Mary (bell7) Reads in 2023 - Thread 5

Hello and welcome to my fifth thread of the year!

I'm a librarian living and working in western Massachusetts, who also dog sits on the side. I just turned 40 and I'm enjoying living on my own in a home that happens to be in the neighborhood my ancestors were living in 100 years ago. I knit, research genealogy, enjoy watching sports and read - a lot. You'll get a little bit of everything here, so I hope you'll join in the conversation.

2023 Book Club Reads (library)
January - Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - COMPLETED
February - The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris - COMPLETED
March - Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown - COMPLETED
April - Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr - COMPLETED
May - All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson - Reading
June/July/August - a low key "what are you reading now?" meeting where participants can tell us about their current book(s)
September - The Overstory by Richard Powers
October - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
November - Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
December - The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

2023 Book Club Reads (SIL and friends)
January - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - didn't reread, but did go
February - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan - COMPLETED
March - The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer - Nobody read it, we just met for dinner

Best of 2023 (so far, and not counting rereads):

4.5 stars
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton
The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez
Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard
Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson

5 stars
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Random things I'm keeping track of -
Bookish articles:
1. Alternatives to Book Depository

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

Number of books read since keeping count on LT:
July - Dec 2008 - 65
2009 - 156 (plus over 70 graphic novels and manga volumes)
2010 - 135 (Note: in June, I started working a second part-time job for full-time hours)
2011 - 150
2012 - 108 (Note: accepted a full-time job in February)
2013 - 107
2014 - 126 (plus 8 Graphic Novels)
2015 - 120 (plus 6 Graphic Novels)
2016 - 141
2017 - 114
2018 - 105 (Note: my first full year as Assistant Director)
2019 - 116
2020 - 153
2021 - 138
2022 - 131

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

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

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

Currently reading
How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

May
75. The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
74. Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
73. Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard
72. Well Met by Jen DeLuca

April
71. This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
70. Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 4 by Natsuki Takaya
69. Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 by Natsuki Takaya
68. Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 2 by Natsuki Takaya
67. Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya
66. Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
65. Moira's Pen by Megan Whalen Turner
64. Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo
63. Fruits Basket Volume 23 by Natsuki Takaya
62. Fruits Basket Volume 22 by Natsuki Takaya
61. Fruits Basket Volume 21 by Natsuki Takaya
60. Fruits Basket Volume 20 by Natsuki Takaya
59. Fruits Basket Volume 19 by Natsuki Takaya
58. Index, A History of The by Dennis Duncan
57. Fruits Basket Volume 18 by Natsuki Takaya
56. Fruits Basket Volume 17 by Natsuki Takaya
55. Fruits Basket Volume 16 by Natsuki Takaya
54. Fruits Basket Volume 15 by Natsuki Takaya
53. Fruits Basket Volume 14 by Natsuki Takaya
52. Fruits Basket Volume 13 by Natsuki Takaya
51. Fruits Basket Volume 12 by Natsuki Takaya
50. Fruits Basket Volume 11 by Natsuki Takaya
49. Fruits Basket Volume 10 by Natsuki Takaya
48. Fruits Basket Volume 9 by Natsuki Takaya
47. Fruits Basket Volume 8 by Natsuki Takaya
46. Fruits Basket Volume 7 by Natsuki Takaya
45. Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr
44. Fruits Basket Volume 6 by Natsuki Takaya
43. Fruits Basket Volume 5 by Natsuki Takaya
42. Fruits Basket Volume 4 by Natsuki Takaya
41. Fruits Basket Volume 3 by Natsuki Takaya
40. Fruits Basket Volume 2 by Natsuki Takaya
39. The Real Dada Mother Goose by Jon Scieszka illustrated by Julia Rothman
38. Fruits Basket Volume 1 by Natsuki Takaya
37. Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni
36. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
35. My Years at The Gotham Book Mart with Frances Steloff, Proprietor by Matthew Tannenbaum

DNF
1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (it was a reread and I wasn't in the mood)
2. Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien

March
34. Say I'm Dead by E. Dolores Johnson
33. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
32. The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul by Victoria Goddard
31. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
30. Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
29. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
28. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
27. Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson
26. Musical Tables by Billy Collins
25. Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
24. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
23. Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez

February
22. A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
21. The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (out Mar. 7)
20. Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
19. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
18. A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung (out Apr. 4)
17. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
16. The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
15. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
14. The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard
13. Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton
12. Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper

January
11. So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow
10. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
9. The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
8. No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson
7. Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
6. Petty Treasons by Victoria Goddard
5. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
4. The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
3. The Emma Project by Sonali Dev
2. The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde
1. Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown

Global reads in 2023 (author's country of origin):

Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

Unites States - most of my reading
Canada - Petty Treasons by Victoria Goddard
Japan - Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
UK - Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
France - A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
Indonesia - Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

All time (since 2022):


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, France, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

I probably bit off more than I can chew trying to set up a new thread before I head out to work, so I'll finish the introduction and fix the touchstones later.

Happy new thread, Mary!

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Mary! I hope the dogs and volunteers are well behaved today. :)

Happy new thread, Mary! You've been reading up a storm!

Happy new thread, Mary!

Happy new one, Mary!

Happy new one, Mary! Hoping Wednesday has been kind to you.

Happy new one and

Happy new one, Mary!

Happy new thread Mary!

Happy new thread, Mary.

Adding to the Happy New Thread wishes, Mary!

Happy new thread, Mary!

Thanks Richard, Anita, Micky, Joanne, Natalie, Katie, Mamie, Kim, Jim, Susan, Paul, Roni, and Anita!

I'm off shortly to walk the dogs, and then I'll be back briefly before working 11:30-7:30 with an after-hours program on using Ancestry. It had two people signed up for the longest time and I thought I'd have to cancel, but as of yesterday when I left we were up to 13 so I should be a busy bee tonight.

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I had a brain fart on guess #3 and got lucky with 4. ARISE, POUTY, BRAND, CARAT.

Happy almost-weekend! I was wrong about volunteers yesterday - a whole bunch of them had planned and last-minute absences, so I only had a couple in the afternoon and didn't have to scramble around as much as usual to have stuff ready for them. I prepped a little for my Ancestry program (tonight) and worked on a bi-monthly email we sound out all about books and reading (should go out Tuesday).

I was still pretty tired when I got home and rather than tackling the to-do list, I sat down to sushi and binge-watched Fruits Basket. I have a few episodes left in Season 1 of the new version, and I'm watching as much as I can on DVD to avoid the ads on Hulu. It's also nice to be able to watch some in the original Japanese when I decide to, and the only Hulu version I could find is the English dub. (Not that I mind, it's the same voice actors as the original and I like them a lot.)

Today I'm working 11:30-7:30, and between desk time, volunteers, and the Ancestry program I predict the day will go by quickly. I'm kinda puttering around at home with the time I have now. I put a bunch of plants out in the sun room and am about to sit down to breakfast. Then I'll decide how productive to be haha, though I'm leaning towards just reading. No plan for the evening, I'll probably watch more Fruits Basket. I've been staying right around where the anime is on my reread of the manga and will finish volume 5 today.

Sounds like a very full day and a chill evening in front of the TV sounds well-deserved. Good luck making it through all the things!

Well, here you are! I thought I’d posted in your last thread, but - talk about brain farts. Anyway, happy new thread and looking forward to keeping up with you going forward!

>26 MickyFine: thanks, Micky!

>27 Storeetllr: well I'm glad you found me now, Mary! I'm sure I'm overdue for a visit to your thread.

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I should've got it in three, oops. ARISE, POUTY, CHIEF, THIEF.

Happy Friday, Mary. Happy New Thread. Have a good weekend. We have been enjoying some beautiful weather in Chicagoland.

Happy Friday! I'm out of here soon to go walk the dogs, working 10-5, and volunteering in the evening. I usually get home tired and ready for bed, though I imagine I'll read some.

Work yesterday went well, I had about 11 people show up for my Ancestry program, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I run the program 'til 7:30, but everyone finished and left by 7:20, so it felt almost leisurely cleaning up and shutting everything down after. At least a few said they would come back for the program I'm planning in the spring talking about the other genealogy resources we offer.

Last night I finished Season 1 of Fruits Basket. I'm liking the "new" (it's about four years old, but compared to the other one...) anime and looking forward to seeing how season 2 develops. So far it's stayed pretty close to the manga, though there are a couple of story lines they moved up, such as telling about how Tohru became friends with Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima (their backstories are in the manga, but after volume 6 which is roughly where season 1 ends).

No real plan for work today other than making sure volunteers have enough to do, but I'm sure there will be plenty to keep me busy once I get there and get started. My Friday night volunteering teaching 3rd & 4th grade girls at my church has nearly finished up - tonight is the last lesson, next week is the last regular meeting, and on the 28th we'll have a big celebratory night where we hand out awards and such. Then we take the summer off.

Nothing new to report on the reading, watching, or listening front. I have a couple of knitting projects that are almost finished except for weaving in the ends, and I started on a car seat baby blanket as a gift for a friend of mine (it has a split in it for the buckle). In June, we're planning on getting together and going to a live recording of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, and I'd like to have it finished for then. Which... shouldn't be a problem if I keep watching as much as I have been haha.

Tomorrow I have plans with a friend to go out to a bookstore in New York, which should be a lot of fun but will make the weekend pretty busy.

>30 msf59: Thanks, Mark, I hope you have a great weekend too! We have a high of 90 today, so I'll dress comfortably at work (the HVAC system is old and we haven't changed over to AC yet) and am grateful that I had an AC at home that's easy to set up if I need it tonight. The weekend should be a little cooler, though.

Oooh, what bookstore are you going to across the border (my old stomping grounds!)?

Morning, Mary! Birdy and I just started season two of Fruits Basket - we watched the first two episodes yesterday afternoon. I am really liking it, and Birdy was telling me about how they had moved around some of the story arc from the books. She thinks it works better and is less confusing that way, so she likes it. The Girls have watched through all three seasons multiple times, but this is the first time for me.

Sounds like your Ancestry program went really well.

The bookstore adventure sounds fun - hoping you treat yourself to a prize.

>31 bell7: Oooh, which bookstore? It should be a lovely day for strolling around NYC.

>33 katiekrug: Haha, inquiring minds…

>33 katiekrug: Lyric Ballad Bookstore in Saratoga Springs. Very excited for this! My friend is planning out a bit of an itinerary with driving stops included and we're making a day of it.

>34 Crazymamie: Oh excellent, I'll be all caught up with you soon then. There's a few things moved around, but I don't mind too much when it all makes sense. Sometimes I've thought to myself, "Wait, did it really happen like that...?" and most of the time, it did in the manga and they'd changed it in the original anime (which definitely played up the comedic side). And thank you, yes, I've saved my restaurant and fun money budget to be able to have some fun tomorrow, including buying a book or two :D

>35 Storeetllr: Well, Saratoga Springs rather than NYC, but yes, it should be a gorgeous day for an outing! It's Lyric Ballad Bookstore (see link in the message to Katie). And I still have Monday to catch up on chores at home (my laundry and dishes are starting to mock me).

Not quite my old stomping grounds, which are farther south, but I've been to that bookstore a few times! It's lovely. As is all of SS. Be sure to drink some of the fart water ;-)

For consideration for your next bookstore excursion:

http://www.rodgersbookbarn.com/

I'm planning to be in the area in May and hope to stop in. It's in the middle of nowhere, but a total delight (assuming it's like it used to be!).

>37 katiekrug: okay you're gonna have to elaborate on that one as a Google search was less than helpful 😂

>38 katiekrug: oh that looks delightful! I will be in DC and Philly from May 18-27, but let me know when and I'll see if I can't make a day trip work out.

>39 bell7: -

"Saratoga has been historically known as a thriving health and spa destination due to the city’s naturally carbonated mineral waters. These waters flow from the earth heavily charged with carbon dioxide gas and many vital minerals. Each spring has diverse characteristics, healing properties and a distinct taste."

(https://www.discoversaratoga.org/things-to-do/heritage/springs/)

They don't mention the distinct smell. My sister and I always called it fart water.

ETA: Shoot! That didn't turn into a link...)

>41 katiekrug: ohhhhh hahaha that's funny and interesting. I'll have to see what I can find and report back.

>40 bell7: - It would be Mother's Day. My mom is buried nearby, and I am planning to go visit :) I didn't mean you had to meet me (not that it isn't always lovely to see you!), just that you and your friend should check it out sometime. There are also two cool indie bookstores not too terribly far (relatively speaking...).

>43 katiekrug: Well as it happens I'm working that day in any case. I will add it to our list - thank you!

Though you know, it's not a half bad idea to come up with a bookstore partway between us to meet up 😃

>44 bell7: - I'd be up for that!

>31 bell7: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! podcasts have made many a shared car journey much more enjoyable, not to say tolerable!

>45 katiekrug: 😁

>46 quondame: it's very enjoyable. I started listening after we went to a live recording a few years ago. There's so much that doesn't get in the podcast and you get a little glimpse behind the scenes.

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Straightforward day today. ARISE, POUTY, ANNOY, AGONY.

Good morning! I had a tough night's sleep last night where I couldn't get to sleep, and it was so bad I finally got up and read in my living room around midnight until I felt tired enough to try again. The good news is, I didn't wake up again until the alarm, but I'm still running on about 6 hours' sleep.

I'll leave shortly to walk the dogs, come back home to change, and head out to my friend's house with the plan to leave by ten to go to Lyric Ballad Books in Saratoga Springs, NY. She has a planned itinerary, I'm guessing with options for stops and lunch/dinner on the way, and we have a short audiobook queued up to listen to on the drive. We decided to wear our matching Doctor Who t-shirts because we are dorks like that hahaha. I'm really excited to get together. We are both very busy and can have a hard time making our schedules mesh (she still hasn't seen my place, for example).

That's the only plan for the day. I plan on getting back and crashing almost immediately, as tomorrow is dog walking, church, and work.

I hope it's a lovely day trip, Mary. Sounds like a fun day.

>50 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! We had a really lovely time (I'll describe more below).

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Challenging one today. ARISE, POUTY, TENET, CLEFT, DWELT.

Good Sunday morning, all!

Yesterday was an absolute blast. We drove out to Saratoga Springs, and my friends treated me first to a hair wash & blow out (something I literally never do) so we got a little pampered, then got lunch at a yummy bagel place down the street from the bookstore. We went to Lyrical Ballad Books and explored the labyrinthine used book store that even has a vault wherein some old and rare books can be found. We then went to a couple other little shops, including a new bookstore that was down the street. I bought a few at both places (will report back on that later). And then we went to a fancy place known for their champagne and sparkling wine, where we shared a bottle of a white wine we both liked (I don't remember what it was called but the description called in "melon forward" in its tastes, and it was from Italy, I think) and split a cheese board. The brie was to die for. I also had carbonated spring water and brought the bottle home as a souvenir.

Got back after 11 and couldn't get to sleep til after 2. So that's two nights in a row I've been really short on sleep, and I'm feeling it today but I'm not letting myself have a second cup of coffee in the hopes that I'll sleep better tonight.

I've walked the dogs and I'm leaving in a few minutes for church and work. I'm planning on a very quick grocery store run so I have milk for my coffee and bananas for my oatmeal tomorrow and probably something quick for dinner tonight, and then I'm just chilling before (a hopefully early) bedtime.

Reading: I finished Wingshooters this morning, still reading Index, a history of the and picking my next fiction.

Watching: nothing in a couple of days, but I have the second season of Fruits Basket ready to go and The Waitress, so I'll probably pick one to watch tonight

Listening: I finished up Keys by Alicia Keys. It was okay - I like her voice and the piano on most of the numbers, the lyrics/themes of the songs were okay. The second CD was a bunch of remixes and I didn't really like the sound of them overall, so only listened through it once. I wasn't entirely sure of what to say about it, and read a review on allmusic.com that I pretty much agree with, though I thought the stand out songs were a different pair. My favorites were "Plentiful" and "Daffodils". I'd listen to more by her.

I started Get Lifted by John Legend but it was decidedly not my thing. I like his voice, but I didn't enjoy the lyrics of the songs at all and I didn't even finish listening. It is 19 years old and it's possible I'd like some of his newer stuff but meh.

Started listening to a CD of my own that's a bunch of instrumental versions of Beatles songs.

Sounds like a great day! Glad you had fun.

I'm so delighted that your day trip with your friend was so much fun. I hope you slept better last night and aren't dragging too much today.

>54 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

>55 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I slept really well last night and have had a really pleasant day at home.

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Did it this morning and forgot to post. ARISE, POUTY, CHINK, WHIFF.

I'll take a page from Richard and Mamie's book and say happy New Sunday!

It did really feel like a Sunday today. With the holiday (Massachusetts state, Patriots' Day), I was off from work. I overslept when my phone turned itself off overnight and my alarm never went off, so my morning routine was completely upended. I ran out to walk the dogs, then got coffee and a muffin at Dunkin on my way home.

I spent much of the day binge-watching Fruits Basket Season 2 and reading the corresponding volumes. But I also did laundry and tidied up some things in the house that had been irritating me. It was rainy and blah, so I didn't do any gardening but that'll be on my list of chores soon.

Tomorrow I get my first mammogram (yay?), then I'm working 'til 8, and I'm starting a dogsitting job for seven nights. Still have to pack... and annoyingly, the weather is going to be all over the place for the next week, so I'll need a variety of clothes, from short sleeves to sweaters. Oh well... I should have some time in the morning, and I'm planning on stopping home at least once during the week.

>53 bell7: I mostly (only) like John Legend in the context of tweets from Chrissy Teigen, haha.

>59 ursula: Hahahaha that makes me feel better. I may prefer familiarity over novelty, but I don't usually have complete aversion either, and I did in this case.

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I get annoyed with the guessing games. Oh well. ARISE, POUTY, MOUND, FOUND, HOUND.

Good Tuesday morning! I'm nearly packed and getting myself ready for the day. I watched a couple more episodes of Fruits Basket Season 2 while I was having breakfast, so I saw "Cinderella-ish" which was everything I'd hoped. (It's one of my very favorite chapters in the manga.)

I have decided to return just about every book I have out from the library because I'm not really sure what I'm in the mood for anymore, and the stack of books is getting stressful. I packed the books that I'm reading, and I'll grab the rest of Fruits Basket, but I'll try to figure out my mood over the next couple of days and get some new titles out from the library.

Today is mammogram, work, and dogsit. Should be a relaxed evening, and I'm hoping I can figure out a DVD player. If not, I'll have my laptop for TV watching and knitting.

Reading: Index, a history of the and Manifesto by Bernardine Evaristo, plus the Fruits Basket reread

Watching: Fruits Basket Season 2

Listening: kinda between CDs... I might try the one last one I have out from the library, though I picked it up on a complete whim (I was intrigued by the cover) so I have no idea what to expect.

There are a few John Legend songs I like but my favourite of his albums is his Christmas album. You know, for when the holidays roll around. :)

Good luck with the mammogram today!

>62 bell7: Hoping that the mammogram was not unpleasant for you.

*smooch*

>63 MickyFine: That may very well be worth looking into. And thanks!

>64 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! It wasn't *pleasant* exactly, but it wasn't as terrible as I'd thought either.

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ARISE, POUTY, THUMP.

>65 bell7: "Not terrible" counts as a win when medical stuff is the subject.

Lovely Wordle word today!

>53 bell7: Sounds like you had a fantastic Sunday!

Hope you are able to sleep better!

>67 richardderus: "Not terrible" counts as a win when medical stuff is the subject.
True that! I got my results today, too, and lo and behold I am not being called in to come back (I'd... half expected it, being my first time and them not having past pictures to compare things to). And thank you re: Wordle, I was rather pleased with myself.

>68 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! I've been sleeping much better the past couple of nights.

>69 bell7: Not called back is excellent news!

I slept in a touch this morning, after getting up to let the dog out and give her breakfast, then going back to bed and dozing past 8. I got myself coffee and did a quick grocery shopping before I had breakfast. I was in a munchy mood and got myself good snacks (mixed nuts with cranberries, Clementines, that kind of thing), as well as some chicken thighs and ground turkey and salad fixings to make dinner the next few days. I'm currently staying at the home of the dog and cat, though I have the option of bringing the dog home with me should I decide to spend some nights there as well. In the meantime, though, I find it very easy to laze about at other people's houses in a way I can't at home. I couldn't find a DVD player, so I watched a few Fruits Basket episodes via Hulu on my laptop, and I'm now an episode or two into Season 3 ("The Final"), and have been reading alongside the episodes I'm watching. The little baby carseat baby blanket I've been knitting while watching is coming along nicely, too.

I got my mammogram results today, and they're normal but the tissue is dense (I was not surprised, my mom is/was the same).

I'm working 12-8 today, as I have book club tonight, discussing Wingshooters which I'm just now realizing I'm belated in reviewing. (Oops. I'll try to rectify that soon.) Anyway, the day's gone by fast so far. I was on the desk for a couple of hours while other staff were trained in using the defibrillator we have in the lobby now, and I'll spend a little time prepping for book club before it starts at 7.

Snacks at the dogsitting place and more Fruits Basket for the evening, I think.

>70 richardderus: Indeed! I was happy. No one from my mother's generation has had breast cancer, and I'm negative for the BRCA mutations, but my maternal grandmother had breast cancer at 42 so I'll be diligent with the screenings. When I was leaving, I said something to the technician about the first of... however many, and she mentioned that she'd had a patient come in for one that was 102! I told her by then I think I would be okay not getting them anymore.

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Luck of the first words on this one. ARISE, POUTY, PLATE.

45. Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr
Why now? My work book club (finished Sunday, discussed last night)

Michelle LeBeau lives with her grandparents in Wisconsin in 1974, in a small community of all-white folks. She herself was born in Japan, the daughter of a Japanese woman and white father, who is ostracized from the community in many ways but whose grandfather's acceptance means the world. Then a Black couple move into the community and all hell breaks loose.

I thought I knew what I was in for in this 250-page straightforward narrative, and then the story took a turn I didn't expect. It's easy to read, though completely heartbreaking. Michelle is now an adult, reflecting on that one pivotal year that she was in 3rd grade, and her complicated relationship with her grandfather, Charlie LeBeau, who loved her completely but was also racist, along with several other prominent citizens in the small town of Deerhorn. One may be able to argue that the children are too precocious, that there were some inconsistencies, that she tackles too many themes, or that she tells rather than shows. But for all its flaws, it makes a great book discussion read and will have me thinking about it for awhile. 4 stars.

Trigger warnings for racism and racists, child abuse and violence. Also the dog dies.

My numbering is all off now because of the Fruits Basket reread. I'll recap all of them together and straighten it out after I finish them. I'm up to the final season of the new series, and will start volume 19 after I watch a few more episodes.

Today I'm working 9-5. I already went out and bought some coffee, including some ground coffee to use in their Keurig while I stay at the house where I'm dogsitting. Work will be cleaning up from book club, making sure things are ready for next month, and working with volunteers. After I get back, I'm planning on making turkey burgers and corn on the cob for supper, plus probably popping some chicken thighs in the oven to have stuff ready for the next few days. Should be a pleasantly quiet evening with the dog and cat, books and Fruits Basket.

Reading: Index, a history of the by Dennis Duncan (and making enough progress that I'm nearly ready to just focus and finish it), Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo, and soon-to-start Fruits Basket volume 19.

Watching: Fruits Basket

Listening: I listened to Audio, Video, Disco by Justice a couple times through, and now I'm starting the new Paramore album

Crafting: nearly done the baby car seat blanket and may have to run home this weekend to have a new knitting project

>74 bell7: - I've had this one on my shelf for ages. Sounds like maybe I should actually read it soon... :)

>76 katiekrug: I'll be interested in your thoughts if you do!

I look forward to your thoughts on Manifesto: On Never Giving Up, Mary.

>74 bell7: I read her book SOUTHLAND back in the Aughties, and remember it as a deeply thought-provoking read that I could never get anyone to read, so we could discuss it. Ah, the joys of being massively online....

Happy Thursday smoochings, Mary!

I missed the beginning of this thread, so happy thread, anyhow! Glad for the good mammogram results. I go in for one next week.

>78 kidzdoc: I expect I'll get a chance to finish it over the weekend.

>79 richardderus: I haven't read any of Revoyr's others, but I could see trying another of hers - and also feeling the need to discuss! It is nice to have my book club(s) and LT to be able to share a lot of titles.

>80 foggidawn: Glad you made it, Misti, and hope yours goes well too.

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I'm surprised guess 3 was accepted. ARISE, POUTY, MAYAN, KAYAK.

>82 bell7: - It accepted MUZAK as one of my guesses which shocked me.

TGIF! Work and volunteering for me today. This is the last regular meeting we have on Friday nights, and next week is our big celebratory night. Then I get a break for the summer. Not sure what I'll do at work today, though I may try to continue to work on the presentations I want to give in June and July on our non-Ancestry genealogy resources.

Reading: I finished Index, a history of the by Dennis Duncan. I'm just reading Manifesto: On Never Giving Up now and plan to focus on it over the weekend. I'll start Fruits Basket Volume 21 shortly.

Watching: Speaking of Fruits Basket, I watched a couple of episodes last night and have only 4-5 episodes left of the anime. I don't think I'll watch any today, but will probably finish it tomorrow.

Listening: On my first listen through of This is Why - Paramore

Crafting: Just about finished the baby blanket, so I have to go home and find a new project (and also, I left behind the scissors and needles I'd need to weave in the ends, so...).

>83 katiekrug: Oh wow, I find that surprising as well.

>84 bell7: Or just wait to weave in ends until you're home again (said the major procrastinator for ends).

>86 MickyFine: yeah except I already have two other projects (currently at home) waiting for the same thing 😂

I'm hoping your weekend will be delightful. I'm sure you'll get to writing up a review of INDEX, A HISTORY OF THE, since I'm on the fence about procuring it for my Kindle and your opinion will weigh heavily in that process.

I'm really enjoying THE WORLD IN A GRAIN, about the role of sand in the modern world. I've had a copy for almost 6 years but never got around to reading it until I saw an excerpt in my email.

I'm pretty sure I'll be recommending it to you, unless something really falls apart. Boy, I hope it doesn't! *smooch*

>84 bell7: Ah, is the Paramore the one you mentioned having no idea what to expect from? I'll be curious to hear your thoughts in the end. :)

>88 richardderus: I will try to write it up soon. The short verdict is I liked it and even read the index itself because there were fun little Easter eggs in there as well. I will look for your review of The World in a Grain when you've finished :)

>89 ursula: No, it was actually Audio, Video, Disco by Justice. I'm planning on writing a little bit about my impressions of that, too. Paramore, I'd listened to their earlier stuff and tend to like the ballads. My first impression of This is Why is that it's evened out a little - no real shouty or quiet songs, though weirdly enough I've had "Ain't It Fun" stuck in my head for the last two days. I should have something more to say in the coming days, though.

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That was fun, and a little lucky. ARISE, POUTY, BROKE.

Happy Saturday, all! I've already had a productive morning, and I'm looking forward to catching up on some stuff and having reading time, as well as hanging out with my Little this afternoon.

Yesterday was a busy day, work went well, and so did my volunteering in the evening. I can't believe that's nearly over for the year - it's my fifth year helping out in some capacity, my first as the main teacher for a classroom. While at work, I got a notification from my employer that someone out there made a fraudulent unemployment claim, so I had to report it to the state.

As a result, I spent the morning freezing credit reports and generally checking up on things. It appears that was the only fraud, which is a relief.

Reading: finishing up Fruits Basket and Manifesto: On Never Giving Up is my plan for today

Watching: I finished Fruits Basket this morning before making phone calls. *Cries* So good.

Listening: Second time through the Paramore album.

I owe some reviews on reading/listening, and one of my goals for the day is catching up on that.

58. Index, A History of The by Dennis Duncan
Why now? Well... I had the ARC on my Kindle from when this came out a couple months back, and then I got the paperback through SantaThing so... I was basically in the mood now? Read my own paper book and listened to bits and pieces as audio.

I confess: I picked this book out on title alone. It's clever. And I love books about books and their history - I have a small collection of and about dictionaries, for example - but this topic was a little new for me. And you may be excused for thinking that a book about that end of the book, helpful to browse through when you're looking to research a topic or see where, say, Churchill is mentioned would be dry and dull unless you were an academic or someone who otherwise had a very specific interest in the topic.

If that's your impression, you'd be wrong about this book. Duncan takes the history of the index and not only covers the basics - such as early concordances, adding Bible chapter and verses, page numbers - but also makes the personalities of some of the people who argued about (and through!) indexes come alive. This is witty, humorous, and accessible. I grant you it may still be for a very select audience of book lovers, but if you're at all on the fence about it, I urge you to try it and see if you don't come away with an appreciation into what went into creating this particular way we organize information. If you have any doubt on where I came down on it, I'll just say... I even read the index. 4.5 stars.

38, 40-44, 46-57, 59-63. Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
Why now? I started watched the "new" anime, and couldn't really help myself, had to reread along with it.

I've read most of these volumes four or more times now, and never really reviewed it, so here goes...

Tohru Honda is living on her own in a tent while her grandfather gets work done, when she discovers that her school "prince," Yuki Sohma, is living with his relative, Shigure nearby. They offer to take her in, but then Tohru discovers that they're under a curse: 13 Sohmas (the Chinese zodiac animals, plus the Cat from a story) change into their respective zodiac animals when they're hugged by a member of the opposite sex. Yuki is the Rat, Shigure the Dog, and Kyo - who also moves in with Yuki and Shigure - is the Cat.

If I were to describe what I enjoy about the story in one sentence, I would say this: it's a story about broken people finding love and acceptance with one another. It's not perfect, but it's such a comfort read for me now. The characters, their conflicts, and growth are so well done. I originally rated all 23 volumes "5 stars" - how I rate now, I would give most of them 4.5 stars now. Volume 6 has a couple of my favorite chapters, and volume 15 has "Sorta Cinderella" (or "It's Cinderella-ish" in the anime) which makes me laugh out loud every time I read it. The ending three volumes are perfection.

If I were to be critical of the new anime (which I really loved), it would be that I was a little sorry not to see the scene at the hospital between Tohru's friends and Kyo when they wouldn't let him see her. But overall, I really enjoyed revisiting the manga and watching the anime, which sticks pretty close to the story, eliminating only a few chapters and reordering a couple others, but in a way that makes sense. I generally tried to watch the anime episodes and then reread it in the manga. The result was that a couple of times I thought, "hey, they changed that!" only to find that no, my memory was off or actually, the first anime adaptation made the change (such as the chaos that ensues when Tohru's friends first visit Shigure's house). All in all, a story I'll continue to return to in both formats. And the DVDs are going on my Christmas list...

Now my book numbering should be straightened out hahaha. I feel a little guilty about counting all 23 volumes in one month, but I would've counted 23 graphic novels all spaced out, so it is fair. It does rather unevenly weight my books read in translation at the moment, but I expect my reading over the rest of the year, however it progresses, will lessen the impact of the one series.

Listening report:

Audio, Video Disco - Justice
I completely picked this up because I found the cover art intriguing. Apparently this is a French duo whose music is primarily electronic and rock, pretty far from what I usually listen to. I thought it was an okay sound. I probably wouldn't seek it out, but wouldn't object to it being played either. Neither did any song jump out at me. Fun experiment, though.

I'm currently listening to Paramore's newest album, This Is Why. I had listened to their first four when I was listening to music a friend of mine liked and we'd guess each other's favorite off each album. I hadn't realized until I was talking with a co-worker about my music listening that they had anything new out since their 2013 self-titled album. Which means I missed the 2017 album, and I'm debating whether or not to go back and listen to it.

I have another Sara Bareilles album lined up next, and a few more on hold that should come in at the library this week.

By the way, if anyone has recommendations to check out, let me know. I'm sort of flailing about and picking at random from the library selection because I don't have a lot of bands I listen to outside of my regulars since I was in high school (*cough*Jars of Clay*cough*). I tend to enjoy familiar pop/rock sounding stuff, folk like Peter, Paul & Mary, Simon and Garfunkel. I'd be willing to try out other genres like jazz, R&B, and classical, I just mostly don't know where to start.

>93 bell7: Well, this rockets to the top of the list!

>97 richardderus: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I glanced through the reviews on the book page after I finished my own and was astonished to find that some folks found it dry. *shrug* No accounting for our different approaches to books, I guess.

He got extra points from me for referencing If On a Winter's Night a Traveler too.

Not sure your library will have any of her stuff, but Dar Williams is my absolute fave. I'm bad at genres, but I guess she's indie folk?

>99 katiekrug: oh excellent, thanks. I'll check my library but if not, I'm sure there are others I could borrow her albums from.

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ARISE, POUTY, UNPIN, UNZIP.

Try to start with the album Motal City or The Honesty Room. I like her older stuff better :)

If you like Sara Bareilles, you'd probably also like Ingrid Michaelson. Iron & Wine might be your vibe as would The Civil Wars and The Lumineers.

Have you heard of Tara MacLean, Mary? I love her contralto as she sings her emotional ballads. "Sparrow" is a favorite and is on YouTube... sorry I can't link it but the Pixel is cranky about pasting them.

Happy Sunday *smooch*

>102 katiekrug: I put both on hold, and expect I'll be listening late this week or early next, depending on how much driving I do.

>103 MickyFine: Thanks for the recs, Micky! I don't think I've ever listened to Ingrid Michaelson, though I have heard and liked what I know by the other artists you mentioned. The Civil Wars had at least one song in the Hunger Games soundtrack that I enjoyed.

>104 richardderus: I haven't, but I'll make sure to check her out, thanks, Richard! There's only one CD of hers in my library system and I've now maxed out my holds, but she'll be on my radar to request soon.

Happy Sunday, all! I started to take a leisurely morning, finishing a book and relaxing with my coffee, until suddenly I looked at my phone and it reminded me I had nursery in 33 minutes. I got dressed and hightailed it out of here, helped in nursery and went to church. I sneaked in the staff door of the library on my way back to get some chicken I'd left in the fridge for my lunch today, have eaten, and now am relaxing for a bit before going to my parents' to celebrate my mom's birthday. It's a rainy, icky day and I find myself without much motivation to do anything but read and maybe watch some playoff hockey.

64. Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo
Why now? The e-book/audio combo from the library became available; I'd liked her Booker-winning Girl, Woman, Other when I'd read it last year, and was interested in checking out her memoir

Booker-prize winning author Bernardine Evaristo reflects on her life and the impact it's had on her work as a playwright, poet, author, and activist.

Divided into thematic sections - beginning with family heritage and childhood, then moving on to all the places she lived, relationships, and more - this is not a straightforward narrative but gives a holistic view of this woman as she sees herself. Evaristo grew up in the UK, the daughter of a white mother and a Black immigrant father, and was one of the middle of eight children. Her story feels confessional as she talks directly to the reader, often with asides, and tells you all about her life and dreams and passions. By the time you get to the chapter specifically on her writing, you get a sense of a lot of what went into it from her family, relationships, and life experiences, and she very generously talks about her process of writing each book and her thoughts on each one, whether it's something that worked well or maybe that wasn't as great. I came away with a lot of admiration for her and the desire to read more of her fiction. 4.5 stars.

I seem to be wanting to sit with nonfiction lately (um... aside from Fruits Basket, anyway), and I'm continuing that with This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas. This title nicely goes along with my listening to new-to-me music project, since it's basically about coming to appreciate your own listener profile in how you listen to music. I'm listening along with the songs on the website that goes along with each chapter.

So far, I have discovered that I lean towards what she calls "above the neck" authenticity, a song that has craft in creating a certain emotional response. That's not to say that I dislike a song from the gut, but I do have trouble getting past something off-key or poorly played, no matter how authentic the emotion behind it. The examples were kind of extreme, though, contrasting a Bach piece with the Shaggs (the latter are... not good at singing or playing).

And, I prefer realistic over more abstract sounds, real instruments over electronic. Usually I either visualize the performance of a piece, sometimes myself singing it, or a nostalgic memory from my own life that I relate to the song. That's not hard and fast though. I can think of some songs that I really like that tell a story, and I tend to visualize (about as poorly as I do when reading) what happens in the lyrics.

I'm pausing here since I don't want to rush through it too much and forget the bits I'm learning. "Novelty" is next, and I know where I come down on that one haha.

>108 bell7: I agree that her example of The Shaggs was extreme - though I think that if you fall on the other end, the Bach is also probably pretty extreme.

I'm one who doesn't visualize anything when I listen - sometimes there are memories associated with the song but I don't imagine myself or the singer performing it, and definitely not visuals of the story of the song itself.

Recommendations ... I'll probably come back with others but for now I think I'll suggest Sufjan Stevens and his album Carrie & Lowell. I was super resistant to Sufjan Stevens back when he was the indie darling, but in the intervening years I've wondered why, haha. I was thinking about a different album but it's 1. long and 2. a little more experimental. But my favorite song off that one is the title song, The Ascension.

>109 ursula: Yeah, I think both examples of authenticity were extreme. I wonder if because authenticity is just one of those tings that is kind of hard to describe - and she makes the argument that both methods are authentic - she wanted to have really clear differences between "above the neck" and "below the neck" authenticity? Which is why I say I think I lean above the neck rather than have a really strong preference - because truthfully, while I don't care if something is simple musically, I will notice and dislike something that's "wrong" to my ear.

I had to really think hard about the visualization part because I don't have very clear images in my head, ever. I think so much in words that if I picture anything due to music or a book I'm reading, it's very hazy to me. The plus side of this is that if I watch a movie based on a book, I'm very unlikely to say it wasn't like I'd pictured.

Thank you for the recommendation! Looks like my home town library (as opposed to the library where I work) has a copy, so I may grab it from there today rather than waiting for my library holds to free up a spot to request it.

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ARISE, POUTY, DITTO. Pleased with that result.

Good Monday/New Sunday morning!

I'm off today and have very little firm plans, but a few things I want to accomplish, which is a nice way to end the three-day weekend.

I spent the beginning of my morning finishing Moira's Pen while I enjoyed my coffee. I have some dishes to wash where I've been dogsitting, and I'm thinking of packing up and bringing the dog home with me today after I make sure the cat has plenty of food and water for me to be away overnight. At home, I'm overdue to water my plants and should really think about mowing the lawn. But none of that really has a set time; the only thing I'm completely committed to is Bible study tonight.

The dogsitting job officially ends tomorrow when they get back, so if I bring the dog to my house today, I'll just drop her off back to her home on the way to work tomorrow, which would be simpler all around than dealing with packing and unpacking tomorrow around work.

65. Moira's Pen by Megan Whalen Turner
Why now? I love the Queen's Thief series and have been wanting to read this since it came out; I got the e-book and digital audio out of the library as a possibility to listen to on the ride to Saratoga Springs, and then when we didn't listen to an audiobook after all, decided it would be my next up in those formats

The short story collection set in the world of the Queen's Thief revisits some familiar characters and includes stories from their childhoods as well as giving more detail about what went on "behind the scenes" during the main storyline.

Though I wouldn't rate it as highly as the novels in the series, it was really fun to immerse myself in the world again, to get more of Gen and Eddis and Attolia, as well as some of the side characters (even if I'd kind of forgotten who some of them were). Interspersed throughout are illustrations by Deena So-Oteh and stories Turner tells of where she got her inspiration for certain stories or objects. 4 stars.

And now, of course, I find myself wanting to reread this series next. I should probably finish up Murderbot first though. *ponders*

Nice review of Manifesto: On Never Giving Up, Mary. Fortunately my local library system has it, so I'll read it soon.

>112 bell7: Happy New Sunday, Mary! Have a lovely day puttering while you can. You'll be back at full Life-hurricane in no time at all.

Is Megan Whalen Turner going to make a TV or film deal for The Queen's Thief series, do you think? Is it that popular still? Given how much fantasy is coming to our screens, seems a shame to me that she doesn't cash in while the money is so plentiful.

*smooch*

Sounds like an excellent end to a long weekend, Mary. Enjoy all your down time!

>114 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl! I'll look forward to your thoughts on it.

>115 richardderus: I can only hope that the Queen's Thief could be made into a series, as I think it would be delightful. Though, at least of the readers I know, it seems more popular with adult fantasy readers than the YA readers it's marketed to. Not sure if that's a fluke in the library where I work or true across the board. And yes, I'll be back to hurricane life soon enough. This weekend has been a nice respite.

>116 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I am - I've got myself mostly packed, dishes are done, and I'm reading/listening to This Is What It Sounds Like until I decide it's time to go home.

This Is What It Sounds Like - Novelty

Well, that was surprising. I'm actually less certain about my reaction to novelty now than I was before I listened to the chapter. I would've said that I tend to like the familiarity of pop, particularly that which came out in the late 90s, early 00s, when I was in high school and college. I heard it a lot. There was familiarity there. I tend to listen to a lot of the CDs that I bought at that age over and over again; my favorite band has been the same since I was about 13. And when I listen to a new album, I generally have to listen to it a few times through before I can articulate my thoughts on it and my favorite songs.

But then, I read and listened through the chapter on novelty. She describes novelty on a bell curve, with "classic" more familiar music on the left (but lower sales), pop in the middle the high point of the bell curve, right in the middle of familiar and novel with highest sales, and more avant garde music (again lower sales) on the right.

To start with the more "classic" sound as described by Rogers, I liked (other than the music, I'm not huge fan of banjo) qualities of "My First Lover" by Gillian Welch. In the more middle-ground pop with novel sound, I didn't love Billie Eilish. I recognized the Aaliyah song that I could appreciate musically (and, again, was released when I was mostly listening to Pop music, so it was pretty familiar). And the more experimental artsy music she used as examples were not to be my taste at all. But then... well, she says free jazz is on the far right of novelty but I *really* enjoyed the Alice Coltrane song she used as an example, enough that I kept listening to other songs Pandora added to the playlist, and I liked those too.

Now, I think maybe some of what I haven't liked and thought of as "novelty" were really other aspects of my musical profile coming to the fore. For example, I don't like a lot of current pop music, but I wonder if what I'm really reacting to isn't so much the novelty as it is the more abstract/electronic sound. I do like when artists take something familiar and do something new with it (in both music and reading, for that matter). I enjoy Trans-Siberian Orchestra, for example, when they take classic pieces and put a new sound such as electric guitars to it. And maybe my habit of listening through CDs isn't so much waiting 'til the novel becomes familiar as just a more general way of acclimatizing myself to something new. After all, I've been able to tell pretty quickly when I really liked (Sara Bareilles) or disliked something (John Legend). It's the in-between ones that I had to sit with a little longer, like the Paramore CD I'm listening to now.

Anyway, that made for some interesting experimentation in my taste, and I will enjoy continuing on with melody next.

I would love a Queen's Thief series adaptation although I haven't heard any whispers of it. For myself, at least, I can claim to have been reading the books since I was the target age -- I think my copies of The Thief and The Queen of Attolia came from a Scholastic flyer when I was in elementary school, so I probably read them for the first time when I was 10 or 11. So I grew up with them although of course I was an adult by the time the final books came out.

>119 curioussquared: That's the other challenge, I think, that teens are only in the target age for so long, and unless someone rediscovers an older title, it can be hard for a stretched out series like that to have staying power. We (the library where I work) did repurchase it a few times over the years with new cover art, though.

I had to think about it, I can't remember for sure if The King of Attolia (2006) had already come out or not the first time I read them, but our teen librarian at the time had read The Queen of Attolia with her book club, so I was definitely over 16 and probably an adult by the time I read them the first time. It was before I kept a reading log and pre-LT, so I don't have an exact date.

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Little bit of luck with that one. ARISE, POUTY, JOKER.

Happy Tuesday!

I have a quiet morning at home (probably including a nice long walk with the dog), and then I'm headed to work 12-8. Just a couple of volunteers come in this afternoon, so I should have time for other tasks today. I'll have a fair amount of email to catch up on after being off yesterday. I think I'll probably spend time in the evening reading a chapter in This Is What It Sounds Like and listening to the songs that go along with it.

Reading: This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas, Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire, and Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Watching: couple of days of nothing now that I finished Fruits Basket. I may start the Peter Capaldi seasons of Doctor Who soon, or I may wait 'til after I get back from my next dogsitting job this weekend.

Listening: Sara Bareilles's Kaleidoscope Heart and the songs that go along with each chapter of This Is What It Sounds Like

Crafting: just started a baby sweater

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Challenging today! ARISE, POUTY, OTHER, RETRO, METRO.

Happy Humpday, Mary. Hoping you and the dog enjoy the glorious Spring day we have ahead.

*smooch*

>124 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! It is a beautiful day, and I'll enjoy as much as I can while I mow tonight after work haha.

Good Wednesday morning! Here's a little catch up on some non-reading I've been up to:

When I got home on Monday with the dog, I brought in my mail and discovered that I already had a birth record I'd sent for, my 2nd great grandmother, who was born in Connecticut but whose parents were from Germany (actually Wurttemberg at the time). They immigrated around 1867, after their son Gustave was born but before their son George was born, so actually I can get that timing within about two years or so even though I don't have the actual immigration record (yet). I didn't know if I'd find much new on the birth certificate, but it did give me the exact birth date AND her mother's maiden name. It's hard-to-read cursive, but I made out Grauer. Mary Grauer. Excellent.

Yesterday at work, I was on the desk 5-8 and it was dead quiet, so I spent much of it seeing what I could find for Mary Frederike Grauer from Germany. I... found a lot. I found marriage records, baptismal records (they were Lutheran) for both Mary Grauer AND Johann Georg Raisch. I found Wurttemberg family records for them as kids. I should be able to get several generations back in Germany with all this, and have in fact been saving records and adding a lot to my family tree. Now instead of just the name Raisch in Baden-Wurttemberg, I've got Raisch, Kraushaar, Stumpp, Grauer, Schuler, and Mogle families to research. I have place names like Backnang, Hardt, Stuttgart, Unterensingen, Oberensingen, and Unterensingen. I am delighted; I am overwhelmed. I need to find someone to help me translate the German records...

BUT, I'm certain now that my ancestor Mary Fredericka (or Frederike) Raisch was born in Connecticut, her parents were from Wurttemberg, and they were Lutheran. She married Charles Rogers who was born in Pittsfield, MA, to parents from Ireland. The Rogers family was Irish Catholic. When my maternal grandparents got married in the 1950s and were Catholic-Protestant, it was quite the scandal with their families, so I can only imagine what the Rogers-Raisch wedding was like in 1896.

Today, I'm working 9-5 and it's the day I have many volunteers in. I'm scheduled on the circ desk rather than reference today, and that will be a fun way to mix it up. I was going to proctor someone, but that got postponed 'til tomorrow, which is actually better for me anyway. And when I get home tonight, I really need to mow the yard. I'm between dogsitting jobs for a couple nights - the one I was watching went home yesterday, and I start a new one on Friday.

Reading/Watching/Listening/Crafting is all the same as yesterday.

>126 bell7: That sounds so exciting, finding all of that family information! Do you feel like a detective?

>126 bell7: Gadzooks, Mary, what an explosion of detail your research has given you! My paternal grandmother was the only person I ever knew who could write and decipher that German copperplate handwriting. I never got the knack. I imagine you staring at screens full of it with something approaching dread commingled with awe. Genealogy exercises skills that are fast disappearing.

>127 foggidawn: Do you feel like a detective?
Yes, I do! I love when I can find something new. Sometimes it's very small and steady, or I'm getting nothing on a line for awhile. And then other times, one little clue gets me connected to a whole bunch more information. This one was particularly exciting, being only the second time I was able to connect my dad's ancestors back to their home country (the first was England).

>128 richardderus: I've gotten pretty good at old cursive script, but when it's written in another language it's harder altogether. I had just been looking at a fair number of French Canadian records (my maternal grandfather's line), too, so the switch was interesting. I can end up squinting at the screen trying to look for the more common words, and I now recognize "Taufe" (baptism) when I see it. I did have to Google translate a word to note that one child was "illegitimate" (her parents got married a few months later and had quite a few more after that).

Wordle 677 5/6

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In which I wonder exactly how words come into my head in what order they do. ARISE, POUTY, COMIC, FOLIC, LOGIC.

Good Thursday morning! The week is speeding along, and today should be no exception.

Last night after work, I succeeded in giving my lawn the first mowing of the year. I was very pleased that my neck, shoulders, and back felt pretty good after I was finished, and I'm not stiff and sore today. I've gotten stronger in the last two years.

Today I'm working 9-5, I have some volunteers (though not quite as steadily as yesterday), and I need to tell them about upcoming days I'll be at a conference or on vacation during the month of May. I forgot to do that yesterday, so I have a few volunteers to call and tell not to come in this coming Wednesday. Ah well...

Tonight is a fundraiser for our Friends group at a local restaurant, so several of us are planning on getting takeout tonight. And after I get home and have my dinner, I need to pack for a weekend dogsitting job and join a Zoom meeting for my local genealogy group meeting. It's the fourth in a series on beginning genealogy, and tonight's will focus on organization. Which I need, desperately.

Tomorrow is work and volunteering. We're doing our big end-of-year celebration, giving out awards to the kids and enjoying a photo slideshow of the year in review. I have little spider and polka dot plants I'm planning on giving to my girls, and I want to write a note card to each of them to go with it (I've got to get on that...). Should be a lot of fun, and then my Friday nights are free for the summer.

Impressive lawn mowing, Mary. I have to say I am very tempted by the mower robots (except the price). My dad does it whilst I do the weeding, but I suspect I'll be taking over soon.

I have a copy of Index, a history of in the TBR pile and you've made me want to pick it up. Thank you! Your genealogical discoveries make for interesting reading. The UK national archives had some free online training around reading medieval MS (at least, that's my memory of it) but I used to have enough challenges reading 20c handwriting in English. Are you thinking you might visit Germany?

>132 charl08: Oh that's really cool that the National Archives does that! I've *only* got to the 1700s in my own research and that's daunting enough hahaha. Someday I'd love to visit locations for my family tree - Kidderminster, England is on the list, and now several of the towns in Germany would be amazing. roughly in the Rems-Murr/Stuttgart/Esslingen region. Retirement goals haha.

Mowing is not my favorite thing to do, but it's a job I've held onto for now while paying people to do other things (like plow the driveway). I hope you enjoy Index, a history of the as much as I did when you get to it!

Wordle 678 5/6

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Stumbled a bit but got it in the end! ARISE, POUTY, CHAIR, CIGAR, CIRCA.

66. Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Why now? It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Jane Austen retelling will end up on my TBR list. I picked up the paper book on a library trip a few weeks ago but didn't have time to read it then. But, I'd put it on a rolling TIOLI challenge and rather than mark it "DNF" halfway through the month, I got the e-book/audio combo out from the library instead.

Lizzie Bennet wants nothing more to work for her father as a solicitor at Longbourn & Sons, but between her sex and her mother's determination, she's only allowed to look over contracts and when she does do a little investigating, annoying Mr. Collins gets all the credit. But when her father says she could be hired if she can successfully solve a case, she's determined to do just that. She happens across a murder accusation: Mr. Bingley is accused of murdering his brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, but the facts don't quite add up in Lizzie's mind. She's determined to take the case, even after she discovers that Bingley has already hired his good friend Mr. Darcy to defend him.

If you don't think too hard about the anachronisms, this is a really fun mashup of Pride and Prejudice and murder mystery. I couldn't always turn off that analytical part of my brain, but it was a fun ride all the same, and the author's note makes it clear that certain inaccuracies were intentional. Though romance is not the focus of this story (and some readers may be disappointed - or delighted - about which pairings from the book don't appear), the banter between Darcy and Lizzie is as delightful as ever. I particularly enjoyed seeing direct quotes of dialogue and narration from the original in different settings. At one point I got impatient thinking I'd figured out everything, but I was rather pleased when I was surprised by some events. Entertaining, light reading. 4 stars.

I'm wavering between 3.5 and 4 stars. The way it ended was fun and I bumped it up a little for that, but I'd have to be in a very particular mood to want to read the sequel.

>135 bell7: Oh, you got me with Pride and Premeditation—it sounds like a nice, cozy bit of fun.

Karen O

>135 bell7: "fun" is the most important sort criterion for my weekend. Mild gout attack. Tirzah and her silliness might be just the ticket.

*smooch*

Wishing you a splendid, book filled, weekend Mary. xx

>136 klobrien2: hope you enjoy it, Karen!

>137 richardderus: looking forward to seeing what you think, Richard!

>138 PaulCranswick: happy weekend, Paul! I've got a rainy, mostly lazy Saturday planned so may get some good reading in before writing tomorrow.

Wordle 679 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, CREAM (yeah, I goofed), CEDAR (but it still worked out).

Happy Saturday! It's a rainy, blah day, and after doing a grocery shopping and running home for everything I forgot, I'm hanging out at the dogsitting house (two dogs, two cats) and getting some reading and relaxing in. I've got the NFL draft on in the background, but I really only care about who the Giants pick up, so I'm not really paying attention.

I have some reviews to catch up on, and then I'm going to get back to reading.

66.-70. Fruits Basket Another Volumes 1-4 by Natsuki Takaya
Why now? Because I learned they existed? Haha... no really, I was looking up some things about the anime on Wikipedia and learned that this short series had been made fairly recently, and had to read it.

It took longest for volume 1 to come in from the library, but I brought them with me dogsitting, read volume 1 last night and started volume 2, then finished the rest this morning while I had my coffee.

Right... review. Um...

Sawa Mitoma has kept her head down at school, afraid to interact with anyone and face rejection. But when Mutsuki and Hajime Sohma befriend her, she starts to come out of her shell.

This was a really sweet story and I enjoyed meeting the next generation of Sohma kids. The main characters of Fruits Basket don't reappear, but some side characters do, and there are lots of funny references to the original as well. Volumes 1-3 and part of 4 tell the main story, and then the rest of Volume 4 is shorts and one-offs that were mostly ads for the 2019 anime. But it's always fun revisiting those characters and imagining what happens next. 4.5 stars for volumes 1-3, 4 for volume 4.

What I've (been) listening to:

This is Why - Paramore
I returned this to the library awhile ago but kept forgetting to write out some thoughts. The last album I heard was their 2013 one, so I think I missed something transitional in their style by skipping the last record. This one was really different from what I would have expected. Their earlier albums, if memory served, had a lot of big energy songs, sometimes with shouted lyrics, and also some ballads. I tended to like the quiet songs, and if I didn't love them, at least have an emotional reaction to the louder, more angry ones. This is Why... is kind of in the middle for me in a lot of ways. The volume of the songs has kind of leveled out, and I didn't have a strong reaction to...anything. Though there were a few lines of lyrics that stood out to me ("I'm both the killer and the final girl" was one I regularly noticed). There was more electronic music than I expected to hear (that was the transition I missed, as I guess their last album did too), and I'm generally less of a fan of that sound. Didn't actively dislike it, but also didn't have any favorite songs to add to Spotify.

Kaleidoscope Heart - Sara Bareilles
I liked this overall, though not quite as well as I liked Amidst the Chaos. As the title hints at, a lot of the songs are about relationships - good ones, middling ones, breakups. I especially liked "Uncharted," "The Light," and "Hold My Heart" are among my favorites. I might listen to it once more through to make sure I didn't miss one or two more.

Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens
This was at my local (where I live) library, so I got it first before I couple other holds on recommended albums arrived. I like the overall sounds and melodies a lot, and have an idea of some favorite songs, but want to listen to it through once more with the lyrics. I hadn't heard of him at all before, so that was a fun recommendation - thanks, Ursula!

What I'm listening to now:
Songs without words: a Windham Hill collection.
Piano music by various artists; it was on the cart to be put away at the library where I work and I thought it looked intriguing.

This is what it sounds like - Melody and Lyrics

Hmm.... well, not too long ago I would've said lyrics are most important to me. I'm revising that a little based on what I read in these last two chapters. I noticed melody first. I don't always hear the lyrics well even when I know the tune of a song impeccably, and I often need to read them to be able to make them out. However, if I *dislike* the lyrics, no matter how much I like a tune, I will stop liking a song overall.

The "Melody" chapter in general left me a little confused. There's a lot covered in a chapter that's roughly the same length as the others, and I think some of it probably could be fleshed out a little more and it would've made more sense to me. The "axes" she describes for the melody dimension of your personal musical style are only on the final three pages of the chapter. They're melodic range (a wide one like "Somewhere over the rainbow" or a narrow one like, hm, "Here Comes the Sun" maybe), articulation (long notes or short, staccato ones) and complexity. I like songs with a variety of these, honestly. I liked both the example songs she had for articulation, for example. So I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, either.

"Lyrics" had a lot of song examples and took me awhile to read as a result. I don't know that I could fully describe the type of lyrics I like, but I will say I often like things that are a little poetic and could be interpreted a variety of ways, while not going over into the completely incomprehensible. I found myself nodding along with some of her explanations, like how nostalgia can affect your reaction to a particular song: "When a particular record came out, it may not have thrilled you. But if you hear it again years later, you may automatically recall the time and place you first heard it, thereby triggering a surprising warmth toward the auditory memory from your past. Your mind is less critical of the specific musical qualities of the track, and more appreciative of the milieu in which you originally listened to it." Yes, that perfectly describes the reaction I've noticed in myself to hearing certain NSYNC and Backstreet Boys songs at weddings over the last few years.

"Rhythm" is next.

Wordle 680 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, PLANK, PLAZA.

Happy Sunday!
I'm a little late in my daily check in, as I read another chapter of This Is What It Sounds Like this morning before church. I'm at work now, and after I get back to the dogs and get myself dinner, I'll watch some playoff hockey. Hoping the Bruins can win game 7 to go on to the next round *crosses fingers*

I should also be able to finish This Is What It Sounds Like tonight and expect I'll finish Once Upon a Tome in early May, so I'll write up my April in review tonight or tomorrow.

This Is What It Sounds Like

Rhythm
I had fun listening to these songs. She picked some with a variety of rhythms and I didn't focus much on whether or not I liked particular ones, just tried to pay attention to how I react to rhythm. I think most of the songs that are my favorites aren't really dance songs or have driving rhythms. And though I could (and sometimes did) tap along differently with different songs, I generally tapped for each beat in a 4/4 song. Makes sense, I think, because I'm usually having to count that way to sing in choir. Oh, and the part about being completely without rhythm was really interesting. There was a guy at church when I was a teen/young adult who had no sense of rhythm and would persistently clap *between* the beats and I'd wonder how he could do that... now I know.

Timbre
I've been pronouncing TAM-ber wrong for years, that was the most important thing I learned. I thought about what I like to hear in songs - piano, strings, acoustic guitar, and mandolin are some of my favorite instruments. Rogers mentions talking to a group of students about what kind of male voice they found sexy. My thought was Eric Church in "Springsteen" (I don't know his other songs). And a good example of the timbre I like in female vocals is Sarah McLachlan ("I Will Remember You" and her cover of "Blackbird" are among my favorites). I'm a female who prefers to sing in my chest voice rather than my head voice, and I like that I can generally sing along with her songs.

The final chapters wrapping it all up were interesting. I came away with an appreciation for the authors' love of music, and realized that the way Rogers and Ogas describe listener profiles is the way I think about books and reading. I'm similarly fascinated by the way we each respond differently to different books and look for stories that hit our sweet spots of plot, writing style, character, and tone. We might have certain genre or trope preferences. And there's no right or wrong taste, but it develops individually as we are exposed to different books and react to them. When the authors described how their listening was very different for the most part until they realized they both liked cowboy music, I thought of the co-worker of mine whose reading taste is very different from mine, except for the very specific places we overlap: certain historical fiction, teen realistic fiction, oh and we both don't like Gone Girl.

All in all, that was really fun reading and listening. I should read more about music in general.

71. This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
Why now? I've been meaning to read this for awhile, and finally I realized I had to hurry up and read the library book or return it (I was still late, but only a little)

What about music do you, personally, enjoy? That's what Susan Rogers, former music producer turned neuroscientist, and Ogi Ogas, computational neuroscientist, investigate in this engaging book. Whether it be authenticity, realism, novelty, melody, lyrics, rhythm, or timbre, we each have a sweet spot when it comes to the music we love. Rogers and Ogas break each down for us, with a variety of examples on a book website that link to songs on streaming services, so that we can discover our personal listening profile.

I really enjoyed reading and listening through this and trying to work out my own listener profile as I went. The authors' love for music comes out in their descriptions. The records (individually recordings of songs) chosen as examples are distinctive and do a great job of illustrating each feature. And, when needed, more complex science about the brain and music is broken down in an understandable way for laypeople. This is narrative nonfiction with a wide appeal - after all, who doesn't like to listen to music? 4.5 stars.

I learned about my own listener profile that I prefer authenticity that is "above the neck," that is, tends to come from the construction of the song. I like a wide variety of melodies and rhythms, but I prefer realism and while I don't hate electric guitar, I don't like a lot of distortion or abstract sounds. When a song has lyrics, I like thoughtful and poetic ones that tell a story. I like songs with piano, guitar, and/or strings, and often like the vocal timbre to be one I can match (to a degree, obviously a professional is better than me) and sing along with. If I picked a song for a record pull, it would be Canon in D. I first heard the song when I was about 12, and a children's choir did a version of a song in which we had a soprano soloist sing a portion of it ("da dada DA...") as a sort of bridge. I just fell in love with the melody, and it brings me back to the fun of those times singing with my friends. Here is a really lovely piano & cello arrangement, though there are many versions that I like.

What I'm listening to:
Songs Without Words - A Windham Hill Collection

I really enjoyed this collection of 16 songs of piano solos. Sometimes I really like how stripping a song down can make you appreciate it even more, and this does that. I would've added eight to my Spotify playlist if I could've: "Water Fountain" by David Foster, "The Stone Quilt" by Desmond Child, "Major Dreams, Minor Lies" by David Benoit, "Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Michael Kamen, "Generations" by Jim Brickman (not on Spotify), "This Isn't Love" by Brian Wilson, "Cousin Stu" by Jeff Lorber, and "Blue Modal Morning Alive" by Carole King (not on Spotify) were my favorites of the bunch.

Hi there! The section on rhythm led to a lot of interesting discussion for Morgan and me too. And I lean toward a certain timbre of male voices - I love high ones.

>150 ursula: yeah, I'll have to ponder rhythm more. I don't think it's high on my list of things to log for in the music I listen to, but I should keep listening and revising too. I thought there were a lot of interesting tidbits throughout, and I make look into reading This is your brain on music, which she referenced really on.

Wordle 681 5/6

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That was a challenging one! ARISE, POUTY, GLARE, BARGE, RANGE.

>148 bell7: I loathe rap/hip hop/that entire end of the "music" spectrum so I guess I fall into the melodic camp . But generally I don't care a whole lot about music. It's background stuff not a focus for me.

It's my day off, but it's gonna be a little busy, as I'm dogsitting but I'm home right now getting some electrical work done. The good news is, I'll be one step closer to having a stove again.

I have Bible study tonight and had signed up to bring snack, so I'll pick something up on the way.

>153 richardderus: yeah, I don't personally like that genre, or techno either. But a lot of songs to dance to have a strong beat too. I don't always think to listen to music, unless I'm in the car. I tend to go for wordy things like audiobooks or podcasts otherwise. But I enjoy singing and do like listening when it occurs to me to do it haha. Thus trying to expand my horizons more lately.

>155 bell7: I've been following your musical explorations with interest, as I think you and I have a lot of things in common (the things you describe in your review above, like enjoying poetic lyrics and piano and strings, resonate with me, too -- and I also feel like I've been listening to the music I liked in my teens and early twenties without much discovery for the past couple decades). Maybe I will take on a similar project to expand my musical horizons.

>155 bell7: ...or "metal" whether heavy or death... I can't be sure if I am too angry myownself or not angry enough to enjoy the shouting and snarling of those styles. They are anti-melodic.

>148 bell7: This sounds like an interesting book as someone who loves listening to music, I constantly have music playing and it would be interesting to see it broken down in that way. I think our tastes might differ, in that I also love music with a wide variety of sound but also love something that sounds a little weird, my go-to genres being symphonic metal (or within that realm) and electro-swing. Though honestly, there's very little I don't like. Still been enjoying seeing your music exploration.

>156 foggidawn: If you do, I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with! I have a short window of time in 2012-13 where I was listening to popular music of the time when we had a Brazilian exchange student with us for a semester, and then a friend was having me try various bands (thus, why I'm familiar with Paramore's earlier albums), but other than that my knowledge is late 90s early 00s pop. And whatever my dad and brother liked that I heard through proximity.

>157 richardderus: Metal is not my thing, I find it stressful to listen to.

>158 WhiteRaven.17: Yes, I think it could be very interesting for someone who listens to a lot of music (I'm planning on recommending it to one of my brothers, who's a musician himself). It sounds like our tastes differ a lot, but that's part of what makes it fascinating, no? I'll look forward to your thoughts if you read This Is What it Sounds Like.

Wordle 682 4/6

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A little more straightforward in my solving today. ARISE, POUTY, SULLY, SULKY.

Happy Tuesday, Mary! *smooch*

>161 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! *smooch*

Well, sorry for not fully checking in earlier, but I've been back to my busy self again.

Yesterday's electrical adventure took longer than anticipated, but I have a 220 line in my kitchen now and have purchased a new stove that will be arriving on Monday. Hooray!

I came back from dogsitting early this morning, dropped all my stuff out, and then went out to get an oil change. It's been starting to make a noise if I get into a stop and go traffic situation - both when I brake and when I accelerate after hitting a bunch of red lights - so I asked about that. Turns out the exhaust is leaking a little and the whole system is rusty, so looking at replacing that as well. Boo. But, it's also the first major repair I've had to pay for and the car is getting close to 100,000 miles, so not much I can complain about either.

Working 12-8 today, and then the rest of the week including Saturday will be a genealogical conference, for work and fun. So if I don't check in much this week, you know why!

I hope the conference is informative and fun!

>164 MickyFine: Thanks! I'm really looking forward to it.

Wordle 683 4/6

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ARISE, POUTY, FORCE, HORDE.

Happy mid week!

>126 bell7: It looks like you are making quite a bit of progress with your research.

>167 figsfromthistle: Yeah, that birth record really opened up a whole section of my family tree that had been stalled for awhile. It helped that my 3rd great-grandparents had children here and in Wurttenberg - I was able to find the baptismal records for their older kids to help connect the family. Once I can build up a little money in my genealogy budget line, I'll request death records of the 3rd greats as well and solidify the connection even more.

Wurttenberg apparently kept really good records, and they are digitized, so I kinda lucked out.

Good morning, all! I have been waking up well before my alarm and did so again this morning, but I feel refreshed and I'm not rushing out of the house, so it's all good. Sessions start at 9:15 this morning, so I'm aiming to leave the house a little after 8 to give me plenty of time to park and walk to the venue beforehand. The commute itself is a little under a half hour and mostly highway driving on a route I'm familiar with, so the drive shouldn't be bad. I'm bringing a bunch of genealogy notes, my laptop and chargers for laptop & phone. From past experience, conferences can be great but tiring, so I'm not planning anything particular for the evening (I was thinking of getting grocery store sushi on the way home so I don't even have to cook). Wish me luck!

Happy Wednesday, Mary. Slowly catching around here, after my traveling adventures. I hope you are doing well and tending to those bird feeders.

>169 bell7: Luck duly wished, and a hearty shove at the sushi counter in the grocery store at dinner time.

Have a wonderful time today!

>170 msf59: Hey Mark, it's good to see you. Welcome back! I purposely looked out at my bird feeders today, couldn't quite make out one brown bird (binoculars is on my tag sale "look for" list this year) but spotted a goldfinch, which made my day already. Sweet Thursday!

>171 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! Sushi is marked down on Wednesdays, so I usually get a California roll or cream cheese roll (I know, not real sushi - but reliably decent from a grocery store instead of a real sushi place) when I decide to treat myself. The pickings were slim, but I managed that and a couple options to make an easy dinner the next couple of days.

Yesterday was the pre-conference, and an absolute blast! The parking I had chosen was free and not far from the location, which was great. My laptop stayed charged most of the day, so I took notes in a Google Doc directly instead of writing things to type up later. I had to end one session using my phone to finish the notes instead.

For the pre-conference portion, they had different tracks you sign up for, and I'd chosen "Jumpstart Your Research," so got a lot of really good tips about research that I can use personally and pass on to my patrons. I didn't get Wednesday's boxed lunch, but walked to a nearby restaurant instead. As I was on the way, I met someone who had arrived for the conference as well, and we chatted a bit as we walked into the restaurant. The hostess asked if it was the two of us, and we kinda shrugged and said well, we weren't but we could. It was a married guy maybe in his early 60s or so, but we had genealogy in common and chatted quite a bit about our respective family histories over lunch, which was fun. Paid separately at the end - work is paying for mine - and went our separate ways.

Chatting with folks before and after sessions was fun, too. One of the presenters works at the Maine State Library and gave me her card, and I met someone from the Western Mass Genealogical Society that loves going to town clerk's offices and is also researching New York (and other states') genealogy. She gave me the tidbit that every New York town has a historian that you can contact and get information from, so now I'm making plans for an email to the Auburn town historian to find more about my family.

The last session of the day was 4:30-6:30 and an extra I (well, work) paid for. The one I chose was census clues. It was really helpful. Some of it I knew, but sometimes getting it all together in one explanation is really helpful. She went through year by year, showing her family in the census from 1950 to 1790, pointing out information and explaining what other records you would jump to from looking at the census. Hers went a little long and didn't have much time for questions after, so I finished up around 6:40, stopped at the welcome desk briefly, and then walked back to the car. At this point, my bags were heavy and I'm debating changing things up today so it's not quite so tiresome to carry them to the car. I stopped at the grocery store to pick up dinner and a few things for the next couple of days. Got home around 7:30, ate sushi and listened to Well Met before heading to bed and reading a few more chapters of Stargazy Pie.

Today the conference really kicks off around 10, as I didn't sign up for the very early 8 a.m. session (it was extra). I'll probably leave around 9 anyway, just to give myself time to get registered, have a second cup of coffee or tea, and settle in before sessions start. The morning is a keynote and the exhibit hall opens. Then sessions run from 1:30 to 5:30, and I'll decide if I want to stay for the cocktail hour / meet and greet type stuff, go back to the exhibit hall, or if I'm peopled out and want to go home.

Tomorrow is the really long day, with sessions running from 8:30 to 5:45.

Sounds like a worthwhile conference, Mary! Glad you're enjoying it.

The conference sounds like it's super useful to you -- glad it's going well!

>173 bell7: I hope your packed day is useful and enjoyable, Mary! *smooch*

Glad the conference is going well, Mary!

>173 bell7: It's been awhile since I've checked in here. I'm happy to hear that you're having such a great conference! I hope you get to pick up lots of good tidbits.

There were a couple of times NGS held their conference in Raleigh, and we got lots of conference participants coming to our library before and after the conference to do research. All of us had to pitch in to help out, even those of us who did not normally work in reference or genealogy. It was actually a lot of fun!

>126 bell7: How exciting that you had such a fruitful result with the research into your German ancestors! That must give you a lot more leads to follow. Good luck on your continuing research!

Thanks Katie, Misti, Richard, and Natalie!

>178 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene! Though I'm using a lot of my own research as springboards, it's professionally useful, too, since I oversee our local history collection and often the genealogy questions all get referred to me. I find the questions a lot of fun too!

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Did it this morning but just posting now. I honestly was just testing a couple of letter placement and was really surprised when letters started turning green. ARISE, POUTY, GUPPY.

Another productive day at the conference and, um, I might've bought myself a DNA kit? They were only $39...

I'm going to tidy up some of the papers I got today at the exhibit hall so I'm not carrying *everything* tomorrow, and then I'm heading to read a little before bed - tomorrow is the real early start with sessions beginning at 8:30.

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ARISE, POUTY, MELON, BELOW.

Genealogy: My mother's mother was a Leinbach. Everyone named Leinbach, Linebaugh, every other variation you can think of, is descended from Johannes Leinbach and his sons, who disembarked at Philadelphia in the 1720s. The family settled in Oley, Berks County, Pa. One son took his family south into the Carolinas. Another migrated west. The third son stayed in Berks County; he married three times and fathered 23 (!!) children.

For three hundred years the Leinbach family has spread across the country, but in June, many will be traveling to Berks County for a reunion. I've got a copy of Leinbachs in America: the First Five Generations, and the author of it will be at the reunion and conducting workshops. Cool.

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ARISE, POUTY, ALERT (I know, I couldn't think of another word and decided to use it for placement anyway), ACRED, AMBER, ANGER. Phew is right!

>183 weird_O: Bill, that's really fascinating! I'll come back with the more thorough response your post deserves after the conference is over 😊

>183 weird_O: Bill, that's really fascinating and I love that you know your family history that well! My family (Amber and Bell branches) were in Philadelphia roughly 1860-1910, with some cousins probably in the area longer than that. Somehow my German ancestors ended up in Connecticut instead of the midwest, and I really must look into that migration choice more. Did they have friends and family here? Was there a German community in Rockville, CT?

I hope you are going to the reunion and get a chance to connect with all your relatives. That book and connection sounds amazing.

Well, I'm home and will probably spend the entirety of my week organizing things, both personally and professionally, that I have taken away from the conference.

Yesterday was the libraries and archives showcase that my library participated in. I was there from 10-3, and a senior tax abatement worker who's been working on a local history project joined me from 12-3. I had originally intended to keep it a light day and maybe leave early, but I woke up early at 5:30 and had a niggling genealogical question I wanted to answer. I realized I would turn it over in my head and not fall back to sleep, so I spent a couple of hours on it. I had found a petition for naturalization for a Thomas Midgely, the name and place matched a family member's husband, so I spent about an hour and a half determining if it was him. It was not, but I have a nice beginning of a timeline for his wife, Elizabeth Bell (my 2nd great-grandfather's sister), and notes of things that I'm missing. And sorted out a few things on the FamilySearch tree because there was yet a third Thomas Midgely in Brooklyn who'd somehow gotten confused with my family.

So... all that, and here I am all awake and my brain fired up, so I decided to go ahead to the conference for the 8:30 workshops before the showcase. Learned about using FOIA requests for genealogical research (not sure I need it at this exact moment, but the speaker was very funny and engaging, and it may be helpful information in the future), and then had the showcase. I thought maybe some folks would have a connection to the town where I work, and I talked to maybe two that did, but I made a lot of other networking connections and had some really interesting questions that I hadn't anticipated. Some folks in libraries wanted to know how we digitize some of our collections. Others just liked looking at the photos I had out. Someone also came by offering a dinner ticket, and I hadn't really planned on staying, but it was free and I accepted it. One person came by and mentioned an online list they keep of local repositories and said they'd add us. Another is a "photo detective" who gives free consults to libraries, and I'd talked to her at the exhibit hall - she started to walk past, recognized me and looked at the photos briefly. "These are the photos?" Yep. "Call me." YES please! Oh, and another person stopped by and I was telling him about how we're working on making our name file (a card catalog) into a database, and he gave us the brilliant idea to... hyperlink our references to items we've digitized. Such a simple thing, but something we hadn't thought of. So I left there pretty excited, and if people didn't stop by as often as they did to the Rhode Island Historical Society, that was okay. I got more stops than I thought, made connections, and left excited. And because it was steady but not incredibly busy, I was able to have more in-depth conversations with the people who did come by.

When we were finished, my helper offered to bring the stuff to his car, which was parked closer than mine, and bring it all back to the library today, so I headed over to more workshops. I learned about newspaper searching and Irish immigrant records. And then I went to dinner, for one last chat with folks sitting at my table and a presentation someone gave on "10 Things I've Learned in 40 years of researching genealogy." He was a really fantastic - and funny! - speaker, and it was a nice way to end everything. I got home around 8:30 last night with all sorts of things to ponder and directions to go in my research.

The biggest takeaway, I'm afraid, is that overall I've been very scattershot in my research. I haven't kept research logs or citations, and while I often have the original/scanned/copy of a document, I have not organized things as well as I should have. Some of it's going to be back to the drawing board, and I've known that for awhile and been overwhelmed by it. But, what was helpful about the conference is knowing yes, I have some work to do to re-evaluate what I've done and organize my research, but ultimately, organizing it is going to be 1. ongoing (everyone has files and papers that are not sorted) and 2. helpful in the future. I will be able to identify the gaps in my research as I create timelines. As I go back over what I have collected, I may find things I didn't notice the first time around. And as I continue researching, I'll be able to have those (somewhat belated) logs that identify places I've already looked so I don't go wasting time finding things I already have. And, all this will be helpful at the library, too. I'll make some adjustments to the presentations I'm planning on giving in the summer based on what I've learned. And I've learned a lot about sources I can recommend that people may not readily think of, like town reports, that we have in our collection.

Whew! All this is a bit long-winded, and congrats if you read through all that! TL;DR: the conference was really useful personally and professionally, and I left pretty excited about genealogy.

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ARISE, POUTY, CLOUD, GHOUL.

I'm glad the conference was so informative, Mary. Hopefully you get a recovery day after all that!

>186 bell7: I admit I'm a wee tidge surprised... okay, I'm gobsmacked... that y'all haven't hyperlinked the digitized stuff in your reference Materials. How have you been finding the referred to materials again?

But anyway it was a very useful and enjoyable conference, with solid action items and multiple new paths of research to follow. That counts as the biggest possible win!

Sunday *smooch*

>188 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I'll try my best haha. Tomorrow I have the stove coming in the morning, but I'm hoping to get a fun trip (probably genealogy research hehe) before working 3-8.

>189 richardderus: I mean, we have them all linked at our website. But we're creating a database from basically a card catalog name file we have in the local history collection that references page numbers in town histories and town reports and the like when an individual is mentioned - and someone was like, hey, if you link the reference in the database to the exact page of the town report you have digitized, that would be really useful for researchers. Which was a "Duh!" moment for both of us. The database won't be ready to see the light of day for awhile (I'm thinking of it as a multi-year project, honestly), but when it does I think it's going to be pretty robust and a great resource.

>186 bell7: Sounds like you had a great day yesterday! Lots of fascinating genealogical information! I'm glad you had such a great conference.

>191 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene! It was a really fun couple of days, and it's definitely made me excited to keep looking for things I didn't think I'd be able to find (like naturalization records...).

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ARISE, POUTY, ALONG, AGLOW.

Today's agenda:

The big thing is, I'm getting my stove delivered this morning. I still have to re-call the electrician who installed the 220 line to put in the right kind of circuit breaker, have that done and then have an inspection, but we're almost there, and I can cook again starting today.

I'll probably do some meal planning and a grocery shopping today. Exactly how I spend the rest of the time is up in the air, but I have some different errands in mind, some genealogy-related and some not. Then I'm working 3-8 - which worked out well both for me getting the stove delivered and the library needing folks to work tonight. At work, I'll start sorting through some of the cards I received over the conference and contacting people for work-related follow up.

Loved reading about your conference! Glad you had a good time.

>181 bell7: Re: DNA tests, of course it's nice to know more about oneself but they're really over-hyped as an ancestry tool. Without DNA samples from ancestors they're really only accurate to 2nd cousin relatedness. Invaluable for people without reliable recorded ancestry (adoptees, descendants of enslaved people, etc.) but for people with good family relationships the historical record research that you do is so much more helpful.

>194 bell7: Monday *smooch*, Mary. Sounds like a pretty chill kind of a day. New stove delivery is probably the most exciting thing to me because it means you can get your cook on.

Enjoy it all!

>195 norabelle414: Thanks, Nora! And yeah, I don't necessarily know that I'll have anything super clear or new from it, but it may put me in touch with folks that we can use the historical clues to figure out how we're related. I'll have to look a lot at the

>196 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! Sadly, the electrician put in the wrong outlet so I can't use the stove until at least Wednesday. Boo! BUT at least while I'm waiting, I've already paid for all the work *grimaces*

Happy Monday, Mary!

I've never been interested in genealogy, but the way you talk about it like a big mystery or giant puzzle has made the appeal a lot more apparent for me :)

>198 curioussquared: Yeah, finding each record is a lot like fitting the puzzle pieces together, the picture being a clearer picture of my ancestors' lives.

I'm working now on getting some naturalization records. I was able to find one for not my direct ancestor (yet) but his brother, from 1886. The petition said he filed his first papers in a particular court in 1883, so I sent an email to them today asking for those (along with a few emails to other places for other records). I'm hoping it will give me more clues to his immigration, which will in turn help me find more about the four siblings who came over to the United States (Abraham, Elizabeth, John and Arthur - I believe the rest stayed in England).

Good news, the electrician fit me in and came back and fixed the outlet this afternoon. We tested the range and all the burners work, and the oven is now on for 40 minutes burning off the coating so that my food doesn't taste disgusting.

One more microwave dinner, and I'm home free!

Woohoo!

>200 bell7: All the YAY!

Huzzah for a functioning stove!!!

>200 bell7: Yay for your new stove and getting it all installed!

Thanks Natalie, Richard, Micky and Susan! I am relieved to have this bit done. I will grocery shop tomorrow and plan on cooking Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to it!

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ARISE, POUTY, GONAD, COACH, COCOA.

Well, I should get myself going soon. I have a full plan for the morning, as always, and probably won't have time for it all to be honest. Oh well...

Today is my 12-8 shift. I'm proctoring at 12:30, but I only have one volunteer coming in, so I should have time to go through all the cards I got from the conference and start following up with people (on work matters rather than personal genealogy) this afternoon and evening.

Yesterday I was checking things with FamilySearch and I... found what I'm, like, 80% sure is my 2nd great-grandfather's final naturalization paper to become a U.S. citizen. It's dated 19 Oct 1891 (the census record had said 1890, but close enough), and has the right name and place for where he would've been at the time (Glenham - which was Fishkill - New York). The only problem is it just says he's from "England" and Arthur Bell is a fairly common name, so I can't exactly be sure unless I can find some other supporting records. It was pretty exciting to find, though.

I got home last night and had a late & lazy dinner of Ramen noodles, and read through one of the Civil War pension records for another ancestor that I'd had for years (Irving Combs, another 2nd great grandfather). I'd forgotten some of the details included there and really should go through with a fine-tooth comb and pick out more of what it says and names of people listed that my ancestor served with or listed as his doctors so I can follow up with more research. I realized as I was reading it that I'd misread the minister's last name as Gustin rather than Austin. So just for funsies, this morning I Googled "John Austin minister Auburn, NY". And don't I find out that he kept nine journals and they're in Harvard's archives and digitized. So I jump to 1871, and sure enough on the same date as Irving's pension record states, I find written, "Married Irving W. Combs to Miss Josephine Stalker, both of Auburn. $5 _ _”. That made my day already - and I've bookmarked the collection to go back and read through and see who else Rev. Austin may have known in Auburn that connects to my family.

The trouble with this is, it gets me excited and find myself not wanting to do anything else while meanwhile I have another things I need to do haha. A grocery shopping WILL happen this morning, honest.

>207 bell7: Grocery shopping be hanged! Order in and keep working on this fascinating puzzle.

That's my vote, anyway. *smooch*

>200 bell7: Sounds like very good news to me!

>207 bell7: Yay for exciting finds!

I'm so pleased your genealogical sleuthing is bringing you so much joy.

>208 richardderus: *snort* well, thank you for enabling my current obsession.
No, it really is a fascinating puzzle, though. I got lucky with the Austin journals just appearing in a Google search. And I found a lot of the "easy" stuff over the last few years, so now I'm getting more into the nitty gritty of really researching places and time periods and what records even exist so I don't beat my head against a wall.

What I didn't mention when looking for the naturalization records was how many *hours* I'd spent scouring ones in Philadelphia (where my ancestor got married) before getting access to the Dutchess County, NY ones at work (I needed to be in a FamilySearch affiliate library to see them). With the Philly one, I ended up fixing a bit of indexing and finding some gems to use in a workshop I'll be doing in the summer, so it wasn't all a lost cause.

Now that I found the naturalization records (I *may* go back and look for John and Elizabeth's husband, Thomas Midgely, but I don't know where/when to look for John's yet so it's on pause), my current research project is to see if I can figure out who Charles Amber's family was. Arthur Bell married Clara Amber in Philadelphia, and she's the daughter of Charles Amber and Margaret Ashton. Charles, according to his death certificate, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1843. But the Charles Amber that I can find in the 1850 U.S. Census was living with the William and Letitia Craft family in Whitpain, Pennsylvania. The genealogist I spoke to about this particular challenge said I should "research the hell" out of the Craft family and see if I can find a relationship with the Ambers, so that's what I'm up to next. Last night I combed through Whitpain, PA in 1850 and wrote down every Craft and Ambers (how it was spelled more than once) in that census, and I'll start writing out in a Google Doc what I found and next steps today.

Also, I'm planning on going to the National Archives when I'm in DC in a couple of weeks, and looking for a couple of pension records.

>209 alcottacre: Thanks on both counts, Stasia!

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Had to use my fourth guess to eliminate some letters. ARISE, POUTY, TILED, BENCH, ETHIC.

>211 bell7: See there? This stuff is faaar more interesting than looking for the least-bruised avocado! The granular detail you're getting into is what makes research so much fun!

Aeons ago, I wanted to write my Master's thesis on peppercorns as money in medieval Cathar country...the Languedoc region of France and Spain. The spice trade itself could be a dozen dissertations! The political links between Arabic speaking merchant empires and the region's rulers, those links' implications for church policy, how these agricultural products helped get the money economy revved up... analysis paralysis much? It was, however, the daunting task of decoding church Latin in chancery hand that clonked my ambition into utter terror. What might have been....

In which I nearly run out of letters.

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ARISE, POUTY, WRONG, FROCK, DROOL, BROOM.

>214 richardderus: Yeah, it is, even when it ends up getting slow. I frustrated myself with the Crafts the other day, and organized some notes this morning. I might leave it alone for a little bit before tackling it again - I'm at the point where I need to read more about the history of the county/Pennsylvania and get a sense for the layout of towns. My "next steps" are to research a couple more names and see if I can make connections, then I may have to expand from there looking at friends and neighbors and churches and see what I can find in original documents.

That is interesting on peppercorns as money. The local historical society in the town where I work has a newsletter called the Peppercorn because, at least up until 1964 and possibly later, they rented their building from the town at the rate of a peppercorn a year. But to your point, yeah, once you start researching one thing you realize how much more there is to it and it just snowballs from there. On the plus side, I will never get bored.

By the way, I think you'll like this. One of the things I found when I was searching for something else (my apologies, you may need to be in a FamilySearch affiliate library and signed in to see the original) was this letter I have transcribed below:

31 Hooper Street
Chelsea, Mass.
October 11 1928

Clerk of the U.S. District Court.

Dear Sir:-
Will you please send me a duplicate of my fathers American Citizen papers? His name was Edward Fister. He was naturalized October 7th 1884 in New York City. I'm enclosing money order for one dollar. If fee for duplicate papers cost more please let me know and I'll send by return mail what ever it costs. But please send me the duplicate Citizen Papers of my father as soon as possible as I need it to vote for the Presidential Election.
Thanking you for your kindness.
Sincerely yours,
Gertrude Fister
______________
31 Hooper St. |
Chelsea, Mass. |

>216 bell7: I am delighted by Gertrude and her reason for requesting the naturalization papers. I hope she got them.

"Peppercorn rents" in the US! Thank the goddesses I never heard of suchlike going on until today! The rabbit holes proliferate... even what was meant by a peppercorn was the subject of much wrangling. Which spice was meant? What we call a peppercorn wasn't even known before the 12th century... the long peppercorn was the spice of choice, but it was milder so the black pepper we know now was preferred when it was introduced but was also much more expensive. Then there was Guinea pepper, or what we call "grains of paradise"...

I'll stop now.

Thanks for the package!

>215 bell7: I almost ran out of letters too. Phew!

>216 bell7: I love Gertrude!

>216 bell7: I hope Gertrude was successful. *heart eyes*

>217 richardderus: Hahahaha who knew there was so much to be had by studying spices? I love detail rabbit holes, though, this is what makes microhistories so fascinating. And you're welcome!

>218 curioussquared: I mean, by the end there was pretty much only one option, so I was a bit relieved... Isn't that a great letter? Made me to happy to find it.

>219 MickyFine: You'll be happy to know that there's a notation on the back of the letter that simply reads "Duplicate mailed 10/17/1928".

I tried to see if I could find more about Gertrude, but alas, other than the fact that she remained at the same address according to the street listings from the 1930s and early 1940s, I have no more information.

72. Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Why now? Added it to my TBR list late last year on foggi's recommendation, and picked up the audio/ebook combo through the library when I was ready for that combination

Emily is helping her sister out after a car accident and her teenage niece wants to join the cast of the local Renaissance Faire. Only problem: an adult needs to join along with her. So, Emily agrees to be part of the cast, while starting off on the wrong foot with the organizer, Simon. He takes this entirely too serious in Emily's opinion. But she can sure appreciate him in character as a pirate...

This is a cute enemies-to-lovers romance and I adored the Ren Faire setting. I actually really liked Simon's character from the get go and got a little annoyed with Emily thinking she was being to hard on him. But having the audio really helped because the reader could infuse Emily's narration with emotions that I probably wouldn't have picked up on if I was reading from the page alone, and I was less frustrated with her than I would've been otherwise. A few niggling things keep it from being a favorite, but it was enjoyable light reading and I would read another in the series. 4 stars.

73. Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard
Why now? Next on the list as I read through Goddard's oeuvre, and a share read with Stasia

Jemis Greenwood has returned to Ragnor Bella in disgrace, having failed out of his university and broken up with his girlfriend. He works for Mrs. Etaris at the local bookstore and attempts to keep his head down, even knowing that he's at the fore of small-town gossip these days - and that, even if his father, Jakory, hadn't been known as a traitor. Then a stargazy pie randomly shows up on the town square and Jemis, Mrs. Etaris, and old mate Mr. Dart decide to find out where it came from.

This is the first in the Greenwood & Dart series, which is more lighthearted than The Hands of the Emperor and its immediate sequels, and was also written earlier. The characters were great, though, and there are hints of a more complex world than we see at first blush. As a result, I was willing to forgive some of the flaws, such as a general lack of "things happening" except when a lot of things happen, and the confused ending that I didn't follow at all. But I really love Jemis and his friends, and I'm curious to see what mysteries they come across next. 4 stars.

Happy Friday, Mary. I hope you are having a good week. Doing the regular routine here and I have no problem with that, plus I see Jackson today. Have a nice weekend.

74. Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Why now? The author tweeted about Neil Gaiman's blurb, which added the book to my TBR list, and then I bought it on my trip to Saratoga Springs a few weeks ago

Oliver Darkshire writes about the wild and woolly world of antiquarian book selling at Sotherans in this humorous memoir of his time there as an apprentice bookseller.

From the odd ducks who work at the store to the memorable customers and everything in between, this is a delightful read. If you like books about books and the people who love them, I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

>223 msf59: Happy Friday, Mark! Glad to hear you get some Jackson time in today, and hope you have a pleasant weekend.

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ARISE, POUTY, SALAD, SMASH, SNACK.

Happy Friday, everyone! It's been a busy week and will be a busy day, but tomorrow will be full of fun plans and I won't feel completely behind, so it's all good.

Yesterday after work, I was going to mow, but ended up talking to my sister on the phone late enough that I cooked dinner and did a load of laundry instead. I traded out my sweaters for summer clothes while I was at it, and listened to my book club book on audio until bedtime.

Today I need to make sure to leave in an especially timely manner, as we're having a staff meeting and training this morning while we're closed to the public. It's going to be an overview of fairly basic librarian stuff. The fancy names are the reference interview and readers advisory, but basically it'll be about how to talk to people and ask questions so we make sure we're giving them the information they really want, because sometimes the initial question isn't really it. And readers advisory is librarian speak for talking about books with you, hopefully books you like, and making recommendations. The best part of the job, imo.

I canceled my morning volunteers and should only have a couple coming in the afternoon. I have the last of our senior tax abatement workers starting today and am crossing my fingers that I have enough for everyone to do.

I really have to mow my lawn tonight, but have leftovers ready to reheat for dinner after that's done.

Tomorrow I have a haircut in the morning, will probably go tag saling with family, have a birthday party to go to, and then will finish it all up with a Mother's Day dinner at my sister-in-law's since she and I are both working Sunday.

>221 bell7: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Mary!

>222 bell7: I rated the book slightly lower at 3.75 stars, but I am very anxious to learn more of Jemis and his adventures.

>224 bell7: Oh, I definitely need to read that one!

Have a fantastic Friday!

>224 bell7: Once Upon a Tome looks great! I’ve popped it onto my “Read Sooner” list.

Karen O

>224 bell7: I'm hit! I'm hit! The book-bullets are a-flyin'.

Happy Friday, Mary, hope it's as pretty there as it is here. *smooch*

Happy Friday, Mary! I really need to get to Victoria Goddard. I picked up The Hands of the Emperor when it was a Kindle sale... maybe when I'm on vacation next month :)

I love Jen DeLuca's books, she's an autobuy for me now. I enjoy the setting and the characters. I do wonder whether she's going to stick with the "fayre" or branch out a bit?

Hope you have a good weekend.

Reader's advisory is so fun and I miss getting to do that part of the public-facing job. Not enough to leave my role, but I still miss it. :)

>221 bell7: Ooh, glad you enjoyed it!

>227 bell7: Yes, Readers' Advisory is the best!

>222 bell7: I've been through Stargazy Pie twice, and the ending is a bit hallucinogenic. Some of what happens does come clearer in the later books. To me it seemed pretty much hectic action from start to finish, though I sometimes find what other call dialog or description I consider action. I'd absolutely love a map of that valley with it's 2+ water ways, wandering roads and woods to the north and south.

>228 alcottacre: Oh yay for getting you with two book bullets, Stasia! I go to half stars rather than quarter stars, so I think our ratings in this case turn out pretty similar. I'm still looking forward to reading more, though. Happy weekend!

>229 klobrien2: I hope you like, Karen!

>230 richardderus: *fist pump* Hope you have a great weekend, Richard. The weather here is lovely, warm days and cool nights for that blissful time of changing seasons. *smooch*

>231 curioussquared: Oooh, I hope you do and I hope you like it, Natalie. I've really been enjoying exploring Goddard's oeuvre.

>232 charl08: I'm glad to hear the others are as good, Charlotte. I had an awful lot of fun with Well Met.

>233 MickyFine: Readers' advisory is the best part of my job, followed closely by local history/genealogy.

>234 foggidawn: I did, thanks for the recommendation, foggi! I would've liked to buy the series for my library, but looks like I'll have to wait 'til next fiscal year and see if I can fit it in.

>235 quondame: Hallucinogenic is a great descriptor, Susan, and I'm rather glad to hear there wasn't something obvious that I was missing in making it clearer. I think of action as "stuff happening" and while there is some, it was more talking and relationship building. That's not a complaint, mind you, I liked the characters a lot and I found it compelling. But my experience reading it was sort of a slow build up (other than the cult sacrificing the cow) and all of a sudden everything happens at the end, and I wanted to describe that. Agreed about the map!

75. The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
Why now? I either found out about it through work or browsing a website where I get digital review copies from, downloaded it, and finally started it when it was nearly time for the book to be released

*Free e-book ARC received from the publisher through Edelweiss Plus - thank you!*

Hazel and her six-year-old sister Flora are sent to the countryside in Binsey during the air raids in World War 2, when tragedy strikes. Flora falls into the Thames, and fifteen-year-old Hazel blames herself. Fast forward to 1960, and Hazel has built a life for herself, working at a bookshop and in a relationship. But when a first edition of a fantasy book from America arrives, Hazel is floored - the author, Peggy Andrews, has written about Whisperwood, the magical land she herself had invented as a comforting story for her sister. Could Flora still be alive?

The story goes back and forth between the events in 1939/40 and 1960. The prose is fine, but not a style I like, and often came across as stilted to my ear. Hazel, at thirty-five, would impetuously drop everything and try to solve the next part of the mystery of Flora's disappearance, and I had trouble believing that she'd let it go as long as she had before taking some of the steps that she does. Coincidences abound in ways that made me feel dragged rather than carried along by the natural unfolding of the story or characters' choices. On the other hand my library patrons will probably love it? Maybe I'm just getting picky in my middle age. 3 stars.

Wordle 693 3/6

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ARISE, ATRIA, ACRID.

Wordle 694 5/6

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Struggled a bit today pre-caffeine. ARISE, POUTY, START, SCARP, SCARF.

Good morning! Yesterday was a busy day, and today will be too. I had my haircut, then went tag saling with my parents and brother. I only picked up a couple of games at one tag sale, otherwise I seem to have gotten to the point with house needs that I'm getting picky about what I need/want/like. I saw a couple air fryers, but one said "make an offer" and the other was marked $45 and I can wait out prices like that for a used one or buy one new. We finished up around 1:30, and my brother went home.

I had a birthday party to go to near my folks' place, so I hung out for a little while and then went to the party. It's for the younger son of a friend of mine who was probably 4 when we reconnected and is now 11, which is just mind-boggling to me. I had to leave a little early because we had Mother's Day dinner planned at my brother and SIL's for six and I was bringing the charcoal. We grilled turkey burgers and brats, and she'd made potato salad and cowboy caviar (basically a bean salad), all of which was delicious, with s'mores for dessert. Instead of roasting the marshmallows, they were all assembled, wrapped in foil, and stuck on the grill until the insides were gooey, which was brilliant.

After the meal, we played one of my new games, Poetry for Neanderthals. Basically it's like Taboo, but you have the option of getting someone on your team to say one word for one point or a phrase for three points, but you have to speak only in one-syllable words. If you mess up you're supposed to get whacked with the "No!" stick, but that was missing and we skipped that bit. We laughed so much over it, even my dad who doesn't get into party games so was the "judge" of whether we were following the rules correctly. I got home and went straight to bed.

Today, I have nursery at first service, then church and work. This will be my last Sunday for the summer, and the trustees will vote on 2023-24 Sunday hours on Tuesday. I'm only working three days this week, so I have my Google calendar filled with reminders of things to wrap up at work over the next couple of days. When I get home from work, I want to finish mowing the yard. I started on Friday night and ran out of steam. The good news is, I did the fiddly part. The back yard has gardens spaces, but it's not as challenging as the front with the forsythia and other bushes to work around in sections, so it shouldn't take me too terribly long to finish.

Quiet evening planned after that, probably just heating up tacos for dinner and reading my book club book, which I'm unlikely to finish for Wednesday. Tomorrow I'm dropping my car off to replace the rusted exhaust system, but while it gets worked on, my mom and I will go out for a day together as her Mother's Day gift.

Sounds like a great day, Mary. xx

>241 PaulCranswick: thanks, Paul! Hope you've had a good weekend.

Wordle 695 3/6

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ARISE, CLOTH, CANOE. Swapping out my usual second word for one that gave me more consonants turned out to be useful.

Heading out shortly to bring my car to the shop, then out for fun with my mom. I've barely been able to keep up with my own thread, but I am hoping to start a new thread soon and get out to visit others' as well.

Have a great day!

Happy New Sunday, Mary! It's a beautiful one here, so I hope the same holds true up there. Enjoy your time with your Mother. *smooch*

Have a great mother-daughter date, Mary!

>237 bell7: Congratulations on reaching 75, Mary!

Congrats on reading 75 books!!

75! Congratulations on reaching the goal, with lots of time to go this year!

>245 richardderus: and >246 MickyFine: It was a gorgeous day, thanks, Richard and Micky! Started off chilly and grew warm and sunny. Mom can have some physical issues with her feet and back, but she was feeling good enough that we did a little shopping and then took a short hike on trails not far from her place. It was a nice little loop in the woods, and we saw some butterflies and heard a lot of bird song, even spotting an ovenbird on the way out.

>247 FAMeulstee:, >248 figsfromthistle:, >249 atozgrl:
Thanks, Anita, Anita, and Irene! I was helped along with some manga reading in April (which reminds me, I never did an April review, did I?).

>250 bell7: I haven't seen an April in review on your thread yet, Mary. It was a stellar reading month for you!

Here's hoping that you are having a wonderful, beautiful day again today.

Belatedly adding my felicitations on you reaching the magic number!

>251 FAMeulstee: I'll get a belated one out soon, Anita!

>252 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! It's a beautiful morning and I got outside to do some yard work that was annoying me, so I'll count it good for sure.

>253 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

Congrats on 75, Mary! Sounds like you had a nice day with your mom :)

Congrats on hitting the goal!

Yay and congratulations on reading 75 books!

I just got Derring-Do for Beginners so I can get a new, if short, Victoria Goddard fix.

>255 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie! Yeah, it was a fun day.

>256 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>257 quondame: Thanks, Susan! I'll look forward to your thoughts of Derring-Do for Beginners. It's gonna take me a little while to get to my next Victoria Goddard book simply because I have a couple other fantasy titles patiently waiting their turn, and I can't read two books of the same genre at the same time :D