Clam Shares Books & Cheeses ❂ 2025 ~ Part III ❂

Grab a Maypole! (I think that came off badly, knowing what the Maypole represents.)

Let's dance around the Maypole! (Better?)

....and Happy New thread!

Happy new thread!

>2 terriks: I'm not dancing around one of those, either. ;)

>1 clamairy: Perfect day to celebrate new beginnings. Happy reading.

Happy New Thread. I hope you had a good 1st of May.

Happy New Thread!
I hope you had a great day yesterday :)

Thank you, >2 terriks:, >3 Karlstar:, >4 MrsLee:, >5 pgmcc: & >6 Alexandra_book_life:!

Just to clarify, by 'literary fires' I do not mean book burning.

Thank you for the Maypole humor. LOL

>7 clamairy: So are we lighting a fire instead under people to "encourage" more active reading and engagement with books? I agree that flame and paper are a poor combination.

>8 jillmwo: In my defense it was a long (but very good) day. I made a sign, and went somewhere to meet other people holding signs.

I am not going to edit it now. The fire of literary pursuits needs to burn more brightly than ever.

>9 clamairy:
In this context would “beacon” be a better word to use rather than “fire”?

>9 clamairy: I am on your side. I support literary fires, because I generally think of them as happening at the author's end. The individual brain is alight with inspiration and sparks of magic.

For the record, I rescind my suggestion because it does seem to suggest burning people at stakes. (You could have come right back at me with something about Monty Python jokes over whether or not witches float, you know.) And good for you being out there holding up signs.

@pgmcc is correct. Light those beacons!!

>10 pgmcc: Excellent suggestion! Thank you.

>11 jillmwo: I will add a note to the original post, rather than editing out my comment.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread! Re May Day, we have a public holiday for it on Monday.

I do not have the mojo to write reviews, so I will just be posting what I finished before I forget. Reviews may be coming at a later date.



I enjoyed Soul Music, but for some reason it took me over two weeks to get through this book, and it's 399 pages. I just wasn't compelled to pick it up during the day.

Wizards don’t scare me. Everyone knows there’s a rule that you mustn’t use magic against civilians.” The man thrust his face close to Ridcully and raised a fist. Ridcully snapped his fingers. There was an inrush of air, and a croak. “I’ve always thought of it more as a guideline,” he said, mildly.

Conclave, on the other hand, I could not put down. Granted we had crappy weather last Saturday, but I finished this 300 pager in less than 24 hours.

“We’ll never find a candidate who doesn’t have some kind of black mark against his name. We’ve had a Pope who was a member of the Hitler Youth and fought for the Nazis. We’ve had Popes who were accused of having colluded with communists and fascists, or who ignored reports of the most appalling abuses…Where does it end? If you’ve been a member of the Curia, you can be sure someone will have leaked something about you. And if you’ve been an archbishop, you’re bound to have made a mistake at one time or another. We are mortal men. We serve an ideal; we cannot always be ideal.”

I listened to Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants read by the author Robin Wall Kimmerer and it broke my heart in so many places I lost count. Yet it still managed to leave me somewhat hopeful. (Though not as hopeful as I would have been a year ago, no doubt.) Highly recommended. She is brilliant and worked hard and has multiple post graduate degrees including a PhD in Plant Ecology. This bit made me gasp:

I was accepted to do graduate work in one of the world’s finest botany programs, no doubt on the strength of the letter of recommendation from my adviser, which read, “She’s done remarkably well for an Indian girl.”

I am reading The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne and listening to Persuasion by Jane Austen narrated by Greta Scacchi who is doing a wonderful job.

>15 clamairy: You are sharing good books :) I want to read both Conclave and Braiding Sweetgrass.

(And everything Jane Austen goes without saying.)

>15 clamairy:
I must get to Conclave soon.

Happy new thread!

Braiding Sweet Grass is one of those titles that's been sitting at the edges of my conscious radar for a while. When you say that it left you hopeful, I feel as if I should be getting to it faster.

>15 clamairy: Love the Conclave quote! The movie got great reviews, too.

And congrats on holding your sign. Mine is currently resting in the basement waiting to be held again.

Look at what I found at a fund raiser today! A wee pair of pachyderm studs in silver. They came home with me.

>16 Alexandra_book_life: I suspect you would enjoy them both for very different reasons.

>17 pgmcc: You've only got a few days. I think it would be great to read that book during the actual Conclave in Rome.

>13 Narilka:, >14 haydninvienna: & >18 foggidawn: Thank you!

>19 jillmwo: I especially enjoyed having it read to me by the author. It felt more personal that way.

>20 terriks: The movie is as good as the book, IMHO. Sadly I am sure we will find more use for those signs.

>21 clamairy: Perfect! Would you ever have bought them before pgmcc brainwashed us all into elephant awareness? lol

>21 clamairy: Irresistible. I'm sure you didn't even hesitate.

>21 clamairy:
Beautiful. You are showing your Elephant Awareness. Well done!
#thereisalwaysanelephant

:-)

Did I hear you saying, “Ear! Ear!”?

>23 MrsLee:
Brainwashing?

I simply brought out what was already there.

>21 clamairy: Excellent choice! :)

>23 MrsLee: Yes, I probably would have, but possibly not for myself.

>24 terriks: I did make sure they were sterling silver first before I nabbed them.

>25 pgmcc: I suspected you would appreciate these.

>27 Alexandra_book_life: Thanks!

This Murderbot story was great, but much too brief for me.



I definitely enjoyed Persuasion much more the second time around. I am not sure that it deserves an extra half of a star, though. I must mull this over. Greta Scacchi's narration was wonderful.

>29 clamairy: Two more to add to the 'bench' TBR list. Maybe I should do Austen this year for my classic reading, since I'm making no progress on War and Peace.

>30 Karlstar: Excellent idea! To further force your hand it is the 250th anniversary of Jane's birth. I was so happy with my Persuasion experience that I plan to revisit Emma soon.

(I have War and Peace lined up as an audiobook. I am going to need a name chart to get through it, I am sure.)

>30 Karlstar: and >31 clamairy:. C'mon you two. Strap on whatever the mental equivalent is to mountain-climbing gear and begin the schlep up Mount Tolstoy-or-Austen-or-Whomever. I have ENORMOUS faith in your capabilities (based on having watched your reading threads for ten or plus years....)

>32 jillmwo: I think I'm on chapter 13 in War and Peace. So far just an endless succession of people meeting at parties in salons. I was amused to see that one of the nobles was named Count Rostov.

Happy new thread!

>15 clamairy: I loved Braiding sweetgrass too. I also have her book about moss which I need to read. And I need to bump Conclave up the pile too.

>21 clamairy: What a great find!

I wanted to read Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend, after seeing it mentioned somewhere, (The NY Times?) but there was a wait list. So I started The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things to fill the time. Of course my hold came through early, so I am putting the one I own on hold while I read the loaner. I am enjoying the Rebecca Romney quite a bit. (And thankfully everything she's mentioned so far that I want to read is available free for Kindle.)

Sorry I've been AFK. My son dropped by to leave his dog and cat with me for two weeks while he and his girlfriend and a bunch of friends tour Japan. So far his photos are wonderful. After he left (at the crack of dawn) my daughter visited for a few days. Since then I have been pet sitting and volunteering with the local Audubon Society chapter. They had their Spring native plant sale, and I helped unload the truck, and then helped out a few more times over the last few days. (And bought a bunch of plants!)

I stalled out on Jane Austen's Bookshelf, and returned the ebook unfinished. I may try it as an audio at some point. This was almost as much of a memoir about the author's hunt for these books as it was about the actual books. I needed something more gripping right now, so I am reading Sunrise on the Reaping. which is a Hunger Games prequel. For anyone who enjoyed that series this is Haymitch Abernathy's story.

It's going to take me a few days to catch up.

>36 clamairy: Welcome back- though I just saw you in the other thread. ;)

It sounds like you had a nice break. I've never thought to look for a local Audubon chapter; thanks for the idea.

Hope your son continues to have a great trip in Japan - and that the critters are well-behaved.

>36 clamairy: Dog and cat sitting! How's that going?

>36 clamairy: Welcome back!
A trip to Japan is a great thing indeed :)

How are the dog and the cat doing? :)

>37 terriks:, >38 Karlstar: & >39 Alexandra_book_life: The pup is an angel, and my cat tolerates her. My son's cat is in the finished basement. Every time I have tried to let them interact he has charged my cat. LOL I am not curious enough to see what will happen next. I yell, and he retreats. 😆 He's on a special diet that involves mixing cooked ground turkey with powdered enzymes that he can no longer produce himself. So I have a very valid reason for keeping him separated, in addition to the kitty fireworks. The few times I have shut my cat up and let him wander he has tried to eat the dog's food.

>40 clamairy:. I realize that all of this makes your life a tad complicated, but at the same time, I am laughing at the cat(s). There's not a lot of control to be exerted here (beyond what you've already done). But hey, it keeps things lively. ;>)

>41 jillmwo: Yes, it's certainly been entertaining! I am finally starting to get acclimated. I have been waking up between 5:30 and 7:00 a.m. every day, but the dog doesn't get out of bed until close to 9:00. LOL

Minding a dog and a cat while having your own cat in the house is quite a challenge. I hope you are finding it fun. Its for a good cause; the enjoyment of someone else on holiday in Japan. :-)

It reminds me of the old joke:

Q: How many Irish mothers does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: None. "You go on and enjoy yourself. I am ok sitting here in the dark."

>40 clamairy: In other words, you're currently herding cats while enjoying the angel pup. Sounds about right.

>43 pgmcc: Ha!

>40 clamairy: Sounds like something from Ghostbusters.

>43 pgmcc:. That's not an Irish mother joke. That's a NYC Jewish mother joke. My husband told it to me years ago. (Which, given that I heard it from the two of you, might just make it an international kind of Dad joke...)

>46 jillmwo:
It is one I grew up with, so possibly it is pointing out that Irish and Jewish mothers love their children more than themselves.

Have you seen the film Only The Lonely starring Maureen O’Hara, John Candy, James Belushi, Ally Sheedy and Anthony Quinn. I may have mentioned it before. That is a great demonstration of an Irish mother and her caring for her son. :-)

I'm behind, but happy new thread! I also devoured Conclave and want to watch the movie soon.

Sorry my posting has been so sporadic. The grandpets are back in CT, and I have spent the last 6 days trying to get all of the plants I bought* either into the ground or into pots. It's taking longer than I would have expected, probably because I am not a Spring chicken.

I have been reading and listening to some wonderful books. I'm going going to post the covers and some quick blurbs. I don't have any mojo left for real reviews.

*What was I thinking?

I saw that Sunrise on the Reaping had gotten much better reviews than the earlier prequel to The Hunger Games did, and so I decided to give it a go. It was well worth the time if you are a fan of that series. It's told from Haymitch's point of view, and it's a doozy of a tale. Bring your tissues.

The History of World Literature is one of The Great Courses narrated by Professor Grant L. Voth. It was mostly wonderful. This is the audiobook with the William Butler Yeats quotation that spurred me to share a bit of his poem on Facebook, and sent poor Peter down the proverbial rabbit hole. The poem was only included because of the title of the book Things Fall Apart was taken from the poem The Second Coming, which I have always loved.

I had read many of the books discussed, and most of the ones I hadn't are on my TBR pile, such as Don Quixote. He started with The Epic of Gilgamesh and proceed all the way up to Haroun and the Sea of Stories, which I enjoyed last Fall. It also covered the Tale of Genji, some Homer, One Thousand and One Nights, The Divine Comedy, Shakespeare, Whuthering Heights, Remembrance of Things Past, Candide and The Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn. I know I'm forgetting a bunch, but James Joyce's The Dead is included as well.

I don't think I'm going to be in any hurry to seek out the Proust.

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl was a five star book for me. It's in the same genre as Braiding Sweetgrass, but was perhaps a bit more accessible. I listened to the audiobook read by the author, but I have a Kindle copy as well, and I plan to revisit this one. The planet might be burning down around us, but we must just keep trying hard to do what we can while still enjoying what incredible beauty there is to be had.

Apocalyptic stories always get the apocalypse wrong. The tragedy is not the failed world's barren ugliness. The tragedy is its clinging beauty even as it fails. Until the very last cricket falls silent, the beauty-besotted will find a reason to love the world.

The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow was free to Audible members, and since I've enjoyed everything of hers that I've read or listened to so far I gave it a whirl. It's a good (if short) post-apocalyptic tale, with a knight wearing armor made out of old tires hunting demons that aren't actually demons. Well done.

I'm currently listening to Emma narrated by Jenny Agutter, and reading Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells.

>51 clamairy:
That sounds interesting and rabbit hole generating.

>52 clamairy: That final quote from The Comfort of Crows is lovely.

>49 clamairy: Because plants are like books, who can resist!

>55 jillmwo: I'm sure you've read some of her pieces in the New York Times over the last few years. I always get excited when I see her name.

>56 Karlstar: And, just like books, I always overestimate how much room I have for new ones.

>57 clamairy: I used to say that if I won the lottery, I would order one of everything from Bluestone or White Flower Farm. That would be so much fun, but where would I put them all...

The comfort of crows looks wonderful.

I'm glad your home is returning to calm, and hope your son had a great time in Japan.

>57 clamairy: How's the planting going?

>60 Karlstar: Ha! Thanks for asking! I'm making some headway, but I bought more plants yesterday and today. A bunch of those are going into pots, but I have to decide which pots. One of the things I grabbed is a Lovage plant to replace the one the voles destroyed last year. This year it's going in a clay pot that's going into the ground. I hope that helps. I think it lasted 4 years before the varmints found it. This morning I noticed that the native wisteria I planted two days ago has already been gnoshed on by the deer. All the clumps of blossoms but one are gone. So I sprayed it with Liquid Fence, which smells like death.

>61 clamairy: Wait. You would begrudge a poor deer a quick snack on wisteria? They're hungry.

>61 clamairy: Yep, that stuff stinks. I've found the herbal based ones, kind of work. You have to be diligent with the spray, but it will work (most of the time). I used to know a guy that worked for the NYS Department of Enivronmental Conservation who was in charge of plantings around the highways and he'd always say that deer will eat anything if they are hungry.

>62 jillmwo: Yes! I'd like them to eat some wild plants, not mine.

>62 jillmwo: In this case when there are so many other things in my yard they could eat and I wouldn't mind, yes I do be begrudge the beasties. The Wisteria I planted last year was 6 ft wide and 5 ft tall when it expired. That time it was voles who were to blame. I buried plastic mesh around this one, and sprinkled the soil liberally with 'Vole Scram.' And then the deer came.

>63 Karlstar: Exactly! They can eat the stuff in the untamed section of the yard.

Martha Wells Wheel of the Infinite was a pleasant surprise. The ratings on here are decent enough, but it was originally published twenty five years ago, so I was a bit cautious. Maskelle is a tough-as-nails strong woman who's power source is a being called The Adversary. This book had some humor, though not quite as much as the Murderbot series.

“I’m going to write a play about this,” Rastim declared, in a whisper.
From his tone Rian could tell he had heard the sound, too. But he only said, “Good for you. Are you going to include the part where you almost wet yourself when the flying creatures went by overhead?”
Rastim snorted. “What do you mean ‘almost’?”

I have bumped The Cloud Roads up in my mental book queue. (What? You thought I had it written somewhere? Ha! No...)

I have already started The Book Thief which I started over a decade ago and bailed on because it was a bit dark and I couldn't deal with it at the time.

>65 clamairy: Ooh, another one for the list!

I finished listening to Jane Austen's Emma read by Jenny Agutter. I found it a bit slower to get going than Persuasion, but I did end up enjoying it. It's probably been at least 20 years since I read this the first time, and I think I liked it just a wee bit better the first time. I believe I found Miss Bates a lot more amusing this time around, though. I have my own Miss Bates living in some corner of my brain, and she natters on incessantly about all manner of things unless I drown her out with an audiobook so I can get things done.

I've already started listening to This Is Your Mind on Plants, by Michael Pollan.

>66 foggidawn: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

>67 clamairy:. I always struggle a bit with Emma. She is just not my kind of heroine. OTOH one year, I attended a one-day conference devoted to this particular Austen novel and one of the speakers read one of Miss Bates' monologues aloud. It was hard for her to do on a single breath, but you suddenly had this character come to life in the most sympathetic way! An amazing piece of writing.

>65 clamairy: "I have already started The Book Thief which I started over a decade ago and bailed on because it was a bit dark and I couldn't deal with it at the time."

Are you doing better with it this time? I ended up liking it, but puzzled over its YA label - definitely seems a bit dark for that audience. But it has very good characters and for me, ended up surprisingly rewarding.

>69 jillmwo: I truly believe I was able to handle Mrs. Bates better listening to the audio because it isn't quite coherent, but it didn't matter as much. When I was reading it with my eyeballs my brain rebelled, just like it did reading Ulysses. Sadly, I have a SIL who prattles like this. It's difficult to take at times.

>70 terriks: I'm not far into it but yes, I'd say it's going more smoothly. (And I agree that it's not YA.)

>69 jillmwo: I appreciated Austen's talent for creating side characters upon my last reread of some of her novels. Many really are scene stealers!

>65 clamairy: I'm glad you enjoyed Wheel of the infinite. I thought it was refreshing to have an older female heroine with years of lived experience, and I loved the supporting cast too. Such a good book!

I've tried and bailed on The book thief a couple of times, not because of the darkness but I just couldn't get on with the prose style.

>73 Sakerfalcon: Maskelle is a wonderful character. She's so powerful, but perpetually tired. Plus she's never quite sure about those voices in her head. That theater troop she travels with is so entertaining, too. No pun intended.

The tone of The Book Thief is, well, just weird. I keep thinking that it's too snarky and modern for a being that's supposed to have existed as long as humanity has. I'm going to give it another day or so.

>65 clamairy: Nice! So many of Martha Wells' fantasy books are on my tbr ;) I am glad you enjoyed this!

I believe I am listening to The Triumph of Seeds next. I suspect it will be the perfect accompaniment to gardening.

>77 clamairy: Don't give the Triffids any ideas!

>78 Karlstar: Ha! I will try my best not to.

For the second time I am bailing on The Book Thief. I will probably try to listen to it at some point. I know it's time to surrender when I'm looking for excuses to do other things besides read at bedtime, such as doom scrolling on my phone. I don't know what I'm starting, though.

>79 clamairy: I read The Book Thief forever ago. I didn’t like it much, thought it was boring, but somehow finished it.

>79 clamairy: & >80 catzteach:
Sorry to hear you both did not take to The Book Thief. The main thing it showed me was how some poor Germans survived during the war and that they did not all agree with what was being done in their name.

>81 pgmcc: I think my problem is that there is so much horrible shit happening in my own country right now that I don't want to read about other horrible shit that happened somewhere else. I will try to come back to this one again at some point.

>82 clamairy:
I can understand that.

Somewhere I promised to add a few photos of the beasties in my yard.

Here's a Baltimore Oriole at my jelly feeder.

Here's the rear view of a male Wild Turkey. He's been coming every day to watch over his two females who graze under some of my feeders. He relaxes and puffs up for no reason I can see, though I suspect seeing his reflection in a window is definitely one of the triggers. He looks like he weighs about 80 lb, when in actuality he's probably more like 20. (9 kgs)



Sorry, had to make this one smaller so it didn't look too whacky on a phone screen.

Finally, here's an Eastern Box Turtle I discovered in one of my mulched beds. I was all panicky because I was afraid she might lay her eggs in my yard. If she did it was not in a heavily trafficked area, thankfully.

>85 clamairy: >86 clamairy: Nice! I miss the turkey rafter we used to have in our yard in Poughkeepsie.

>80 catzteach: I had to go reread my review of this one. I remember having difficulty through much of it, but by my review, I was fully involved by the end. For much the same reasons as >81 pgmcc: stated.

I also understand your reasons for quitting the read. It was a soul twister.

>84 clamairy: >85 clamairy: Cool! Thank you for sharing :)

>82 clamairy: (((Hugs))) I know. As to the subsequent posting of the rear end of a turkey, I think you did a splendid job in getting his good side.

>84 clamairy:
Fantastic. Not a bird I have ever seen.

>84 clamairy: >85 clamairy: >86 clamairy:: Great shots! I think I need a new oriole feeder. Once the jelly comes out, they couldn't care less about the nectar and it just gets the whole thing sticky while they ignore it and gobble up the jelly.

I love your wild turkey! We had one bobbing about the back yard about 2 weeks ago, but I never saw this action - it may have been a female.

Who doesn't love a turtle? Your Eastern Box girl is gorgeous! I guess you'll know soon enough if she laid eggs there.

Sorry you're having difficulty with The Book Thief - but I must say, it was certainly a different time here when I read it. I was able to enjoy it by the end, after some trouble getting through some tough things initially.

I have to wonder if I'd be able to get through it now.

Fun, lovely photos!

>81 pgmcc: I'll just leave these here...
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/weisse-rose-pavement-memorial
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/viscardigasse

I’m so jealous of you guys who have such colorful birds in your areas. We have robins, doves, and lots of crows. Oh and scrub jays that harass my cats in our backyard. I guess they are the most colorful. We do have turkeys, although I’ve never seen one.

I love the bird photos! That turkey is so proud of himself, little knowing that we are all viewing his backside!

Yay for turtles!! If she has indeed laid eggs, you can use some wire frames to protect them from raccoons if you want. A friend of mine does this in NH with Blandings turtle eggs when she notices the nest. I hope you enjoy the book on seeds, I read it earlier this year. Not quite as good as some of Hansen's other books, but still interesting.

>84 clamairy: Have you seen your Orioles nibbling on the oranges? I've put out nice juicy halves a few times on my feeder, and just watch them shrivel up in the sun, untouched.

Thank you, everyone, for the comments on the pics.

>97 Bookmarque: I still don't see any sign of a nest or eggs, but that doesn't mean she didn't lay them under one of my giant Montauk Daisy plants. That's where she seems to be spending a lot of her time. I saw her again yesterday morning, so I put out a large dish of water for her.

>98 terriks: Someone must have pecked at them a little bit, but I have stopped putting them out. They are 100% focused on the jelly. The same with the Catbirds. I actually turned off my Bird Buddy camera, because I think I got somewhere between 30 and 40 packets of photos and videos in two days. I may try to hang it out where the turkeys gather, though that's a bit far away for the Wi-Fi.

I finished a book but I don't feel like talking about it right now. What I feel like talking about is the cheese I've been nibbling on this evening, which is a white Stilton with mango and ginger. I found it in a shop when I was visiting my son. It's delightful.

>100 clamairy: Sounds delicious. I'm always iffy about cheeses with add-ons, but it sounds like that one works.

>100 clamairy:
I’d nibble on that too. Sounds very nibbleable.

Ohh, I've had a similar version of that cheese and it is amazing!

>101 Karlstar: I was a bit skeptical myself, but also intrigued. Well worth the gamble.

>102 pgmcc: & >103 Sakerfalcon: I will be looking for it locally.

>100 clamairy: I'm intrigued! I does sound delicious.

>100 clamairy: I am chuckling over your introduction to the topic. I just read a book and I'm not going to say if it was good or bad, but I will tell you about some cheese. There's nothing wrong with that statement, of course; it just made me chortle this morning.

>106 jillmwo: I feared the book might take up valuable time that we could have spent discussing that cheese. I promise I will come back and talk about it later. (It was actually quite good.)

>106 jillmwo:
By coincidence I watch a brief video yesterday in which Susie Dent gave the origin of the work "chortle". Apparently it was C. S. Lewis coined the word as a combination of chuckle and snort.

There's another piece of pub quiz trivia to take to the bank.

>108 pgmcc: Seriously? Sounds more like a Lewis Carroll creation than CS Lewis. Didn't he use the word chortle in Alice in Wonderland?

>109 clamairy: You are absolutely correct, Clam.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

Jill applauds Clam loudly and with fervor!

>110 jillmwo: I think Peter just had a mini brain fart and typed in the wrong Lewis.

>109 clamairy:
Sorry, you are correct. My mistake. Must insert my new memory chips.

>111 clamairy: Okay. He's allowed.

>112 pgmcc: I am almost sure that tariffs have been placed on those memory chips.

>113 jillmwo:
The Intel factory where they are made is about three miles from my house. I got them in the factory shop. I think the person implementing them wanted them to apply to the chips going to the US to kill demand and force Intel to bring production back to the US. So, I get tariff free Irish chips. They are great with salt and vinegar.

>114 pgmcc: I suspected that there would be a "chips with vinegar" response of some sort.

>115 jillmwo:
You know me; never let the obvious joke pass without due respect and homage.

Here we go. A mini review.

I have already started listing to Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global and I am reading A Day of Fallen Night.

>110 jillmwo: Oh, I miss my copy of this!! I've moved twice now and haven't laid eyes on it in years. As in, over 20 or so.

" 'Twas brillig..." and somewhere in there, his sword goes "snicker-snack" and "through and through" ...

A delight. Thank you and @clamairy for reminding me it's still missing and seems obvious that I must replace it.

Joins Jill in general applause for Clam

>118 terriks:. I used to recite that bit to my sons when they were younger. They thought I was weird. And actually, that's one that you really must replace. Were I to require a single book to be read by the population at large, I might make that the one. Actually, there would be two -- Alice in Wonderland and then Through the Looking Glass.

Poetry, satire, disobedient kittens, etc. -- this is what we should be having the kids read. So that they can blurt out bits at will. Off with their heads! or something equally useful like "You are old, Father William," the young man said".

It also covers cooking and warns the youth of our world not to add to much pepper to the soup.

>117 clamairy: Sounds fascinating! Thanks for the review.

>119 jillmwo: Despite a 2-in-1 copy of both books sitting on my shelf for years, right where it can be found by visitors, I don't think anyone but me has ever picked it up. Sad.

>120 Karlstar: That’s very sad, indeed. If I'd been a visitor perusing your bookshelves, I'd have picked it up in a second, and we'd have had a lively conversation about it.

>119 jillmwo:. See, you're only making me want it more. I need to refresh my memory on these passages!

Sigh.

Jabberwocky
By Lewis Carroll
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

ETA You can see Sir John Tenniel's original Jabberwock here: https://images.app.goo.gl/JJKtDdWKaGjCqyPt7

And >119 jillmwo::

"You are old, father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head —
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," father William replied to his son,
"I feared it would injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door —
Pray, what is the reason of that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment — one shilling the box —
Allow me to sell you a couple."

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak —
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth; one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose —
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"

*throws up a cheer*

>122 haydninvienna: Yes, I know. There are many excellent poets available to us. I read them, but Lewis Carroll is one of those that sticks in the brain for any number of reasons. (A copy of Charles Williams' poetry is en route but won't arrive until the middle of next week.)

So I saw this book recommendation in my email today @clamairy and immediately thought of you. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717452/the-backyard-bird-chronicles-by-...

>125 jillmwo: Thank you for thinking of me! I do own a physical copy of that. It's currently sitting in the stack on my coffee table with other books that are either heavily illustrated, or are graphic novels.

Sorry I have not been around much again. My kids and their significant others came for the weekend to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of since my husband's passing. We did have a wonderful weekend.



I finished listening to Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, and found parts of it fascinating. I'm afraid that if I attempted this one in print I would have had trouble focusing. Sadly I think I missed out on maps and diagrams that would have helped me grasp how Proto-Indo-European traveled and morphed over the centuries, though. I might borrow the Kindle version at some point to peruse the illustrations.

I've already started listening to Taste: My Life Through Food written and read by Stanley Tucci. And I'm about 60% of the way through A Day of Fallen Night, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I had no clue how looooong it was before I started it, though. It's a doorstop.

I plan to spend the next few days catching up, since it's too hot too work outside. I have two new things to plant, and I found a bag of bulbs in the basement. :o(

>127 clamairy: I'm glad you had a good weekend with your family. I still have glads to plant and I just planted my canna bulb (saved from last year) yesterday.

>128 Karlstar: Thank you.

In addition to the bag of bulbs from Costco I found one canna bulb, and I don't know if it was from two years ago or three. Google tells me it's no longer viable, but I might stick it in the ground anyway.

>127 clamairy:. I haven't felt brave enough yet to tackle The Priory of the Orange Tree although it's sitting like a doorstop on a top shelf. But it's nice to know that there's a recommendation for a prequel/sequel or whatever

>130 jillmwo: I think you'd enjoy it. I grabbed the first one when it was on sale because @sakerfalcon (I think) enjoyed it so much. My daughter started it before I did and was raving about it, so I picked it up. I didn't realize she had stopped reading it halfway through because she was terrified one of her favorite characters was going to die. After I finished it she asked me what had happened, when I told her that particular character survived she started reading it again.

>129 clamairy: Your canna bulb should be firm, kind of look like a large ginger root (closest thing I could think of) with dark reddish-black skin. If you don't see any of those things, it is most likely completely dead.

>132 Karlstar: It is definitely firm. LOL It doesn't look any different from the ones I planted a couple of years ago, but it does feel very hard. I will stick it in a pot so it's easier to keep an eye on it. I'm very used to planting bulbs and seeds that never come up, so I won't be devastated if nothing happens. I found an iris bulb as well. I will stick that in the ground, since I lost four of the five I had last year. I will not be attempting to grow those anymore. The voles like them too much. I have sprinkled Vole Scram granules and I bought spray that has to be attached to the hose to try. Being the sap that I am I actually rescued the vole I found lost by my basement door yesterday evening. I asked her to stop eating my plants when I released her.

>131 clamairy: I LOVED Priory of the Orange Tree so you might well have been infected by my enthusiasm! Day of fallen night was very good too. Such great worldbuilding, well-rounded characters, and clever plotting.

>127 clamairy: Glad you and your family had a great weekend together.

>131 clamairy: Now, that's funny! I've never watched Game of Thrones, but apparently that series is famous for taking out beloved characters. Did your daughter watch the show? She might have had a sense the same things would happen!

Glad you had a good weekend with your family.

I think it's sweet of you to rescue the vole who may be guilty of eating your bulbs! :)

>135 terriks: Yes she definitely read the first GoT book and watched some of the series. She no longer trusts authors to do the right thing and keep everyone alive.

>133 clamairy: Let us know later in the season how it works out with the canna! It sounds viable. Iris do well here, though the voles have completely eaten the hosta in the front bed. So far they are ignoring the iris. At our previous house, I had a ton of trouble with root rot on the iris. It is always something.

>136 clamairy: So many have taken the Game of Thrones route with characters, that's not surprising.

>137 Karlstar: Google tells me that soaking it in lukewarm water for several hours or overnight can speed up things. I will do that tomorrow evening and plant it Thursday. My soil here is very sandy, as I am basically living on a giant sandbar. I always add quite a bit of nutrient-rich organic gardening soil when I plant something, but that only helps so much.

>136 clamairy: And here I thought my question was a bit of a shot in the dark - but no wonder she couldn't stand finishing the book without knowing!

>137 Karlstar: Interesting - sounds like this has become a bit of a trend, and not necessarily a good one.

I'll be back to review the book I just finished tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm sharing a link to a New York Times piece from Martha Wells where she lists some of her favorite recent fantasy & sci-fi with the best world building. I've only heard of a couple of these although several of the authors were familiar. There's a title in there that has Jill's name all over it. :o)

I'm sharing this as a gift so there should be no paywall:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/books/sci-fi-fantasy-books-world-building.htm...

>140 clamairy:
Jill’s book jumps out straight away.

>140 clamairy: That's a great list! I haven't heard of some of them, but I appreciated the shoutout to an oldie - Sharon Shinn's Archangel. It's more of a romance than I'd usually read but the worldbuilding and characters sucked me in and wouldn't let go. I liked Black water sister a lot too. And I'm excited for Nghi Vo's Gatsby novella as I really enjoyed The chosen and the few.

>142 Sakerfalcon: I'm adding several of these to my Libby wishlist, with The Chosen and the Beautiful at the top.

>141 pgmcc: Right?

>143 clamairy:
It could be the title of a biography of @jillmwo.

>140 clamairy: Thank you! I've only heard of Nghi Vo's book, Black Water Sister, and The Mimicking of Known Successes. This is a nice list!

>140 clamairy: Thank you, lists of more books are always useful. I think that's a bit of a lazy definition of world-building, maybe 'setting' or 'background' is more appropriate.

Doesn't @jillmwo already have that one?

>145 Alexandra_book_life: You are most welcome.

>146 Karlstar: Apparently she does not. (I just checked.) It only has a 3.2 rating here on LT.

>144 pgmcc: Bwahahahaha!

I did enjoy A Day of Fallen Night, but by the last several hundred pages or so I was getting very antsy for it to end. When I hit the 71% read mark on my Kindle I checked to see how much time I had left to read, and it was still over 7 hours. I know some people adore doorstops. I actually have loved a few (The Hands of the Emperor for one), but this one really should have been divvied up into two books. Or one and a half, as the third book, which is still set before the first one, is due out this Fall. But while I savored being in Victoria Goddard's world I was started to feel trapped in Samantha Shannon's. Granted, it is a darker book, so maybe I am just not great with prolonged bloody battle scenes.

Anyway, I gave it 4 stars, as I enjoyed the beginning and the ending quite a bit. But I can't recommend this to too many people. At least 85% of the combatants - human, dragon and wyrm - should have died from sheer exhaustion long before this was over.

Aaah, Stanley Tucci talking about food (especially cheeses) for hours... what is not to love? Taste: My Life Through Food had me salivating pretty much right out of the gate. My only complaint is that because I chose to listen to instead of read this one there was no Food Porn pix to drool over or recipes* to snag.

This book starts with a lot of recipes from Mr. Tucci's childhood, and then progresses to dishes from his lifetime of eating well. It's also interspersed with some fascinating biographical info. I did not realize he lost his first wife to illness, and then had some serious health issues of his own that left him unable to eat for months, and then unable to taste for a while after.

Highly recommend this one.

*Luckily I have a signed copy of his cookbook The Tucci Table which is just loaded with recipes and piccies.

I listened to both All Systems Red and Artificial Condition over the last couple of days. Such fun! The narrator, Kevin R. Free is quite good. I have already started Rogue Protocol.

For the record, >140 clamairy: >144 pgmcc: >146 Karlstar: I am too modest by nature to ever feel it necessary to write an autobiography. A lady recognizes the value (like those who execute acts of espionage for a living) of keeping a low profile. But I will grant you that the book title you noted is one that would do well in the marketplace if the scope of my expertise were to become public knowledge.

As a side observation, one's personal sense of confidence is greatly enhanced by the knowledge that one could do dreadful acts of murder, should one choose to do so. It isn't necessary to blare it over the public airwaves.

Sharing another free article from the New York Times.

Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear?

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/style/fiction-books-men-reading.html?unlocked...

>149 clamairy: I read A Day of Fallen Night last summer. I do enjoy a good door stopper, but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Priory. I thought it was me and maybe the mood I was in but, based on your feelings, maybe it wasn’t.

>154 catzteach: I'm glad it's not just me, as I see the book has a slightly higher rating here on LibraryThing than Priory does. A closer look tells me a lot fewer people have read it though, so that might have something to do with it.

>153 clamairy: I imagine video games and the 'uncool' factor of reading in teen years has something to do with it. Most of the guys I know read, at least a little.

>156 Karlstar: My son can't sit still for very long, so he does audiobooks while he's doing other things, but he has just a few reading friends. I think the males over 50 crowd are still reading, somewhat...

>153 clamairy:
Very interesting and disappointing. The competing media must be a big factor; people have a tendency to go for the least effort mode of input to their brains. A passive book takes effort to read.

>158 pgmcc: Speaking of which I read my first paper book in a while the other day. Oh shit, I forgot to post my review. LOL I will come back and do it this evening. Anyway, my point was it was a paperback so it wasn't torture weight wise. I am definitely out of practice, but I'm going to try to do that more often with the unread physical stacks in my house.

>159 clamairy:
Do you still remember the process? You open the cover and manually turn the pages.

>160 pgmcc: I did just fine. I not tap on anything, although I will admit to cursing because I had to have a light on in the boudoir. I usually read by LED candles and the warm glow of my Kindle.

>161 clamairy:
I have been known to look at the top of the page I am reading in a physical book to see what time it is.

>161 clamairy: and >162 pgmcc: Oh, listen to the two of you. I just got out of a book group discussion where one of the members mentioned in passing that during the most recent heat wave, she'd gone to her local library and managed to get through two books over the course of the day. Now that's a real bibliophile. (Whining that a BB might hit you if you don't have a Kevlar vest and having to hold a physical paperback book in your hands...) Now both of you get back out there and read a book!!! Or I'll sic the Roombas on you.

(Don't mind me. I'm just experimenting with new personas.)

>162 pgmcc: & >163 jillmwo:
I have just sent the two of you an old video that is relevant to this discussion. You have probably seen it, but perhaps not. I sent it on messenger.

>164 pgmcc: I had seen it but I had forgotten all about it. Thank you.

>163 jillmwo: She read two books at the library? Or she got two books at the library and she read them in one day? In my defense it was a graphic novel so it wasn't a normal sized paperback. It wasn't heavy, but it was a little awkward.

>163 jillmwo: I think by "read two books", she may have meant that she reread two books with which she was already familiar. (She said that they were novels by Agatha Christie.) It was during the triple digit heat wave down here and her power had gone out. And yes, I agree that reading a graphic novel is physically a bit more awkward. I was thinking you were holding one of those mass market paperback things.

>159 clamairy: I actually find paperbacks harder to read than hardcovers. With the hardcover, I put the book on a pillow on my lap and only have to turn the pages. I have to hold a paperback open, and my hand go numb.

>167 MrsLee: Same here, these days. There are advantages to e-readers, unfortunately.

>167 MrsLee: >168 Karlstar: Agreed. Hardcovers (and Trade Paperbacks) typically have larger print than MMP's too, making them easier on the eyes. I find myself buying more print books lately after Amazon took away the ability to download/sideload kindle book purchases. I still look for DRM-free e-books and read a lot of e-books borrowed from the library - but buying them from Amazon is pretty much off the table for me now.

>167 MrsLee: & >168 Karlstar: I hear you. I want a bigger version of that plate holder that I use for my Kindle to use for trade paperbacks. I think they make something that's supposed to hold cookbooks open.

>169 ScoLgo: Anything I get in print comes from either the independent bookstore in the next town, or from the Barnes & Noble 15 miles away. I'm still borrowing a lot from OverDrive, and I won't buy any Kindle book from Amazon unless it's on sale. Jeff Bezos can suck my big hairy dog balls... if only I had some. :oP Unfortunately there's still a lot of other merchandise that I seem to only be able to get that way.

>170 clamairy: hey certainly do in this country. We have two, which I use regularly.

>171 hfglen: I know I bought a giant elaborate one for my husband when he was having trouble holding books during the last year of his life. I donated that to the local library.

I whipped through listening to both Rogue Protocol and Exit Strategy rather quickly. I've skipped ahead to Fugitive Telemetry and will double back afterward.

If anything I am finding these books funnier this time around, and I think some of that has to do with the excellent narration.

>173 clamairy: I read They Called Us Enemy in 2020 and it has really stuck with me. I too rated it 10/10. The parallels with today are especially worrisome.

>174 clamairy: I really enjoyed the audiobook of the first one but have yet to jump into the second!

>175 ScoLgo: I believe this is one of those books that nearly everyone living in this country needs to read. I didn't realize it came out that long ago. I had gone looking for it at Barnes & Noble and couldn't locate it, even though the app told me it was in the store. I was in a hurry so I left and went back a few months later (which apparently was last July) and asked someone. It was not with the rest of the graphic novels, it was over in the history section. I guess that makes sense, but I think they should have copies in both places.

>176 royallyreading: They are a lot of fun!

I've been off on another adventure! I went back up to Connecticut to watch my son's band perform in the same club they played last time. Only this time they were the headliner, so they started at 9:00 p.m. (I am usually in my pajamas by 9:00 p.m.) They played until 12:30 a.m. So I did not get to sleep until after 2:00, and unfortunately woke up early. It was a wonderful time and I would do it again, but I was very bleary by the time I arrived home yesterday evening. I did manage a stop at Trader Joe's and picked up two (hopefully) amazing cheeses for my sister's 80th birthday party next weekend - a wedge of Cambozola, which I have gushed about in here before, and a wedge of Shropshire Blue.

I suspect my presence in this group will be sparse this week as I am prepping for out-of-state guests, including my brother and his wife from North Carolina.

>178 clamairy: Proper adult activity! Sounds like fun. Enjoy the cheese and the guest prep.

>178 clamairy:
It sounds like you had a great time at your son’s concert. Well done to hom in mainlining.

Have a great time at your sister’s 80th. One of my sisters was 80 last Novber and we had s great celebration in Belfast Castle. I hope your celebration is as much fun as ours.

>178 clamairy: It's a little late for you to get it now, but we found a new yummy cheese at Trader Joe's--Ivy's Reserve Somerset Red. Cheddar-adjacent, but different

>181 Marissa_Doyle: Rats, and thank you. I'll be headed back to CT to see my son play again in about a month, so I will try to remember to look for it then. We are finally getting one about 30 miles West of here, but I have no idea when it's going to open.

>178 clamairy: Sounds like so much fun! Have a great time with the family and your sister's birthday.

>173 clamairy: I've read this one a few years ago! I thought it was excellent. Heartbreaking!

>178 clamairy: Have a great time at your sisters' birthday party! Enjoy your cheeses :)

>181 Marissa_Doyle: Thanks for the tip, I didn't know they had a good cheese selection. A new one is going up around here, not too far away.

>183 terriks: & >185 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you! It takes me twice as long to get ready for guests than it used to. I keep having to rewind my audiobook because I space out and miss stuff. :o)

>186 Karlstar: They don't have quite as good a selection as Whole Foods does, but the prices are soooo much better!

>178 clamairy: Cheese, oh how I miss thee. Which is especially a bummer because I’m going to have a Trader Joe’s about two miles from me in about a year.

>188 catzteach: What!!?? I thought you discovered cheese was not an issue...

With all the jaunting about you are doing in order to watch your son's band perform, you are in danger of following Peter's example. Having guests, etc, is another time suck. When will you find time to read another book? (BTW, I don't know if you saw it, but George Takei was one of the keynote speakers at ALA last month. The man is an absolute rock star.)

>190 jillmwo: I am still reading, but mainly while eating meals and laying in bed at night trying to fall asleep.

I did not know about that! This news pleases me greatly.

>190 jillmwo:
My example involves an early morning* swim, a visit to the local shop for our bread, stopping at the bar to have coffee while we eat or croissant, or possibly pain au raisin, and reading our books. When it reaches noon we might partake of a rosé before heading home for lunch and another read of our books.

George Takei has a great way of endearing himself to his audience and coming across as a gentle and wise person. My son was enthralled by him when he gave a fireside chat to his work group at a special event in Baltimore.

*"Early" means 9am, or maybe 9:30am.

>191 clamairy:
Do not let yourself be taunted by Jill's badgering. I stand by Daniel Pennac's Reader's Bill of Rights:

1. The right not to read.

2. The right to skip pages.

3. The right to not finish.

4. The right to reread.

5. The right to read anything.

6. The right to escapism.

7. The right to read anywhere.

8. The right to browse.

9. The right to read out loud.

10. The right to not defend your tastes.

>193 pgmcc: To which my immediate response would be: Help! I'm being repressed. Come and see the violence inherent in the system!

I merely expressed concern about her levels of distractions! To borrow a line from Mayor Shin's daughter in the 1962 movie, The Music Man, it's people like you who make blood in the marketplace. Yee G*ds.

>194 jillmwo:
I could have fun with this. I could take an ardent Bolshevik stand and denounce your protests as the typical response of a tyrannical imperialist trying to distract attention from the horrendous persecution of the reading, or not reading, classes. Capitalist propaganda aimed at making the workers the bullies and the billionaire investors the victims.

But I won't. :-)

You too can learn to love Pennac's Reader's Bill of Rights. Unburden yourself from the compunction to keep reading 24/7. Step back and smell the roses.

>195 pgmcc: Um, you do know that I have a background in library science, right? It is possible that the wine and the sun of the French coast may be having an impact on your -- ahem -- thought processes.

>196 jillmwo:
That's right, throw in your distractions and tangential topics that bear no relevance to the debate. Distract the weak minded and cast carefully chosen aspersions at your interlocutor. Resort to ad hominem attacks to divert attention away from the kernel of the discussion.

Another rule from The Golden Rules of Advocacy was, "If you cannot win the argument attack the person."

My copy of The Golden Rules of Advocacy is at home and I hope to reread it when I get home. It was such a wonderful read.

>194 jillmwo: * The censored word G*ds is gads.
And now I'm not sure. But the Music Man is full of old-fashioned inoffensive versions of curse words

>198 jjwilson61: Plus, I always thought it was more like: "ee-gads!" in concert with eyebrows raised in derision.

When the young girl says it, her shocked father gasps, "You watch your phraseology!"

Classic.

>198 jjwilson61: and >199 terriks:. It's a great snippet in that film.

>200 jillmwo: Agreed! The whole movie is kind of like that. Lots of fun.

I finished listening to Fugitive Telemetry, Network Effect and System Collapse. Loved them all over again. Murderbot rules!

I have been off having adventures, home entertaining extended family, or in recovery mode. I will be dipping my toes back in the GD waters slowly, so as not to race through the threads.

Enjoyed A Drop of Corruption quite a bit. I also finished The Dutch House just this morning, but I need to mull it over a bit more before I write a review.

>202 clamairy: Hurray, Murderbot! :)))

>203 clamairy: This sounds so nice! I really need to get to these books ;)

>202 clamairy: Glad you've been busy. I do need to get to that re-read of the first 2 or 3.

>206 Karlstar: That added incentive is that they are all free as audiobooks through Hoopla! (They have the eBooks too, but I can only do those on my Kindle Fire.)

>205 Alexandra_book_life: I am 99.9% sure you will enjoy them! :o)

>203 clamairy: I had to smile. Here Anadin (Ana+Din) is a brand of aspirin.

>209 hfglen: Probably marketed by the same company that makes our Anacin. It's aspirin and caffeine combined.

Trying to catch up on reviews.

This one I highly recommend.

I'm still working my way through much of Jane Austen's work as we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of her birth. I believe this is my third Austen so far this year, and I listened to Pride and Prejudice last Summer. This audio version of Sense and Sensibility was read by the impeccable Rosamund Pike. This has been my second favorite Austen for decades, and her reading of it did not dissapoint.

I've already started listening to Sanditon, which I first read as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer give-away.

>213 clamairy: This is one of my favorite Austen novels as well.

>214 jillmwo: I'm happy to hear that. I did want to whine a bit about how Willoughby wasn't tarred and feathered as he deserved. Not so much for what he did to Marianne, which was bad enough, but for his behavoir with Col. Brandon's ward, Eliza. Was there such a thing as child support to be forced out of rich men back in the day?

>215 clamairy: The short answer is "no". A child born out of wedlock essentially had no rights and the only pressure that might be brought to bear on the father of said child would just be exerted via social groups. The local vicar *might* give the father a talking-to but if the father was already married, there would be no way of bringing the child into any form of legitimacy. The woman would be shunned to some extent. She might or might not be able to marry someone else. If she did marry, she could try persuade him to adopt her child, but again, it would be an uphill battle and any adopted child in that situation would lose out on an inheritance if there were children born to the couple after they'd married. Willoughby was pretty much just scum.

>212 clamairy: This is the novel I wish I could have started Ann Patchett with. It gets consistently good reviews.

The one I read was given to me by my mom - Tom Lake, I suppose because it takes place in Michigan and a lot of it takes place on a Northern Michigan cherry farm.

I found her descriptions of the Great Lakes, the challenges of cherry farming, and the other mentions of towns around Michigan very well written. Unfortunately, I was bored with the gist of the storyline as well as the main characters. I'd like to give this author another shot because the parts that were good, were very good.

Maybe this one? I think Tom Lake is her most recent.

>217 terriks: I loved Tom Lake, so maybe you should just skip Ann Patchett, LOL.

>216 jillmwo: Thanks for this. I knew over the centuries that people were often shamed into supporting or acknowledging their out-of-wedlock spawn. For some reason I had hoped there was more legal recourse by Jane's time.

>218 clamairy: Oh, darn! Lol Maybe she's just not for me, then.

>212 clamairy: It's on my to read list! :) Some day, some day... Thank you for this review!

>213 clamairy: Lovely! It's always time for Jane Austen, I think.

>212 clamairy: I'm glad you loved this so much! My friend gave me a copy, so I'm bumping it up the TBR pile.
>217 terriks: Didn't Patchett also write Bel canto? That was the gateway for a lot of people.
>203 clamairy: I SO want to read A drop of corruption but I'm making myself wait for the paperback.

>223 Sakerfalcon:
I read Bel Canto with our book club. I enjoyed it a lot and intend to read more of her books.

>223 Sakerfalcon: Yes, she did! Thanks for referring to it as a gateway kind of book. This will be what I follow up Tom Lake with. :)

>224 pgmcc:, >225 terriks: I really enjoyed Bel canto but never got around to reading anything else by Patchett. Until this weekend when, inspired by Clare's praise, I started The Dutch house. I am loving it so far and finding it difficult to put down.

>226 Sakerfalcon: It's quite gripping for a book that's basically about two kids and a house, isn't it? Definitely one of my best books of the year so far!

I also cut my teeth on Bel Canto. It was a library book club read for me back in Connecticut.

>226 Sakerfalcon: Dutch House is the other one I wish I'd read first from this author! So that makes two I will have no problem reading before I make up my mind.

I think Tom Lake might have resonated with me better if I was better acquainted with Our Town - that's another reason my mom was certain I'd enjoy it. I used to do some community theater in my pre-crone days, as well as in high school.

But aside from knowing the title of a famous 20th century play, never have I read or seen a production of Our Town, and Patchett uses it metaphorically enough in the novel to leave me aware that I was missing the references.

>228 terriks: It's a nice play, though a bit outdated now. I had to read it for school, and then I saw it live about 35 years ago.

This was my third trip through Northanger Abbey. My first jaunt was in college, and though I suspect I read most of it, my memory was a bit dodgy. I then reread it back in 2010, and realy enjoyed it. This time through it was as an audiobook, and it was just as rewarding.

I believe this my be the best bit about reading novels that was ever written:

“There seems almost a general wish of decrying the capacity
and undervaluing the labour of the novelist, and of slighting the performances
which have only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them. ‘I am no novel
reader–I seldom look into novels–Do not imagine that I often read novels
–It is really very well for a novel.’–Such is the common cant.–‘And what are
you reading, Miss—–?’ ‘Oh! it is only a novel!” replies the young lady; when
she lays down her book with affected indifference or momentary shame.–‘It is
only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda;’ or in short, only some work in which the
greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough
rough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties,
the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world
in the best chosen language.”

I have moved on to listening to one of The Great Courses, The Life and Works of Jane Austen by Devoney Looser. It's wonderful so far.

I saw that Death Comes to Pemberley did not have the greatest reviews here on LT, but I decided to give it a go anyway. I have enjoyed some of PD James' books in the past. This was just very flat. No one really comes to life on the page, and I had a pretty good idea who the killer was, though the truth was a bit more convoluted than I originally suspected. Three stars, and that's only because I was happy to be at Pemberley. If these were all random characters with different names It might be rated lower. And that Epilogue was complete unnecessary.

I have started Longbourne, because the ratings are relatively high, and it's another novel set in the Pride & Prejudice-verse.

>230 clamairy: I love, love, love this quote! I agree, it is one of the best things about novels and reading ever written :)

>231 clamairy: I really enjoyed Longbourne! I should reread it some time.

In Her Tracks is the eighth book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. They are gripping enough, and I feel as though I have come to know most of the characters. There's usually a bit of a twist, and this one was no different. I had to reread one sentence three or four times to be sure I was comprehending something crucial. Well done for what these Dugoni books are. (This one is a police procedural with a 40+ year old female detecting who is at the top of her game. She's aged with the series very nicely.)

BTW, Amazon gave me the first one for free years ago and got me hooked. I borrowed quite a few of the others through their Prime Reading thing. This one I paid for, but it was cheaper than a greeting card.

Edited for multiple typos and errors... LOL

>232 Alexandra_book_life: It's the greatest! And it should be turned into posters for library walls!

>233 foggidawn: I am glad to hear this. I'm just a few pages in, but I've already been laughing and shaking my head.

>230 clamairy: What a brilliant quote - and a great observation, to boot! This is an Austen I know I haven't read, and it’s now on my winter reading list. I think certain authors cry out to be read when you can literally curl up with a cup of tea and a blanket, and she's one of them.

>236 terriks: You are in for a treat. It is hilarious. Two of the characters are absolute scoundrels. Such fun!

>237 clamairy: I'm really looking forward to it! I double checked my various bookcases to be sure, but I don't have this one. New book time, then!

>230 clamairy: Great quote. Maybe that's another way of thinking about a novel when reviewing it? It almost makes the minotaur romantasy sound reasonable.

Just saw this item and thought of you: https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/audible-to-publish-exclusive-audiobook-sequ.... Emma Thomson (who won an Oscar for her screenplay done for Ang Lee's version of S&S) is the executive producer. This is an audiobook version of a sequel.

Summary version: Audible is set to publish an exclusive audiobook sequel to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, written by author and actress Rebecca Humphries, directed by Jo Tyabji and starring Emma Thompson, who will also executive produce

>240 jillmwo: Oh! I will probably wait until I see where the ratings go before I spend a credit on that one, but it looks very promising. Thank you for the heads up.

>239 Karlstar: and of slighting the performances
which have only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them.

Not all novels have this. That being said, I suppose there is no reason the minotaur book couldn't have genius, wit and taste, but I won't read it too find out. :)

>242 MrsLee: Exactly. I also thought that in a way, this would apply: "in which the most thorough
rough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties,"

>242 MrsLee: & >243 Karlstar: I'm not sure she was implying they all have it. I think she was arguing against the belief that none of them had it.

>230 clamairy: I see the Looser book has a wrong description. Needs votes to correct it.

>245 2wonderY: Thank you for pointing that out! I did not look at the description before I bought it, but I looked at the reviews.
I had the link here, but I am deleting it because the right description is now showing and I don't want anyone to accidentally vote it down.

>244 clamairy: Right, but it is just making me think about books a little differently. Probably most don't.

>247 Karlstar: I think as long as someone somewhere is reading a book and enjoying it is difficult to be a complete snob about it. Even if the cover (and the premise) leads one to view it askance.

I have a tendency to turn my nose up at some of the stuff other people read. I try to maintain a poker face. Back in my book club days I found it very difficult not to be honest when we read something I didn't care for.

I believe it's time for a new thread!

>248 clamairy: I find it very difficult to not react to what people are reading. Who am I kidding? I definitely do.