Mark's Reading Place: Chapter One

-Sax Zim Bog, Minnesota



-Northern Hawk Owl





“We need the tonic of wildness... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

"I go to NATURE to be SOOTHED and HEALED, and to have my SENSES put in order."

--John Burroughs

-Jackson & Juno

Audiobook:



Graphic/Comic:



December:

134- Conclave by Robert Harris 4.2 stars (audio)
135- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese 4.8 stars
136- Paying For It by Chester Brown 3.7 stars GN
137- Long Island by Colm Tóibín 4.2 stars (audio)
138- The Way by Cary Groner 3.8 stars E
139- The North Line by Matt Riordan 3.7 stars (audio)
140- Great House by Nicole Krauss 3.5 stars
141- Through Fences by Frederick Luis Aldama 4.3 stars GN
142- Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout 4.6 stars
143- Rare Flavours by Ram V, Filipe Andrade 4 stars GN
144- The Barn: Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson 4.5 stars (audio)
145- Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman 4.2 stars
146- Lost Lustre: A New York Memoir by Josh Karlen 3.6 stars

January:

1- Masterpiece by Brian Michael Bendis 4 stars GN
2- The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning 3.8 stars
3- The Exvangelicals by Sarah McCammon 4.3 stars (audio)
4- Burn: A novel by Peter Heller 3.4 stars (audio)
5- The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni 3.8 stars P

P: Poetry
GN: Graphic Novel
E: e-reader

^ I have really enjoyed doing our shared reads in 2024 and I would like this to continue through 2025 and beyond. Primarily, I would like to read books off shelf, but I could be swayed by an irresistible title. I also would like to do a few rereads. Here are some titles for the early part of the year.

2025

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas w/Mary, Jim, Irene, Kathy, Ellen, Linda P, Katie, Ella January
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning Ellen, Katie, Paul, Rhian, Foggi- Jan, Feb, Mar
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Deb, Benita, Irene, Ellen, Janet, Linda P February
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber Benita, Stasia, Katie, Meg April

Watching Over

This land I watch over
is a place with old stories
and plant medicine.
It is earth a mountain lion walks,
looking into the light of my life
in this little cabin made of stone laid on stone
love labored over love,
and happiness here a hundred years ago
when the fireplace was first made of this quartz,
a baby tooth pushed into the mortar.

It was the year my father was born
when people came from afar to see the new infant,
some walked long distances
from Paul’s Valley.

All were silent in his presence.
It’s the way we lived and live with the newly born.

The bison that lives here now went down the next valley
to hide in great trees.

For a time, that bison has watched over all of us.
Something often does.
Some call it god.
Some call it our ancestors, but the ones I see
in this small cabin are the lion,
the bear in spring
when ghostly wolves, not hungry,
pass by the herd of deer in silence this morning

and even the fox looks in my door
for no other reason
than to watch how I live, to be sure
it is the right way.

-Linda Hogan From The Radiant Lives of Animals

Hello?? Great Horned Owl chicks.

^Thanks to Janet for reminding me to do this. I had a great year of reading and these five were the cream of the crop:

James by Percival Everett
Playground by Richard Powers
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
The Meadow by James Galvin

Once again here is the link to add your top 5:

https://www.librarything.com/list/46058/Top-Five-Books-of-2024

I shared my Top 5 Books of the Year. Now I wanted to share my complete list. There were several books that were no-brainer picks but the others were tougher to nail down. A damn good year.

Fiction:

James by Percival Everett
Playground by Richard Powers
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Meadow by James Galvin
The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin

Nonfiction

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Fire Weather by John Vaillant
Homegrown by Jeffrey Toobin
The Wide Wide Sea Hampton Sides
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

Poetry:

This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets by Kwame Alexander
Homeland of My Body: New and Selected Poems by Richard Blanco
The Radiant Lives of Animals by Linda Hogan
The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing by Kevin Young

Graphic Novel:

Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi
Miles Davis and the Search for Sound by Dave Chisolm
My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book 2 by Emil Ferris
Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by James Sturm
Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined by David F. Walker

Best Reread:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Happy new one, Mark! And happy new year!

Happy 1st thread of 2025, Mark! Wishing you and your family all the best in the new year!

Great topper, Mark - always reminds me of The Revenant; watch out for the bears.

Hardly surprising that you'll have my company again in 2025, God willing.

Welcome back, Mark!

Happy New Year, Mark!!

Looking forward to my shared reads with you.

Happy New Thread, Mark! Happy New Year! I almost forget to put " Currently Reading" on my new thread, so good thing I got here first! :-) Great pictures of you, Jackson and Juno.

Happy New Year Mark!

>9 jessibud2: >10 Carmenere: Thanks, Shelley & Lynda. Happy New Year.

>11 PaulCranswick: I wrestled with a bear shortly after I took this photo. He won. Happy New Year, my friend.

>12 drneutron: Thanks, Jim. Good to be back.

>13 lindapanzo: Happy New Year, Linda. I hope you can join us on a shared read or 2.

>14 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah and Happy New Year. Glad I reminded you about adding the "currently reading" to your thread.

>15 SandDune: Happy New Year, Rhian.

"Guy and Harriet Pringle, newly married, arrive in Bucharest in the autumn of 1939. The city they find is one of contrasts and rumours, on the edge with wavering loyalties and the tension of war, peopled with an international cast of characters, including the inimitable and eccentric Russian émigré Prince Yakimov."

Several of us are doing a shared read of The Balkan Trilogy, starting with The Great Fortune in January. I dipped into it yesterday, getting a bit of a head-start. Manning grabs you pretty quickly.

Has anyone read all 6 books? Has anyone seen the British TV series with Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson?

>18 msf59: I've been meaning to read The Balkan Trilogy at some point so I might join you in reading The Great Fortune. I remember watching the series in TV but a long time ago, so don't recall the details.

Happy new year, Mark!

i'm looking forward to starting The Great Fortune soonish...

Looking forward to keeping up with your 2025 reading, travelling and birding adventures Mark.

>18 msf59: I'll probably reread vol 2 end Jan/Feb.

Let's resolve to do this more.

Two things:
- I started The Count of Monte Cristo today. Only four chapters in and I already hate the bad guys! 😀

- There's a new person, mrgoosecharles, that's an avid birder in Kentucky. You may want to drop by and say hello... https://www.librarything.com/topic/366917#n8710950

>19 SandDune: We would love to have you along for The Great Fortune read, Rhian. Let me know if you decide to read it and I will add you to the list.

>20 katiekrug: Happy New Year, Katie. I am so glad to hear that you will be joining us on The Great Fortune. Happy dance.

>21 Caroline_McElwee: Happy New Year, Caroline and thank you. Glad to hear that you will be tagging along on the 2nd volume of The Balkan Trilogy.

>22 richardderus: That is one big-ass coddiwomple, Richard. I adore that word and it's meaning.

>23 drneutron: I am so glad to hear that you have started Monte Cristo, Jim. I will be about a week behind you. I will stop by and say hey to Mrgoosecharles. I love those birder/book-lovers.

>25 msf59: Try the new one, Birddude.

Happy new year and happy reading and birding and grandfathering, Mark!

>18 msf59: Has anyone seen the British TV series with Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson?
My husband and I watched the series when it first aired back in the 80s. We found it on YouTube recently (it wasn't on any of our streaming services) and have watched 4 of 7 episodes. The last 3 cover The Levant Trilogy and he hasn't read that yet.

Happy New Reading Year, Mark!

I've got another book I'm working on before I get to The Count, so probably the 2nd week of January is when I'll start.

>26 richardderus: I love the well-sized bookish owl. Thank you, RD.

>27 EllaTim: Happy New Year, Ella and thank you.

>28 lauralkeet: Thanks for chiming in on the The Fortunes of War TV series, Laura. I am assuming your enjoying it?

>29 kac522: Happy New Year, Kathy. Have you read The Balkan Trilogy? Inquiring minds...I am so glad you are joining us with Monte Cristo.

Morning After The Election

I can’t control
the vanishing
of bees

but I can control
the honey I swallow
to soothe
the vocal cords

I can’t control boys
bully-tumbling
another boy

in the classroom
like they’re
in a mosh pit

but I can remember
rolling on hills
with boys being the bully

I can’t change my major
from drama to global peace

but I can write
similes of serenity

& poetic sermons
in temples
of matrimonial fanfare

I know the bombs, the explosives,
and Molotovs are overhead

and I can’t control
the lottery, the multiverses,
and tomorrow’s astrology

but whatever tarot card I pick
or whatever
gets thrown
at my face:

Hangman
or Fallen Towers

I can express
my weathering emotions

to sing while hoarse
to control air placement
to find the chakra

the right amount of air
to pass through my throat

oh sing with me
the octave between

blade & nectar
rubble & clouds
ash & mountain

-Regie Cabico From Poem-A-Day

Happy New Year! Happy New Thread!

>32 mahsdad: Happy New Year, Jeff and thanks.

Hey, guess what we have to look forward to in 2025...

Jess Walter has a new book coming out. Yippee

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/so-far-gone-jess-walter?variant=431124750...

>34 mahsdad: Thanks for sharing that, Jeff. I first heard about his new one last week. We will have to wait a few months but really looking forward to it.

>34 mahsdad: -Oh, that sounds really good!

>30 msf59: oh yes definitely enjoying it Mark. It’s very true to the book.

>36 katiekrug: Walter has been on a killer roll, Katie and this one shows a lot of promise too.

>37 lauralkeet: Looks like I will be tracking down the DVDs, once I finish the first trilogy. Thanks.

Happy New Thread!

Dropping off a star.

Happy new Year!

>30 msf59: I haven't read The Balkan Trilogy, Mark, although it does sound interesting. However, I'm trying ever so hard to only read from my over-flowing shelves this year, and I don't own any books by Manning. I'll be paying attention to how you all enjoy the books, and if it pops up at a library sale this year, I may grab it.

Happy 2025, Mark.

>24 msf59: I bought The Great Fortune on Audible yesterday. So I am ready to start.

Hey Mark! I saw the map you posted of your trip on my 2024 thread. Looks like I'll have to take a trip to Queenstown to enable a meetup- which may not be possible. But, It also may be possible, seeing as my brother lives there half of the time...so, we shall see once you have some dates :)

Happy New Year, happy birding, reading, and grandpopping :)

>39 SilverWolf28: >40 figsfromthistle: Thanks Silver & Anita. Happy New Year!

>41 kac522: Happy New Year, Kathy. I understand your mission about reading off shelf. I am improving on that objective too. I still hope we can inspire you to read the Manning books. They sure seem to be your cuppa.

>42 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. Happy New Year to you too.

>43 SandDune: That is awesome, Rhian. Happy New Year.

>44 LovingLit: Happy New Year, Megan. I was afraid of that. How far from Queenstown are you? I sure hope we can make this happen. 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Happy New Year! Happy January! I finished out the year with a strong reading month in December, knocking out 13 titles, which added up to 146 for the year, which I am very pleased with. That might be my biggest total since retiring. The Covenant of Water, Tell Me Everything and The Barn were my top reads for the month. Red Hook Road was the biggest surprise. I have also done a pretty good job with reading OTS (off the shelf) in 2024. I hope that will continue, so stop giving me recs. 😀😀

January Reads:

The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning (shared read)
The Count of Monte Cristo (shared read)
Isola by Allegra Goodman (Netgalley)

**Jackson cannot fit in the toddler swing anymore. We just tried it. ❤️

Morning, Mark! Happy New Year! I have The Balkan Trilogy in the stacks, so I might join you.

Love that photo of Jack and Juno up top - so sweet!

>48 Crazymamie: Happy New Year, Mamie. It is so good to see you. Nice way to kick off the New Year. Our Jackson is a big boy now.

Happy New Year, Mark! Looking forward to following your reading and birding once again. I'm hoping to finish a book today that I've been reading for a month, and then starting The Count of Monte Cristo. With that and my book club book I may be a little ambitious for my January reading plans haha.

I sincerely wish you a happy, healthy and fulfilling new year. May all your wishes come true. Happy reading 2025.

>50 bell7: Happy New Year, Mary. I began the New Year's Day with a birding walk with my birding buddies, so all good here. I am glad we made this Monte Cristo read happen. I will be starting it in just a few days.

>51 Ameise1: Happy New Year, Barb and thank you. I love the image.

-(NMP) I wish.

^Blue Jays were my FOY (first of the year) birds. I slightly cheated because there was some activity at my backyard bird feeders which I did my best to ignore, saving it for the Arboretum where my bird club was having it's annual New Year's Day walk. There were over 30 of us, which was pretty surprising considering how cold it was (29F & breezy). We split up and I led one group and another guy led the other. Our group eked out 10 species and the other group struggled with 7 or 8. That is winter birding for you but we all enjoyed tromping around in the woods. Yep, I am not only a book geek but also a bird geek.

Happy New Year!

>54 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver. I hope you had a great holiday.

>55 msf59: I did! We spent time with friends.

Hope you have a great year of reading!

Happy New Year, Mark. I can't believe how big Jackson is getting. The only bad thing about grandkids is that they grow up too fast. I hope 2025 is a great year for you.

>53 msf59: My FOY was Geese = heading North again = more climate change action?

My daughter's was a Red headed Woodpecker, the one that doesn't migrate.

My great nephew insisted on going in the toddler swing and he has just turned 5 . He was stuck for a bit! Happy New Year!

>53 msf59: Mark, my last book of 2024 was Amy Tan’s wonderful memoir about feeding the birds in her backyard. Title is The Backyard Bird Chronicles. (I can’t get the touchstone to load)…I think you would love it.

Happy new thread, and

Happy New Year, Mark!

HI Mark all the best for a fabulous year of reading in 2025! Love the Jay picture! Bird and book geek is a good combo!

>2 msf59: Love the pictures of Jackson!

>4 msf59: I am reading The Balkan Trilogy - except for the first book, which I read in December - along with you too, Mark :)

>7 msf59: I really need to get to Playground!

Happy New Year, Mark!

>56 SilverWolf28: Sounds perfect, Silver.

>57 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori. Good to see you.

>58 BLBera: Happy New Year, Beth and thanks. Nice to see you stop by. Yep, Jackson is growing up fast .

>59 m.belljackson: Hooray for the FOY geese, Marianne. Did your daughter see a red-headed woodpecker or a red-bellied? People tend to get them mixed up.



^Red-bellied Woodpecker.

>60 vancouverdeb: As long as he fits in it comfortably. It was tight for Jack and he immediately stated that "it hurts".

>61 Donna828: Happy New Year, Donna. I read The Backyard Bird Chronicles. I liked it, although it is fairly lightweight. A bit more of a journal. I sure wish I had her backyard.

>62 quondame: Happy New Year, Susan and thank you.

>63 mdoris: Happy New Year, Mary and thank you. Glad you like the blue jay pic. I wish I could take credit.

>64 alcottacre: Sweet Thursday, Stasia. I am glad you will be joining us on The Balkan Trilogy. I am really enjoying book one.
I m looking forward to your thoughts on Playground.

>66 msf59: Daughter says it was a Hairy or a Downey Woodpecker...?

^^^^^

Can you add the New Poetry Challenge as a Thread?
Thanks!

Hello Mark! Happy New Year, and happy first thread of 2025.

>1 msf59: Mark in the woods and birds. Perfect first message.

>2 msf59: TCFW – too cute for words.

>4 msf59: No promises, but my copy of The Woman in White is upstairs in the Retreat, and I’m going to bring it downstairs just in case it appeals to me in February.

>7 msf59: Half an hour after reading this post, I added my 5 to the list and wrote a bit explaining the choice. Thanks for sharing the link here, otherwise I might not have bothered.

>23 drneutron: Starred and I’ll drop by to visit @@mrgoosecharles after I post here.

>47 msf59: Congrats on the new Jackson calendar. I know how much you love making it and giving it.

>53 msf59: I had a blue Jay visiting yesterday, but he/she wasn’t the first bird I saw. That honor went to a Cardinal, which is not surprising at all, since I always get more Cardinals than any other bird.

Happy New Year and happy new thread!

I think the woodpecker being called red-bellied is weird given its flamin' red head...but bird stuff does tend to oddness.

Mark - here is a link to your FOY Blue Jay

https://www.birdfy.com/blogs/blogs/blue-jay-spiritual-meaning-what-their-appeara....

>68 m.belljackson: I can see the confusion between a hairy and a downy woodpecker but you initially mentioned that your daughter saw a red-headed woodpecker. I have never heard of them visiting feeders but you never know.

What is the New Poetry Challenge? Did I miss something?

>69 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen and Sweet Thursday to you. I am glad you are even considering joining us on The Woman in White read. Keeping it at hand, is at least a first step. I will swing by and check out your Top 5.

Hooray for the Jackson calendar & the FOY cardinals. Funny, we never even saw a cardinal at the Arb.

>70 foggidawn: Happy New Year, Foggi and thank you.

>71 richardderus: You are correct, RD. Whoever named the red-bellied woodpecker must have had a bit too much mead or cider. Supposedly, you can see a sheen of red on their bellies. I have not witnessed this.

-Mike Luckovich

>75 msf59: - Sweet.

Happy New Year, Mark! You are a tough guy to keep up with. I'm placing my star here and look forward to reading out the birds, the books and of course, Jackson!

>75 msf59: Love it.

Hi Mark. I am into Part 2 of The Great Fortune. It started a bit slowly for me; I was struggling with the narrative voice. But it has picked up and I'm happily sucked in now.

Happy New Year, my friend!

>77 DeltaQueen50: Happy New Year, Judy and thanks. I try to keep my visitors entertained. I am currently hooked on pickleball but trying to also keep up with the books and the birds.

>78 EBT1002: Happy New Year, Ellen. Glad you are hanging in there with The Great Fortune. I should finish it today and then onwards to Monte Cristo.

Mark, we have enjoyed our FOY Links to Geese and Woodpecker
and hope you found Blue Jay Link!

>80 m.belljackson: Happy Friday, Marianne. Links?

Scotty and the Rib Tips

So they tell me, get your act together
Write something, make it new for a change
Give up on those errant habits
Go to Chicago
Be there for Birth of Slam
Knock down a few bowling pin icons
Bowling allies, new stain t-shirts
Statues of lint and a make-my-day jockstrap
I’ll sit in with Scotty and the Rib Tips
Watch true brews slide down that mahogany bar
Run it by my man Sergio over at Weeds as we
Wait for the Queen of Poetry to drive in from el Boss Town

So tune up the poems performed to Marsyas’ flute
Keep the meddlesome chthonic wordslingers cranky
Invent a bonus alley, grab the moon
Climb on top of the speaker system and fly
Write a book and get it out
Invent a pseudonym to review it, rave
Rave rave along the Lake
Rehearse the verse all ears radar Michigan
And fall in love a few times so nobody knows about it
Keep it to myself, a few poems quit, quite, and quiet
Outside of so-called competition and the waving blades
Making slow smoky patterns at the old Green Mill

-Bob Holman From Poem-A-Day

^I love this homage to Chicago- my hometown.

>81 msf59: Mark = See above # 72...

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Friday to you. Enjoy your day of PB and books.

>69 karenmarie: I spent a bit of time looking for The Woman in White on shelf R42 in the Retreat this morning and finally found it, way in the back. Heavy sucker, a slipcased Heritage Press from 1964. It’s now downstairs, and will get re-tagged to S24. Bonus result: Found a book that had been tagged TBFound, Reading Judas, and just retagged it! Now I can get rid of the second copy I bought at a Friends book sale, probably giving it to friend Karen in Montana.

Morning, Mark! I am also hoping to finish up The Great Fortune today.

Friday orisons, old thing. Be well and happy this weekend.

>75 msf59: I like that one. Too bad about the circumstances though.

Have a fantastic Friday!

For you, Mark.

        Pickle Ball 

>83 m.belljackson: Thanks for steering me back in the right direction, Marianne. It got lost in the New Year shuffle.

"It is usually said that the sight of a Blue Jay is auspicious. It is a symbol of protection, understanding, and spiritual direction. It symbolizes a good omen or blessing bestowed into your existence."

^Of course, I love it. I am sure glad that was my FOY bird.

>84 karenmarie: Happy Friday, Karen. I have had a great day with PB and the books. I am so glad you found your copy of The Woman in White. I sure hope you can join us in February. I am also glad you located that bonus book too. A Win, Win!!

>85 Crazymamie: Happy Friday, Mamie. Hooray for finishing The Great Fortune so quickly. I actually just wrapped up too. Onward, we go...

>86 richardderus: Thanks, RD. It has been a good, productive day. I hope you have a fine weekend, my friend.

>87 alcottacre: Happy Friday, Stasia. I just finished up The Great Fortune. My year of reading is off and running. Now for Monte Cristo. I won't be blowing through that bad boy. 😜

>88 weird_O: Thanks for thinking of me Bill. Very creative image but I prefer the traditional kind. I am not much of a dancer. Just ask Sue. 😜

Hi Mark, first time following your thread mate and i will see more of what you and Joe get up to, lol.

“Oh, good. And now I must get Yaki up.”

“When can we hope to get rid of that incubus?” Harriet crossly asked.

“I expect he’ll find a room when his remittance comes. Meanwhile, he must be fed and housed and accepted, like a child.”

“A pretty cunning child.”

“He’s harmless, anyway. If the world was composed of Yakimovs, there’d be no wars.”

“There’d be no anything.”

No surprise, but Yakimov is the most colorful and entertaining character in The Great Fortune. He is also completely insufferable. Do not lend him any money. LOL. Looking forward to seeing how this character evolves in the next 2 books.

>92 johnsimpson: >93 johnsimpson: Happy New Year, John. So glad to see you stop by. Joe is the mischievous one. I am the more laid-back one. You'll see. 😜

My FOY was a woodpecker (a great spotted) as well! In my backyard garden. Someone chopped down a tree there, and made a neat woodpile. Of course woodpecker loves it.

Hi Mark!

>94 msf59: "Do not lend him any money. LOL." That is most certainly the truth! I'm about halfway through The Great Fortune. I'm liking but not loving it.

I also wanted to tell you that P and I are planning a trip to Chicago in April. We don't know the exact dates yet but I'll let you know. I would love love love to get together with you and Joe and any of our other Chicagoland LT buddies who are interested. We'll be staying in some friends' condo in the city.

You're getting ready to dig into Monte Cristo. I see that there is a new film production of it. I don't know whether it will come to little Sisters, Oregon, but I sure would like to see it.

I am going to join you for the Balkan Trilogy. I haven't found the book yet (it's in a box somewhere in the carport) but I will and will start it when I find it. So I have a question regarding the book. Are you reading only the first book Great Fortune or are you reading the entire trilogy?

I am curious about your take on Red Hook Road. I have a recorded copy of that book, and thought perhaps it might make a good sitting and knitting listening book.

I am surprised at your end of the year best list. I thought that for sure that the Winter Soldier would be on it. It was one my end-of-year Best list. I think that Daniel Mason is a very underappreciated author. He can set a scene and create mood so very well.

>88 weird_O: I love the image! I'm glad you enjoy pickleball! I can't dance either, just ask my sister. I danced a bit at her daughter's wedding and I asked - did I dance okay? And she said no . But I still danced a bit at William's wedding, because it is the spirit of the thing. Dave can't dance either, and we had no dancing at our wedding. We are well matched.

>96 EllaTim: Hooray for the great spotted woodpecker, Ella. Looks like a lovely FOY bird. Is this your most common woodpecker?

>97 EBT1002: Happy Saturday, Ellen. I am a bit more in your camp on The Great Fortune but I ended up giving it 4 stars and I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes these characters.

We would love to get together with you in April. It has been more than a few years. Just give me a decent heads-up. I'll make it work.

>98 benitastrnad: Funny you read my mind, Benita- I was going to send you a PM regarding The Balkan Trilogy. I felt immediately that this would be just your cuppa, if you had not already read it. I hope you locate that copy. We will be reading one book a month. The Great Fortune is for January. I just finished it.

I ended up really enjoying Red Hook Road. I did not post a mini-review. Bad Mark. I loved The Winter Soldier. It just didn't quite make the cut. I agree with you on Mason.

>99 vancouverdeb: Hooray for the non-dancing club. I am glad that I am not alone. If I get a few beers in me I can get up there and go through the motions, while the wife smiles. She is actually a very good dancer.

>94 msf59: Ah yes, dear Yaki. I, too, found him completely insufferable. Reba and I were both reading the trilogy around the same time and I remember her saying something like "I'll be interested in your thoughts about Yaki when you've finished the trilogy."

With that in mind, I will watch your progress. 😀

>102 lauralkeet: Yep, dear Yaki! LOL. Watching him eat and drink profusely through a meal, as a guest of course and then wipe his mouth and ask someone for a small loan, is both infuriating and funny at the same time. Looking forward to seeing how this character evolves. He turned out to be a pretty good "actor" in the end.

Happy Saturday, Mark! The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books. Enjoy!
My bird feeders have been frequented so much the past few days. Lovely to see with snow in the background.

"Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration."

I've told this origin story before- when Mary was in town visiting back in September. We were at the Cubs game and we were chatting about classics that we still have not read and Monte Cristo came up. I wasted no time, suggesting that we kick off the year with this French classic and here we are. It looks like we weren't alone in having not read it, since several other LTers will be joining us.

I had purchased this lovely Penguin edition a few years ago, so it will also count as a OTS read, which is good since it will take me most of the month to read it. Translation by Robin Buss. I will dive in today.

Not too late to join in. Just sayin'...

'Morning, Mark! Happy Saturday to you.

I've got a female Cardinal and a female Downy. Yesterday I had a Tufted Titmouse, with all the other usual suspects.

>104 Carmenere: Happy Saturday, Lynda. Glad to hear that Monte Cristo is one of your favorite books. I am hoping that it will land like that for me. My feeders have also been crazy busy with our winter regulars. They decimate my main hopper feeder every 2 days. Jeesh...

>106 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. Hooray for the titmouse. Too dark here to see anything.

-Michael de Adder

Happy 2025, Mark! Hope this year brings you great things and lots of books!

Morning, Mark! I like your thoughts on Yaki, although I did not find him in the least entertaining. I have known people like him is real life, and it gets old really fast. The amount of money he has already eaten away is staggering to me, and yet, people continue to lend him money. Yikes.

>108 msf59: Yuh-huh. Not a happy prospect.

Good morning, Mark. I'm starting Part 3 ("The Snow") of The Great Fortune this morning and it is getting a bit better as it moves along. I can see how you ended up giving it a more generous rating than you may have thought about in the early going.

I couldn't sleep last night so I picked up my kindle in the wee hours and started The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, a Booker short listed book and one I have from the library. So now I have two books going. I will try to finish them both in quick order so I can dig into Monte Cristo, which I expect will take up the rest of the month for me.

Happy Saturday!

>108 msf59: Downright terrifying.

>82 msf59:. Nice!

Apologies for being such a slowpoke getting over here, Mark. I thought I’d already visited! Such are the dangers of my now slip-slidey memory. Please bear with me.

So I’m the mischievous one? John Simpson will quickly figure out that you’re the troublemaker, and I’m the one in the side car. 😅

I’m so glad you’re reading The Count of Monte Cristo! Like Lynda, it’s one of my favorites. You’ll be forever glad you read it.

God of the Woods was kind of a so-so year starter, but both the D-Day book, When the Sea Came Alive, and Orbital, are joys. The GN Through Fences came in, and as you expected, I’m liking it very much. Thanks for the tip!

>109 ChelleBearss: Happy New Year, Chelle. Great to see you.

>110 Crazymamie: Happy Saturday, Mamie. Maybe the word "entertaining" doesn't quite fit Yaki but the narrative definitely livens up when he is around. I could not imagine having to deal with a real-life Yaki. We are in agreement there.

>111 richardderus: You got that right, brother.

>112 EBT1002: >113 EBT1002: Happy Saturday, Ellen. Glad you are feeling better about The Great Fortune as you move along. The Safekeep sounds interesting. Are you liking it? I started Monte Cristo. It pulls you in pretty quickly.

>114 jnwelch: Joe made it! Joe made it! Hip hip hooray! Happy New Year, my friend. Glad the books are treating you just fine. I will have to request When the Sea Came Alive and I am glad you are enjoying Through Fences.

"John Simpson will quickly figure out that you’re the troublemaker, and I’m the one in the side car." LOL. He'll also notice that you take the heel from time to time. 😜

Happy New Year, Mark! Have a wonderful year with lots of great reading.

>108 msf59: I don't think I've ever watched a Mad Max movie through to the end. But this image surely represents our world going bonkers. I just read that Michael de Adder's colleague, Ann Telnaes, resigned from WaPo after her cartoon showing Jeff Bezos and other billionaires bowing down to Trump was rejected. (Don't want to upset the Boss!) The NYT has a preliminary sketch:

        

>117 alphaorder: Happy New Year, Nancy. Always good to see you. I sure hope we can do a Meet Up sometime this year. We are far over due. 🤞🤞

>118 weird_O: Howdy, Bill. I love the Mad Max movies but the only reason I like them is that they are fiction and not reality. Funny, I just saw a post on FB about Ann Telnaes and this cartoon. WaPo has become such a disappointment. I am sure Telnaes will find employment at a more reputable organization.

“To Dantes, who had not been thinking about it all, the sudden appearance of this strange shape, this prison shrouded in such deep terror, this fortress which for three centuries has nourished Marseille with its gloomy legends, had the same effect as the spectacle of the scaffold on a condemned man.”

-The Count of Monte Cristo



-"The Château d'If is a fortress located offshore from Marseille in southeastern France. Built in the 16th century, it later served as a prison until the end of the 19th century. The fortress was demilitarized and opened to the public in 1890. It is famous for being one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas's adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo."

I finished the day with just over a 100 pages read. Any fears of this one being a chore to get through have been promptly squashed. Dumas' narrative flows perfectly.

>120 msf59: In addition to having devoured The Count of Monte Cristo 43 years ago, I visited the island of d'If 14 years ago. It's an impressive fort, but only a myth as far as Dumas' story is concerned. Nevertheless, it's always worth a visit.

Happy new year, and happy new thread, Mark!!

>91 msf59: I distinctly remember how long The Count of Monte Cristo is since I read it several years ago. Good luck with it!

>94 msf59: I kept thinking every time that Yak showed up how much he reminded me of Wimpy from the old Popeye cartoons: "I will pay you back on Tuesday. . ."

Have a wonderful weekend!

>108 msf59:
The cartoon is right on target and it made me laugh. I am not a real fan of the Mad Max movies. I am getting so that I don't really like those doomsday scifi things. They are sooooo dark and depressing. Sort of like real life.

The weather is winter fine here. Cold and windy. It might, or might not be snowing by morning, but either way, we aren't going to get the snow here that they will get farther south. Tomorrow will be a perfect day for sitting and reading.

>121 Ameise1: Happy Sunday, Barb .Thanks for sharing your experience with d'If. That sounds special. What do you mean by " only a myth as far as Dumas' story is concerned"? I am curious.

>122 banjo123: Happy New Year, Rhonda and thank you.

>123 alcottacre: Happy Sunday, Stasia. I think the Yaki/Wimpy comparison is apt. LOL. I'm thoroughly enjoying it in the early going.

>124 benitastrnad: Thanks for your thoughts on the dreary Mad Max films and your weather. Have you been getting much snow? How is the unpacking going?

2- The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning 3.8 stars

In The Great Fortune we are introduced to Guy and Harriet Pringle, a young married British couple. They recently moved to Bucharest, at the Eve of WWII. The story focuses on how the Pringles and their friends/co-workers deal with the tensions and fears that arise with the oncoming war. The writing is very solid, rich with detail, and despite the unlikability of most of the characters, the novel works pretty well. This is setting up Book 2 and I’m curious where the story will take us.

*Several of us are doing a shared read of The Balkan Trilogy. Book 2 will be read in February.

>125 msf59: The Fort d'If is tiny. No prisoner was ever able to escape from there. On the contrary, the prisoners were kept worse than animals. This island is in a prominent position in view of the old harbour in Marseille. This has given rise to all kinds of myths, including that Dumas' protagonist stayed there. However, there were other prisoner islands and caves in the region and Marseille where some prisoners actually escaped.

>127 Ameise1: Thanks for the explanation, Barb. Glad you got to see the place.

Morning, Mark! Nice review of The Great Fortune.

Morning, Mamie. Thanks but your review was much better. 😜

^The other day Sue called downstairs and said that there was a hawk in the backyard, under the feeders. I bolted up there and this fella was still on the ground. It is a beautiful Cooper's Hawk and I was able to get a couple of pics before it took off. Cooper's Hawk feast on smaller birds and this must have looked like a buffet to him. Fortunately, he went away hungry.

‘Morning, Mark, and happy Sunday to you.

>108 msf59: OMG. Yes. He got it right. There’s a reason why my thread is titled ‘karenmarie buckling up for a wild ride in 2025’.

>120 msf59: I brought The Count of Monte Cristo downstairs while looking for The Woman in White. Not sure I’ll get it read in January, or at all, but at least it’s in my line of sight now.

>131 msf59: Yay for the photo of the Cooper’s Hawk. I’m assuming that the bird feeder birds were long gone by the time he found your feeders.

I need to work on my feeders today. Suet and sunflower seed are empty.

I've got a Red-Bellied Woodpecker feasting on wild bird seed right now. No other visitors, but he's really going to town.

>100 msf59: Hi Marc, yes, the most common one. Even in town backyards like mine. It’s moving into the city like more adaptable birds are doing. We have three black/white/red species, a green woodpecker and a large black one. The green one we see at our allotment.

>131 msf59: Great!

>131 msf59: Poor li'l hawk...went to the buffet and it was all closed up...aaawww

The Telnaes situation is a horrifying demonstration of 'obeying in advance' as the scum take over the country. They scared her editor into prior restraint of speech.

This is gonna get worse unless something unprecedented occurs.

I'm into Part 2 of The Great Fortune and am enjoying it, after a slow start. Having been to Bucharest, I'm enjoying the portrait of the city Manning gives us. I went to an open-air restaurant much like the one Harriet and Guy go to early on in the book, so that was fun. And I like Yaki. He's just so clueless and out of his depth. I find him a little endearing. That said, maybe he gets more annoying as the book goes on, so I reserve judgment :)

>120 msf59: I'd say it's just like I'd pictured it, but I think I've seen a photo before--probably in high school while we were studying it.

As the 6th looms again, sure wish that still President Biden would award Congressional Medals to all who survived, and did not, that attack.

>131 msf59: That's a great picture! I love watching for hawks on our drives. We get a lot of them sitting on power lines in the country here and the girls are I got to watch one dive from the power line onto the ground so very fast. I hope it managed to catch it's lunch but we lost visual once it got lower than our view from the road.

We have sparrowhawks here that regard the bird feeders as a buffet as well. They get the odd pigeon or starling in the garden. If they do they we get a good look at them as they usually settle down to pull all the feathers off.

>132 karenmarie: Happy Sunday, Karen. "‘karenmarie buckling up for a wild ride in 2025". I sure this was for more thrills than just the opposite. Sighs...

Glad we are tempting you with both Woman in White and Monte Cristo. Lets see if you succumb. 🤞🤞

Yep, no surprise that when the Cooper's showed up, everything else vanished. I hope you got to those feeders.

>133 EllaTim: Wow, Ella It sounds like you have a nice variety of woodpeckers showing up in your area. I will have to look up a few of these.

>134 richardderus: Hey, RD. I am curious how often these hawks visit my backyard. You would think it would be much easier pickings around the feeders than anywhere else. Yep, the WaPo & Telnaes situation is distressing.

>135 katiekrug: I had forgotten that you have visited Bucharest. Glad to hear that Manning did a good job describing it. Sounds like you are a Yaki fan. He does make things interesting when he is around. I am quite pleased that you are enjoying the book.

>136 thornton37814: Thanks for chiming in on Château d'If, Lori. Have you read Monte Cristo?

Hi Mark. I decided I’d better get busy and make the rounds before my HappyNew Year to you ended up on your second thread. :-)

Thought of you the other day when I was walking through Target as saw a kids electric ride on mail truck. I wondered if Jackson had one? He might be too big for it now. Made me smile though.

>137 m.belljackson: January 6 is on Monday. Shudders...It is so sad that we learned nothing for that travesty and soon many of those treasonous bastards will be set free.

>138 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle. I appreciate you sharing the hawk story. Red-tail hawks love those roadside powerlines and treetops.

>139 SandDune: I think your sparrowhawks and our kestrels are very similar. Small and fierce. Although, our kestrels avoid urban areas but like tree-lined prairies and other open spaces.

>142 SuziQoregon: Happy New Year, Juli. Great to see you. Sure miss seeing you around. Jackson already owns several electric vehicles that he loves cruising around on. He just might also like an electric mail-truck. 😜

>144 msf59: It’s totally adorable. You should look it up.

>141 msf59: I've probably read it about 5 times! The first time was in 10th grade in high school.

>131 msf59: they are quite beautiful. I do have a few hawks in my area. One feasted on my chicken that was roaming around in the grass this summer. Not cool but part of their nature.

>143 msf59: Oh sadness. I didn't realize tomorrow was Jan 6th. Ugh.

Hi Mark, do you know about this web site about bird books?
https://www.aba.org/08-49-birding-book-club-best-of-2024/
I found this link on the list from largeheartedboy that you can find on my thread.

Thought I'd better drop in before this thread morphed into thread number 2, Mark. Hope your New Year was a good one.

I'll skip The Count of Monte Cristo for now, Mark. I think it's a bit long for me, at least right now. I'm glad Sue can dance! At least Dave and I are equally matched, dancing wise. Neither of us can dance.

>148 Berly: A moment of silence, Kimmers...

>149 mdoris: Of course, I have heard of the ABA (American Birding Association) but I did not know about this book club or podcast. I may have to give it a lesson. Thanks for thinking of me, Mary.

>150 Familyhistorian: My New Year is off to a good start, Meg. Thank you. How about yours?

>151 vancouverdeb: Monte Cristo is off to a terrific start, Deborah but I agree it's massive size is very daunting. Hooray for the non-dancers. I am in that club. 😜

Remember

Remember the sky that you were born under,

know each of the star’s stories.

Remember the moon, know who she is.

Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the

strongest point of time. Remember sundown

and the giving away to night.

Remember your birth, how your mother struggled

to give you form and breath. You are evidence of

her life, and her mother’s, and hers.

Remember your father. He is your life, also.

Remember the earth whose skin you are:

red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth

brown earth, we are earth.

Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their

tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,

listen to them. They are alive poems.

Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the

origin of this universe.

Remember you are all people and all people

are you.

Remember you are this universe and this

universe is you.

Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.

Remember language comes from this.

Remember the dance language is, that life is.

Remember.

- Joy Harjo

*Marianne shared this beauty with me.

>125 msf59: Yeah, I can see the Yaki/Wimpy thing continuing on. I guess we will see when we get to book 2 in February.

>131 msf59: Fortunately for the other birds, I guess, but that poor guy did not get the buffet he was hoping for, lol.

Have a marvelous Monday, Mark!

>120 msf59: Happy Monday, Mark! Isn't is wonderful we can Google the places we read about?! Visualization is good but seeing the real thing can't be beat.

>131 msf59: Cool photo! I have a Cooper's Hawk living in my back yard but I've never seen it near the bird feeder. They are awesome to have around.

>152 msf59: I think we should be hollering our fool lungs out to prevent anyone from forgetting this was a criminal act. Never, ever think these people are immune from feeling the sting of being shamed and ostracized.

'Morning, Mark. I hope your back to the grind day includes Juno and books. I also hope Sue is feeling better and being at work goes well.

>155 alcottacre: Hi, Stasia. Looking forward to Book 2 of The Great Fortune. I am sure that cooper's hawk found a meal somewhere. He look determined.

>156 Carmenere: >157 Carmenere: Happy Monday, Lynda. I love looking up facts and photos of places and events that I am currently reading. Another bonus, thanks to this amazing hobby we have chosen.

Actually, I am surprised to hear that you have not seen your resident Coop at the feeders. This is definitely an easier meal for them. Maybe, he does it undercover to spare you the aftermath. 😜

>158 richardderus: I am with you all the way on that one, RD.

>159 karenmarie: Hi, Karen. The grind has been treating me very well. Thank you. Me & Juno, baby!

Afternoon, Mark! I finished my current book, so I have decided that I am going to join you on The Count of Monte Cristo, which I have on audio.

Mark, I look forward to learning what you are reading in 2025, and, as always, I look forward to images of your beautiful grandson! Happy Reading and Happy New Year of birding, reading and loving that beautiful child.

>161 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie. I am thrilled that you will join us on Monte Cristo and I can also happily report that it has been a fun ride in the early going.

>162 Whisper1: Thank you for all the kind words, Linda. I am also wishing you a healthy and book-filled 2025. You can expect more pics of our darling Jackson. ❤️

Hundred Days

"The Hundred Days also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815."

^This is a pivotal historical event in The Count of Monte Cristo. I love learning these cool tid-bits. I am also loving this whopper of a novel. Finishing up chapter 25.

Hi Mark, Happy New Year to you!

>1 msf59: Brrrrr!!
>2 msf59: Aw!!

We share James on our best of 2024 lists. I'm happy to see The Meadow on yours as well.

I finally made a thread (I'd be lost without LT even though I don't post a lot) and I'm looking forward to following along with you again this year.

Whew! I have finally made it over to your thread and had quite a lot to catch up on here.

>73 msf59: I can vouch for the fact that red-headed woodpeckers do indeed visit feeders. We have had one on our feeders, or several different ones. There were several years where one would come visit ours in the spring. Maybe it was related to their having babies? The first time I saw one, I was extremely excited, because I hadn't seen them up close before. Such a striking bird! Unfortunately, it has been a few years since we saw any. We probably don't have enough big dead trees in the subdivision.

>74 msf59: On the other hand, we see red-bellied woodpeckers all the time, and yes, they do have a red belly. It's hard to see, but we sometimes get a glimpse of their belly if they're hanging on our feeders at the right angle. I always assumed someone named them "red-bellied" because that was unique and there was already one they called red-headed.

>131 msf59: Unfortunately, I did see a Cooper's Hawk in the trees in our backyard one day, munching down on some unfortunate bird for lunch. Fortunately, I have not seen a Cooper's Hawk again, either before or since.

I have started The Count of Monte Cristo though I haven't gotten as far as I would like. Too much other stuff I've got to do. But we might be getting frozen precipitation Saturday, so maybe I can settle in and read then.

Wishing you a great new year, Mark!

>126 msf59: you guys are so fast with your reading! Sounds like it was worth the read, even if it didn't amaze.

And the Jan 6th anniversary already...that was a shocker to the world as well (as if that helps). :(

>165 Copperskye: Happy New Year, Joanne. Great to see another longtime LT buddy. Lots of memories here. I wish more readers would give The Meadow a try. It is a special one. I will be visiting your new digs, sometime today.

>166 atozgrl: Happy New Year, Irene. Glad you got caught up. I know it is a lot to sort through. LOL. Thanks for setting the record straight on the red-headed woodpeckers. Here, we rarely hear about any feeder sightings of those particular beauties. Sorry, you had to see the aftermath of a Coop visit but at least you rarely have to witness that.

I am really glad you are joining us on Monte Cristo. It is definitely a daunting commitment but I have to say it is a joy to read.

>167 LovingLit: Compared to Monte Cristo, The Great Fortune is practically a novella at 280 pages, so that one was a breeze. Well, I am sure glad the world remembers 1/6/21. We can not forget that horrific event.

-Randall Enos

'Morning, Mark! Happy Tuesday to you. I'm glad Sue's first day of work at her new job went well.

>170 msf59: I was news free yesterday. I will be news free for the foreseeable future. I hadn't realized that the potential end-of-our-country day coincides with MLK Day, even more reason to continue avoiding news.

I've got many happy birds chowing down. All the usual suspects.

Morning, Mark!

>170 msf59: Um..yeah.

Morning, Mark! I finished The Great Fortune yesterday and liked it enough to keep going with the trilogy :)

I'm probably going to bail on The Count of Monte Cristo, as I have to read a book for my RL book club next week and then a library hold that's come in. I do really want to read it, so maybe I'll just start super late (like months after, LOL).

Happy Tuesday, buddy. I’m glad you’re a good time with The Count of Monte Cristo. I love that one.

After seeing your comments on The Meadow, I’ve added it to my WL.

I’m immersed in Garrett Graff’s D-Day book, When the Sea Came Alive, and think it’s one you’d appreciate.

We’re getting our car fixed up at the Honda dealer, so I’m going to be reading some Orbital.

Hi Mark, started The Count yesterday and got about as far as I did on my first try years ago (Chapter 12). So far so good. I hope I can keep up with maybe 10 chapters a day.

>171 karenmarie: Happy Tuesday, Karen. I like the idea of being news-free but I just can't stop watching. A glutton for punishment, I guess. My backyard birdies are also having a merry ole' time at the feeders.

>172 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie. I hope you are enjoying your day.

>173 katiekrug: Hooray for finishing The Great Fortune and sticking with the trilogy. Monte Cristo is a daunting task but so far it has been worth every page. I hope you can still get to it. I put it off for decades.

>174 jnwelch: Happy Tuesday, Joe. Always good to see my favorite LT buddy. I am glad I landed a BB with The Meadow. It is a very under-appreciated novel, IMHO. Is When the Sea Came Alive a GN? Glad to hear you are enjoying Orbital. A very nice surprise from last year.

>175 kac522: You should be hooked at this point, Kathy. I am so glad you gave it another try. 10 chapters a day is an impressive goal. Good luck with it.

^^😀My Chicago peeps!

I'm getting on well with The Great Fortune - it took me a little while to get into it but I'm hooked now.

>178 SandDune: I am glad you locked into The Great Fortune, Rhian. What do you think of Yaki? 😀

My own personal phone tag this morning. Awoke to the sound of the landline phone, and scurried the length of the house, only to get a dial tone. It was someone in my family doctor's office. Then my cell, still on my bedside table, started warbling. Race back to the bedroom just in time for the warbling to stop, as it went to voicemail. Ackkkkkk. Upshot: I had used the health network website to book the next available opening with my doctor for an annual wellness checkup...and that turned out to be in August! I expected the lady who called would be moving me to a slot in February or March. Ehh hmmm. After a bit she confirmed that I already was booked in the next available opening. That still being in August. Ackkkk.

So I was up. Thus began the day. Reading Sherman Alexie's story collection, The Toughest Indian in the World. Scouted the visual terrain of Dorothea Lange's photography before reading. I'm carrying around Evicted (which I failed to read several years ago). I guess I'm just being ready if that lightning strikes me and I have to drop everything to read about rich guys screwing their tenants.

Anyway, that's what's up with me.

I'm done with The Great Fortune and looking forward to part two next month. She sets the stage very nicely and I thought that the opening scene on the train was excellently done.

I hope Sue enjoyed her first day back to work, Mark.

>180 weird_O: Howdy, Bill. Boo to the phone tag chase. What a hassle. They can't get you in for a physical until August? WTH? I am glad to hear that you are reading Alexie. I LOVE his short fiction. I hope you can bookhorn in Evicted. It is a Must Read, IMHO. My favorite book of that year.

>181 PaulCranswick: That is good news, Paul. Glad to hear that Book One worked for you. We will do it again in February.

>182 vancouverdeb: Happy Wednesday, Deborah. Sue's first day went very well. She started computer/software training yesterday and will continue that today. It was a office program she wasn't familiar with. Thanks for asking.

The Angels

As the day turned to dusk, we sensed we could feel
the people we’d loved and lost calling
like a breeze that suggests itself but never
actually awakens the trees. She told me
again about the moment she decided to let
our first child go so she could go on
living herself, and I remembered
how once, as a young man, I’d walked by myself
for a day, until I was lost and came
to a boulder and a creek. She remembered yearning
to comfort our baby after we’d scattered
her ashes, and I remembered that the sun
had been warm; the sound of the creek had filled me
with something as different from thought or song
as a dream. She said she still dreamed of Audrey,
our lost child. And then I told her again
that when dusk fell, a clutch of black birds landed.
Even when I stood up and gestured, there
in that unfamiliar landscape, they refused to fly away.
I think they were hungry. But I had nowhere else to go,
so I lay down under stars so sharp
in that darkness they hurt my eyes, even
when my eyes were closed. All night those black birds
stood watching, waiting for something. Like angels,
she said then and laughed, though I don’t think she was joking.

-Michael Hettich From Poem-A-Day

'Morning, Mark, and happy Wednesday to you.

It's very cold here, although I see it's colder at your house and will stay colder all day. Brrr. The birds here are very hungry.

I don't have any errands or doctor's appointments today, so I already consider today a good day.

Morning Mark, Reading The Count of Monte Cristo today?

>179 msf59: What do you think of Yaki? Well, I think he makes me realise why the Russians wanted a revolution!

Hi Mark and a late Happy New Year! I'm very late - still filling in the blanks on my thread and working on book reviews from December.

Loved the photos of Jackson and also you FBOY blue jay.

I'm also loving the poetry - I guess I need to go check out the thread on Club Read.

>120 msf59: I'm probably not going to get to this until next month Mark, but glad it is hitting the spot for you. I last read Dumas in my teens.

>131 msf59: What a gorgeous visitor.

>187 SandDune: Cleanin' the gene pool of the likes of him is a good and worthy goal.

Happy Wednesday from a Chicagoly cold seaside...winds are a-howlin'.

 

>177 msf59: When the Sea Came Alive is not a GN. It’s that oral history of D-Day I was talking about. So good.

>185 karenmarie: Hi, Karen. Sorry to hear about your cold snap. Hopefully you are staying warm & snug. It sounds like our bird feeders have been very busy.

>186 Carmenere: Happy Wednesday, Lynda. I am fast approaching the 400 page mark, which is a third of the way through. It continues to entertain.

>187 SandDune: LOL, Rhian. You summed up that character well.

>188 streamsong: Happy New Year, Janet and thank you for stopping by. Always good to hear from you. I am glad you like the pics and the poetry. I will share the Club Read thread with you.

>189 Caroline_McElwee: No worries, Caroline. I hope we inspire you to read it at some point.

>190 richardderus: Not bad here today, weather-wise, RD. Cold but sunny and snow-free.

>191 weird_O: I hope you are staying warm and snug with those books, Bill.

>192 jnwelch: I got mixed up on that one, Joe. It sounds really good. On the WL it goes.

-Pat Byrnes



-Jack Ohman

>184 msf59: Such a beautiful, heart-breaking poem! I subscribe to Poem-A-Day, thanks to your recommendation, and have been blessed by it, time and time again. Thank you!

Karen O

>196 klobrien2: Happy New Year, Karen. Good to see you. Glad to hear from another fan of Poem-A-Day. They consistently deliver quality poems.

"The main feature of the Ruspoli Palace was its great staircase. Each of its four flights was made up of thirty monolithic marble steps that rose from the portico on the side facing Largo Goldoni. It was popularly considered one of the “four marvels” of Rome, along with the Borghese Cembalo, the Farnese Dado, and the portal of the Sciarra Colonna. It was built in 1640 by the Caetani family, the third owners of the building which at that time already had its own history."

^ Ruspoli Palazzo is featured in The Count of Monte Cristo. I have never been to Italy but this looks stunning.

I am about a 1/3rd of the way through Monte Cristo and enjoying it very much. How is everyone else progressing?

‘Morning, Mark, and sweet Thursday to you. Sorry Bree & Co. are sick. Hope everybody’s on the mend, especially Sean’s grandmother.

>195 msf59: It's going to become the Capital Building, not the Capitol Building. God help us.

>198 msf59: Gorgeous and overwhelming. I love the floor.

The feeders are really hopping again this morning. I need to stop at the Farm & Garden to get 40 lbs of wild bird seed and more suet. Probably on the way home from lunch with a friend.

>199 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. Bree just texted us that Jack woke up fever-free and raring to go. Hopefully, we will tend to him tomorrow. It sounds like all of our feeders are bustling. Hard to keep up. Good luck getting to Farm & Garden.

Morning, Mark!

I thought of you this morning when I saw this article:

https://www.whio.com/news/local/rare-bird-spotted-ohio/TN3FEGMDUFFJTEZ3GZYDS7GHG...

News focus on President Obama talking with trump made me sick...

Afternoon, Mark! I missed morning. Sorry to hear that Bree's household has been sick. Hooray for Jack feeling better.

>198 msf59: I am currently on chapter 30. I am surprised at how quickly the storyline is moving along - so far no slogs. And it's so good!

>201 scaifea: Sweet Thursday, Amber. Wow! That is indeed a rare sighting. I have seen lazuli buntings but I had to travel to Arizona to do so. The bird in the article photo appears to be a female or a young bird. I hope it finds it's way back home safely. This is what a gorgeous adult male looks like:



-Lazuli Bunting (NMP)

>202 m.belljackson: I am sure Obama was merely being polite. I heard that Kamala completely ignored him.

>203 Crazymamie: Sweet Thursday, Mamie. Thanks in regard to Bree's sick household. Jack is doing better, so Sue will be tending to him tomorrow. I am sure I will see him for awhile. It has been a week.

I am so glad you are enjoying Monte Cristo and moving right along.

-Harry Bliss

^Me & Juno. 😜

Nice to see that Jack is better and that Sue's new job is going well.

Hey Mark--time for a trip to St. Louis--a rare yellow cardinal has been spotted by the director of photography of the St. Louis Cardinals (baseball team):

https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2025-01-07/a-rare-yellow-cardinal...

Hi Mark. Your group reads are obviously going well, it seems like everywhere I visit on LT, someone is reading The Balkan Trilogy! I do hope you enjoy "The Count". I read it as part of a group read here on LT a few years ago and I loved it.

Hi Marc! Enjoying the Comte right now. Just finished a dramatic part! I did start making a list of characters, as there are so many, and they change names or have suns, who is who started to become a bit difficult to keep track of.

>164 msf59: One of the things I really enjoy about reading historical fiction is the history that I find behind the 'fiction.' Glad to hear that you are making progress with The Count of Monte Cristo.

>198 msf59: That does look stunning! Thanks for sharing the picture, Mark.

Have a fantastic Friday!

>207 Familyhistorian: Happy Friday, Meg. Yep, all things going well on those fronts. I am doing my best to avoid these viruses that are going around.

>208 kac522: Hi, Kathy. Wow. These yellow cardinals are popping up all over. I think there was one spotted in Ohio recently. I hope they make their way to the Chicagoland area. Birders here would go berserk.



(NMP, of course)

>204 msf59: Oh wow, he's beautiful!

>209 DeltaQueen50: Happy Friday, Judy. Funny, a few short months ago The Balkan Trilogy was completely off my radar. I was sparked by a couple of my LT buddies and now I am returning the favor. Glad so many are joining the shared read. I am also having a good time with the Count.

>210 EllaTim: Hi, Ella. Yep, that is my only issue with Monte Cristo, are the number characters being introduced. Glad to hear you trying to keep track because Dumas also keeps bringing these characters back.

>211 alcottacre: Happy Friday, Stasia. Yep, having a good time with The Count. I should be close to the halfway point, sometime over the weekend.

>213 scaifea: Morning, Amber. They are beautiful birds and easy to identify.

'Morning, Mark. Happy Friday to you.

I've only got the red Cardinals, but I do see 4 of them right now, plus a Tufted Titmouse and a darned squirrel hanging out upside down on my suet feeder.

Morning, Mark! Happy Friday! Love the yellow cardinal - I have not seen one of those.

>212 msf59: Yeah, I thought it was funny that a photographer of the St. Louis Cardinals, the ultimate red-bird picture-taker, was the one who spotted a yellow cardinal!

Plugging along with The Count. I found a character list online somewhere and printed it out. I was trying to find it again, but it eludes me.

On the way to that, I saw a blurb that said Stephen King's Shawshank Redemption is a modern re-telling of The Count.

>215 karenmarie: Happy Friday, Karen. I don't think many people have seen a yellow cardinal and nothing wrong with the reds ones, right? Darn squirrel...

>216 Crazymamie: Happy Friday, Mamie. Isn't that yellow cardinal a beauty? Maybe both of us might get a chance to see one, one of these days.

I went to a new knitting class yesterday in Lincoln, NE. This yarn shop also hosts a book club that meets once a month. The book for January is Table for Two by Amor Towles. The ladies around the knitting table didn't care much for the book. They said it was too complicated because none of the stories connected making it too hard to figure out. I told them I thought that was odd because the folks on Librarything by and large really liked it. It was an interesting book discussion with a whole different point-of-view from a different group of people than here on the LT threads.

Hi Mark. So glad to hear Jack is feeling good again. There is so much illness going around these days. I’m glad to be home bound for a few days after our 7-inch snowfall last night. A yellow cardinal would show up easily against our white background. 😉

Mark, did you ever read Red-Tails in Love? Author Marie Winn has passed away. I loved that book.

Excellent obit: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/nyregion/marie-winn-dead.html

>217 kac522: Perfect irony, Kathy. I hope you are enjoying the Count. The characters keep rolling in. I am nearing the halfway point. I had not heard that about Shawshank. Interesting.

>219 benitastrnad: I thought Table For Two was excellent and would make for a good discussion. What were your thoughts, since you represent the Mighty 75?

>220 Donna828: Thanks in regard to Jackson, Donna. Sadly, I did not see him today but Sue reported that he looks a bit pale but is back to his usual impish self. I would also love to see that yellow cardinal against a white background.

>221 jessibud2: I have not read that one, Shelley but I have it heard it mentioned. I will check out the obit. Thanks for sharing. ❤️

^Grandma hanging with Jack today. He is looking a bit pale but otherwise he has bounced back. I missed seeing the little guy. 😒

>223 msf59: He does look healthy and ready to take on the world and its baddies. So cute!

>217 kac522: Funny. I was reading the section in The Count yesterday where he is adjusting to being in prison and meets the Abbe. As I was reading that part, I couldn't help thinking about The Shawshank Redemption. It reminded me of that. Of course, the book is mentioned in the movie as well. Although I was aware of some similarities, I couldn't help thinking that maybe King had The Count more in mind when he wrote it than I had previously thought. So it's interesting you saw a blurb that actually called it a re-telling of the story. Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite movies, and The Count is one of my favorite books, so maybe there is something there.

>212 msf59: Interesting about the yellow cardinal. We had a leucistic one in our backyard a few years ago, but I didn't know that they could actually have a yellow color.

It was quite cold today, and I refilled our feeders yesterday ahead of the coming storm. We had a thrasher sitting on one of the feeders. He was so fluffed out that he almost looked round.

I'm really enjoying/ loving The Frozen River, Mark, so I am glad that you did too. I"m glad Jack is feeling better and he is looking handsome as always.

‘Morning, Mark, and happy Saturday to you.

>218 msf59: There was a yellow Cardinal in Alabama a few years back. That was the first time I’d heard of them.

>223 msf59: Such a cutie. I know he must have cranky and bad days, but he always looks so happy and sunny on your threads!

>224 quondame: He sure does, doesn't he, Susan? 😀

>225 atozgrl: Happy Saturday, Irene. It has been several decades since I read King's short story and it has been many years since I watched The Shawshank Redemption, so I don't remember details like that but it looks like I will have to watch the film again. I don't think the cardinal is leucistic. They are calling it a type of color mutation.
Glad you got to the feeders and spotted a thrasher. That is a nice sighting. Keep warm & snug.

>226 vancouverdeb: Happy Saturday, Deborah and thanks. I also enjoyed The Frozen River.

>227 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. Sue said he looked a little tired too but was a very good boy. I miss him. Keep an eye on those feeders- you never know what might show up.

Morning, Mark!

I think "retelling" isn't exactly accurate for Shawshank; maybe an homage to, or just inspired by instead. My favorite retelling is Stephen Fry's The Star's Tennis Balls, which is excellent.

>230 scaifea: Morning, Amber. I think your observation is correct. A homage is more appropriate. I have never read Stephen Fry. Bad Mark?

4- Burn: A novel by Peter Heller 3.4 stars

"From the best-selling author of The Dog Stars, a novel about two men—friends since boyhood—who emerge from the woods of rural Maine to a dystopian country racked by bewildering violence."

I like rugged wilderness stories and Heller is good at spinning these tales. This is his third in a row and I feel like they are getting a bit tired and thin. I became a fan with his debut Dog Stars and his next few books showed a nice diverse range. I would like to see him return to that level. He is talented enough. Burn worked well on audio, so if you are looking for something to entertain you, without much deep thought, give it a try.

Morning, Mark! You are reminding me that The D0g Stars has been sitting on my shelves for several years now.

>230 scaifea: SO interesting! I have not seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption, but I will make time to get to it this year. I did love the short story by King. Sounds like I need to add the Star's Tennis Balls to The List.

>126 msf59: You may have gotten me with The Great Fortune -- I checked out the ebook, so now we shall see if I get around to reading it!

>231 msf59: Aw, *never* Bad Mark! But yeah, you should definitely add him to your list.

>233 Crazymamie: I think you'd love The Star's Tennis Balls, Mamie!

>233 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie. I hope I can nudge you into finally reading The Dog Stars. I really think you will like that one. I would also bet on it, that you will LOVE The Shawshank Redemption once you get around to it.

>234 foggidawn: Hi, Foggi. Good to see you. Was I supposed to add you to the shared list for The Great Fortune? If so, my apologies. I hope you start it soon.

>235 scaifea: Well, my wife my disagree with that, Amber. LOL. It looks like I should add The Star's Tennis Balls to the obese TBR.

>236 msf59: I suppose you can add me to the list -- I just picked it up on your recommendation.

Mark, I own the Dog Stars. As soon as I find it, I'll read it. Thanks for your recommendation!

Mark, I've reached "The Catalans" in The Count of Monte Cristo. I had to slow down over the last couple of days while I focused on my book club book - but after we meet on Wednesday, I should be able to give it more time and attention.

>223 msf59: Love the Jackson photos and can't believe how quickly he's growing.

Hope you have a great weekend!

>237 foggidawn: I added you to the list, Foggi. I hope you can join us. Everyone who has finished has liked it enough to continue the trilogy.

>238 Whisper1: Happy Saturday, Linda. Glad I got you with a BB, with The Dog Stars. I have a feeling you will like it.

>239 bell7: Hi, Mary. Thanks for checking in with an update with Monte Cristo. If you are reading this, along with another book or two, I can understand being behind a bit. Personally, I am zeroed in on this one exclusively.

>228 msf59: Oh, I didn't mean to imply that I thought the yellow cardinal was leucistic. I just meant that as far as odd-colored cardinals go, we had a leucistic one a few years ago. I had never heard of a yellow one before and didn't know that was possible.

>230 scaifea: >231 msf59: I agree, homage sounds like a better term for it.

>239 bell7: I'm about to have to do the opposite. I will soon have to pause my reading of The Count for the next book that our Challenged Book Club is reading this month. Unfortunately, after multiple short books that particular club has read over the past year, this month we're reading a 470 page book. Good grief! I'm going to be quite behind the rest of you in reading The Count by the time I get through that book.

>241 atozgrl: No problem, Irene. I just wanted to confirm that they are not calling this leucism but a mutation. Regardless, it would be a special bird to see.

Sounds like you have your hands full with your January reading. 2 chunksters. Yikes. Good luck.

-Bill Bramhall

'Morning, Mark, and happy Sunday to you.

>243 msf59: I tried to find eggs at the grocery store the other day and the only thing I saw was an opened dozen with several broken ones. I might try again today after book club.

Although it might impact me personally, I hope the rest of the world smacks the chaos demon down at every chance.

>244 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. No problem with finding eggs here but the cost definitely has not come down yet. "Chaos demon"? Very fitting.

^We have had a Northern Flicker visit our suet feeder lately. I think the majority of the flickers have migrated but there are always a few that stick around. They usually feed on the ground, for bugs and worms but with the ground frozen. I love their unique coloring.



^We only see trumpeter swans during the winter. This must be their southern range, if they can find open water. This was from a recent bird walk, along the Des Plaines River. Parts of the river were frozen but this stretch was open. There were also several mute swans mixed in.

^We also have "black" squirrels visiting the feeders. This time there was a pair. They are called black morphs, a mutation of our eastern grey squirrels. Yes, I NEED to clean up the discarded seed. It is a mess back there.

Black squirrels! I miss the tiny black squirrels we used to see all the time on our Indiana property. They were adorable, and never seemed to cause the problems that the other squirrels did.

Morning, Mark! Happy Sunday. Lovely photos.

Lovely photos. Have a wonderful Sunday.

Cute squirrels! The only time I've seen black squirrels was in Princeton, NJ where they are plentiful for some reason. It must be amazing to see them in your own yard. I wish Flickers would visit us; they were regulars in PA but not here in VA. Have a great day Mark!

>195 msf59: Okay, that second cartoon is really scary!

Hi Mark. I hope you are well. I finished The Safekeep (4.8 stars) this morning so I will start Monte Cristo later today. I'm looking forward to it and glad to hear that it pulls you in pretty quickly. It's definitely a tome!

I love the black morphs - so cute. We have a lot of Northern Flickers in the woods near here. They seem to hang out in groups (known as a guttering, a menorah, or a Peterson) more in the winter than in the summer.

>248 Crazymamie: Happy Sunday, Mamie. I have seen black squirrels in Michigan but I did not know they were also in Indiana and yes, they do seem to be of a more gentle and less destructive nature.

>249 Ameise1: Thanks, Barb and I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend.

>250 lauralkeet: Happy Sunday, Laura. Not sure the range of the black squirrels. I have also seen the white ones in North Carolina, which are very cool. Bummer, you don't get to see flickers. They are good looking birds.

>251 EBT1002: Happy Sunday, Ellen. The Safekeep sounds really good. Glad you will be starting Monte Cristo soon. It has been terrific. Hooray for the black morphs and the flickers. I believe your flickers are red-shafted. Ours are yellow-shafted. I have seen both. It seems like most woodpeckers are solitary but I have seen families.

But Since You Finally Asked

No one asked us…what we thought of Jamestown…in 1619…they didn’t even say…”Welcome”…”You’re Home”…or even a pitiful…”I’m sorry…but we just can’t make it…without you”…No…No one said a word…They just snatched our drums…separated us by language and gender…and put us on blocks…where our beauty…like our dignity…was ignored.

No one said a word…in 1776…to us about Freedom…The rebels wouldn’t pretend…the British lied…We kept to a space…where we owned our souls…since we understood…another century would pass…before we owned our bodies…But we raised our voices…in a mighty cry…to the Heavens above…for the strength to endure.

No one says…”What I like about your people”…then ticks off the wonder of the wonderful things…we’ve given…Our song to God, Our strength to the Earth…our unfailing belief in forgiveness…I know what I like about us…is that we let no one turn us around…not then…not now…we plant our feet…on higher ground…I like who we were…and who we are…and since someone has asked…let me say; I am proud to be a Black American…I am proud that my people laboured honestly…with forbearance and dignity…I am proud that we believe…as no other people do…that all are equal in His sight…We didn’t write a constitution…we live one…We didn’t say “We the People”…we are one…We didn’t have to add…as an after-thought…”Under God”…We turn our faces to the rising sun…knowing…a New Day…is always…beginning

- Nikki Giovanni

>252 msf59:
You can add Kansas to your list of Black Squirrel homes. Marysville, Kansas is known as the Black Squirrel City. Most of the squirrels in the area are black. They are so prevalent that the town has capitalized on them and use them as a tourist attraction. There are 51 squirrel sculptures located at various places around town. Each is uniquely decorated. It is called "Clack Squirrel's On Parade." Here is the link to the city of Marysville and its squirrel sites.
https://visitmarysvilleks.org/attraction/black-squirrels-on-parade/

I think I've mentioned that we also have the black morph squirrels here. I see them very often.

>243 msf59: Such a madman!

Happy Monday, Mark! I'll be keeping my eyes wide open for the yellow cardinal. What a beauty!
I have oodles and oodles of black squirrels.
Glad your best buddy is on the mend.

I never saw a black squirrel until I moved to Toronto. I would say they are the majority here. And for the record, ours are NOT small. They are big and fat and look quite well-fed. The tiny red squirrels are cute, small, fast and occasionally I see them chasing each other.

And so far, the squirrel baffle I have over my bird feeder works! It truly does baffle them. I rarely see them trying any more but those that do, learn quickly enough that unless they grow wings, they will not reach the feeder ports! Still, they hang around on the ground to vacuum up the spillage (and there really isn't much of that either).

>255 benitastrnad: "Black Squirrels on Parade"! Hooray for Marysville. Sounds like a fun little town, Benita. Is this close to you?

>256 vancouverdeb: Glad you get to enjoy the black morphs, Deborah. I guess I am not special after all. LOL.

>257 Carmenere: Happy Monday, Lynda. We will both keep our eyes peeled for those yellow cardinals. The red ones are looking particularly beautiful against that white background. Hooray for oodles & oodles of black squirrels.

>258 jessibud2: Morning, Shelley. Hooray for your big, fat, black squirrels. May they continue to be baffled. My visitors also have not figured out the squirrel-proof hopper, which is fine with me. That reminds me- I need to pick up some peanuts in the shell.

^Morning moon...the camera pic doesn't do it justice.

'Morning, Mark! Brrr. Super cold up there, isn't it? Enjoy your day.

>246 msf59: and >247 msf59: Love the pics, especially the Flicker. I'm less pleased with the squirrels, because they wreak havoc on my feeders if they're not squirrel-proofed or hot peppered up (suet).

>261 msf59: Gorgeous. Enough justice that I'm glad you posted it.

>254 msf59: That is breathtakingly beautiful.

Good morning, Mark, and happy Monday. I just wanted to say that I read Robin Buss' introduction last night and Chapter I of Monte Cristo this morning with my coffee. I'm already sucked in and anticipating an enjoyable read.

Morning, Mark!

>261 msf59: Oh, I love morning Moons! I use to see some lovely ones when I would drop Abby off in the wee small hours at the coffee shop where she used to work.

>223 msf59: He is just too cute! Very happy to see that he is feeling better.

>232 msf59: I think I will give that one a pass.

>246 msf59: We are seeing no birds at our feeder lately and have not for a while now. I think they knew that the snow was coming, lol.

>261 msf59: Love that picture!

Have a marvelous Monday, Mark!

>259 msf59:
Marysville is about 50 miles east of Munden. About an hours drive. I drove through it when driving back and forth to Alabama.

A couple of years ago when my sister and her husband were here visiting our mother, they drove over and found all of the squirrel sculpture's. They are the same kind of thing as the cows were in Chicago about 15 years ago. Marysville started out with 20 of them, and the number has steadily grown as businesses, churches, parks, and neighborhoods have added squirrels to the parade roster. The library in town has one.

>261 msf59:
The full moon last night shines in the bedroom window here in Munden. With all the snow it is very bright.

I've never seen a red cardinal much less a yellow one. I would be **Thrilled** to see the more common red.

No black squirrels here in Montana, either. I feel like I'm missing out. ;) The moose, however, is still hanging out in the neighborhood.

>254 msf59: That's beautiful, Mark.

I'm glad the Count is still delightful. I've never watched The Shawshank Redemption. Nor did I realize it was written by Stephen King. I'm thinking I might listen to it as my next audiobook.

Phew, I made it to your thread before you started your next one! It's hoppin' over here. Too bad Peter Heller's latest wasn't as good as his earlier ones. I loved Dog Stars.

Merry Monday, Mark, and happy week-ahead's reads!

Mark - maybe time to revisit Rat in first, THE FLOUNDERING FATHERS to prepare for the 20th...?
then I'm only in it for me for some fun.

>262 karenmarie: Hi, Karen. Glad you like the birds pics and the morning moon. I will try to keep the squirrel posts to a minimum. 😀

>263 EBT1002: Happy Monday, Ellen. Glad you like poem. It is a dark beauty. I am also glad that you have started Monte Cristo. I only read a page or 2 of the introduction. I am always afraid of spoilers.

>264 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie. Hooray for our shared love of morning moons. The moonshine on the snow is a bonus.

>265 alcottacre: Happy Monday, Stasia. I wonder why the birds aren't visiting your feeders? Of course, your weather is much warmer than ours. What species do you see, when they do visit? Inquiring minds...

>266 benitastrnad: >267 benitastrnad: Marysville sounds lovely, Benita. I remember those Chicago cows. Pretty silly, if you ask me. Glad we both had that full moon in our western bedroom windows.

>268 streamsong: We are blessed to have cardinals year round. I get entire families visiting my feeders. I think it is so cool that you have that moose still visiting your area. That is priceless. Yep, Monte Cristo has been a treat. Shawshank Redemption is in King's collection Different Seasons.

>269 labfs39: Happy Monday, Lisa. I hope Heller gets his mojo back.

>270 richardderus: Merry Monday, Richard. All good here in frigid Chicagoland.

>271 m.belljackson: I was not familiar with Pastis, Marianne. I will have to check out I'm Only in This for Me.

"With her husband Bernard now in the grave, seventy-nine-year-old Harriet Chance sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise only to discover through a series of revelations that she’s been living the past sixty years of her life under entirely false pretenses."

I enjoyed Evison's novel Lawn Boy and I have had This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! on shelf for awhile. To help with moving books off shelf, I have been seeking out the audiobook versions and going that route. That is what I am doing here and I started the audio today. Off to a good start. Anyone else read this or any of his other books?

>274 msf59: Except for The Lemmings and a few other odd things, Pastis can be terribly funny!

My daughter gave me 3 (and is looking for the rest - very prolific, this crazy man) under my Christmas
Stocking - the one mentioned above and The Floundering Fathers (no Touchstone) are fine, Nighthogs not so great,
except for the cover. The Floundering Fathers will not disappoint before the 20th...!

Somewhere in one of them are 3 prescient Shark cartoons about anti-global Warming...

-Bill Bramhall

>232 msf59: I brought Burn home from the library for John to read. He liked the beginning and then he said it just kind of fell apart. I read The Last Ranger, and unless I read some rave reviews of future books of his, that'll probably be the last for me. Like you, I adored The Dog Stars.

Cardinals have been spotted (rarely, still) in Colorado and it seems like they are slowly working their way here. Blue Jays were very uncommon here 30 years ago but they are very prevalent today (they let me know when the red tail hawk is nearby). I'm used to seeing both having grown up in NJ. The last time I saw a cardinal (female) was when I was in Illinois three years ago.

And typing that made me remember that I need to refill the feeder before it gets dark...

>275 msf59: Oh, I really liked This is Your Life!

>275 msf59: I haven’t read this one or any by Evison, but “Harriet” looks good and I found a copy on Libby, so I’ll give it a shot. Thanks!

Karen O

>275 msf59: - I listened to this one several years ago and don't remember much about it but I think I enjoyed it 🙂

>266 benitastrnad: >273 msf59: The cows somehow stuck in my memory and for a moment I was thinking that LA had them too - but no we had angels! There was a seated one discoball covered with mirrors outside the Electric Lodge youth center where my daughter took tai kwon do lessons.

Mark, this is what I had to say about Burn when I read it in November of last year. Keep in mind that it was my follow-up book to Playground which may have influenced my lack of love...

"I mostly love Peter Heller's books, but this one fell a bit short for me... It was a quick read and two men fighting for their lives made for an intense experience." (I gave it 3.5 stars)

>275 msf59: I do hope you like the Evison book. I do enjoy a good story about an old lady. Haha!

>278 Copperskye: >279 Copperskye: I may have to agree with you on moving forward with Heller. The Last Ranger was just okay for me too. He seems to be just going the easy route. Glad to hear you have enjoyed cardinals back East. Interesting about the blue jays slowly moving west. I think we will see this a lot in the coming years, as birds adapt and change. They are survivors.

Harriet Chance seems to have got mixed reviews so it is nice to hear you liked it.

>280 klobrien2: Based on the early going, I think you will like Harriet Chance, Karen.

>281 katiekrug: Well, Harriet Chance is working in the early going, Katie so your memory might be right. 😀🤞

>282 quondame: Squirrels in Kansas, cows in Chicago, angels in LA. Cute, offbeat trend. As long as the carbon print is small I don't mind.

>283 Donna828: Hi, Donna. I remember your thoughts on the Heller. You tend to be tough with your star ratings so I thought I might like it better. In this case, I may have liked it less. I think Heller has gotten lazy. Harriet Chance has been good so far.

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Tuesday to you.

>272 msf59: You may post as many pics of squirrels as you wish. I just don’t like seeing them near my feeders. I will admit, they are cute.

>277 msf59: There have always been wildfires in SoCal. I remember the Bel Aire Fire in 1961, when I was 8. Ash fell in Hawthorne, 'way far south, for more than a week. Here’s a tidbit from www.laalmanac.com:

Until the 1870’s, wildfires (as today, mostly accidently (sic) or purposely human-caused) in the mountains north of Los Angeles were considered more of an attraction than a threat, especially at night. They were fondly described as “tongues of flame licking the Sierra Madre.” Since few people lived in or near the mountains, fires there caused no great alarm. In fact, two cattlemen were reported to annually ignite big fires in the mountains, raising little concern. In 1884, wildfires became a concern when flooding from hillsides, eroded by fires, wiped out the track system of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the Los Angeles area. Authorities finally banned needless fires and even threatened to prosecute offenders. As fires and the resulting flooding from fire erosion increasingly threatened property by the late 1800s, Angelenos lost their fondness for “beautiful” wildfires and demanded fire suppression.

>286 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. I do not post many squirrel pics anyway, so we all good. Thanks for the California wildfire quotes. Yes, wildfires are a natural cleanser but this is a level that has never been seen before. I sure feel for these California residents who have lost everything.

>277 msf59: Hi Mark - did you see updated #276 - with The Shark and The Floundering Fathers?!?

>288 m.belljackson: This was the Pastis collection? I did.

Behind as ever.

>247 msf59: We don't get black squirrels here Mark.

>261 msf59: Beautiful morning moon. I always enjoy seeing the sun and moon together in daylight too.

>290 Caroline_McElwee: Happy Sunday, Caroline. Thanks for checking in. See you over on Chapter Two.