've done her justice.

61. A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond Well, it was fun to finally make the close acquaintance of Paddington, a bear to whom things happen with somewhat alarming frequency. From the moment the Brown family takes him on, they never know quite what marmalade-enhanced upheaval they will be facing next. It all generally works out well enough in the end.

62. So Big by Edna Ferber My first encounter with Ferber's work, I selected this novel to read for the Pulitzer Prize month in the AAC. The title refers to a little boy named Dirk, and long known as "Sobig", after the ubiquitous game played with babies, but mostly this is the story of his mother, Selena Peake DeJong, whose life as a midwestern farmer's wife is not at all what she envisioned as a gay young thing. Selena had a rather bohemian upbringing with a gambling father who was always either flush or flat broke. Her outlook on life was always optimistic even when things were uncertain to the point of panic; her eye for beauty was keener than those that found it only in accepted presentations. While her unimaginative husband struggled to sustain a livelihood from their marginal farm, Selena envisioned improvements, innovations and expansions that would ease the future for their beloved son. Her positivity never wavered, even as "Sobig", failing to find a passion for any pursuit, settled into a successful but uninspiring career and an attachment to a married woman. I assume we are meant to see how a challenging life is more fulfilling than one in which all the seams are smoothed and gears well-oiled, but Dirk DeJong is so much less engaging than his mother that I nearly lost interest in the story when he became the center of it. Luckily, that did not happen until approximately the last third, and it's a relatively short novel. Definitely a worthwhile read, but one that did not quite live up to its early promise, for me. YMMV.

>92 laytonwoman3rd: It was an almost-great read, then...what about trying Saratoga Trunk? Clio and Clint are juicier characters, and have great chemistry. It may make your heart grow warmer towards Ma Ferber.

Happy fall.

>93 richardderus: I definitely intend to read more Ferber. I'm surprised Library of America hasn't issued her stuff; perhaps there is an issue with rights. Wikipedia contains the enigmatic statement that upon her death she "gave the American government permission to spread her literary work to encourage and inspire future female authors." Following that thread, I found the Jewish Virtual Library, which makes it a little clearer by stating that she "gave the United States her writings..." She purportedly composed the following dedication to her autobiography, which was altered before publication: "To Adolf Hitler, who has made me a better Jew and a more understanding human being, as he has of millions of other Jews, this book is dedicated in loathing and contempt." This makes the casual references to Dirk DeJong's "Jap" servant in So Big even more unsettling than they were when I read them.

I liked So Big more than you did, Linda, but I read it more than a decade ago so I am relying more on my rating and review than any actual memories or emotions evoked by thinking about the book.

I am glad you are now acquainted with Paddington. 😀

>92 laytonwoman3rd: Part of my mother's relationship with my older brother self-consciously echoed Selena's with Dirk, partly as an object lesson. I'd say it was part of the lore of my family. I may never have re-read it since my teens, but much more of it hangs about in my memory than almost any other book I encountered at that age.

>95 lauralkeet: I thank the late Queen for prompting me to finally read about Paddington, Laura.

>96 quondame: Interesting, Susan. I really liked and admired Selena, and I wished that Dirk could have inherited more of her gumption.

>87 laytonwoman3rd: A fine if harrowing story Linda.

Just so you know, Stephen Fry does an absolutely excellent job narrating the Paddington books. Perfect driving listening.

>99 scaifea: Hmmmm...now that would be excellent company indeed. *navigates to library site*

Come on over to the October thread in the AAC. It's the marvelous John McPhee this time!

>101 laytonwoman3rd: as soon as I saw he wrote a book on the pine barrens I went: oooh. X files jersey devil. End of oooh.

>102 RBeffa: I read Pine Barrens....it's good, but out of date. Still well worth reading, for the information in it, as far as it goes. I don't recall him mentioning that particular legend. ;>)

>103 laytonwoman3rd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil

My local library has 5 books by John McPhee including one called Assembling California. By the title alone that should be one I should read but when I read the summary, excerpted here in part: "At various times in a span of fifteen years, John McPhee made geological field surveys in the company of Eldridge Moores, a tectonicist at the University of California at Davis. The result of these trips is Assembling California, a cross-section in human and geologic time, from Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada through the golden foothills of the Mother Lode and across the Great Central Valley to the wine country of the Coast Ranges, the rock of San Francisco, and the San Andreas family of faults."

When I was a UC Davis student in the 70's I took a class from Eldridge Moores, co-taught with James Valentine, on continental drift and plate tectonics which was then a newish theory being developed by them with some others. It was one of my favorite elective classes ever. Moores died fairly recently.

So maybe I should read that one ...

ETA:
https://eps.ucdavis.edu/people/inmemoriam/moores "author John McPhee, who featured Eldridge in the best-selling book Assembling California and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Annals of the Former World. McPhee described him thusly, “Moores is the sort of person who runs up flights of stairs circling elevator shafts, because elevators are so slow.”

>87 laytonwoman3rd: One of my favourite Pulitzer winners, Linda.

I don't have anything by John McPhee and nothing available locally. I will have a look to see whether Open Library have anything I can "borrow" virtually.

ETA
I was able to get hold of :
Oranges & The Control of Nature so I will have something to try.

Happy Friday, Linda. Somehow your thread became unstarred. What the heck? I At least, I found you again. I am so glad to see that you have read and enjoyed Booth. I am a fan of Fowler and have been curious about her latest. There has been very little LT buzz on it, until now. Maybe, I can bookhorn it in by year's end? Wishful thinking?

>104 RBeffa:, In my youth, "Jersey devils" were wild kids whose parents sent them to our local camps for the summer.

>105 RBeffa: If you like the geology stuff, and you have that connection, I'd say you absolutely ought to read Assembling California. It's probably too much for me.

>106 PaulCranswick: I read Oranges, and was amazed at how interesting he made it all.

>107 msf59: Welcome back, Mark! I hope you get to Booth soon, and enjoy it.

Oranges was the first time I'd read a "microhistory" on a food-related subject. My sister Winter's copy was ten or so years old when she moved out of Austin and left it with me...I devoured (!) it and went looking for more. And more. And more.

Funny, I have never re-read any of McPhee's books. I wonder why? Like Proulx, he'll weave you a web of sentences to keep your brain whirring and whirring.

>105 RBeffa: Ron - you might enjoy checking out my review of Assembling California so you can assemble some maps!

Oranges is a good one too - with a big bowl at hand.

>110 m.belljackson: Thanks Marianne. Fun review. I think I know Northern California well enough but I have plenty of geology books on hand, as well as maps. Mussel Rock. Just a wee bit north of where I grew up and established as the epicenter of the 1906 quake. I used to fish there (mussel rock) with my dad as a youngster. Stripers.

>110 m.belljackson: >111 RBeffa: It slowly dawned on me that I was already aware of Assembling California. Marianne, your review was familiar. Several years ago I read Simon Winchester's A Crack in the Edge of the World which has a ton of geology info in it and many pages on Eldridge Moores and the discussion of Mussel Rock. I just forgot about Assembling California since then and it seems like a good time to get to it. I will be doing a volunteer stint at the library Saturday and I hope I remember to grab the book.

>112 RBeffa: I seem to recall a sentence like "Mussel Rock is a horse." Let us know if you encounter that one!

63. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee I read this one, which has been on my tbr list for a while, for the Korean Writers month in the Asian Book Challenge. I enjoyed it, as I nearly always enjoy such generational fiction. And I learned things I did not know about ethnic Koreans and their struggles as immigrants in Japan, where they were discriminated against throughout the 20th century (and possibly still are). I guess there's really nothing new or unique in the world. People are people, and Us vs. Them is just everywhere. As is also somewhat common with this type of novel, some characters and story lines get short shrift, and narrative tension is lacking in parts. I also found the author's voice a little too apparent as the omniscient narrator makes the same point over and over through different characters. A little more subtlety, a little more editing, and this could have been a five star read for me.

>114 laytonwoman3rd: I'm a fan of the book, and agree with your assessment entirely. It's a rare case of the TV miniseries actually adding to the positive experience of reading the book.

A shorter, but equally interesting, Korean-generations tale to consider is The Pachinko Parlor by Elisa Shua Dusapin, just out here in the US. The focus is tighter, the story is all 21st-century, but the travail of the Koreans-in-Japan is interestingly illuminated by this family's communication issues.

>115 richardderus: I'll put that title on the list, Richard. For now, I'll pass on the miniseries, but maybe one day I'll give that a try too. When I was a teenager, our Methodist church had a very young, fun-loving Korean pastor. Everyone loved him, and he is now something significant in the church heirarchy (which I really know nothing about). He and my father, who served in Korea before the conflict broke out, had some interesting conversations about life in his country. I wish I had listened harder, and understood more. My dad always spoke of that countryside and its people with fondness and respect. Later on, another Korean pastor helped my father deal with job-related depression in the simplest kindest way imaginable. I saw some of what these men had going for them in Isak and Yoseb.

I completely agree with your thoughts on Pachinko. I could have done without the entire last third; I felt like that extension into the next generation was not as well done as the previous parts.

>113 m.belljackson: pg 3, second parag. "Mussel Rock is a horse. As any geologist will tell you, a horse is a displaced rock mass that has been caught between the walls of a fault."

>118 RBeffa: Sure wish Assembling California came with illustrations...and how that definition connects with "horse."

>117 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I got similar responses to my post about it in the Asian Challenge thread. Some recommend the TV series based on the book, though. I may seek that out sometime.

64. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson Marilyn Stasio of the NYTBR calls these Longmire books "lean and leathery". I can't improve on that. This one, in which Longmire and Henry actually witness a murder, albeit at a distance that prevents them from knowing what really happened, has a surprising amount of humor in it as well. Henry's godawful truck, which both Walt and Dog hate, becomes something of a character in its own right, and I laughed out loud a couple times at scenes involving its obstinance and contempt for the white man. In the midst of the investigation, which shouldn't be Walt's concern, being outside his jurisdiction, Cady's wedding is imminent and all the plans are going awry. She needs Daddy to step up and get things done, but he cannot let the new Chief of the Tribal Police continue to make matters worse through her lack of experience and training. There's the usual life-threatening climax, but at least Walt does not come to any serious physical harm this time.

>121 laytonwoman3rd: - I really want to start this series, but I need to catch up with one or two others first!

>122 katiekrug: This was No. 8 in the series, Katie. It's as good as, or better, than any of the previous books, so well worth getting into. But I know what you mean about too many series at once.

Hi Linda. I'm stopping by to say hello and note what you are reading!

All good wishes sent your way for a beautiful Pennsylvania fall!

>124 Whisper1: Hi, Linda! Thanks for visiting. Our colors are just beginning to pop out here and there...it's still very green around here.

>124 Whisper1: & >125 laytonwoman3rd: Noting with envy the autumnal anticipation. No seasons for me to modify my moods here!

>121 laytonwoman3rd: I bought the latest Longmire last week for my mom. Signed copy!
He comes out with a new one at the end of (nearly) each year, and it's become a regular Christmas gift for her. She loves it.

>126 PaulCranswick: Yesterday was nicely fall-ish here, and today the air has a definite "bite" to it. I do enjoy the autumn colors, and those brisk yet pleasant days. I hope we have a number of them in store before the snow flies.

>127 mstrust: Isn't it great to have a reliable gift you know will please? My MIL is fond of Patrick Taylor's Irish series, and he has a new one nearly every year as well. They get a bit same/same but MIL is 94, and continues to enjoy them.

65. The Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee Read for the AAC

I've read John McPhee before, and enjoy his writing. He likes to dive into a subject, and research it inside out. In this one, he made the acquaintance of Henri Vaillancourt, a self-taught practitioner of the art of building bark canoes in much the same way early Indian craftsmen did. Vaillancourt learned the techniques from sketches and texts of Edwin Tappan Adney, a man who learned them directly from a New Brunswick Malecite builder. Adney's work was posthumously collected and published in 1964 by Howard Chapelle, Curator of Transportation at the Smithsonian, and Vaillancourt used that book, The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America as his only tutorial. Henri began building boats at age 15, and is, to all appearances, still honing his art, and taking orders for canoes, if you are prepared to wait. McPhee's descriptions of the actual building process are fascinating, and some of Adney's drawings are included in this book. Also engaging was the tale of a long canoe trip McPhee took with Vaillancourt and 3 others in the 1970s, along rivers, lakes and portage trails through the northern Maine woods. The bugs were vicious, the weather troublesome, and the mud would take you down. They never saw a moose. McPhee often leaves the narrative of their travails to give the reader bits of the history and geography of the area, as well as referring to other adventurers and travelers, like Thoreau, who passed this way before. Thoreau does not come off well. Neither, in fact, does Henri Vaillancourt, whose experience did not extend to planning, packing, paddling or portage for such an undertaking, and whose "people skills" were lacking. His jerky turned green. But by damn, the man could build a solid and beautiful canoe, for those who knew how to use one.



This was a quick and very informative read. If you haven't selected an October AAC title yet, it's a good choice.

66. Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher I've been missing Hal Challis, having read all 7 titles in the Peninsula Crimes series, so I thought I'd sample some of Disher's other work. In this first installment of his series featuring Paul Hirschausen, our protagonist is a cop whose testimony against other members of the force has made him a pariah, assigned to a one-man station in a district where seemingly there are nothing BUT corrupt lawmen. The citizenry see him as just one more, and his Sergeant treats him like something to be scraped off the sole of his boot. Yet he is expected to solve the odd burglary here and there, and do the bidding of his higher-ups, right or wrong. Naturally, Hirsch has his own ideas about how to relate, when to see nothing and when to take action, but they don't usually coincide with "protocol". When a young girl's hit-and-run death makes him suspect something more than an accident, Hirsch doesn't let harassment and threats prevent him from investigating. A difficult, disturbing read--much of the first half felt like watching a teenager being tormented by bullies for being a "good kid". But Hirsch bides his time, does his job, and eventually the arc begins to turn slightly toward justice. I'm glad I stuck with it, and will probably seek out the next installment after a while.

67. The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block This ratty old paperback was one of the original entries in my LT catalog, back when everything was manual and "From Where" was not a thing. So I don't know how I came by it, or why I've waited so long to read it. I've now been introduced to Matthew Scudder, guilt-ridden former cop, divorced father of two boys, and investigator without benefit of license, who drinks his bourbon in black coffee, and tithes from the "gifts" his clients give him in lieu of fees. A bereaved father asks Scudder to investigate the last few years of his estranged daughter's life. Not her murder. That was solved--case closed almost immediately with the arrest of her blood-stained roommate and his subsequent jail cell suicide. Scudder gets involved in ways that aren't entirely necessary to his mission, and finds out things no one asked to know. A terrific beginning to YET ANOTHER SERIES. Not that I'm complaining.

>129 laytonwoman3rd: I know I read the canoe book, but I don't have a copy. I must have borrowed it from the library. I occasionally play with the idea of being able to suspend time, as in The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything. Everyone frozen but me. So I could read and read without without sacrificing vital ticks of my life clock.

>131 laytonwoman3rd: Good GRACIOUS, Linda3rd! You got there?! Wow. That is pretty darn good spelunking for old entries, that is!

>131 laytonwoman3rd: I like Lawrence Block - but I have only read his Hit Man series since I have been on LT. Looking at Scudder titles, "A Walk Among the Tombstones" is the only one I can recall and now you have given me another series to dip back into some day.

>132 weird_O: I have an unread MacDonald around here somewhere too. I think I must have picked it up at the same times as the Block.

>133 richardderus: Mmmhmmm...and now I'm read an Ngaio Marsh. I believe I did read some of hers long long ago. I'm finding her a bit slow, but that's probably just because, well, her pacing is entirely different from Block.

>134 RBeffa: And I can chalk up another victim!

>131 laytonwoman3rd: I picked up The Sins of the Fathers at the library. I hope to get to it pretty soon.

In fitting with Spooky October did you know your reviews posted as reviews are going up without a date? I'm glad you enjoyed Stranger Diaries as I did.

Hi, Linda. Just catching up. We had similar feelings about Pachinko. I was a bit underwhelmed with the TV adaptation too. Is this your first go-around with Longmire? So good. I have read the first 12. I remember loving the few Matthew Scudder books I read. Eight Million Ways to Die is one of my top crime novels.

>136 RBeffa: My daughter and I were talking about Stranger Diaries this afternoon, and I noticed I had not posted the review from my thread back in April, so I added it. Peculiar about it lacking a date---I notice it went to the bottom of the review list, and that there is another one there just above mine with no date on it either. Strange things are happening every day.

>137 msf59: This was No. 8, in the Longmire series, I think? I've read all of them up to there. We've only recently begun watching the series, and are about half way through the first season.

>138 laytonwoman3rd: I thought you had read Stranger Diaries a while back.

I looked at my reviews and sorted in reverse order and found I had one without a date. It was from 2018. I did a minor edit of the review and when saved it showed today's date. Usually an edit does not change the review date. You have quite a few undated ones if you sort your reviews the same way. Very odd.

>139 RBeffa: Must be some sort of glitch in the review posting software---now my review is at the top of the list, and it has a date.

68. Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America's Mayor by Andrew Kirtzman I can't explain why I thought I wanted to read this book. I usually prefer my political biography well-aged. Like from 1950 backward. I guess because I did wonder, along with a lot of other people, what happened to the so-called "hero" of 9/11, who showed a lot of promise and had been such an effective prosecutor in his day. Well, the answer is, if you want to get all Shakespearean about it, the flaw was always there, and a "tragic fall" was probably inevitable. Rudy was always power-mad, and as long has he had it, he was more or less in control of his vices (many, many vices). Once the bottom started to sag, though, he became the sorry hot mess we came to know in the last few years. I suppose New Yorkers were more informed about his earlier erratic, belligerent, super-entitled behavior, as they would have been watching him more closely as U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, and as Mayor. His methods came out of the same bag DJT later drew from--the Big Lie, the "I'm the VIP, so I can do what I want" attitude, the objectification and reprehensible treatment of women, refusal to admit defeat, all that rot. Rudy even suggested, before DJT gave it a go, that he could unilaterally extend his own term in office. Turns out he is that most dangerous of political animals---a man who believes the stuff he spouts, and thinks the end justifies the means. A former assistant, who left his employ still believing in him and "the Big Guy", was quoted as saying "He believed what he was doing was right...That's all the motivation he needed." And he never once uttered a word of regret for the chaos and catastrophe he left in his wake.

Kirtzman is good at narrative, and his sources seem well documented. He concludes that without Rudy's manic machinations, Trump might have avoided those two pesky impeachment proceedings. If you feel like wading in muddy water, I recommend this work.

>141 laytonwoman3rd: Gosh, no thanks, I heard enough from the assistant prosecutor I dated...and goodness knows anyone who lived in NYC during the 80s knew 45 was a complete loser and total fraud.

>141 laytonwoman3rd: I have vivid memories of Giulani's book, Leadership, making the rounds at my workplace: one of those things senior leaders would gush about and say "everyone" should read. I never read it, although my reasoning was mostly about not wanting to spend my precious reading time on leadership books. I knew very little about Giuliani then. Looking back, it amazes me how caught up everyone was in the myth.

>143 lauralkeet: The thing is, he did have some leadership skills...but he tossed those along with any shreds of integrity in pursuit of money and power.

>142 richardderus: Hmmm....morsels from behind the scenes, eh? I wonder if your erstwhile date was interviewed for the book!

>144 laytonwoman3rd: Possibly. I really doubt it, since he was the opposite of charismatic. Even thinking about him almost 30 years later makes me crave a nap.

>65 laytonwoman3rd: Stunning canoe.

>138 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, I note your comment about strange things happening every day. Lately, when I import covers, the link goes elsewhere! Strange! I hope all is well where you are. I finished another Linda Castillo book. She has a series that focuses on the Amish community. In the last book I read, she focused on the small Amish community in Central Pennsylvania. I remember driving en route to State College and I came upon Amish driving buggies. According to the book, this community is small.

69. Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh I'm pretty sure I read some of Dame Edith's work long long ago, and my ancient pb copy of this one, with its very disturbing cover image, has been hanging around for a spell. The story line is fairly disturbing as well...an icky Svengali dude and his entourage have taken over a chateau in the small French village of Roqueville, and for some reason (never properly explained) Inspector Alleyn has been called upon to assist with the Surete's investigation of just what-all they may be up to. Drugs, is what. Getting susceptible young people (mostly young women) hooked on marijuana through a mish-mash of pagan ritual culminating in some sort of "sacrifice" to Swami (sexual, of course--and there's a goat) ...and all this to somehow cover up that what they are doing in a nearby abandoned factory is manufacturing and distributing massive amounts of hashish and heroin...yeah, it's that ridiculous. I have never understood the cult mentality, first of all, so right away I don't get it. I loved Alleyn's interaction with his wife and child, and there's a fair bit of humor, dark and otherwise, woven in. But none of the rest of it worked for me at all. YMMV.

>148 laytonwoman3rd: I tore through Marsh's oeuvre probably 20+ years ago, and remember liking it pretty well at the time, but maybe I won't revisit it and see how it holds up...

>147 Whisper1: When we spent time in Williamsport, PA, regularly (our own college years, and later our daughter's), we often saw buggies on some of the rural roads we like to explore. And Amish or Mennonite farmers were the backbone of farmers' markets and roadside stands in that part of the state. We still visit Lewisburg occasionally, but that has grown up so much that we haven't seen much evidence of those communities when we go there now.

>149 foggidawn: I don't think I'll actively seek out any more of Marsh's books, although I did enjoy Inspector Alleyn himself. If one falls in my lap I may read it, y'know how that goes. Never a problem putting my hands on something to read, so...

70. Village School by Miss Read A pure comfort read after a couple that were not composed to leave one feeling good about much of anything. This is the first in Miss Read's Fairacre series; it follows students, teachers and villagers through a school year in the English village of Fairacre, through Christmas pageants, substitute teachers, gentle romances, and the occasional domestic upheaval shortly after the end of WWII. It will unruffle your feathers if they need it, supposing you like this sort of thing. When the mood is on me, I like it very well. Jan Karon, without so much ecclesiastical perspective; or, as my daughter would have it, Angela Thirkell with the snark dialed back.

71. Now in November by Josephine Johnson This relatively short, exquisitely crafted novel set on a failing farm in the Great Depression won the Pulitzer Prize several years before Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath tackled the same subject in more epic fashion with the same result. Johnson's novel is both more intense and less melodramatic; it has no "sweep", but rather penetrates deep into the hearts and psyches of a farm family in an unspecified part of the drought stricken mid-West as they toil through year after unprofitable year, making no headway against their mortgage debt. Even as they watch their neighbors pack up and move on...somewhere...there is never a suggestion that the Haldmarne family will think about giving in. Next year...next year will surely be better. The prose is full of evocative poetic nuggets-- "The wild cherries were in bloom. It was hot still, and ink-blotter clouds messed up the sky but brought no rain. The spring green was like green sunlight or green fire--something, anyway, more lovely than just leaves..."--but not always pretty ones--"The wires lay down across the field with the charred posts left at intervals like burned crows caught between the barbs." As others have pointed out in several excellent on-site reviews of this novel, it is incredible to contemplate that it was written by a 24-year-old woman, and despite the enthusiasm of its contemporary reception, including that Pulitzer Prize, it has now become a work that needs to be sought after, unlike the GAN that seems to have completely overshadowed it. My recommendation: Find it. Read it. Weep.

Oooh that sounds excellent, Linda. Have you read any of Wendell Berry's Port William novels? I think they would resonate with you in a similar way. Lots of those evocative nuggets as Berry shows us a people, place, and way of living that are all but lost now.

>154 lauralkeet: I have read a fair bit of the Port William series...all the Andy Catlett stuff and Nathan Coulter. I love them, and need to get back in there. You're right about the similarities of lovely language, but it makes me happy to spend time in Port William. The hope for tomorrow expressed by the characters in Now in November made me sadder, I suppose because I knew their tomorrows were not going to be better. This was not uplifting the way Berry can be, and there was virtually no humor in it.

I just finished reading Berry's Remembering today. I believe it's the "last" novel in the series in that it was the last one published, and it's about Andy Catlett in middle age. For such a short novel, I was surprised how moving it was.

Linda, did you watch Jeopardy tonight? Tomorrow is our dream match-up - an *exhibition* game, true, but oh, my phone better not ring between 7:30 and 8 because I won't be answering!

>157 jessibud2: We did watch it, Shelley. (I felt bad, the "second chance" contestant had a very poor night, didn't she?) Tomorrow will be a lot of fun, with nothing at stake.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: She really had a bad night! Can't wait to see the exhibition game.

>158 laytonwoman3rd:- I hope there aren't too many American-centric categories, for Mattea's sake; not that that ever gave her trouble before. I will be rooting for her but i think the other two will be faster and maybe stronger.

>160 jessibud2: Well, obviously Mattea was NOT outmatched last night! Lovely to see how much fun she has playing the game.

>159 figsfromthistle: Hope you enjoyed the game, Figs. Back to serious competition tonight!

72. Literary Murder by Batya Gur The subtitles of Gur's detective series featuring Israeli detective Superintendent Michael Ohayon give the reader a hint of what's in store....this one is "A Critical Case". (It's more than just word play although I love them for that alone; the first was Saturday Morning Murder: A Psychoanalytical Case, and next up is Murder on a Kibbutz: A Communal Case.) One does not approach these expecting thrill-a-minute action or Holmesian deduction. They are intellectual exercises above and beyond simply figuring out whodunit. In this one, the key to solving two murders within the Hebrew Literature department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem lies in philosophical debate over artistic ethics. Despite his superior's repeated declarations that the police department "is NOT a university", it is Ohayon's academic background and growing understanding of politics within that community which allows him to finally parse out how a nationally recognized poet and one of his most fervent disciples ended up dead by violence within days of one another. Lots of fairly dense discussion among the characters about the value of poetry, what constitutes "good" poetry, what can and should be sacrificed to Art, as well as some true literary criticism and interpretation of Biblical references in the work of poets Natan Zach and Solomon ibn Gabirol made this a challenging, yet rewarding read. If I have a quibble it is that occasionally I felt I might be missing something due to the translation. Blessings on the memory of our late friend @rebeccanyc, who introduced me to Gur's work.

Congrats on your Pennsylvania outcome, Linda! And yes, Mattea just loves to have fun (and so does Amy!) Matt tried... ;-)

>163 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. There was much relieved sighing at the breakfast table.

Oooh, tomorrow's game has Matt pitted against Sam Buttrey, who is very good. That one promises to be a nail-biter!

>165 jessibud2: And I'll have to root for Sam in that one.

I think, me too!

Well, that TOC was exciting! And I'm thrilled Amy won it. I kinda wish Sam had won another match first, but it was fun all the way.

73. The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich As often happens with Erdrich's novels, I got to the end but do not consider myself "finished" with the book. As the title tells us, this one is about a ceremonial drum and its history over several generations. When two New England estate liquidators with vague tribal connections return the drum to its Anishinaabe family on the reservation, a story emerges full of love, betrayal, revenge and redemption. I almost always go back to re-read earlier sections of Erdrich's novels once I reach the last page (and sometimes sooner), as beginning-middle-end does not really apply to her structure. Not my favorite of her work so far, as the modern framework didn't quite click, but a solid entry in the Love Medicine cycle, and essential in that it reveals Fleur Pillager's origin.

>169 laytonwoman3rd: That one was intriguing, so different from the other Love Medicine books. I agree with you about the modern framework, but I was really glad to get the Fleur Pillager back story.

>168 laytonwoman3rd: I was spoiled by someone who lives somewhere where it airs half an hour earlier than here, but I still watched and it was WONDERFUL.

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

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Linda.

Thank you, Paul and Shelley! The turkey is roasting, the table is set, most everything else is at least partially prepared. I'll go out to bring my MIL from her assisted living facility just up the road in a little while. It's a lovely late fall day here, no weather to contend with. I'm thankful for many things, not the least being this amazing community.

Happy feasting, to all my friend/celebrants.

Nice comments on The Painted Drum, Linda. That is one I haven't read. Love the table. The Spode dishes are my grandma's!

>175 BLBera: Thanks, Beth! The pink depression glass dishes were MY grandma's.

>174 laytonwoman3rd: Lovely setting Linda.

>177 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline. I enjoy getting the "good dishes" out on occasion.

74. The Grass Dancer by Susan Power I probably shouldn't have followed Louise Erdrich with Power, because they are both extraordinarily fine story-tellers with similar subject matter but differing styles. For the first couple chapters I had a little disconnect with Power, which probably would not have happened if I had not just finished The Painted Drum. But I was trying to fit in more than one read for the November AAC, and The Grass Dancer was calling to me. And once I caught on to what Power was up to, I was drawn in tight.

This is more a collection of interconnected stories than a novel, in form. Some of them can easily stand alone. We progress backward (an oxymoron that says exactly what I mean) chronologically with each section until the final two chapters which circle back to where we began. New bits of family history are revealed each time, helping the reader to shed preconceived notions and understand certain characters with compassion. One brilliant example is the case of Jeannette McVay, whom we first meet as a disenchanted white woman who comes to the reservation to study a culture she views as more in tune with the natural world and spiritual realm than her own. She embarrasses herself with her misguided attempts to fit in, to "turn native", yet eventually she does become a respected member of the reservation community and brings about a very moving reunion/reconciliation. Life---it's complicated. There are heroes and villains on both sides of the cultural divide here, and the stories illustrate how easily things can go wrong whether one is trying to preserve a culture or subdue it. However, they also prove that sometimes things can unexpectedly go quite right, even when the odds are against it. I absolutely loved this book, and will seek out more of Powers' work.

>174 laytonwoman3rd: Lovely Spode china! And your depression glass collection complements them well.

Happy week-ahead's reads.

75. My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ill. by Glenna Lang I've always loved this poem, so when I discovered (in placing my annual Birthday/Christmas present-to-myself order from David Godine Publishers) that there was an edition illustrated by Glenna Lang, I snagged it. Lang did a book signing for our library's big fund-raising campaign this summer (I'm currently reading her marvelous history of "my" city, Jane Jacobs' First City). I hadn't realized she was primarily a graphic artist, associated with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. She has illustrated several books for young people, published by Godine, but the others seem to be out of print. I'll be hunting them down.

You can watch and listen to a reading of this book here.

ETA: I have now obtained and read When the Frost is on the Punkin by James Whitcomb Riley, and The Runaway by Robert Frost, both illustrated by Glenna Lang. The three books together barely come up to reading one short story, so I'm not "counting" these two separately. They are lovely, the illustrations charming and deceptively simple. In Punkin, although there are no references in the poem to cats, there is a cat in every picture; in Runaway, a mother and daughter are featured, usually from behind or in profile, until near the end when we see both faces, and they are quite obviously the author and her own daughter.

>180 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! I love them both equally. I got the depression glass (there's a lot more of it) when my grandmother died in 1969. I was given my MIL's Spode set when I got married in 1972. It's serendipitous that they go so well together, isn't it?

>181 laytonwoman3rd: Congratulations on reaching 75, Linda!

>182 laytonwoman3rd: It's very serendipitous! And just a sign from above...these are families that need to merge.

>181 laytonwoman3rd:
Yay!!

Congrats!

>183 FAMeulstee:, >184 richardderus:, >185 drneutron: Thanks Anita, Richard and Jim!

The discussion thread for selecting 2023 authors for the American Authors Challenge is now awaiting your input!

AND...The thread for December 2022, in which we'll discuss Martha Gellhorn is up and running.

>181 laytonwoman3rd: Congratulations on 75 reads!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 challenge goal.

Well done for passing 75, Linda.

>187 laytonwoman3rd: I am so pleased that you will continue into 2023 with the AAC. I put some authors up on the thread you started for consideration!

The Grass Dancer is one of my favorite books, Linda. I wish Power would write faster. She is not very prolific.

Congratulations on reading 75, Linda. I'm way way behind on the threads and finally caught up with yours. I noted the discussion about Booth with interest. It was a rare DNF for me. I was expecting more of a nonfiction treatment.

>188 quondame:, >189 Whisper1:, >190 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Susan, Linda and Paul.

>191 BLBera: MMmm...I hope she continues to produce winners like this one.

>192 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg. Glad you could stop by. Sometimes I think my standards are too high these days, but Booth fell a bit short for me, whatever the reason. It seems I was not the only one.

76. Wishbone by Don Share A poet new to me, who I decided to try when making my order to David Godine this year. While I found an occasional interesting turn of phrase in these short poems (some are merely one or two lines), they simply were not written for me. That's not to say they are bad, but I'm not the one to judge. Share's poetry has won some prizes, and he was Editor-in-Chief of Poetry magazine (to which I once subscribed) from 2013-2020. He has also been recognized for his translations of the work of two Spanish poets, Dario Jaramillo Agudelo and Miguel Hernández . Give him a try, your mileage may vary.

Congratulations on passing 75 reads Linda. I have 5 more to go, 2 in progress.

Apparently there was a piece of code missing in one of the links in >187 laytonwoman3rd:, and poor Martha Gellhorn was getting overlooked. She would not have been happy about that. Fixed it now.

77. Silk by Alessandro Baricco This story is special. It involves an impossible passion, a faithful wife, international intrigue, an ending with a twist, all told in beautifully spare language that seems not to suffer at all in translation. Written in Italian about a Frenchman traveling to Japan, translated into English---it shouldn't work at all but somehow the result is a magical 19th century romantic fable. With silkworms.

>197 laytonwoman3rd: well I had to add that one to me "someday" list. Amazingly the local branch of our library has two books by the author, including this one.

Nice find Linda.

>197 laytonwoman3rd: I found it at a library book sale, Ron. It surprised me to see so many reviews of it here, and apparently a movie was made of it as well. And it's a quickie read.

>195 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, I missed you up there somehow. Thanks!

78. Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves Vera Stanhope's protege, Joe Ashforth, and his young daughter Jessie are on scene when a saintly elderly woman is stabbed on the crowded Metro shortly before Christmas. Although neither of them witness the actual crime (and no one else in the carriage seems to have seen it either), it is poor Jessie who discovers that the woman is dead. As Vera's investigation proceeds, everyone's past seems to hold clues, and the dead woman's history is particularly interesting to Vera, although honestly not terribly surprising to this reader. There are many connections among characters, and we bite our nails waiting for the inevitable peril our girl Jessie must find herself in (nice twist on that, though). I still struggle with the author's attitude toward her main character--I feel Cleeves does not like Vera very much, and certainly does not approve of her personal habits. Yet she has created a complicated woman with emotional baggage, whose skills and talents are admirable, who recognizes her own prejudices but does little about them, and who makes some nearly earnest attempts to modify her behavior for the sake of her health, not her appearance. I enjoyed this one more than the previous one in the series, The Glass Room, but I do find reading one Vera outing about every two years works much better for me than binging on them.

>201 laytonwoman3rd: I stopped reading the Veras for that very reason: Cleeves doesn't like Vera, and neither do I. She is a lot like her dad. And that ain't good.

Happy reading, Linda3rd.

>201 laytonwoman3rd: interesting comments on the Vera books, Linda. I've only read 3 at this point and I don't have that little voice telling me I *need* to read the next one, now. Your thoughts about spacing them make sense to me.

>197 laytonwoman3rd: Years since I read this Linda.

>202 richardderus: " She is a lot like her dad." Do you think there's an element of self-loathing in the character because she recognizes that in her make-up?

>203 lauralkeet: I have the first Shetland book here from the library, and I'm going to see what I think of that.

>204 Caroline_McElwee: I guess it was a hit when it first appeared, but somehow it skipped me back then.

>205 laytonwoman3rd: I think the character recognizes her failings, but I don't know that Cleeves has her see the ways in which they echo her father's failings...I think, well in the ones I've read anyway, Cleeves has put that element in so it amuses and pleases the audience to see it where the character doesn't.

Not a big enough reward for me to want to continue the series.

*thhhhsssbbbbt*

>207 lycomayflower: YOU! in the sneakers...out of the pool!

>Linda, I note that the book Silk is on my TBR list for a few years. I'll hope to read it in 2023. Your review is excellent.

>208 laytonwoman3rd: I looove you

>209 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda. I think you'll like Silk.

>210 lycomayflower: Mwah!

79. Little Fires Everywhere by Celete Ng Well, I know lots of people loved this. I thought I might. But I'm going to be contrarian and pick it apart.

1) Too many points of view, resulting in several characters who could have been sympathetic, but were just not developed enough for me to care.

2) A classic King Solomon-worthy child custody case with both claims clearly laid out, tempting the reader to take sides, but utterly failing to make me pick a Team. Naturally the judicial outcome could only please one party, and leave the other heartbroken; we were given a hint that the judge struggled with his ruling, but not one word about how he finally came to his decision.

3) A couple potentially likeable teenagers who did not, ultimately, fulfill that potential.

4) an ending that made me say "Really?? You treated your daughter like that because she was so freakin' precious to you???. Really?? Where was that even suggested before?"

I have another quibble, filed under "That's not how that works"--but I'll leave it. (Perhaps I skimmed over something.)

Book club fodder, issue-oriented stuff, maybe a little better than some things that fall into that category--I did want to follow the threads to the end, I admit. But the whole lacked subtlety, and was less than satisfying.

Linda, I send all good wishes for a wonderful holiday!

>212 laytonwoman3rd: Ah well, we can't all like the same things, that's what makes LT and all of our conversations so interesting. As much as I enjoyed this book, you make some valid points.

>214 lauralkeet: Yeah, Laura...I read your review. I think I've read and loved a few books that got my sort of treatment of Fires from other readers. It's all so subjective, isn't it? Except when it isn't, like the thing I didn't mention up there. Gonna message you about it off-thread.

>213 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda! I hope your holidays are brightened by sweet memories.

Silk sounds like an interesting one and my library has it too - go figure. Onto the hold list it goes.

>217 Familyhistorian: I'm surprised at how much interest my minimal comments on Silk have generated here!

I just read LitHub's "Most Scathing Book Reviews" piece for 2022. Fun, unless one of the titles was a favorite of yours! It gave me permission to remove a couple older unread titles (by an author mentioned) from my shelves, and validated my avoidance of one or two others. In any case, I thought I'd share.

With every good wish of the season Linda. I hope you have a relaxing time.

God Jul! Hope you are safe and snug for the holidays.

Merry Christmas, Linda. Have a great holiday with the family.

I had mixed feelings about Little Fires Everywhere, so you are not alone.

>220 Caroline_McElwee:, >221 tiffin:, >222 msf59: Thank you Caro, Tui and Mark.

I'm not one for visiting each thread individually with seasonal greetings, but hope all who stop by here will know that I do wish everyone a safe, sane and satisfying holiday. Each year I wish for less trying "times", but this year it's the weather, along with the lingering viral menaces, that is stressing so many of us . Take your joy and beauty where you can find it, friends. And hug those you love--physically if you can manage it, virtually if you cannot be together.

Ditto for me, Linda. I left my group holiday wishes on my thread. And I am with you on the weather, too! And everything else. Wishing you a better 2023...

80. Jane Jacobs' First City by Glenna Lang This is a marvelous biography/history exploring the early life of the author of The Life and Death of Great American Cities in context of what was happening in her hometown of Scranton/Dunmore, PA, in the 1920s and 30s. Fascinating to me, as the area has been "my city" too, for the last 45 + years. It is extremely well written, beautifully bound, full of historical and modern photographs--and it weighs approximately as much as a pillar of anthracite, which means I've been reading it for a couple months now---it simply isn't safe to take it to bed with me! As noted in >181 laytonwoman3rd: above, I met Glenna Lang in September at a fund-raising event for the Dunmore branch of the Scranton Public Library, which is located in the middle of one of the neighborhoods where Jane Jacobs grew up. I serve on the SPL Board of Directors with a man who is mentioned at the top of Lang's list of acknowledgements, and he has been a champion for the work of both Jacobs and Lang. For anyone interested in urban planning, immigration history, the early Girl Scouts, the anthracite industry, the "life and death of cities", industrialization during WWII, or early 20th century Northeastern PA history in general, this is a book well worth reading.

On to the wish list that one goes. I'm a big Jane Jacobs fan.

>225 laytonwoman3rd: It sounds like one of those things I'd've read when I was in my 40s. Now, however...too few days and too many books to put in 'em.

>226 tiffin: Understandable, Tui, as she made Toronto her home for so many years, and she wasn't a quiet woman!

>227 richardderus: Well, OK, but there'll be things I know that you don't...

>223 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for the holiday wish and all the same to you and yours, Linda!

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

>229 quondame:, >230 PaulCranswick:, >231 Berly: Thank you, friends.

Here's a picture of my Christmas book haul...that's a Folio Society edition of The Wind in the Willows illustrated by my favorite, Charles van Sandwyk, in the back. Aside from that, one might think I have a particularly bloodthirsty appetite for storytelling...

I see Demon Copperhead in there -- woo hoo!

>233 lauralkeet: Yes, Santa was paying attention!

I am hoping to read that one in March I think. With Ellen and Beth. And there are a couple of people reading it in January I think. Can't wait to get to it!

>235 Berly: I don't think I'm going to be ready to start it in January, so maybe I'll join you ladies in March!

81. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves. This is the first in Cleeves' Shetland series, and it was terrific. More about the actors in the mystery than about the lead detective, Jimmy Perez, although he has loads of potential to be interesting. A teenaged girl is discovered dead in the snow, strangled with her own scarf, but "unmolested". The community's suspicion immediately falls upon old Magnus Tait, who was questioned years ago about the unsolved disappearance of a much younger girl, but never charged. Aha! He's done it again...won't get away with it this time, though, will he? Unless, maybe... The keenest reader won't be absolutely sure 'til all is revealed, but I had my own suspicions, and I was right in the end. That happens so rarely that it warrants a whole extra star for this one.

>236 laytonwoman3rd: Awesome!!

>237 laytonwoman3rd: Have you watched the TV series, Linda? I haven't read the books but we started rewatching the series not too long ago. Season 1 is just two episodes; Season 2 opens with Raven Black and the excellent Brian Cox as Magnus Tait.

>232 laytonwoman3rd: Nice book haul, Linda. Destiny of the Republic is terrific. My favorite of Millard's work. I should get my copy of Demon Copperhead today. I do not read much mystery series these days, but I should bookhorn in Raven Black.

Sweet Thursday!

Happy end of 2022, Linda. I got so many books I want to read, I'm giddy. Looking forward to 2023.

>237 laytonwoman3rd: The whole series is $2.99 each on Kindle...just so's you know....

>232 laytonwoman3rd: Oooooo pretty pretties!

>228 laytonwoman3rd: There are now, too. Just part of being finite, I fear. And Jane Jacobs is someone whose impact on US culture is never going to stop rippling.

>238 Berly: Remind me!

>239 lauralkeet: No, haven't seen the series, although I've seen warbling about it from you and others. It's definitely on the list.

>240 msf59: You might be the reason Destiny of the Republic was on my wishlist, Mark. I know it came to my attention on someone's thread, and you're a very likely suspect!

>241 weird_O: Yeah....where to start, right?

>242 richardderus: Kindle bargains I can resist...just do not enjoy reading that way. Luckily, my library is pretty well stocked with Cleeves and other suspenseful stuff like that. You are certainly correct about Jane Jacobs, and up until a few years ago, I had never heard of her.

There may be a few more end-of-year posts here, but I've got my 2023 thread up, and visitors are now officially invited to stop in at will. Please, no animated GIFS, though, OK?

>243 laytonwoman3rd: Clearly I need to warble LOUDLY. :)

>245 lauralkeet: I always hear you!

Happy Friday, Linda. Were you considering joining us for Demon Copperhead? I know it is big, early commitment.

I'm thinking about it, Mark. But I may not get to it until March...we'll see.

No worries at all, Linda. Happy New Year, my friend.

>249 msf59: Happy New Year to all the Freeburgs!

82. The Trouble I've Seen by Martha Gellhorn For the AAC. This is a collection of four novellas highlighting life in the Great Depression for people in various circumstances. A miner and his union steward; a young couple in love, and their desperately poor families; a middle-aged seamstress doing her best to keep her family fed and housed on part-time government work; and a thirteen year old girl who grows up too fast. They have in common a naive outlook, a tendency to dream of better days, and a reluctance to take help from the government, even when it means no food or even no shelter for their families. There's a poignancy to these stories, although none of the characters felt real to me; there is a 1930s awkwardness to the style and tone that robs them of realism even when the narration is showing us the stark truth. Gellhorn wrote these stories after spending time in economically stricken mining communities and mill towns, and with the support and encouragement of Eleanor Roosevelt. They were very well received at the time of publication. They do have a certain power, although they suffer from that dated quality (including casual derogatory racial and ethnic slurs attributed to characters--but not ever used by the omniscient narrator). I'm glad to have read this collection, and feel it was probably an important contribution to documenting the helplessness of "the families on Relief" (cue Arlo Guthrie's ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd). Now in November was more moving, for me.

I think that's it for me for 2022. I thought about doing a sum-up of my year's reading, but it won't get done today, so maybe I'll post it in the new thread. Which can be found here.