Ellen (ebt1002) reads in 2025 - Thread 2

Hello my dear reading buddies.

I'm Ellen, a retired university administrator now living in central Oregon with P, my wife of 29+ years, and Carson, our high-maintenance ginger cat. In addition to reading, I enjoy hiking, biking, canoeing, and watercolor painting. 2025 will be my second year of retirement and I hope I can pick up the pace on my reading. I used to regularly read 75-90 books a year; in 2024 I only got through 57. A lot of that had to do with my time spent watercolor painting, but I still hope to get back to the 75 mark this year.

I'm looking forward to a few shared reads, lots of book recommendations back and forth, and just connecting with my wonderful LT friends. I've been on LT since January 2011 and it has been a source of inspiration, information, and support throughout those years.

Stay Calm and Read On!!

Carson

painting

COMPLETED IN JANUARY

1. The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning 3.5 stars
2. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden 4.5 stars

COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY

3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 4.5 stars
4. The Bear by Andrew Krivak 5 stars
5. The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning 4 stars
6. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa 3 stars
7. We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman 5 stars
8. A Sorrowful Sanctuary by Iona Whishaw 4 stars
9. Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger 4 stars

COMPLETED IN MARCH

10. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon 4 stars
11. Friends and Heroes by Olivia Manning 3.5 stars
12. Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan 4 stars
13. Guide Me Home by Attica Locke 4 stars

COMPLETED IN APRIL

14. Isola by Allegra Goodman 3.5 stars
15. Copper River by William Kent Krueger 4 stars
16. The Husbands by Holly Gramazio 3.5 stars
17. Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan 3.5 stars

COMPLETED IN MAY

18. My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss 4.5 stars
19. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood 4.5 stars
20. Autumn by Ali Smith 3.5 stars (reread)
21. The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich 3 stars

COMPLETED IN JUNE

22. Winter by Ali Smith 4.5 stars
23. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton 5 stars
24. Spring by Ali Smith 4 stars
25. The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan 3 stars
26. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett 5 stars
27. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench 4 stars
28. Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein 4 stars

COMPLETED IN JULY

29. All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley 5 stars
30. Second Life: A Novel by Paul Griner 3.5 stars

Shared Reads / Group Reads

January
✅ The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning -with Mark and others
✅ The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -with Mark and others

February
✅ Silas Marner by George Eliot -with Kim and Beth
✅ The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning -with Mark and others

March
✅ Friends and Heroes by Olivia Manning -with Mark and others

April
✅ The Husbands by Holly Gramazio -with Kim and Beth

June
✅ The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich -with Kim and Beth

Summer
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever -with Mark and others

July
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka -with Beth

August
Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg -with Kim and Beth

September
The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers - with Beth, Mark, Benita, Marianne

Welcome, friends!

I think most folks know this but P and I are heading to Kauai for two weeks. We drive to PDX Saturday and fly early Sunday. I'm looking forward to read, paint, walk, float in the ocean, eat JoJo's Shave Ice, repeat. I love all the snow we are getting here in Camp Sherman but I'm also looking forward to shorts and t-shirts.

Borrowed from Beth's thread:
_________________________
Women's Prize for nonfiction longlist - alphabetical order by author surname:

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum
Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough
The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry
The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
Ootlin by Jenni Fagan
Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
Agent Zo: The Untold Story of Fearless WW2 Resistance Fighter Elżbieta Zawacka by Clare Mulley
By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World’s Ocean by Helen Scales
The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale
Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich
Tracker by Alexis Wright
Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang

Happy new thread, Ellen! I hope you have a great time on your trip.

Have a great trip, Ellen!

Happy New Thread, Ellen,and have a great holiday in Kauai .

Happy new thread Ellen!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Ellen. *High maintenance*, hehe. Perfect Theo descriptor, too. I wonder if that's a ginger boy general description! Although, I have to tell you the funniest thing I've seen all week. I saw someone posted this on instagram, I think it was. She has 4 gingers (how on earth can she tell them apart?!). She puts down 4 identical plastic placemats on the floor of her kitchen, about a foot apart. The cats saunter in and each sits on a placemat. She waits till they are all sitting, then she and her husband put down a bowl of food on each.

Who says you can't train cats? I couldn't stop laughing!

Thanks Jim, Katie, Deb, Susan, and Anita!

>14 jessibud2: Shelley, I've heard that gingers are generally high maintenance but I've known some very easy ones so who knows? And that video sounds hilarious!!! One of our cat sitters says she taught Carson to sit before she'd put his bowl of wet food down but we haven't kept up the discipline. Haha.

Hi Ellen - hope you have a great trip! I'm heading in the other direction: Iceland for 5 days to (hopefully) get a glimpse of the northern lights. I've been there a few times but never in the winter. I'll think of you at the beach while I'm bundled up like the Michelin tire guy!

Safe travels, Ellen.

>8 EBT1002: You are welcome!

>16 vivians: Oh Vivian, I'm longing to do that. Somehow we can never plan ahead.

Ellen, have a lovely, restorative trip.

>8 EBT1002: This prize was new to me, although I see it's not its first year. Mr SandDune has bought The Eagle and the Hart already.

I finished The Spoilt City last night. Scary echoes of our current political situation.

I started Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa which promises to be a quick read.

Checking in on the new thread, Ellen, and hopefully I will not lose track of this one :)

>20 EBT1002: I still need to get to The Spoilt City yet this month. I am hoping to start it this next week.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a quick read (at least in my experience. YMMV)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Slightly belatedly wishing you a happy new thread, Ellen.

Save travels, Ellen, and sunny skies!

Happy vacation, Ellen. I was in Kauai 18 years ago and still remember that trip fondly.

Happy new thread and safe travels

We are safely ensconced in Poipu. 79F and mostly cloudy - stormy expected tomorrow. I'll handle it. 🙂

I finished Days at the Morisaki Bookshop on the plane. It's a sweet, easy read.

Next up: Silas Marner by George Eliot.

Happy new one, Ellen! Hoping that your vacation is full of fabulous!

Enjoy your holiday. I'm looking forward seeing some nice photos 😀

I finished Silas Marner last night and I really loved it. It starts a bit slowly (I took the first two chapters getting used to the combination of unfamiliar dialect and 19th century writing style). The village and the characters are vividly wrought and the second half rolled right along. I wanted to know if what I thought might happen would indeed happen! The story is a fairly simple one but the notion of good guys and bad guys is treated with the complexity it deserves. George Eliot explores themes of loneliness, attachment, and reputation. I'm definitely glad I read it.

>29 EBT1002: Years since I read that Ellen. Hope there won't be too many storms on your hols.

>16 vivians: Your trip sounds wonderful, Vivian, and I hope you do see the Aurora Borealis. We went to a place just north of Fairbanks in January 2022 and they put on a spectacular display for us. It was MINUS 35, and sunrise and sunset were one gorgeous event each day. It was a special experience.

>17 BLBera: and >18 ffortsa: Thanks Beth and Judy.

>19 SandDune: It's the first time I've really paid attention to this prize, Rhian, and I'll not read all of them. But I'll try to read a few.

>21 alcottacre: I'll swing by to see whether you've gotten to The Spoilt City, Stasia. I liked it better than the first in the trilogy.

>22 PaulCranswick: and >23 jessibud2: and >24 labfs39: and >25 banjo123:
Thanks Paul, Shelley, Lisa, and Rhonda!
So far our Kauai holiday has been lovely. After a rainy first night it has been clear and lovely. The ocean has been very calm which I like.

>27 Crazymamie: and >28 Ameise1: Thanks Mamie and Barbara!

>30 Caroline_McElwee: A free a stormy first night, the weather has been perfect.

And I just had to take a break from posting to go out on the lanai to watch Spinner Dolphins go by!!!!!!

>34 EBT1002: Wow, dolphins. What a treat Ellen.

Sounds like you are having a wonderful time!

Good to hear your trip has started off well, though I'm sorry P has caught a cold.

Today I started reading We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman. I'm not sure why but I didn't really expect to like this novel much but I'm about 20% in and I'm quite enjoying it. It has made me chuckle out loud a couple times even though it's narrated by a woman whose best friend is dying of cancer.

Glad to read that you are enjoying your trip. Dolphins sound lovely.

>35 Caroline_McElwee: The dolphins were pretty cool, Caroline. We always see whales and turtles when we spend time on Kauai but the dolphins are a rarer treat.

>36 figsfromthistle: we are, indeed, Anita!

>37 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. It's a bummer that P caught a cold but her colds are usually short-lived so our fingers are crossed.

>39 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb. The trip has started mostly wonderfully!

I don't remember on whose recommendation I put We All Want Impossible Things on hold at the library but I'm so grateful. It is delightful!! It's a funny and sweet celebration of life even in the face of death. Wonderful.

Sounds like you're having a great time, Ellen.

>42 BLBera: Yes, Beth, we are. Despite P's head cold. :-/

FFS. The news just gets worse and worse. Thank god for good books (We All Want Impossible Things continues to be a treat), warm salty seas in which to swim, shave ice, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Oh, and buying art supplies helps, too. :-)

>44 EBT1002: I completely agree, Ellen. We need to take care of ourselves and I'm glad you're doing that.

>26 EBT1002: Yay for being safely ensconced!

>29 EBT1002: Yay for Silas Marner - although it does not top Middlemarch as my favorite Eliot.

>32 EBT1002: I am currently on chapter 10 of The Spoilt City so not quite done with it yet, Ellen.

I hope you continue to enjoy your vacation! Kerry and I are tentatively planning one for the Pacific Northwest in 2026.

>46 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. It's really true. This feels like it will be the proverbial marathon, not a sprint, and we have to pace ourselves, take advantage of the water stops, and remember to enjoy the view now and then.

>47 alcottacre: I've never read Middlemarch, Stasia, but I own it and I'm interested in reading it this year.

If you and Kerry make a trip to the Pacific Northwest, an LT meetup will definitely have to happen!!!

My snobby reader self thinks I'm being excessively generous but I've always said any book that makes me laugh and cry gets five stars. We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman did just that. I loved it.

Narrated by Ashley, whose life-long best friend is in Hospice dying of cancer, the novel is a poignant portrayal of grief -- grief in all its ugliness and glory, selfishness and generosity, desperation and relief. It's trite to say that the deeper we love the harder we fall but this novel captures that truth without descending into trite or trivial. Ashley is surrounded by a delightful cast of characters, a circle of kin and chosen family so full of love for one another that, as a reader, I almost felt my heart burst. They are absolutely preoccupied with Edi's impending death and Newman uses the way each of them copes with that to illuminate their respective personalities. These are not perfect humans, although they come off close to that because they are depicted through Ash's adoring eyes. Ash herself is most flawed (again, her eyes). But they felt real to me. Belle, her 17-year-old daughter, is probably my favorite character; she's funny and wise and kind (and occasionally snarky or petulant, being a teenager).

This is not a Pollyanna portrait of death. As Ash says about birth and about dying: "Love, yes, and plenty of it -- but so many fluids." It is a reminder, though, that life, love, death -- they are all worth it.

This afternoon I started A Sorrowful Sanctuary by Iona Whishaw, fifth in the Lane Winslow series. I like the series because it's set in British Columbia, in the part of the world I call home. Our nephew and his wife and son live in Nelson, and P has a cousin who lives in Kaslo with his wife. Such beautiful territory.

Also this afternoon, P and I went for our daily swim at the beach near our condo. There are often turtles in the waters and today was no exception. But also, a seal swam by about 10 yards from me! This was an endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal. So very cool to see him (her?) swimming along so nearby.

Happy new thread, Ellen. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time in Kauai.

>52 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg. So far it has been a lovely and very low-key holiday. The weather has been perfect.

We watched the first episode of A Remarkable Place to Die on Acorn tonight. It was intense but very engaging. It's set in Queenstown, NZ, where Day 9 of our 14-day trekking trip in October/November is scheduled. It'll be a day off from hiking, just a day to explore the town. Yay!

>54 EBT1002: I wasn't sure about that one, Ellen. I will add it to my list.

I stayed up late last night finishing A Sorrowful Sanctuary, 5th in the Lane Winslow series. This was one of my favorites in the series so far despite being peopled with post-WWII Nazis (a little close to home these days). But the mystery was solid and the romantic tension between Lane and Inspector Darling not too overdone.

Next up in reading: Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger.

Next up in Hawaii fun: today we're going on a Mountain Tubing Adventure.

Tubing! Not since the 1980s in San Marcos, Texas. Have a wonderful time, y'all.

Have a fun adventure, Ellen.

>49 EBT1002: I read We All Want Impossible Things in January and gave it 4 1/2 stars...I thoroughly enjoyed it too. (I don't remember why I didn't give it 5 stars -- maybe I was just feeling curmudgeonly that day)

I am living vicariously through you! Enjoy!

Happy Hawaiian Adventures!!! : )

Whew. I finished Friends and Heroes, third in Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy. It ended with great energy but, for me, this trilogy was a mostly slog with moments of brilliance and profundity. I'm glad to be moving on to something else.

>63 EBT1002: Oh, bummer. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this one more, Ellen. Hope you're having a great time in Hawaii.

>63 EBT1002: Sorry you didn't enjoy the Trilogy. I found it rather engaging (although I had trouble relating to many of the choices the characters made) and went on to the Levant series which focuses on Harriett more.

>54 EBT1002: That looks like an interesting series, Ellen. Thanks for the tip.

Sorry I've been so AWOL, folks. Just busy. We got back from Hawaii on March 3; it was a great trip.

Spring is definitely in the air here in central Oregon.

Our house remodel is progressing nicely.

I've gotten involved with the local branch of Indivisible, a national progressive organization. I'm on the events team so we're planning for the April 5 #HandsOff protest.

I read Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, and really liked it. I had a quibble with one element -- I didn't think Maya should have been responsible for the death; better it had stayed an unexplained accident -- and it had moments when it got a bit lecture-ey. Overall, however, it was a compelling read and I learned some things about bees and about trans experience.

Now I'm reading Guide Me Home by Attica Locke.

Welcome back, Ellen. I liked Mad Honey too. I remember having a quibble with it, too, but a different quibble from yours. Anyway, I agree it was compelling and like you, I learned stuff.

I'm eager to here about your work with Indivisible. I looked into that 8 years ago but the activities and timing didn't work for me (I was still working, on the cusp of retirement, etc.). I should look into it again and see what's going on in my area.

>68 lauralkeet: Hi Laura. I'm not sure the local Indivisible is as organized as I would like but maybe I can help with that. Also, I have to remember that we're only a few weeks into this madness (although we knew it would be bad, I'm not sure we realized how bad it would be and how quickly it would be so bad). It will take time to get organized.

I finished Guide Me Home by Attica Locke last night. It's the third installment in the Highway 59 series. I enjoyed it.

Stopping by to say hi, Ellen. I hope all is well with you.

Glad to hear your Hawaii sojourn was restful, and turtles? Dolphins? One of my lifes favourite moments was being amongst a large pod of dolphins in a small boat. Every which way I turned I was gaping in awe.

I have just got to work with my scone and coffee, and am easing into the day (as is evident from me chatting here to you). There's no point starting up much yet as I have a meeting in 15 mins :)

I read Isola by Allegra Goodman, a good fictionalized account of a woman stranded with her lover and her maid on an island in New France in the 16th century. Interestingly, I forgot it was based on a true story and found myself thinking "this is a good story but it's a bit far-fetched." Being reminded of its basis in little-known true events definitely improved my reading experience.

Now I'm sucked into Copper River, the next installment in the Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger.

We attended the April 5 protest; there were an estimated 700 people here in Sisters, Oregon (population approximately 3200) and most of the vehicles driving past gave us cheerful honks and thumbs up. I got flipped off only four times in two hours.

I feel like the populace needs to learn more about The Gilded Age, as Mark Twain called it. It's what trump wants us to return to and it was rife with corruption, poverty, and inequality. If you were a Rockefeller or a Vanderbilt, they were good times. Sigh.

Call your representatives and urge them to vote NO on R22 this Thursday!!!!

After I finish reading Copper River I'll start The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, a shared read with Beth and Kim.

Another recent Mad Honey reader here. I was pleasantly surprised and enlightened.

Stopping by to say hello and hoping life is busy and fun!

Haven't seen you in a while, Ellen. Hope your life is just so full of good things that you don't have time to talk about them :). How is the house coming?

I couldn't sleep last night so I sat up in bed finishing My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss, one of my favorite authors. I'm giving this memoir 4.5 stars. It also made me want to go back and reread some of her novels.

Good morning, Ellen!! Hope all is well with you and yours. I've never read Sarah Moss...sounds like I should look her up.

Sorry you couldn't sleep, Ellen, but I am glad you loved the Moss memoir. I haven't read all of her novels. Maybe we could choose one to read together?

Bodies of Light is one I own but haven't read...

The house remodel is almost finished! The contractor is down to final bits and bobs. The cleaners will be in there tomorrow. We pick up our final load from storage in Pullman the weekend of May 18, and the appliances will be delivered May 21. The woman at the appliance store told us it would take only 2-3 days to schedule delivery and installation, but when we talked to her yesterday, May 21 was the earliest date. Grrr. Still, it will be alright. We'll be moving in during the days after May 21. We can start putting things in cupboards, etc., after the cleaners are done.

We've spent some time over the past week working in the yard. SO many pine needles and cones!! The yard has a few Ponderosa Pines so needles and cones will be our thing to rake. Especially because of fire risk, we'll have to stay on top of it.

I've been painting and just dealing with details : lots of house-related things plus updating our wills, etc. I'm ready for the abundance of "free time" I imagined retirement would involve. Haha.

>80 RebaRelishesReading: Reba! I highly recommend Sarah Moss.

>81 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I would reread Bodies of Light with you. June or July?

>83 EBT1002: I've made a note re Sarah Moss and will look for her next trip to bookstore.

How exciting that the house is nearly ready. It will be a lot of work but also.a lot of fun nesting I expect. Hope all goes smoothly and that you're soon installed and comfy.

Donna, Karen, Reba, Megan, Laura, Meg ... others who have visited my languishing thread and been ignored by me: hello and please accept my apology. I do hope to be around more moving forward.

June 4 we fly to North Carolina for my SIL's memorial. P will fly home June 9 and I'll stay on with my sister until June 23. She's having surgery on the 17th so I'm going to be there to support and help. All to say, I'll likely read a good bit while there.

>84 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! I am ready to be moved in and settled, that's for sure!

>83 EBT1002: Works for me! Such exciting news about your house!

Safe travels.

>87 BLBera: ok, I'm adding it to the shared read post up there.

Nice to hear from you, Ellen. I'm excited for you & P moving into your house at last (well, soon anyway). You know we'd all love to see photos right? No rush though, you have enough to deal with just getting moved in.

So pleased for y'all that the remodel is nearing the end. A month with your sister, more or less, will no doubt give you both a bit of comfort.

Stay well and happy!

Good to read your update Ellen, and exciting it won't be long before you settle in to your new home, looking forward to hearing how that goes. How is dear Carson?

>89 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. I'll try to post a few photos. To give an idea of how transformed the space is. I admit I had a few qualms given the state of the place when we bought it but it now feels wonderful. It'll feel even better when the construction dust has been cleaned up. *smile*

>90 richardderus: Hi Richard and thanks muchly for the kind sentiments. And yes, I'm actually looking forward to the extended time with my sister. She turns 82 this year....

>91 Caroline_McElwee: Hi Caroline. I'm SO ready to be settled in! Sweet Carson is stretched out on my lap as I write. He's funny -- he gets fussy and as soon as I sit down and spread a fleece blanket on my lap, he hops up, stretches out, and goes to sleep. It's a great excuse for me not to do chores. Haha

This morning I started reading How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. It's off to a good start. So far it feels a bit like a love letter to literature and reading but I can tell it's also going to have a story to tell.

I forgot to mention that I got my lower braces on last Wednesday. So now I have metal braces on both upper and lower teeth. I'm also back on a pretty soft diet for the time being. The upper teeth are definitely straighter than they were four months ago. Yay! The lowers were (are) much more crooked so I hope the braces do their thing.

I also forgot to mention that last week I "participated" in the NYT poetry challenge. It's a new thing where they choose a poem and, over the course of a week, they dig into its story, its structure, its joys, all while encouraging and assisting the reader in memorizing it. Last week's poem was "Recuerdo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay:

+++++++++++++++++++++++

We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.

We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

And yes, I now have it memorized.

Anyone else doing this fun new thing?

>82 EBT1002: How exciting! The next 3 weeks will be forever and will have passed like a flash!
Figuring out what a relaxed retirement looks like will be a whole 'nother adventure.

>82 EBT1002: That's great news. Even if the next few weeks will still be stressful, you'll be able to enjoy it all the more afterwards.

Wishing you safe travels and a lovely time with your sister.

Thanks, Susan, Barbara, and Reba!

I'm enjoying How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. I like that there's a cat. :-)

Getting a house remodeled and ready to move into is A LOT of work! It has seriously cut into my reading and painting time. But we're getting close. Yesterday we painted the inside of the garage. It took all day but it looks so much better. The walls were all scraped and scuffed and just dirty-looking.

Tomorrow we're going to the Oregon coast for two nights to celebrate P's birthday. We've committed to doing whatever we want and not thinking about the house at all. We come back Wednesday, then on Friday we fly to Pullman to get our final pad of things from storage. The appliances get delivered May 22, then it's all about getting moved in and settled. Yay!

I did finish How to Read a Book by Monica Wood last night. What a perfect read for my current head space! I definitely recommend it.

Good luck with everything! Moving is definitely a stressful process.

>100 EBT1002: Yay for things moving in the proper direction. I'm always delighted when people discover Monica Wood. Her writing is...easy to like. It gives more than it takes. Ernie's Ark has always been a favorite.

Stay well and happy as Pullman recedes in your mirrors.

Wow, you're really getting close to the big move. Congratulations and best wishes for a smooth transition.

I'm so excited for you and P! It's been a journey hasn't it? I like the idea of a getaway where you don't think about the house at all. It won't be long until you're comfortably settled in.

>95 EBT1002: memorising poems! I love that. Is it just me, or are you much busier now that you are retired ;)

Things I have memorised are confined to Shakespeare soliloquies from when I was a teen (for English class), song lyrics (obviously), and advertising jingles! Maybe I need to retrain my brain to memorise poetry again.

>82 EBT1002: Hooray! Nice you are almost finished with the remodel. Must be exciting and you must feel relieved that it is coming to an end. Soon you will be able to enjoy the new space! Congrats :)

Thinking of you and wondering how the unpacking is going. Hope it's going well but that you're remembering to not over do it.

Moving is a major project!! It has been all-consuming and exhausting. But tonight should be our last night in the rental cabin. Part of the craziness is that we're really moving from two places (the cabin and storage) into one place while the place we're moving into is still being finished. Still, it's all going well. It's just decimating my reading time, my painting time, and my LT time.

I did finish Autumn by Ali Smith last night. This was a reread for me. I plan to read the entire quartet over the next couple of months.

Now I'm dug back into The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich. It's good but not, I think, her best.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours unpacking boxes of books. I still have a few boxes to go. It's kind of fun rediscovering the books I had in storage this past year!

>101 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>102 richardderus: Thanks Richard. I'll look into Ernie's Ark. She is definitely a new author whom I'm pleased to get to know.

It was satisfying to finally fully leave Pullman behind. Even if it was in the rear view mirror of a U-Haul on a super windy day. *insert scream face here*

>103 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba! We are in the thick of it now!

>104 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. I should have mentioned that the getaway was perfect. It was just what we needed. The rhododendrons all over the valley and in the mountains were in full bloom, as were the wild dogwoods on our drive back through the Cascade Mountains. Oregon really is a gorgeous state!

>105 LovingLit: lol. I do feel busier since I retired, Megan, and I'm not entirely happy about that. Hopefully that will change once we're settled in the new house. Although then there's the trip to North Carolina for my SIL's memorial in early June. !!!!!!

>106 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita. We are indeed excited. Getting the appliances delivered on Thursday was a huge milestone in the process.

>107 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks for checking in, Reba. As you can see here in my updates, it's all going well. It's just such a huge undertaking. I'm ready to be fully in the new space.

>108 EBT1002: Now I'm dug back into The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich. It's good but not, I think, her best.

I recently read this and felt similarly. Good luck with unpacking and putting the finishing touches on your new house!

>108 EBT1002: Glad you found some time to post. I know how time- and energy-consuming moving can be so understand that you don't have a lot of spare time right now. Hang in there, it will end someday :)

I agree with you re The Mighty Red (although I might not be quite as kind)

>112 labfs39:, >113 RebaRelishesReading: adding my agreement about The Mighty Red. I liked her Love Medicine books so much, and have been disappointed by this one as well as The Sentence. Boo hoo.

I'm glad your move is nearing the end, Ellen. It is indeed exhausting and all-consuming. How does Carson like the new digs?

Congratulations on the new home! I hope things settle, and that your new home is filled with peace and love.

>112 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I'm disappointed about The Mighty Red. I picked up my copy at Shakespeare & Co in Paris last fall. I got the stamp on the title page. It should be a souvenir copy but this isn't a novel of hers I feel compelled to keep on my shelves! Oh well.

>113 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba. It's all a bit overwhelming right now.

I'm going to finish The Mighty Red but it may be my least favorite Erdrich. It's certainly low on the list.

>114 lauralkeet: There seems to be pretty good consensus about The Mighty Red, Laura. I love most of her novels. Unlike you, I also loved The Sentence. But this one is falling far short of her usual level.

Carson hasn't seen his new digs yet but he hates the packing here at the cabin. He often hates anything that means there is no lap on which he can stretch out, but the current chaos is duly an affront to his sensibilities. I'll keep y'all posted as we get him settled today or tomorrow.

>115 banjo123: Thank you so much, Rhonda. I know the end result will be a delightful home. We'll get through this and we're lucky to be able to have a nice home in a lovely community surrounded by forests and mountains and lakes and rivers.

I finished The Mighty Red last night. The last fifth or so was really engaging. Maybe my concentration is better now that we're in the new house and, while everything is still chaotic, it's starting to feel like we're on the downslope. This is still not my favorite Erdrich by a long shot but it ended up being a good story.

I'm trying to decide whether to read Winter by Ali Smith since I just read Autumn and I want to read them close together in time -- or should I read one of these many books I took out of boxes these past couple days? It feels good to be surrounded by books on shelves again.

Glad you're at the book-shelving stage of your move. That really makes it feel like home doesn't it?

I see you're one of many who wasn't wild about The Mighty Red. I totally agree but it hasn't stopped me from embarking on a series by Erdrich.

>118 EBT1002: It's the unresolvable dilemma, what to read next. I just scroll fast through the Kindle then take my chances on whatever row of three it lands on, or I'd never, ever decide.

Of course I also read at least three books at a time, which does make it easier on me.

Hi Ellen - so great that you're in the house and getting settled! I thought of you yesterday because I attended my first women's basketball game and loved it - I know you're a fan from LT posts. My daughter and I saw the Liberty in Brooklyn and it was one of the most exciting sports events I've ever seen. I'll definitely go again.

I'm glad you're settling in, Ellen. Hooray for being reunited with your books.

Good luck with the final part of your move, Ellen. I can't wait to see pictures. I just started The Mighty Red and am liking it so far. How fun to rediscover your books.

Well, we are somewhat settled in our new home. There are still a few boxes here and there, the garage is still pretty crazy, and my art space has gotten almost no attention, but it's starting to feel like home. I'm so happy with the decisions we made -- I love the counters, the tile, the paint colors, the floors. I LOVE the primary bath! We've downsized so we're struggling with storage space but it'll all work out. I unpacked boxes of jigsaw puzzles and organized them (sort of) on a shelf in the garage. Photo to follow. That made a huge difference.

Carson is also settling in. That is a relief!

In reading, I finished Winter by Ali Smith today. I liked this reread better than my reread of Autumn but I suspect that is due to feeling more settled. I checked out Spring to read soon but first I've started The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton. It's set in my childhood home state of Florida and Beth said she loved it.

Wednesday we fly to North Carolina for my SIL's memorial. She died a year ago last month so I'm glad we're finally getting around to this. Prudence comes back after 5 days. I'll stay until June 24. I expect my reading pace will pick up while I'm there.

>125 EBT1002: No pressure, right? Safe travels.

My puzzle shelves in the garage. These are all puzzles that I've not yet put together. It was fun to unpack the boxes and be reminded of what I have in my collection, much like the unpacking of the book boxes!

>119 RebaRelishesReading: I'm glad you're reading more Erdrich, Reba. She is absolutely one of my favorite authors, The Mighty Red notwithstanding.

>120 richardderus: It is indeed quite the dilemma, Richard. I'm usually a one-book-at-a-time girl (maybe two). The good news for all of us is that it doesn't really matter what we read next, as long as we keep on reading!

>121 vivians: Hi Vivian. I'm so glad you enjoyed the women's basketball game as much as you did! As you know, I think it's a great game. I also admit that it's nice to know you thought of me. 🙂 The Liberty have been a good team so you should have some fun games ahead of you.

>122 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. It's nice to sit here in our new living room, Carson crashed on my lap, and bookshelves to my left and my right. It is indeed starting to feel like home.

>123 BLBera: Since the photo of my puzzles in the garage worked, I'll try to post some pictures of our new digs, Beth. As you know, I don't always get along well with the picture-posting function on LT. I'll be interested in your experience with The Mighty Red.

>126 BLBera: Haha. Nope, no pressure at all. I've been interested in The Light Pirate for a while, so I expect to enjoy it.

>127 EBT1002: Oooh..very nice! And a bit of room for more...

>124 EBT1002: Lovely to see you both settling nicely into your new home, Ellen. Your positivity is infectious. Wishing you the best always my friend.

Have you tried any of the Liberty Puzzles? They are wooden puzzles any the pieces have unique shapes. True collector's items. They're made in Boulder. A bit pricey, but gorgeous.

>127 EBT1002: I wish we had a garage! My puzzles are on shelves in a former bedroom. I'm glad you are all moved it, Ellen.

Glad you are settling in Ellen. Exciting.

>128 EBT1002: I have a subversive theory: Reading fiction of any sort, pace researchers who insist the fiction needs to be "literary", will eventually lead any but the most disordered minds to greater empathy. Reading is the act of thinking in another head. Even dimly apprehended or not ever internally verbalized, this will become obvious below the mental surface thus putting in a seed of recognition that the events are coming from outside the self, therefore reality is outside the self; if something outside the self is causing real emotion in you, it was created by a real entity capable of experiencing real emotions.

Not one I'll be presenting at a conference, but I'm pretty sure there's truth there.

I bore too easily to read one book at a time. Before realizing I needed aides-memoires and started writing notes to myself, it got hairy. I'd re-read whole books, get bored again, drop the whole thing.

>127 EBT1002: Love the puzzle storage, Ellen. It must feel great to know that they are waiting to be put together and easy to find.

>127 EBT1002: Wow! That's quite a puzzle collection.

Also, just for the record, I'm an Erdrich fan too. I've read several of her books and liked them.

Hope you have a good trip to North Carolina and a wonderful visit with family.

>130 laytonwoman3rd: Haha Linda. I've sworn off buying puzzles for a while. Art supplies, on the other hand.... *wink*

>131 PaulCranswick: Thank you so much, Paul. We met with a window blinds guy today; it will be nice to put that finishing touch on the remodel.

>132 labfs39: I have not tried the Liberty Puzzles, Lisa, but I've looked at them longingly a few times.

>133 vancouverdeb: hi Deb. I just hope the puzzles are safe in the garage. I worry about dust.... But we have no room to spare inside the house. This move was a significant downsize.

>134 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline!

>135 richardderus: I agree with your theory wholeheartedly, Richard!

I too often have trouble remembering what I've read. I'll say about a novel "I don't remember anything about it but I know I loved it." Or I might remember the setting or the mood. I think I'm a little like the character Nick in the old 80s movie The Big Chill: "Sometimes you have to let art just flow over you." Except I wish I were a bit more analytical. Or at least had a better memory! lol

It helps if I talk with someone about what I'm reading or have just read. That works better for me than writing notes (which is a shame because I love all the paraphernalia of writing as well as the also-inherently-subversive nature of writing).

>136 lauralkeet: Exactly true, Laura. I'm excited to set up our puzzle table when I get back from NC. I can get lost in a jigsaw puzzle when I'm too upset about the state of the world to concentrate on a book.

>137 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba. You can see that I went through a bit of a puzzle-buying jag when I first got into it as a hobby.

Your fandom of Erdrich is noted. I've thought about going back and rereading her Love Medicine series but haven't yet done so. There are so many books to read....

>139 EBT1002: Have you considered talking to your phone while reading, or when closing up for the night? I am impatient with the speech-to-text apps, but the spoken-note ones are, for my Pixel-user self, useful.

Hi, Ellen. Really nice seeing you stop by my thread today. For some weird reason, your thread was unstarred. WTH? Well, you are starred now and I am in for The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. Great timing, since I have it on shelf. Let know if I should add anyone else to the shared list.

I hope you are doing well. Safe travels tomorrow.

>139 EBT1002: re >135 richardderus: Give a listen to David Eagleman's pod about the brain on stories:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRNZI5k_1B4

I have a copy of Love Songs of W.E.B. and would like to join in for the September group read. I tend to be slower at reading now that I have a part-time job, but I would like to read this novel and knowing that a group is reading it is incentive to dig in and finish it.

I am enjoying The Mighty Red so far.

>140 EBT1002: "there are so many books to read...." -- ah, yes, indeed there are and quite a few of them are in stacks around my house

How are your lovely desk and chair settled into their new abode? Has Carson found a favourite spot when a lap is not available? I can't remember if you said anything about a garden Ellen

>135 richardderus: "Reading is the act of thinking in another head." Stealing that.

>148 laytonwoman3rd: It's a gift, no theft needed.

Glad to hear you are getting settled into your new home.

>139 EBT1002: I too struggle to remember some books. I try to write reviews write after I read them but it doesn't always happen. And, I certainly remember my RLBG books as we do spend so much time with them.

>141 richardderus: Hmmm.... I have not considered that. I may give that a try since speaking out loud seems to help me cement my memory better. Thanks RD!

>142 msf59: Hi Mark. I have been so inactive this year, I'm not surprised my star got lost. Anyway, it is wonderful to reconnect. I'm glad you're in for the Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois read. I'll keep you posted.

>143 richardderus: I will listen to that tomorrow, RD (once we get through today's memorial service and family overload....). Thanks!

>144 benitastrnad: Awesome- wonderful to have you join us, Benita. I will add your name to the list.

>145 BLBera: Hi Beth. I'm glad you're enjoying The Mighty Red so far. I will be interested in your thoughts as this novel fits in and/or compares to her many others.

>146 RebaRelishesReading: Haha, Reba. Yes, indeed. My MIL reportedly once said "it would be easy to keep a tidy house if one were illiterate."

>147 Caroline_McElwee: Hi Caroline. My desk is still on order but my favorite reading chair is happily settled into a corner of the living room with a good lamp and a bookshelf at hand. I do need to experiment with the side-table situation so I can have coffee, water, or wine also hat hand.

I have a photo of Carson stretched out in a sunbeam in the new house. We were worried that, since this house has no south-facing windows, he would be deprived of this particular hedonistic cat pleasure, but the west-facing slider is serving his needs quite well. I will try to post that photo below.

We will have a garden but it will be an adventure. We're in a relatively dry climate and we have deer. Lots of deer. Still, Prudence will start working on a small (for this first summer) garden when she returns home the day after tomorrow.

>148 laytonwoman3rd: It's perfect, isn't it, Linda?

>149 richardderus: *smooch*

>150 witchyrichy: Hi Karen. I suppose the aging of my brain contributes to my sketchy memory of books I read, but I like the idea of trying different approaches to improving it.

Speaking of books, I stayed up a bit too late last night finishing The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton. I LOVED this novel!!!!! I will be giving this five stars. It never lost my interest and the characters are well-wrought, believably human, and (mostly) memorable. I was born and raised in Florida, so I tend to be drawn to that environment for reading (no longer for living due to the political and physical climates). This novel, set at some unspecified future moment, carries us through a possible climate-change scenario in which Florida is inundated with increasingly severe storms and quickly rising sea levels.

Wanda is born in one such storm. The changing sub-tropical landscape is all she ever knows. Perhaps because of that, she has an uncanny ability to adapt and survive. She also has a connection to the natural world that is not so much magical as spiritual.

The novel is told in four sections: Power, Water, Light, and Time. One thing I loved about it is Brooks-Dalton's exquisite balance between telling and showing. It provides for a perfect pace while lingering in the physical setting and the interpersonal relationships just long enough.

Highly recommended.

>154 EBT1002: Having quickly written those notes, I found myself thinking about the not-remembering-books matter. I realize that I rarely write a summary of the plot of a novel. I wonder if I should start explicitly doing that, even if not for public consumption (I worry about spoilers). Maybe, as Richard suggests, doing that with a voice-activation mechanism rather than writing. Or writing on my computer which always goes faster than writing by hand even though I adore all the paraphernalia and dynamics of hand-writing.

>155 EBT1002: Explaining a book out loud is superb at fixing some corners onto the wall of my mind. I do that by writing but it's the same process...it brings what you *really* thought into relief. Books have lost and gained galaxies of stars as I explained 'em. Today's first review went from three to five to four, then finally up a half, All because I kept trying to explain *why* to myself.

Today is the memorial service and then dinner with a large assortment of family and friends. Tomorrow every except me departs for their respective homes. Y'all will see more of me over the next two weeks since I'll be here at my sister's. She's a reader and pretty introverted so I will also have more time for reading and more time for LT. *smile*

>156 richardderus: I love that: the idea of explaining to myself *why* did I love this novel?? (I'm usually clearer about why I hate a novel than the other way around.)

>154 EBT1002: Funny coincidence, Ellen. I just requested The Light Pirate from my library and there are no holds, so I should be able to pick it up soon. I've had it on my wish list for ages. I can't remember who mentioned it, probably Beth or Katie, and your review makes me happy I decided tto read it now.

>157 EBT1002: I hope the service goes well and is a memorable celebration of a life. Staying around for another week will do both you and your sister a world of good.

Great comments on the Light Pirate, Ellen. It is one that has stuck with me. I think it's normal to forget plots, especially if you read a lot of books. I do find that writing a summary helps, but some of the lesser points often elude me.

Enjoy your time with your sister.

I tried to post a photo of Carson in his sunbeam at the new house but it's a photo P texted to me so it has .heic as its suffix. LT doesn't recognize that as a photo.... sigh.

>152 EBT1002: Love the quote from your MIL :)

>155 EBT1002: Keeping a plot summary for yourself seems like a good idea (although whether I would ever get it done is another question). One thing I enjoy about owning/keeping books I've read is I can pick one up, read the jack and a flip through the book a bit and it tends to come back to me. For audio books or ones I've read but don't own (anymore) a plot summary would be helpful.

>155 EBT1002: I found that forgetting books is a good indication that there was nothing inventive or gripping enough in them to make a mark. I don't need to remember more than one bit of one scene, but if I remember nothing that says a good deal.

Yesterday was a full one. All went very well and it was fun seeing extended family (my sister's wife's nieces, all about my age, and their respective spouses) and friends. I think we're all glad it is behind us but pleased with how it went.

Prudence is on her way to the airport and Carol (my sister) is off at a meeting. I'm sitting her all by myself for the first time in what feels like ages, reading and listening to the birds outside.

I am still enjoying Spring by Ali Smith and I started reading Carol's copy of These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. I plan to intersperse my fiction reading with this collection of essays over the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow I will dig out what watercolor supplies I brought but I'm planning to spend most of the quiet time I have at hand over the next two weeks immersed in reading. It feels like a gift to have this time.

>159 lauralkeet: I hope you enjoy The Light Pirate as much as I did, Laura. It is one of my three 5-star reads so far this year. And thank you for the kind words. I think this time with my sister will be important. It is longer than we have spent together in many, many years.

>160 BLBera: Hi Beth. I'm glad your comment that you had continued to think about The Light Pirate prompted me to take it off the living room shelf and read it sooner rather than later. I've loaned my copy to my sister; it's a novel I want more people to know about.

I should probably just stop worrying about the fact that I don't remember what I read, or that I only sometimes remember what I've read. (I noticed that I had given three books a 5-star rating this year and I had to go back and read comments about We All Want Impossible Things to remember it.... and I loved that novel!). After all, the point is enjoyment. Still, it's something I want to "work" on.

>162 RebaRelishesReading: I've become such a fanatic about getting things out of the house, Reba, that I have copies of only a very few books that I have read. It turns out that LT is a good resource, as well, for giving oneself a reminder about a book. LT is good for so many things. *smile*

>163 quondame: Hi Susan. I do think you're right, that our memory of a book indicates something about its qualities. My memories tend to be of scenes, sometimes a character, often a mood or setting. The plot so often disappears.... *shrug*

Just for fun, I'm making note of my three 5-star reads so far this year:

-- The Bear by Andrew Krivak

-- We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

-- The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Interestingly, after all this talk about not remembering the stories of the novels I read, I remember the story of The Bear quite well. I certainly don't remember all of it but I could relay the basic story to someone sitting here beside me on the couch. I really loved that novel.

>164 EBT1002: So glad the day went well, and that there were some precious catchups Ellen.

I really love Patchett's essays, possibly more than her novels.

One reason (or perhaps it's an excuse rather than a reason) I keep books is because often as I pass by the bookshelf my eyes will fall on a book spine and a memory of the book will pop up. I even take it down sometimes to thumb through it for more memories.

I'm a fan of We All Want Impossible Things too.

Just catching up with you, Ellen. Lots happening. Congrats on moving into the new house. Have a wonderful visit with your sister.

Carson on my lap a couple weeks ago. He does love a lap with a fleece blanket on it. I miss him.

>171 EBT1002: So cute.

Glad you are having such a nice visit, Ellen. These Precious Days was wonderful. Patchett Rocks! Go Carson!

>171 EBT1002: Awww.

Congrats on the big move, Ellen. It's a relief to see the bulk of it in the rear-view mirror, isn't it? Good that this last week went well and you are getting to spend time with your sister.

I loved These Precious Days. And wow, Carson! He looks fluffier than Theo but that stance is sure familiar! ;-)

>166 EBT1002: Good for you for deaccessioning books read. I'm not that good at it, but my main problem is all the books I have yet to read. And the novels leave pretty quickly after I read them, but the non-fiction not so much. I keep reminding myself I need the space.

>153 EBT1002: As a quick follow up: to refresh my memory before my RLBG last time, I asked AI to give me a summary. I remembered enough of the book to realize that ChatGPT had made up a character!

>155 EBT1002: >156 richardderus: >158 EBT1002: These are excellent ideas!

>165 EBT1002: And then there's that: we enjoyed it in the moment.

>154 EBT1002: Since I just finished what I called my favorite book of the year (Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books), I may read The Light Pirate Next.

I hope the memorial service was comforting.

Enjoy your time with your sister.

>168 Caroline_McElwee: I think I'm going to enjoy this collection of essays by Patchett, Caroline. I would like to read more essays and interspersing them with my fiction reading seems like the way to go. It will also help that I will have more reading time over the next two weeks than I do when I'm home having to do "real life."

>169 RebaRelishesReading: That makes lots of sense, Reba. If I didn't also have to have space for my jigsaw puzzles and my art supplies, I might keep more books that I have already read. lol

We All Want Impossible Things had a significant emotional impact on me.

>170 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg. Now that the memorial service is done, I'm enjoying a bit of easy time with my sister. Luckily, she is also a big reader!

>172 Caroline_McElwee: My Carson is pretty darn cute, isn't he, Caroline?

>173 msf59: Hi Mark. I am generally a fan of Patchett although I did not care for Commonwealth at all and I was less enamored with The Dutch House than most folks. I quite liked State of Wonder and Bel Canto was a 5-star read for me. I'm looking forward to enjoying this collection of essays.

>174 lauralkeet: He was one crashed kitty, Laura. *smile*

>175 jessibud2: Hi Shelley. Yes, I am glad to have the move mostly done. Prudence is home dealing with the contractor for some final finishing touches and we need to get some art on the walls....

Carson is not a long-haired cat but his coat is quite soft and luxurious. We do love our ginger boys, don't we?

>176 ffortsa: It's interesting to me how different we all are regarding what books we keep and what we deaccession, Judy (great word, by the way). I will keep a book I absolutely loved and I have a few classics I like to keep about, but since I'm not usually inclined to reread (current Ali Smith seasonal quartet notwithstanding), I try to get them out of the house so I have room for, you know, all the books I haven't yet read! *smile*

>177 witchyrichy: I love that story, Karen. I'm highly suspicious of AI, as it is. I read an interesting article about it in The Atlantic quite recently. If I can find the link, I'll post it here.

If you read The Light Pirate next, I hope you enjoy it. I passed my copy along to my sister and she is pretty engrossed in it. I should have given her a trigger warning about the first part which vividly describes a devastating hurricane. My sister lives in Black Mountain, NC, so it hit a bit close to home.

Let's see if I can share this interesting piece about artificial intelligence fromThe Atlantic.

Next up:

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan -- recommended by Reba

By the way, we watched the Tony's last night to see the 10th anniversary Hamilton "mix tape" performance. The medley was brief but fun. I was pleased to hear so many of the presenters and awardees encouraging folks to "support your local theater." "In these authoritarian times," we need theater and art. So very true.

>182 EBT1002: I enjoyed this one. I think I listened to it.

>182 EBT1002: My RL bookclub talked about it yesterday and it did well. Hope you like it too. You might google Bethnal Green before you get too far into it. My BC (and I) all thought the actual history was interesting background.

>167 EBT1002: I'll have to check what 5 star reads I have had this year, Ellen. Glad you are having an enjoyable trip.

>127 EBT1002: wowsers, that is some puzzle collection! I am in awe :)

>167 EBT1002: The Light Pirate intrigues... I shall have to look into it. I'm not sure I've given m/any 5-star ratings this year! Eta: Small Rain by Garth Greenwell would qualify!

>183 EBT1002: Agree...I was just 'saying' to RD to take solace in literature. Hard to know where solace ends and escapism begins, but still. It's important.

>184 BLBera: So far I'm enjoying The Underground Library, Beth. I'm about a third into it.

>185 RebaRelishesReading: Ha, I actually googles Bethnal Green last evening, Reba. I wanted to know more about the neighborhood.

>186 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb. It's kind of fun to look back and remember the year's top reads so far, isn't it?

>187 LovingLit: My sister had the same experience with The Light Pirate that I had, Megan. She could hardly put it down. It was fun -- she would let me know where she was in the story. I conscientiously avoided any spoilers but it was fun to talk about our reactions to the story and characters as it unfolded. She finished it last evening and said she thinks it will stay with her for a while.

>187 LovingLit: "Hard to know where solace ends and escapism begins..." Yes! I struggle a bit with that and it varies from day to day how much I can take. The escalation of the confrontations in Los Angeles are very concerning. I truly believe we are in the early stages of a police state. After living in this country for almost 65 years and taking so much for granted, this is all very surreal.

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Things are going well here in western North Carolina. My sister and I are enjoying one another's company, I'm helping her manage her anxiety as the surgery date approaches (books and puzzles help), and we are having lovely weather. I went for a good morning walk this morning. As much as I love Oregon, I could live here.

I'm about a third into The Underground Library. Reading books about Nazis is a bit weird these days but I am also enjoying this story and the characters.

>190 EBT1002: Western NC was my initial retirement preference...we even bought a chunk of land near Fontana Lake...but things clearly did not work out that way. Beautiful place, though. Sylva's beautiful courthouse up on its hill...Nantahala Gorge...the National Forest...pretty, and full of good memories.

It's great that you have time to walk, read, and spend time with your sister. And visit LT! It sounds like it's all good.

>188 EBT1002: I see we're both on-line right now ... glad you had already looked Bethel Green up. I found that interesting background.

>189 EBT1002: Terrifying but accurate I fear. Under what authority does that B*(*&^( think he can send the military against the population?!? Yes, National Guard is used for domestic unrest...but they report to the governors not the Feds!!!

I don't think I could live happily anywhere in the south...but if I had to it would have to be N. Carolina or Virginia. Having family there would make a big difference though. Glad you're having this time with your sister. Hope her surgery goes well.

It sounds like you're having a nice time with your sister, Ellen. I'm sure you are a huge help to her. We visited the Asheville, NC area many years ago and loved it.

I started reading The Light Pirate yesterday and, like your sister, I can't put it down. Wowza.

>193 RebaRelishesReading: I don't think I could live happily anywhere in the south...
Same here. Northern Virginia is the most un-southern southern region I've experienced. Even though we live in the western part of it, the demographics are influenced by the greater Washington, DC area. I've seen enough of other parts of the south as a tourist, thanks.

>194 lauralkeet: Totally agree.

Thank goodness I am traveling or the news from yesterday would have made me run and hide in a book. Not one about the Nazi's or about politics or US history, but something purely escapist - like space opera or fantasy. I keep thinking that moving to Kansas was a mistake. I should have followed my gut and moved to Winnipeg. I would have felt much safer there. Or Germany.

I am in Buffalo, WY tonight. The heart of Longmire country. Buffalo is about 25 miles from Ucross, WY the home of Craig Johnson. Tomorrow I will be in Bozeman. My niece (my sister lives in Bozeman) is getting married this weekend and I am so glad for that because it will be a distraction from the news. I listen to recorded books while I travel and that keeps me from listening to the radio. I heard about the treatment of Senator Padilla this evening and find it so distressing that I don't want to deal with it.

I finished The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan last night when I was unable to fall asleep. Katie, Sofie, and Juliet are three women living in London, in Bethnal Green, each fighting the gender norms so fiercely limiting their choices. They are all avid readers. After the lovely local library is bombed by the Nazis, they establish an underground library -- a lending library in the underground shelter provided by the nearby Tube station which is inhabited each night when the air raid sirens go. The library becomes a center of the community as people from different backgrounds come together to hear Juliet read aloud, to borrow and discuss and share books. The books provide solace. They also bring people together. Each of the women has their own story. Juliet's fiancé is wanted by the military, missing and identified as a deserter. Sofie, who is Jewish, has fled Germany and longs to find her sister and father, left behind to escape and follow her if they can. Katie's boyfriend is missing in action and she fairly quickly discovers that she is pregnant (and unmarried!) with his child. The underground library serves as a hub for these backstories to revolve around.

It was an enjoyable read and I learned some things about the use of the underground Tube stations as shelter during the Blitz. I got frustrated with the poor editing at times (shelves are not "ladened," they are just "laden" with books) but the characters were likable and their stories mostly moved right along. Some of the most memorable characters are the supporting characters such as Dorothy and Irene, the elder sisters who participate actively in the library and provide wise advice and encouragement to the three younger women. Thanks to Reba for the recommendation!

>191 richardderus: This progressive care retirement community in which my sister lives is really nice, Richard. Good people, beautiful setting, and queer-friendly. It ain't cheap, though!

>192 BLBera: So far I am really glad to be here, Beth. I brought a 1000-piece puzzle with me and we have been working on that, too. My sister usually does 500-piece puzzles so it's kind of fun to be helping her master the larger format.

>193 RebaRelishesReading: I'm with you on all items, Reba. I would struggle with living in the south -- the political and physical climate are both restrictive for me. I hate the humidity and the bugs. Yesterday after my walk, a biting fly was determined to take a chunk out of my sweaty leg. Grrr. BUT - this location is drop dead gorgeous and the people are truly lovely. My sister has a good supportive community here.

>194 lauralkeet: I'm glad you're enjoying The Light Pirate, Laura. I think she does a terrific job of imagining the future of Florida with climate change. She provided good detail but leaves a lot to the imagination (which species will survive? No need to fill that in; some will and some won't.)

I agree with you and Reba about living in the south. I grew up in Florida so this part of the country feels like home in some ways, but I have been gone for so long that it's not home the way the Pacific Northwest is home. Luckily, the Asheville area is pretty "blue" and my sister has found a wonderful community of like-minded folks. And I have to say that the somewhat lower cost of living does get one's attention.

>195 RebaRelishesReading: :-)

>196 benitastrnad: The news of the past couple days is distressing, isn't it, Benita? I'm glad you have a family wedding to distract you. I will be so interested to see what happens tomorrow. The "No Kings" protests have been in the planning for a while. My hope is that people *stay away* from DC -- let him have his stupid and expensive birthday parade and don't give him any protests to react to. March everywhere *except* DC. I fear, however, that his antics in L.A. will prompt protests in DC and he will use that to stoke the false narrative and bolster his determination to use force on his own people. The authoritarian government isn't a threat; it's already a reality.

Sigh, sorry, I didn't mean to get into that diatribe. Yay for distracting books!!!! Reading about Nazis and the Blitz was perhaps not the escapism I needed. Haha.

Safe travels.

I have two "book books" to read and I'd like to leave at least one of them here when I fly back to Oregon in a week and a half. I might be able to finish both of them..... I'll start with The God of Small Things which I have had on my shelves for years. It was in a giveaway box at our new house and a friend said "it took a while to get into but I loved this novel." So I will give it a try.

I also have Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland which I found in my sister's giveaway box when we cleaned out the garage yesterday (the day before?). I've wanted to read that and she confirmed that it's really good.

>200 EBT1002: Ooo! I've read Roy's book, liked it; I too want to read Say Nothing so am looking forward to your response to it. Somehow it just never got All the way home with me, don't really know why.

Enjoy your stay!

>199 EBT1002: I wish "they" had picked a theme other than "no kings" -- For the past hundred + years kings have (mostly) been figure heads cutting ribbons and greeting guests. "No dictators" would make a lot more sense.

That, however, is a very small point this morning what with senators being cuffed and Israel bombing Iran!!!!

>200 EBT1002: I read The God of Small Things pre-LT, shortly after discovering the Booker Prize. As for Say Nothing, I haven't read the book but my future son-in-law recommends it. The TV adaptation on Hulu was very good.

>201 richardderus: Same for me with Say Nothing, Richard. I think it has come up as available for me at the library a couple of times and neither of them was the "right" time. I had other books occupying my time. SO - we'll see how quickly I get to it now that I own it in "book book" format.

>202 RebaRelishesReading: That is a good point, Reba. "No Dictators" would make more sense. Still, I think what matters most is a good, strong, peaceful showing of opposition to the man and the policy decisions he is (they are) making. I wish a republican or two would grow some courage!!

>203 lauralkeet: I think I've had The God of Small Things on my radar for about that long, as well, Laura.

My sister's surgery got postponed until August. This feels like a huge reprieve for her and it's nice to see her so much less anxious. Today we went to a nice restaurant/bar in Asheville and enjoyed flights of Champagne. The real stuff. It was great fun (and way to spendy). Still, it's also a bit frustrating as the travel is time consuming and expensive.

I poked into Malaprop's, the longstanding local indie bookshop and picked up a copy of All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley. This was a recommendation from Vivian and it looks like a good one. Plus I got a bookshop sticker for my laptop which now sports stickers from Malaprop's (Asheville), Powell's (Portland), Third Place Books (Seattle), and Talk Story (Kauai). Four of my favorite places on Earth.

Regarding the postponed surgery, I moved my flight home up a few days to next Thursday. So we still have five days to hang out and enjoy one another but I get home a bit sooner to help P with running the household (read: taking care of Carson) and getting the move-in process closer to complete.

I'm still reading the essays in Ann Patchett's These Precious Days and quite enjoying them.

I love this quote from Robert F. Kennedy in her essay entitled "The Worthless Servant":

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lots of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Apropos for today, don't you think?

Good news for your sister, Ellen. I loved the Patchett essays.

Happy Friday, Ellen. I wasn't crazy about The God of Small Things. I hope it work better for you. That said- Say Nothing is absolutely terrific. Enjoy. The mini-series was excellent too.

The Land Remembers is off to a wonderful start. This could end up being a 5 star read.

I just learned over on Caroline's thread that Sarah Moss has a new novel out, just published a few weeks ago. I must obtain a copy.

>205 EBT1002: I can understand the postponement is bringing conflicted responses Ellen. Hope it runs smoothly in August.

I think you will like Patrick Bringley's book, it was Erik's thread (Oberon) I found it on. Everyone I've loaned it too loves it too.

>205 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, I like the way you and your sis celebrated the news about her surgery. Fancy! I know you've been a great source of support to her, and I also know how much you'll enjoy being back home.

>209 EBT1002: Sarah Moss' new novel, Ripeness, will be released in the US on September 9. I'm sure my library will get it, so I'm planning to keep an eye on their website as the publication date gets closer. I guess you could preorder it though!

>204 EBT1002: Totally agree Ellen (especially about some courage from sane Republicans). I just rather like parliamentary systems with hereditary head of state to provide the showy-stuff (didn't spend 10 years in Europe without something sticking I guess).

>206 EBT1002: I have that book somewhere in TBR -- should dig it out I guess.

I'm glad your sister is feeling good about surgery postponement (I can imagine she'd also just like to have it over with) and that you get to come home and help with getting settled in your new home. Here's wishing you safe/pleasant travels.

I am LOVING These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. Not every essay is excellent but the best of them is breathtaking.

"The Paris Tattoo" made me chuckle out loud. It also made me want to go back to Paris, admittedly not much of an accomplishment.

"How to Practice" reminded me of conversations with my therapist back in Seattle, conversations about the importance - or unimportance - of things, possessions, objects, and how to let go of them. The final scene in which she finds a manual typewriter to give to her friend's daughter was a perfect ending.

"To the Doghouse" made me laugh out loud. Partly this was her exquisite selection of quotes from the "Peanuts" comic strips, partly it was my own delightful memories of reading and rereading my own copies of the comic strip collected in small paperback books, partly it was her homage to dogs and writing....

"Eudora Welty, An Introduction" made me want to read The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. Anyone want to join me? Maybe this fall? Or to kick off 2026?

My sister wants to keep her copy so I'll be purchasing this when I get back home.

As noted above, my sister's surgery has been postponed to August. They won't put her under anesthesia without clearance from her cardiologist and she can't get in to see him until then. So, we're just enjoying our time. Today she is working on an essay for the community newsletter which she also co-edits. I'm reading and painting. I did move up my flight home to this Thursday instead of next Tuesday. I am enjoying the time here but I also feel a bit guilty that I'm not at home helping P continue setting up our new house for long-term occupation. We need to get art on the wall!

I'm about a quarter of the way into The God of Small Things and I find myself wondering if I have actually read it. It's good but it hasn't swept me off my feet.

Okay, this is embarrassing. According to LT, I read The God of Small Things in 2020. I gave it four stars but I have absolutely no memory of reading it. I often know that I read a book but don't remember it. I honestly did not realize I had ever read this one. I guess 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year, but still. Anyway, as I was reading it last night, it started feeling familiar.

I think I'll keep reading it since my memory is so hazy. I know there are a million wonderful things to read but the completionist in me wants to finish it and see if I still want to give it four stars.

>207 BLBera: I'm really enjoying the collection of essays by Patchett, Beth. I have wanted to read more essays and this is adding to that.

>208 msf59: Hi Mark. My comments in >216 EBT1002: will tell you my situation with The God of Small Things. I gave it four stars but it certainly didn't stay with me! I'm definitely adding The Land Remembers to my wish list.

>210 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline. I'm looking forward to the Bringley book.

>211 lauralkeet: It did feel a bit fancy to be going out for a flight of champagne, Laura!
Thanks for the US release date for Ripeness. I am sure my little indie bookshop will get it (well, I hope they will) when it becomes available. If not, I'll nudge them. :-)

>212 RebaRelishesReading: Oh yes, Reba, the hereditary head of state for pomp and circumstance has its appeal. I actually feel like I learned more about that from watching "The Crown" on Netflix.

I hope you dig out your copy of These Precious Days. I'm thoroughly enjoying the collection as a whole (with only a few sub-par entries).

>216 EBT1002: Don't feel bad, Ellen. I know I read The God of Small Things, and I remember I didn't care much for it. I don't remember why, or anything else about it. It was probably 20 years ago, because it was before I was using LT to keep track of such things, but still. The more we read, the more we may have to "house clean" the memory banks to make room for new impressions. I just assume that if I don't remember a book, it wasn't worth the space it would take up in my head.

>213 EBT1002: These Precious Days looks like a winner, even if my singular contact with Eudora Welty was not to my taste.

>216 EBT1002: Isn't The God of Small Things the one with the really poisonous great-aunt? and scrambled timelines? I prefer other Malabar Coast novels.

I have tried but not succeeded in getting through any of Patchett's fiction but I also adored this collection of essays.

>221 jessibud2: Soul sibling!

>202 RebaRelishesReading:, >204 EBT1002:, etc. - My understanding is that the "No Kings" name was in response to a Trump tweet referring to himself as "the king." It was in regard to a hyper-local NYC issue related to "congestion pricing" in the city, so probably didn't get a lot of play elsewhere.

Nope. I’m passing on the reread of The God of Small Things. Life is too short and I just don’t care about the characters or the story.

>224 EBT1002: Good call. Life is short.

Celebrating the temporary reprieve from surgery with a flight of champagne sounds like a good way to go. Have a pleasant flight back to the other side of the country this week, Ellen.

Hooray for the Patchett collection. She Rocks, man! I am a big lover of short fiction but I just could not connect with Welty, otherwise I would join you. I really hope she works for you.

I wasn't a big fan of God of Small Things either. It is one of those books that I wonder why it gets so much love. There are better books out there.

>219 laytonwoman3rd: Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one, Linda. Of course, I read it only five years ago and didn't remember having read it. Lol.

>220 quondame: Susan, I'd be interested in your recommendations for other Malabar Coast novels. As you can see in >224 EBT1002: I decided late last night to abandon my reread of TGoST.

>221 jessibud2: I'm a fan of some of Patchett's fiction, Shelley, especially Bel Canto, but this essay collection is indeed one of the more compelling things I've read by her.

>222 richardderus: *smile*

>223 katiekrug: That makes sense, Katie. Regardless, yesterday's No Kings Day marches were inspiring.

>225 BLBera: True enough, Beth!

>226 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg. I'll be glad to get home.

>227 msf59: If I do decide to tackle the Welty collection, it will be interesting to see how I like it. I'm not yet committed to it. lol.

>228 benitastrnad: Agree so far, Benita.

Today I'm continuing to work my way through These Precious Days. I also plan to paint some; it's interesting noticing the difference in drying time for my watercolors in this humid climate. I prefer it but not enough to want to live somewhere this humid (I did my time in Florida for the first 23 years of my life).

Tonight my sister and I are joining friends at the dining center for dinner. We've had a very busy social calendar while I've been here. :-)

>231 EBT1002: I hope you'll do >213 EBT1002: as an ongoing series or something, Ellen. I like her stories a lot. "Why I Live at the P.O." is hilarious, especially when she reads it, which is somewhere on YouTube. The novels are not the successes on a craft level that the stories are, but Welty, format aside, is a dab hand at voices.

Hoping you're disfruiting this summer day with the greatest glee.

I love Welty; she is a great short story writer. I think I have one of her collections... It's been a while.

I hate humidity.

>213 EBT1002: Looking further into my records I find that I read These Precious Days in 2022 and gave it 5 stars -- don't remember it off the top of my head but might if I were to pick it up again. Interesting I gave it so many because generally I'm not a fan of short stories and essays.

Hope the rest of your stay at your sister's is lovely and that you have a good trip home. I'm sure it will feel wonderful to finally be settled in the new house.

>213 EBT1002: Welty is not a bad idea. Let's keep in on the radar.

>222 richardderus:, >230 EBT1002: - I must correct myself. I did really like her Tom Lake. But that was it, for fiction.

one of our reading groups picked The God of Small Things for our next meeting, at the end of June. I think I started it once and didn't finish, a long time ago. One of my work mates is from India, and she said she didn't like it either. Well, that might make for a good discussion, and there will be wine.

>229 EBT1002: The Covenant of Water was the one which came first to my mind.

>233 richardderus: I do think I'll see if I can snag a copy of The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, Richard. I might make it a year-long project or something. In her essay, Patchett references "Who I Live at the P.O." but also gives a happy nod to several of her lesser-known short stories. Patchett also talks about Mississippi, which its own corner of the south, so I will find that interesting.

>234 BLBera: Want to join me in reading The Collected Stories, Beth?

I hate humidity, too, but it is helpful when painting with watercolors.... Actually, it doesn't matter whether it's humid or dry, you just have to take that into account when painting. But I kind of enjoy the slower drying time in this climate. It allows for slightly easier management of water and pigment.

>235 RebaRelishesReading: I always want to like essays better than I do, Reba, but the essays in These Precious Days are (for the most part) quite good. I don't think I'll finish it before I leave here so I'll probably buy a copy when I'm back in Sisters.

>236 ffortsa: Oh good, Judy, it would be fun to do a group read of Welty. I will plan to host it next year. I'll have to think about how I would structure it.

>237 jessibud2: Oh yes, Tom Lake was a good one. Did you read Bel Canto, Shelley, and it didn't work for you? I started it once and put it down. It was several years later when I picked it up again that I fell into it and loved it.

>238 ffortsa: You know, it won the Booker Prize, so one would expect it would be pretty good. I gave it four stars when I read it in 2020 but it turns out I have no interest in investing the time and energy to read it again. I'm glad there will be wine. :-)

>239 quondame: Thank you, Susan. I have been wanting to read The Covenant of Water so I will put myself in the library queue. I loved Cutting for Stone.

>241 EBT1002: - Yes, Bel Canto was one of the ones of hers I tried and just couldn't get into. Patron Saint of Liars was the other. I only tried Tom Lake after loving These Precious Days.

I really enjoyed The Patron Saint of Liars, but not so much The Dutch House. Those are the only books I have read by Ann Patchett. Enjoy your flight home, Ellen.

I would be interested in reading Welty's stories with you, Ellen. Not in the near future though.

Tomorrow is travel day. A long travel day. This has been a really good visit and I'm ready to be home.

I don't think I can finish These Precious Days this evening, partly because I like to let each (or most of each) essay simmer a bit before I read the next one. For the plane tomorrow I have Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Dame Judi Dench.

Hope you have a safe, pleasant trip home Ellen.

I look forward to your comments on the Dench book. I've been thinking about that one for a while (but yet to act on it).

>243 jessibud2: As we so often say, Shelley, if a book - or an author! - isn't working for you, there's no reason to waste time or energy there. The world has so many wonderful things to read!

>244 vancouverdeb: I didn't love The Dutch House Deb, and I don't think I've ever even tried The Patron Saint of Liars. If you want to try more by Patchett, I recommend Tom Lake or Bel Canto. But neither of those is universally loved, either. I do not recommend Commonwealth but, again, YMMV.

>245 BLBera: Welty in 2026, Beth? Maybe spread out over the year somehow?

>247 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba. And I'll let you know!

>248 EBT1002: Let's talk.

Safe travels.

I did finish These Precious Days this evening and I'm giving it an enthusiastic five stars. It is in fact not a perfect collection of essays, nor a collection of perfect essays. But it is a beautiful collection of mostly beautiful essays and I just loved it.

I have both Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner cued up for my travels tomorrow. I've not yet decided which I will read.

>251 EBT1002: Yay. Agree Ellen.

>252 EBT1002: Need to get back to the Dench one.

I loved These Precious Days too, Ellen. Patchett is amazing. I haven't read Creation Lake but I really liked the Dench memoir. She's amazing, in a different way. That said, on a long trip like yours I might dip into both books. Reading the memoir is, in some ways, like reading essays. At some point you might want to get lost in a novel.

Safe travels!

Sweet Thursday, Ellen. Patchett Rocks, right? Did you read her first essay collection? It was equally as good. Safe travels, my friend.

From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden branches, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

from the poetry collection, Rose, 1986

>252 EBT1002: Shakespeare: the Man Who Pays the Rent is fun, informative, and inspiring - off to find a copy of The Sonnets!

Turns out I had Shakespeare The Man Who Pays the Rent in Mt. TBR so I have pulled it out and will start it as soon as I finish here (and pour myself another cup of tea).

>256 EBT1002: Ooh, that's lovely.

I also have a copy of Shakespeare the Man Who Pays the Rent, but I am so buried in books I have a timeline on that Dame Judi's book will have to wait a bit.

I have only read Bel Canto and rated it quite high. I have a copy of Dutch House but it hasn't screamed at me to read it. I have several friends who have read This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (another book of essays/memoir) and really liked it, so I might have to read it soonish.

I generally like Eudora Welty's work. I read Delta Wedding back in 2022 as part of an LT Group Read, but that is the only novel of her's that I have read. I also read a collection of her letters to her editor at the New Yorker William Maxwell. I really enjoyed that book and it was what turned me on to Welty. I was about to retire so I read mostly her shorter work that was published in the New Yorker because it was available on our database. For me she really captures that post-WWII esthetic of the gentile Old South (if there ever was such a thing) with that dark streak in it. She manages to make households come alive and you can just smell all that mildew and dank dampness of the South before air-conditioning. I think making her collected works (short stories) a year long project would be a great long term reading project.

>252 EBT1002: I loved them both, Ellen, so you have good choices. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent inspired to do a read/reread of the complete works, which I am enjoying.

Safe travels and we'll talk next week.

I'm enjoying Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent a lot but it isn't tempting me to read Shakespeare .... go see more productions of his work maybe but not read the plays themselves.

>262 RebaRelishesReading: Shakespeare is definitely meant to be heard, not necessarily read silently.

>263 ffortsa: Well there have been debates about that very thing Judy. Although they enjoyed going to productions, the Bloomsbury group were very much readers of Shakespeare, although that included reading him out loud. Virginia and Leonard Woolf especially enjoyed imbibing Shakespeare that way.

ETA: Shakespeare in Bloomsbury.

>263 ffortsa: And some of the plays -- I'm thinking of Macbeth -- are hard to stage, but lovely to read. I've seen that play a couple of times and have never enjoyed the stage production as much as reading it.

>264 Caroline_McElwee: Your comments inspired me to add that one to my library, Caroline.

Hi Ellen.

>265 BLBera: Oh! MacBeth was the first Shakespeare I saw, on a school field trip to a production on Long Island. Easiest staging, in the round, bare stage as I recall. Sorry the productions you saw cluttered it up.

>264 Caroline_McElwee: reading them aloud is a pleasure, and because you are actually saying the words, it's hard to go too fast to understand what is going on.

>181 EBT1002: Hopefully sneaking in before your new thread...thanks for The Atlantic article. I had seen it but not gotten around to reading it. We have a regional nonprofit news outlet that did an interesting presentation about how they use AI. They described it as a sandwich: person comes up with idea, uses AI to support research, person checks AI for accuracy. It is like any source that then gets verified.

Shakespeare belongs to everybody. And we must allow who we are as individuals to colour our interpretation of his words. Everybody's upbringing and life experiences are different, and that needs celebrating and bringing to the plays. You've got to find out what his words mean for you.

There's no right way of performing Shakespeare. And that's why the plays are still being done.

The word 'play' is at the heart of what we do as actors -- players putting on plays by playwrights in playhouses for playgoers.

Just a sampling of standout quotes from Dame Judi Dench in her memoir Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent. In a series of conversations with Brendan O'Hea, the magnificent actress recalls her various roles in Shakespeare plays across the span of her career. She talks about actors and directors with whom she worked, but mostly she explores the experience of acting Shakespeare, of interpreting and performing his words on stage. Along the way, we get brief synopses of the plays in which she has performed, or at least the bits in which her particular character appears, and we get insights into the craft of acting. She tunes us into the delicate and exquisite three-way conversation between playwright, actors, and audience. She gives us glimpses into the behind-the-scenes chaos and humor and - sometimes - near disaster that most audiences never know about.

This was a delightful read. I could hear Judi's voice at times in and I felt like I was in the room with her. It made me want to see more Shakespeare and read more Shakespeare. My father was a Shakespeare scholar. I, on the other hand, can't tell you the plot of almost any Shakespeare play (okay, I've got Romeo and Juliet pretty well nailed). I've seen a number of them on stage and I tend to love them in the moment, but they don't "stick." This is motivating me to change that.

Travel set me back again in terms of LT. But on Saturday we got two yards of gravel spread in our side yard to keep the terrible dust down. We've hung some art and we got my sit-stand desk set up so I can paint. And.... I. Signed. Up. For. Medicare. I have been dreading that.

I decided not to read Creation Lake, at least not now. The primary reason is that I ran into that common problem of having several library books come available at the same time. So I'm going to read Gliff by Ali Smith and Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein while I have access to them.

Tomorrow we head to Bend for my orthodontist appointment and some house-related shopping. But I know I need to start a new thread, and soon!

I really enjoyed / loved Fagin the Thief, so I hope you do too, Ellen. Best wishes at the orthodontist.

Happy Wednesday, Ellen. I liked the Blossom poem. Thanks for sharing. I am glad you will join us on the Cheever collection. Tell your friends! 😜

I am dipping into it today. It looks like the stories are very short.

>268 EBT1002: I started this last year Ellen, then as I was going to Stratford-upon-Avon in May with my sibs for a few days, I set it aside with the aim of taking it with me for us to read there, and promptly forgot it. For some reason didn’t get back to it, so must do so. I didn’t let myself skip forward to the Antony&Cleopatra chapter, as I saw her and Anthony Hopkins’ production. The best of all the productions I’ve seen despite them being older. It is a bit of a wonky play!

>269 EBT1002: Welcome, fellow fogey. Medicare isn't quite as horrible as you think it will be.

Dame Judi's book is on my self-gifting list for when I don't need to get something expensive...your pull-quotes are very effective sales entities.

Stay well and cool.

>268 EBT1002: Great quotes from the Dench book.

I loved Gliff, not familiar with Fagin the Thief. I'll watch for your comments.

I’m so glad you enjoyed the Dench book Ellen. Like you I could hear her voice which was fun. Also like you there were a lot of plays I wasn’t familiar with but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.

>268 EBT1002: I'm nearly finished and am also enjoying Ms. Dench's memoir. You've done such a fine job of reporting on it that I think I'll just refer to your post when I finish :>. I definitely plan to keep the book handy to refer to before attending any future Shakespeare. It would definitely enhance the experience imho.

Sounds like you're making good progress with getting settled into your new digs.

We have been with Kaiser for 30+ years and just moved to their Medicare Advantage when we became eligible. We couldn't be happier with our care and our coverage.

Hope your shopping goes well.

I read the first 5 stories in The Stories of John Cheever and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed these early stories from the 1940s. Still, 600 more pages to go...😜

I finished the delightful All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley. What a sweet memoir of his ten years as a guard in the Met. It's about art but it's about grief and beauty and stillness and seeing. So good.

I feel like I'm being generous with 5-star ratings this year. I've already had four books earn five stars and I've only read 29 books so far!

>279 EBT1002: Or maybe you are just reading really good books!

>280 BLBera: ^^^what Beth said

I'm really glad you're having this run of good reading. Lovely weekend-ahead's reads!

I read Second Life: A Novel by Paul Griner. Paul is the brother of a dear friend and colleague of mine. The story is a bit gruesome but it ended strong -- a very satisfying resolution -- and I think it's worth a read. Apparently, "they" are making a tv show out of one of his short stories.

Next up:

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilika, a shared read with Beth.

But, if I'm honest, watercolor painting is kind of consuming most of my free time these days. It's world watercolor month and I'm determined to paint every day. I am SO pleased with my work so far!! I feel like I've turned a corner in terms of artistic courage and skill. I did miss one day because we went fishing with friends and I got my inflatable stand up paddle board out on the lake. It was beautiful and fun!!