Alcott Acre's Home, Room 7

Let's get the introduction out of the way. My name is Stasia and I have been happily married to the recently retired Kerry for 37 years in June. We have 6 children, 4 of whom are my stepchildren and 2 of whom are ours together. We also have 8 grandchildren. We lost our daughter Nichole in 2023.

I love to read, it goes without saying and Kerry is very good about all of the books strewn throughout our house. Since Kerry retired in late 2023, we have spent a lot of time over the course of 2024 and 2025 playing board games (my other hobby) and despite that, my reading has continued apace.

I suffer from both insomnia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (known to me familiarly as 'stupid CFS') so to say my sleeping is haphazard may be an understatement, lol. Generally speaking, if I get 4 hours of sleep a night I am happy. Unfortunately when my CFS hits, I get about 14. Ugh.

I love to travel and Kerry and I have trips planned for 2025. The first one was in March and we had a great time. In June, I headed (by myself) to Pennsylvania to meet Linda (Whisper) and several other 75ers. Our next trip is Chicago in August to meet Joe and Mark for the first time. Looking forward to it!

That's about it, I think, so come on in and grab a cuppa!

Excellent Reads from 2025 (in the order in which I read them):

5 Stars
Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries from Genesis to the Roman Era by Jean-Pierre Isbouts
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance: Twelve Black Writers, 1923-1933 by Amritjit Singh
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
There Once Was a World by Yaffa Eliach
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story by Debbie Tung
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
Memorial Days: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

4.5 Stars
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
Farewell Espana by Howard M. Sachar
Time's Echo: The Second World War, The Holocaust, and The Music of Remembrance by Jeremy Eichler
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Our Riches by Kaouther Adimi
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Our Daily War by Andrei Kourkov
Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation by Noel Riley Fitch
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn
A Fire in the Mind: The Life of Joseph Campbell by Stephen Larsen and Robin Larsen
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives by Lucy Mangan
The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
Freedom's Daughters by Lynne Olson
The Free by Willy Vlautin
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Isola by Allegra Goodman
Bibliophile: Diverse Spines by Jamise Harper and Jane Mount
Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert King
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
How We Learn To Be Brave by Mariann Edgar Budde

4.25 Stars
Making It So by Patrick Stewart
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
Eleanore of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
The Harlem Renaissance Remembered: Essays Edited with a Memoir by Arna Bontemps
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard
In the Enemy's House by Howard Blum
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848 by E. J. Hobsbawm
The Wildcat Behind Glass by Alki Zei
Mountain Path by Harriette Simpson Arnow
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
Papillon by Henri Charriere
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Among the Righteous by Robert Satloff
Chenneville by Paulette Jiles
The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox
We Remember with Reverence and Love by Hasia R. Diner

July TIOLI Challenges:

Challenge #1: Read a book whose title, subtitle, author's name, or series name contains a body of water
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson - Completed July 14, 2025

Challenge #2: Read a book with something in the title that or subtitle would bring you to a hospital
Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomas - Completed July 16, 2025

Challenge #3: The “Tic Tac Toe Challenge: An author whose first or last name ends in either X or O”
Barkskins by Annie Proulx - Completed July 9, 2025
Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio - Completed July 15, 2025

Challenge #4: Read a book having to do with a dog
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson - Completed July 23, 2025

Challenge #5: Read a book set in the 16th or 17th century
Isola by Allegra Goodman - Completed July 8, 2025

Challenge #6: Read an UN book where a title word starts with Un (Note that a title word must begin with the letters un.)
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville - Completed July 26, 2025

Challenge #7: Read a work in translation
Fearless by Cornelia Funke - Completed July 5, 2025

Challenge #8: Read a book whose cover shows pictures of leaves.
Blind White Fish in Persia by Anthony Smith - Completed July 16, 2025

Challenge #9: Read a book with a title at least six words long (you can include “A” and “The” in the count but not the subtitle)
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston - Completed July 9, 2025
How We Learn To Be Brave by Mariann Edgar Budde - Completed July 30, 2025
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak - Completed July 23, 2025
We Remember with Reverence and Love by Hasia R. Diner - Completed July 24, 2025

Challenge #10: Read a summer-themed book, with a summery word in the title or a summery image on the cover
Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert King - Completed July 17, 2025

Challenge #11: Read a book with a title that starts with the letters BIBLIOPHILE in order (rolling challenge)
Bibliophile: Diverse Spines by Jane Mount and Jamise Harper - Completed July 12, 2025
Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount - Completed July 7, 2025
I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest - Completed July 2, 2025
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Completed July 8, 2025
Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang - Completed July 3, 2025

Challenge #12: Read a book by an author you haven't read before, from a country you haven't been to
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake - Completed July 11, 2025

Challenge #13: Read a book with a food item in the title
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn - Completed July 31, 2025
Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard - Completed July 4, 2025

Challenge #14: Read a book with a place to live in the title
The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs - Completed July 19, 2025

Challenge #15: Read a book with at least two title words that start with a vowel
An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor - Completed July 10, 2025
Apprentice in Death by J. D. Robb - Completed July 19, 2025

Challenge #16 - Read a book that has been Longlisted for the Booker Prize in the last ten years
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry - Completed July 17, 2025
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer - Completed July 20, 2025

Challenge #17: Read a book has at least one title word of at least 3 letters that has as many vowels as consonants
Four Souls by Louise Erdrich - Completed July 26, 2025

Shared reads:

Terec and the Wall by Victoria Goddard - Completed January 4, 2025
Balancing Stone by Victoria Goddard - February with Mary - Completed February 8, 2025
My Antonia by Willa Cather - Completed February 4, 2025
The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning - Completed February 24, 2025
Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard - Completed March 26, 2025
Friends and Heroes by Olivia Manning - Completed March 29, 2025
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber - April with Mark DNF
In the Realms of Gold by Victoria Goddard - Completed April 1, 2025
The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel - Completed April 5, 2025
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami - Completed May 17, 2025
The Glassblower by Victoria Goddard - Completed May 3, 2025
Mother London by Michael Moorcock - Shared read with Peggy and Karen DNF
The Weaver of the Middle Desert by Victoria Goddard - Completed June 17, 2025
Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard - Completed July 4, 2025
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers - Shared read with Mark, Ellen, Beth, Benita, Kristel, Paul, Caroline, and Marianne in September
The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - Shared read with Mark in December

Black Studies Reading
1. Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton - Completed January 9, 2025
2. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Completed February 8, 2025
3. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by Martin Luther King, Jr. Completed April 26, 2025
4. Freedom's Daughters by Lynne Olson Completed May 28, 2025
5. The Lost Eleven by Denise George and Robert Child Completed June 25, 2025
6. Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert King Completed July 17, 2025

Jewish Studies Reading
1. Farewell Espana by Howard M. Sachar - Completed January 18, 2025
2. Time's Echo: The Second World War, The Holocaust, and The Music of Remembrance by Jeremy Eichler - Completed January 24, 2025
3. The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn - Completed March 29, 2025
4. What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew About Judaism by Robert Schoen - Completed April 1, 2025
5. Prince of the Press: How One Collector Built History's Most Enduring and Remarkable Jewish Library by Joshua Teplitsky - Completed May 7, 2025
6. There Once Was a World by Yaffa Eliach - Completed May 21, 2025
7. Among the Righteous by Robert Satloff - Completed June 9, 2025
8. We Remember with Reverence and Love by Hasia R. Diner - Completed July 24, 2025

The American Authors Challenge - This is one that I dip into and out of as the case may be
January A Sudden Light by Garth Stein - Completed January 11, 2025
February Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa - Completed February 26, 2025
March Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan - Completed March 25, 2025
April Mountain Path by Harriette Simpson Arnow - Completed April 17, 2025
May Across the Wide Missouri by Bernard DeVoto - Completed May 5, 2025
June The Free by Willy Vlautin - Completed June 18, 2025
July The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs - Completed July 19, 2025

The British Authors Challenge - Same as the American Authors Challenge
January Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham - Completed January 13, 2025
February Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Completed February 20, 2025
March My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell - Completed March 12, 2025
April The Children of Men by P. D. James - Completed April 23, 2025
May Staying On by Paul Scott - Completed June 11, 2025
July I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Completed July 8, 2025
July Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake - Completed July 11, 2025

Paul's Grand Tour Challenge

JANUARY
Middlemarch by George Eliot - Completed January 25, 2025

FEBRUARY
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset - Completed February 18, 2025

MARCH
Embers by Sandor Marai - Completed March 3, 2025

APRIL
The Wildcat Behind Glass by Alki Zei - Completed April 11, 2025

MAY
Enemies: A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer - Completed May 16, 2025

JUNE
Metamorphoses by Ovid - Completed June 26, 2025

JULY
Fearless by Cornelia Funke - Completed July 5, 2025

The “Read More Sci-Fi” Challenge - using the Esquire list found here (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/) - which has now been expanded - and the book Science Fiction, The 101 Best Novels, 1985-2010 by Damien Broderick and Paul di Filippo as guides. Also adding in Hugo & Nebula Award winners and nominees.
1. The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein - Completed January 15, 2025 (from the book)
2. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Completed February 20, 2025 (number 54 on the Esquire list)
3. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem - Completed February 23, 2025 (number 53 on the Esquire list)
4. The Children of Men by P. D. James - Completed April 23, 2025 (number 36 on the Esquire list)
5. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon - Completed April 24, 2025 (Nebula Award Winner, 2004)
6. The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal - Completed May 17, 2025 (Nominated for a Hugo Award, 2023)
7. Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick - Completed June 9, 2025 (from the book)
8. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - Completed June 29, 2025 (Won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards)
9. Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh - Completed July 2, 2025 (from the book)

Monthly Nonfiction Challenges - I try to read at least 100 nonfiction books a year and this challenge is instrumental in helping me achieve that goal. In 2024, I was able to read 133 nonfiction books.
January Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling - Completed January 21, 2025
January Time's Echo: The Second World War, The Holocaust, and The Music of Remembrance by Jeremy Eichler - Completed January 24, 2025
January Atlas of Vanishing Places by Travis Elborough - Completed January 24, 2025
March In the Enemy's House by Howard Blum - Completed March 28, 2025
April The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848 by E. J. Hobsbawm - Completed April 4, 2025
June The Storm of the Century by Al Roker - Completed June 4, 2025
July Blind White Fish in Persia by Anthony Smith - - Completed July 16, 2025

Series Reading - I will post these as I read them:

The In Death series by J.D. Robb
Thankless in Death - Completed January 27, 2025
Bonded in Death - Completed February 9, 2025
Concealed in Death - Completed March 4, 2025
Festive in Death - Completed March 11, 2025
Obsession in Death - Completed March 18, 2025
Devoted in Death - Completed June 4, 2025
Apprentice in Death - Completed July 19, 2025
Echoes in Death

The St. Mary’s books by Jodi Taylor
And the Rest is History - Completed March 8, 2025
An Argumentation of Historians - Completed July 10, 2025
Hope for the Best

The Decker/Lazarus series by Faye Kellerman
Justice - Completed March 16, 2025
Prayers for the Dead -

The Three Pines series by Louise Penny
The Hangman - Completed March 21, 2025
A Trick of the Light - Completed April 14, 2025
The Beautiful Mystery - Completed June 16, 2025
How the Light Gets In -

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear
Among the Mad - Completed February 27, 2025
The Mapping of Love and Death - Completed March 16, 2025
A Lesson in Secrets -

The Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson
When Will There Be Good News? - Completed June 29, 2025
Started Early, Took My Dog - Completed July 23, 2025
Big Sky

The Shetland Series by Ann Cleeves
Blue Lightning - Completed January 18, 2025
Dead Water - Completed March 20, 2025
Thin Air -

The Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers
A Closed and Common Orbit - Completed May 27, 2025
Record of a Spaceborn Few

The Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch
Rivers of London aka Midnight Riot

Harlem Renaissance Reading (as an adjunct to my Black Studies reading):
1. My Soul's High Song: The Collected Writings of Countee Cullen edited by Gerald Early - Completed January 7, 2025
2. The Harlem Renaissance Remembered: Essays Edited with a Memoir by Arna Bontemps Completed February 12, 2025
3. Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray Completed March 5, 2025
4. The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance: Twelve Black Writers, 1923-1933 by Amritjit Singh Completed April 10, 2025
5. The New Negro edited by Alain Locke - Completed June 19, 2025
6. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston - Completed July 9, 2025

Louise Erdrich Challenge (featuring the Love Medicine series: https://www.librarything.com/nseries/2972/Love-Medicine)
1. Love Medicine Completed February 15, 2025
2. The Beet Queen Completed April 20, 2025
3. Tracks Completed May 23, 2025
4. The Bingo Palace Completed June 14, 2025
5. Four Souls - Completed July 26, 2025
6. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

The “Lists” Challenges: Reading from the lists, nonfiction and fiction, that are growing rapidly at my local library

Nonfiction:
1. All In by Billie Jean King - Completed January 5, 2025
2. Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries From Genesis to the Roman Era by Jean-Pierre Isbouts - Completed January 19, 2025
3. Sailor and Fiddler by Herman Wouk Completed February 2, 2025
4. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Completed February 8, 2025
5. Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation by Noel Riley Fitch Completed March 28, 2025
6. The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King Completed April 15, 2025
7. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold - Completed May 13, 2025
8. Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio - Completed July 15, 2025

Fiction:
1. Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram Completed February 6, 2025
2. Virgil Wander by Leif Enger - Completed April 1, 2025
3. The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan - Completed April 8, 2025
4. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer - Completed May 6, 2025
5. Barkskins by Annie Proulx - Completed July 9, 2025

Touchstone loading time! AKA nap time. . .

Happy new thread, Stasia!

Happy new thread and nap time, Juana. xx

Happy New Thread, Stasia!

Happy new thread, Stasia!

Happy new thread, Stasia.

Happy new one!

Happy Wednesday, Stasia. Happy New Thread. I hope you are having a healthy week.

Happy new thread, Stasia.

>13 atozgrl: >14 PaulCranswick: >15 vancouverdeb: >16 quondame: >17 Kristelh: >18 figsfromthistle: >19 msf59: >20 jessibud2: Thank you, Irene, Paul, Deborah, Susan, Kristel, Anita, Mark, and Shelley!

I have been having a terrible time sleeping lately - even more than my normal insomnia. My daughter Catey and I were taking about it the other day so I checked my Fitbit. I had to go back to June 19th to find a night where I had slept more than 4 hours. During that time frame, I had 3 hours or less of sleep all but 2 nights (4 hours those 2 nights) and less than 2 hours of sleep 4 times. Nap time activated! I managed to get right at 5 hours of sleep last night so a late start to my day today. I am hoping that the trend of 5 hours of sleep continues without veering into CFS territory. I had enough of that in May!!

Other than my late start, today is going to be fairly normal. Kerry and I will be playing a new game today, Wild Gardens, and I am very excited for it if for no other reason than the fact that the game is beautiful. I wish I knew how to post pictures so I could show you but for those curious, you can check this out: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8492769/wild-gardens

As far as reading goes, I should be finishing my current audiobook, Cyteen today. I am sharing a reread with Mary, Stargazy Pie, and need to catch her up as I am getting such a late start today. I am continuing with Barkskins (as this one is long, it will take me a bit to finish it!). I started I Am Princess X, Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, and Private Revolutions yesterday. I plan on finishing I Am Princess X today, but we will see how the day plays out.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Happy New Thread!

>22 alcottacre: Wild Gardens does look lovely! I'm tempted to put it on my Christmas list, except I don't think I've played the last two board games I've requested as Christmas gifts. I seem to have a habit of collecting board games but not playing them.

Hey hey hey! New thread enables me to stick my nose in easily and see what's up. I commiserate with your sleeping woes. I started Olga Tokarczuk's Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. Very good so far.

Happy new one, Stasia. Sorry about your sleep woes and hope they're on the mend now.

>23 foggidawn: Thanks, foggi. I can related to the board game collecting problem. We have about 800 here, many of them unplayed, so Kerry and I are making a concerted effort to play the games we have and cull those we do not love. Come visit and bring your games! We can get them played!

>24 weird_O: Glad to hear that you are enjoying the Tokarczuk book, Bill. It has been in the BlackHole for a good long while now but I have never gotten my hands on a copy. Thanks for the commiseration!

>25 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks for stopping by, Reba. My sleeping woes are unending but they have been particularly bad lately, so I am hoping they get back to 'normal,' well my normal anyway, too.

Finished this afternoon:

177 - Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh - Audiobook; I read this one for my 'Read More Sci Fi' challenge and on the recommendation of Peggy. I will be honest - this book started off slowly for me and mired in politics, which I hate. However, as a person who really dislikes giving up on books, especially when someone that I know and trust recommends them, I kept at it and am very glad I did. Yeah, there is a lot of political stuff thrown at you at the beginning of the book - you need to know who the powers that be are - that soon ends and you get caught up in this story of questionable ethics and what it really means to be human through a couple of characters that you come to care for; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>27 alcottacre: I've enjoyed the ways Cherryh has built stories around and incorporating capable characters who use power effectively, whether they have little or significant quantities, and who never seem more perfect than their settings are likely to produce, just very effective.

Happy new thread, Stasia! I'm slowing myself down with Stargazy Pie tonight, as I want to try to finish The Starlet and the Spy and let you catch up. But I'll most likely be on pace to finish on Friday, since I have the holiday off.

I hope your sleeping evens out to what you need soon!

Happy new thread, Stasia! I'm slowing myself down with Stargazy Pie tonight, as I want to try to finish The Starlet and the Spy and let you catch up. But I'll most likely be on pace to finish on Friday, since I have the holiday off.

I hope your sleeping evens out to what you need soon!

>28 quondame: I have not read a lot of Cherryh's books, but I am looking forward to reading more of her stuff in the future. Thanks for the input, Susan!

>29 bell7: >30 bell7: I will plan on finishing the book Friday as well, Mary. Thanks for letting me know your plans so that I can stay in synch with you.

If my sleeping evens out in my lifetime, I will be thrilled, lol.

Finished tonight:

178 - I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest - Young Adult; I have read several of Priest's other books so she is not an author that is unknown to me, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how this book made it into the BlackHole. A recommendation from someone? No idea. Anyhow, this was Priest's first foray into young adult writing and I enjoyed it despite its completely unbelievable storyline: two girls meet in 5th grade and become friends, investing time and energy into creating a fictional comic character they call Princess X. They continue to be best friends as they are growing up until one day one of them is killed in a car crash. Or did she? This book is mostly text, but there are illustrations throughout drawn in comic book form so we know what Princess X is up to. I liked this addition to the book and thought it made perfect sense. The book was just plain fun and I have to give it props for that!; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

Happy New Thread!

Here's Fourth of July readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/372020

Happy new thread, Stasia!

Happy new thread, Stasia! I feel like maybe Marina has >32 alcottacre: or did at some time. I may have to take a look at her shelves and see.

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. Sorry to hear about the sleep issues. I hope it improves. Sue has been having sleep problems too, mostly caused from the stress of taking care of an ailing aunt. She is going out of town for the holiday weekend, to spend it with friends. She needs it.

>32 alcottacre: I read that one back in 2020, so maybe that's where you picked it up? I gave it four stars at the time, though I haven't retained any clear memories of it.

>33 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver!

>34 SilverWolf28: I am in! Thanks.

>35 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg!

>36 AMQS: Thanks, Anne. If Marina did have a copy and you end up reading it, please let me know what you think of it.

>37 msf59: I am sorry to hear about Sue's sleep issues, Mark, and hope they go away soon!

>38 foggidawn: It could very well be, foggi. I try and be better these days about where my recommendations are coming from.

I actually got a good night's sleep last night so this makes 2 nights in a row. Miracles never cease! Lol. Normal stuff going on today: laundry is on and running, groceries will be here after bit.

Kerry and I will be playing The Pursuit of Happiness today, one of my favorite games. I have played it any number of times, but he has never played it so I will be introducing it to him for the first time. I hope he likes it!

I started Titus Groan as my new audiobook yesterday after I finished Cyteen. I think Tui is the first person who I ever remember mentioning Titus Groan to me and I have owned it for several years so it is about time, right? I am hoping to finish Private Revolutions, which is up for several nonfiction awards, today. I am rereading Stargazy Pie, a book that I really like and will be finishing it up tomorrow. Continuing on with Hitting a Lick with a Crooked Stick, a book of short stories, so I am just reading a few of them each day. Nobody's Fool is on tap but I have looked at the size of the text and it may take me nigh on forever to read. Best start it now!

I hope everyone has a thoughtful Thursday!

Well, Nobody's Fool is just not happening. The text size is too small. The book is over 500 pages long and I cannot keep reading it for any length of time. *sigh*

>41 alcottacre: I have had an e-copy of Nobody's Fool checked out several times over the last couple of years without getting more than a page or two into it.

>42 quondame: It is a double shame for me because Donna (Donna828) gave me a copy of the book at one of the Joplin meet ups and, as much as I would like to read it, the text is too problematic. I have a pair of magnifying glasses that I can wear over my regular ones, but they give me a headache. I am not willing to deal with more headaches on top of the ones I already have, lol.

I checked Hoopla to see if I could get a copy of the e-book there but no such luck. They do not have it in audio form either. I am taking it as a sign from the universe that I am not meant to read this book - at least not right now!

One of the great things about books is that they wait for us. . .

Finished this afternoon:

179 - Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang - Nonfiction; I was supposed to read this book, one that made the shortlist for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction, earlier in the year but it did not happen. I am glad I finally got to it though as it was a very good read. Journalist Yuan Yang, who was born in China but moved to Britain as a child, does a great job of taking us into the lives of four typical Chinese women - and the emphasis in the book is women since the women in China are treated, in some cases, as less than animals - and we get to know these women very well throughout her narrative. What's more, Yang does a good job establishing the history that lead up to these women's lives and in its current context. However, I felt like there was not any in-depth analysis going on. The book is very good narrative nonfiction, but not great; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>40 alcottacre:
Isn't Titus Groan one of the Gormenghast books? I have an omnibus copy of the Gormenghast novels somewhere. Probably in a box in the car port.

>45 benitastrnad: Titus Groan is the first of the Gormenghast books, Benita. I am enjoying my read of it thus far - I am up to chapter 20.

It is a quiet 4th here thus far. I tried a new sleeping med last night and will not be taking it with any degree of regularity as it makes me feel like I do when CFS is hitting me. I do not like the fuzziheadedness and feeling like my brain is no longer there. Today is the day I will be compiling the stats for June's TIOLI readers and I definitely need my brain!

Kerry and I will be playing Wormholes today, a nice family game about traveling the galaxy to get passengers from one point to another - and using wormholes to do so.

I am still listening to Titus Groan and enjoying it. I am finishing Stargazy Pie today, continuing on with Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick and Barkskins. I will try and start Fearless today.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday!

>47 alcottacre: One trick with sleeping meds that sometimes helps me is to only take a fraction 1/4-1/2 of the pill if the difficulty is getting to sleep initially. That slows my brain's squirrel cage enough so I can get to sleep with out flattening me the next day - so long as I'm not wound too tightly and can stay asleep more than 2hr at a time undrugged.

>48 quondame: This is a liquid sleeping med but I may try your trick of only taking half. I am still feeling fuzziheaded 6 hours after waking up. Ugh! I hate that. Thanks, Susan.

Finished tonight:

180 - Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard - This was a re-read with Mary (bell7) as we are anticipating the release of a new Greenwing & Dart later this year. As I was reading, thoughts from my initial reads of the other books helped elevate this one in my estimation. One thing that I was really struck by in this book is not only how much Jemis devalues himself especially in consideration of how many of the people around him feel about him, but how very young he seems. His sneezing is hilarious to me (I was up at 1:45am this morning sneezing my fool head off) but it is a serious thing within the books. I love how natural the friendship with Dart seems. Goddard is one of those writers who could write pretty much anything and I would read it. I have upped my rating from my initial 3.75 stars to 4 stars; Recommended (4 stars) Mine - Kindle

>50 alcottacre: Swinging by to see your thoughts on this one too. Again, it's interesting to me how often our responses to books are on a similar track. I didn't push up my star rating (though if I did quarter stars, I probably would've), but I definitely think a reread after having read later books in the series made this book that much better. The world building - not just in this series but the Nine Worlds as a whole - is fantastically complex and the more I read in it the more I understand other things that are going on in other books. It makes for rewarding rereads!

And I hadn't thought about Jemis's thoughts towards himself, but you're absolutely right. I think that's part of the effect not so much of the wireweed (which I finally understood having read the later books, as well as the Indrillines versus the Knockermen) but the betrayal of Lark and others he thought were friends and wouldn't stand with him. He's still recovering from that hurt, too.

New threads do seem to pop up more often than I can keep up with. I hope this one will be a happy one.

>39 alcottacre: I just checked and didn’t see it but I’m pretty sure she had it at some point. She’s one of those completely organized people who has their book shelves in alphabetical order by author and a system for what to do when the shelves get full. So I also checked in the basement library (doesn’t need this in her room anymore but not ready to say goodbye just yet) which makes me think she read it and rehomed it. If I come across a copy I’ll pick one up.

>51 bell7: It makes for rewarding rereads! And I very much appreciate that quality!

I agree with your spoiler especially the part about he's still recovering from that hurt too

>52 richardderus: Thank you, RD!

>53 AMQS: Ah, too bad, Anne. I would not run out as you say and buy it, but if you come across it.

Sorry to hear that the sleeping med didn't work for you, Stasia. Perhaps taking half the dose will help . I hope so.

>55 vancouverdeb: I am going to try and take it tonight, Deborah, since I got less than 3 hours of sleep again last night.

Stasia, I thought of you today. I was downtown, watching a new documentary, actually it was one of those *Museum Exhibits on Screen* of Vincent Van Gogh and it was really good. But that's not what made me think of you. This did, another new doc coming soon:

https://hotdocs.ca/whats-on/films/the-hobby?utm_source=ebull&utm_medium=emai...

Happy new thread, Stasia!

>57 jessibud2: I am laughing out loud, Shelley, because I know who the lady in that ad is :)

>58 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

Finished tonight:

181 - Fearless by Cornelia Funke - Young Adult; The second full book in Funke's Mirrorworld trilogy (there is a kind of a prequel) finds Jacob on a hunt for the things he needs to save his own life. Fox is not going to let him off the hook and go rogue though - she is not going to stand for that! Once again, Funke has created a world like our own with magic thrown into it and it is a very believable world. I have to mention though that the book ends on a cliffhanger and I hate those! Good thing I had already planned on reading book 3 this month; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Hi Stasia! I'm catching up with you - again. We're travelling so my LT time is even less than usual. I see you're blitzing through the books and heading for your treble 75.

>61 humouress: Thanks for stopping by, Nina. I understand about the traveling bit - I will be traveling myself again next week as I am heading to my mother's. Safe journeys!!

Finished yesterday (I know, bad Stasia):

182 - Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount - Nonfiction; This was a re-read for me. The book reminds me of an illustrated Book Lust by Nancy Pearl although it covers not only books, but bookstores, editions of books, book rooms used by famous writers, etc. It is a book lover's paradise!; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

Laundry is already running this morning so I have gotten a good jump on the day. It is my meet up day with Beth and Catey and I am looking forward to the meeting as I always do.

Kerry and I will be playing a couple of games today: Space Base, which we will play on BGA, and Wormholes (we will play the physical copy of that one.)

On the reading front, I have put aside Titus Groan as my audiobook temporarily because I Capture the Castle is due back to Hoopla. I hope to finish it today. I am hoping to finish Isola, which I am very much enjoying, today. I should be finishing Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick and Barkskins tomorrow, a good thing since they are due back at the library before I leave for Longview on Saturday. I started An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor last night, a book in the series that I had not yet read.

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

I'm impressed with your early morning laundry, Stasia. I love getting chores out of the way early but don't often manage it.

Enjoy your meetup with Beth and Catey!

Morning, Stasia. Have a great day with B & C! Not much happening here- PB & the books.

>65 lauralkeet: I really try hard to get chores out of the way early so that I have the rest of the day to have fun, but I do not often manage it either, Laura. With my sleeping non-schedule, I have no idea when I may be up on any given day!

>66 msf59: Thanks, Mark. I have about 45 minutes before the meet up so stopping in to report on a couple of book completions. One is for Isola, a book you recommended to me :)

>67 alcottacre: Mark got me with the Isola BB too, Stasia. I really enjoyed it.

Finished this morning:

183 - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Young Adult, British Authors Challenge; This was a re-read for me, but the last time I read it was over 15 years ago so it was almost like reading it for the first time all over again. I had forgotten just how good this quintessential coming-of-age story is. I love the narration that Cassandra Mortmain, the 17-year-old whose journal we are reading, provides as she tells of her down-on-its-luck family with a 40-year-lease on a 'castle,' whose owners come by to look at it. They have been living in America and are not familiar with the property at all. The two families fates are entwined from that point on. A great read!; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

184 - Isola by Allegra Goodman - This book was initially recommended to me by Mark, but I have seen several reviews of it in the group now and am glad to see that the book is getting some serious appreciation here as this is excellent historical fiction, based on the real life of Marguerite de la Rocque who lives for 2 years on an island after being abandoned by her guardian. In her Author's Note, Goodman calls it a 'journey of self-discovery' and it truly is as Marguerite finds out just what she is capable of surviving and overcoming. The writing in this book is beautiful and I cannot commend it enough; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>69 alcottacre: I'm due to reread I Capture the Castle, and Isola is already on my TBR list.

Hi Stasia. I loved Bibliophile. A beautiful book. I really enjoyed Isola. It’s our Bookclub read but I am afraid they might not like it. I hope to read I capture the Castle this month. Sounds like your Tuesday was off to a good start. (I did not appreciate Titus Groan.

I thought Isola was excellent too, Stasia and it was a BB from Mark.

>70 foggidawn: You have some great reading ahead of you, foggi!

>71 Kristelh: I have second Bibliophile book to read yet this month too, Kristel, Bibliophile: Diverse Spines. Have you read that one?

I am happy to hear that you enjoyed Isola too. I thought it was a great read. I hope your Bookclub compatriots turn out to enjoy it more than you think you will.

I am still not sure what I think of Titus Groan at this point, but I am keeping on with it.

>72 vancouverdeb: I remember you enjoying Isola, Deborah! It is a good one, is it not?

Another day, another load of laundry on, lol. Kerry and I have been up since before 4, so we have another early jump on the day. The Rangers won a game last night so we watched the highlights already.

We are off to Green Market at some point today and then it will be game playing for a while as we hope to get 2 in today, Horrified and Wild Gardens. We are trying to get a few more games in this week since I will be gone all of next week.

I am continuing on with Titus Groan today and hope to finish both Barkskins and Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick. I am making progress on An Argumentation of Historians and hope to start The Golden Yarn. We will see!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

>74 alcottacre: Is this your first visit to Gormenghast, Stasia? I know you'll enjoy Jodi Taylor's stuff no matter what, you disaster magnet you. AND Cornelia Funke! Quite the fantasy overload! *smooch*

>73 alcottacre:. I did not know there was a second Bibliophile book. I will have to look for it. I will look forward to your review of Titus Groan. Have a great Wednesday.

>75 richardderus: Yes, Richard, this is my first visit to Gormenghast and I am still not sure what I think of it. Lol

>76 Kristelh: I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday too, Kristel!

Finished this afternoon:

185 - Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston - Short Stories; Many of the stories in this collection center around Hurston's home town of Eastonville, Florida. As with any short story collection, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, my favorite being "Drenched in Light." Hurston infuses common sense and wisdom into all of the stories, I think. My biggest problem is the dialect. I just do not do well with books that use it (I have never been able to get through Andersonville for this reason) but I read this one in short spurts of 3 stories a night so that problem did not overwhelm me. I think this is a story collection well worth reading; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

Hi Stasia! Isola is on my list already - glad to see your recommendation, too.

>77 alcottacre: It will stick with you, either like a fungal skin infection or like the flavored of that most rarefied of fungi, the truffle. Little to no middle ground.

>79 AMQS: I hope you enjoy Isola if and when you get to it, Anne!

>80 richardderus: Good to know, Richard. I own the entire trilogy and hope to read it all!.

Finished tonight:

186 - Barkskins by Annie Proulx - This book is not one for the faint of heart - I read the large print edition which came in at 899 pages but even my local library's regular print book had over 700 pages. Proulx constructs a family legacy using 2 different families, the Sels and the Dukes. The stories are told over about a 300-year period. The theme of the book seems to be destruction: the destruction of the forests that are cut down and not replanted until almost too late and the destruction of the native population through intermarriage and diseases brought over from Europe that they had no immunity against. To Proulx's credit, she does not let the book just wallow in hopelessness. The very end of the book does offer hope; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

>82 alcottacre:. I really liked Barkskins when I read it. Glad you enjoyed it.

>82 alcottacre: It’s been in tbr mountain a while Stasia, maybe next year. I have a couple of other tomes ahead of it.

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. I am so glad you also loved Isola. Glad I landed some BBs with that one. I will have to read more of her work. I will add Hitting a Straight Lick to the TBR. I like Hurston and short stories.

I also really liked Barkskins. I am a big fan of Proulx. I hope she gifts us with something new. I can't believe how much I am enjoying Prodigal Summer. Why in the heck did it take me this long to get to it? Jeesh..I still want to get to Animal Dreams. Have you read that one?

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/372192

>83 Kristelh: Have you read any of Proulx's other work, Kristel. I think the only other of her books that I have read is The Shipping News and that was years ago.

>84 Caroline_McElwee: I will be curious to see what you think of that one if and when you get to it, Caroline.

>85 msf59: Yes, I really did enjoy Isola and am keeping hold of it so that I can reread it in future. I hope you enjoy Hitting a Straight Lick if and when you get to it.

Yay for the Barkskins love - you and Kristel both liked it, so how could I not? I have not yet read Animal Dreams although it is in the BlackHole.

>86 SilverWolf28: Thanks for the invitation, Silver!

Finished tonight, but just too tired to write about it after a long, exasperating day:

187 - An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor - Read for my series reading - Recommended for fans of the series (4 stars) Mine

>87 alcottacre:. Yes, I've read The Shipping News and I loved it. I have a collection of short stories by her marked as wishlist. That must have crossed my path sometime in the past.

Oh, and have a great weekend Stasia.

>89 Kristelh: I definitely need to reread The Shipping News. I read it pre-LT, I am pretty sure. I will have to check into getting to the short stories too.

Thanks, Kristel! Same to you!

Kerry just called to let me know he was in a car accident. Someone ran a stop sign and hit his side of the car. Waiting for him to get home after dealing with the police. He says he is OK.

>91 alcottacre:. So sorry to hear this. The incident of running stop signs is so "up". People just think stopping is optional. Glad Kerry is okay but probably you'll be needing to get a different car.

>91 alcottacre: Oh, no. I hope he gets himself checked out. In the moment, it's instinctive to say "I'm OK"...but some injuries take hours or even a day or so to make themselves felt. And I agree with Kristel...I find more and more people just treating stop signs as "suggestions". Same goes for the center line and speed limits.

Happy Friday, Stasia. Maybe at some future day, we can read Animal Dreams together. 🤞🤞

>91 alcottacre: Glad Kerry is OK! That sounds like an accident that could have been much worse

>93 laytonwoman3rd: In Wisconsin, we call it a Country Stop, where you hold your foot over the brake, then keep going if no one is in sight.

Hope Kerry continues to recover!

>91 alcottacre: What a pain. I'm glad Kerry at least thinks he's OK. I know you'll watch carefully to make sure he is.

>91 alcottacre: That is truly stinko! I hope it's not totalled.

Better days ahead, dear lady.

Sending well wishes for Kerry.

Please let us know how Kerry is, Stasia. I"m not going to bother you now, but we need to know. Love and prayers.

Thank you all for your concern about Kerry. He is hurting across his chest area because of the seat belt, but other than that seems to be OK. He did not go to the hospital as I had advised him to, but he was checked out by an EMT at the accident site. When he got home he told me he was not sure how he had escaped injury as our car was T-boned on his side. Needless to say, the car is toast. I am extremely happy to say that my husband is not.

The driver of the other vehicle accepted full responsibility and luckily for us, had insurance. He is not from around here and did not know about the stop sign which was partially blocked by a tree limb. Hopefully his insurance will be able to arrange for a rental vehicle for us since we only have the one car.

Finished tonight:

188 - Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake - Audiobook; I literally just finished this book and am still not sure what I think of it other than Peake has written a strangely odd, immersive world in which every character is weirder than the last and the entire world revolves around rituals, whether they make sense of not. It is very gothic in nature, at least to me, and I am still unclear as to why the novel is named after a character who does little to nothing in the book other than be born and grow to be a toddler. Still, I feel as if I need to go on in this world to see how it all plays out in the end!; Recommended (I think?) 4 stars Mine

Kerry and I are having a 'do nothing' day today. Neither of us got a good night's sleep - I did not sleep at all - so we are not doing anything. He is still very sore from the accident yesterday and really needs to take it easy.

Yikes, sorry to hear about the accident and so happy to hear that Kerry is okay, though sore. Hope today is a restful "do nothing" day for you both.

Aw, man. Just what you guys need. Glad Kerry is okay, just sore. Take it slow this weekend. 🙏🙏

What a hard day you two had. Glad Kerry is okay and hope his pain goes away soon and your sleep too. Now to get the whole transportation problem resolved. I hope that is not a big hassle.

Stasia, the exact same thing happened to me many years ago. I had a green light at the intersection and the guy who was supposed to stop at his red light, didn't. Hit me right in the driver's door. I also thought I was fine but it took a few days and I ended up needing to have physio for around 6 weeks. The other driver also was very apologetic and his insurance paid for my physio. Make sure Kerry gets checked out if his aches and pains don't go away quickly. And make sure the other guy pays for whatever care Kerry might require.

I'm FINALLY getting here and relieved to hear that Kerry is "only" sore. I guess this has upset your plans for visiting your mom and Catey. I'm sorry about the car, but when you take one out, I guess it's always been a risk. What a world! Take care of each other!!!!!

(What I remember most about *TG* is Gormenghast itself. Another series aborted for no reason that should be revived. *sigh*)

Oh, Stasia, I’m so glad to hear Kerry seems to be okay (albeit sore) after the accident. No wonder you didn’t sleep well!

Oh oh. I'm glad Kerry says he is ok, and I won't repeat all the advice above. To be able to walk away from a T-bone accident is pretty remarkable. I'm sure your mutual upset is still lingering, so be kind to yourselves.

When I got T-boned it was entirely my own fault - and I got a broken pelvic bone from it. The bone healed quickly, but the wrench on the tailbone area has plagued me ever since.

>91 alcottacre: >101 alcottacre: Glad Kerry is ok, always a bit of a shock tho.

>101 alcottacre: I am so sorry to hear about the accident. I am glad Kerry seems to be OK, but agree with everyone else about making sure he gets checked out if the soreness sticks around. I too hope that you can get transportation without any trouble. What a mess!

Sending lots of ((((hugs)))) and best wishes for a good night's sleep tonight.

So sorry to read about Kerry and the accident, Stasia. I'm glad Kerry seems to be okay, but see how he feels over the next few days. I hope you can soon get transportation again. When Dave had his car totalled last November, I think he was able to get a rental the following day - or maybe the next day. Here is car insurance is mandatory, so that is a good thing. Thinking of you.

That accident sounds horrible, Stasia. I'm glad the EMTs gave Kerry the once-over and that he's okay. There's a mental health side to this too, with the crash playing on repeat in your head, and I hope he's not suffering too much in that respect.

Thank you all so much for your concern for Kerry. I am continuing to keep a close eye on him. You are right, Laura, about the crash replaying in his head, that was the reason he did not sleep well Friday night. I allow him to talk about it as much as he likes - I figure it is good for both of us.

No news about another vehicle yet, which is not surprising as the accident happened Friday and this is the weekend. Hopefully tomorrow!

Finished last night:

189 - Bibliophile: Diverse Spines by Jamise Harper and Jane Mount - Nonfiction; Just as the previous Bibliophile volume did, this book adds to your BlackHole by being a kind of Book Lust book with pictures, but covering not only books, but book-related things as libraries and bookstores. However, this book is different from the previous volume in that it looks specifically at books written by marginalized people.

It is funny that I picked up this book right now as I was contemplating next year's reading challenges for me - it is already July and I feel behind on that! - and had settled on using my volumes of American Ethnic Writers as a guide for next year's reading.

I was pleased to see how many of the books in Bibliophile: Diverse Spines that I had already read, due to the influence of this group I am absolutely sure, and ashamed to see how many I had not, especially from the gay and transgender authors that are also covered in this book. As the authors say in their Introduction, "Reading won't solve all problems, of course, and you can never fully walk in another person's shoes, but it offers a brilliant path to greater understanding and opens up pathways for conversations."; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

I will be back tomorrow - today is my traditional day off technology - and hopefully will be able to catch up a bit. Again, thank you all for your concern over Kerry!

Good morning, Stasia. I hope you had a good "off-tech" day. How is Kerry doing? Hopefully much better. All good here. I will see Jack later this AM.

Hi, Stasia. Ooo, Bibliophile: Diverse Spines is going straight to my WL. We must be crazy to read, buy and borrow so many books and then enjoy so much finding out about more.😀.

Sorry to read the news about Kerry. Sending my sympathy to the poor guy.

>119 msf59: Kerry is still extremely sore and moving around slowly, but he is doing somewhat better. Have a great Jack visit!

>120 jnwelch: We must be crazy to read, buy and borrow so many books and then enjoy so much finding out about more Yeah, I agree, Joe!

Thanks!

Finished this evening:

190 - Crow Lake by Mary Lawson - This is Mary Lawson's debut novel as I understand it and as debuts goes, it is very good. It is a family story, the story of narrator Kate and her older brothers, Luke and Matt, and baby sister Bo, who are orphaned when Kate is 7. Luke, the oldest brother, who is 19 decides that rather than going to teaching school as had been planned, he is going to take care of the family and try and keep them all together. He especially wants Matt to go after his dream of a college education, something for which he has worked hard. Of course, nothing goes according to plan. Kate relates the story in hindsight for the most part and comes to understand more of her family and herself as she does so; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

This is the first book in Lawson's Struan series and I am looking forward to reading more of it. I own book 2, but not book 3. I am going to have to fix that!

Today was my meet up day with the girls and between the 3 of us, we played games for almost 3.5 hours. The bulk of that (2 hours) was spent with Catey playing Ark Nova, a game we both enjoy, but one in which she routinely beats me.

Kerry is doing much better today than yesterday. I do not mind saying that he really had me worried yesterday because he was feeling so poorly. We did get good news today from the insurance company of the guy who hit Kerry - they are going to supply us with a rental car tomorrow. Very, very happy about that! Now if we can just get through the rest of the process.

I am listening to Enlightenment by Sarah Perry and am liking it so far. I should be finishing Brilliant Blunders, a library book, today. I am continuing on with Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures), Beneath a Ruthless Sun, and Blind White Fish in Persia. I am hoping to start The Golden Yarn today so as to finish the Mirrorworld series.

And, of course, the All Star Game is on tonight. . .

>123 alcottacre: Excellent news about the car! Happy day all around. *smooch*

>124 richardderus: Thanks, Richard!

Finished this evening:

191 - Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio - Nonfiction; This book turned out to be a frustrating read for me. Billed as 'colossal mistakes by great scientists,' I take exception to the 'colossal' part. Mistakes, yes, but I am not sure any of them really qualified as colossal. I thought Livio did a good job with what he considered the main focus of the book: "evolution of life, of the Earth, and of the universe" and the mistakes that the 5 scientists in the book made in their regard. I thought he also did a good job in showing that the errors that these scientists made actually helped further their relative sciences. However, for a book written purportedly for the general public, Livio expects his readers to understand a lot of scientific terminology. One of his discussions I just got completely lost as to the point he was trying to make - now, it has been a bad few days for me so it is distinctly possible it is just because of that - but I felt like he could have cleaned up the discussion somewhat. Toward the end of the book, he made a statement and then decided to further elaborate with, "in other words" and the expounded again even on that. I am thinking, 'why did you not say so in the first place?'; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Library Book

Happy new thread, Stasia! A little belatedly...

>32 alcottacre: This might have been me! I read and enjoyed this one a while ago.
>50 alcottacre: Glad this one holds up on the reread!
>69 alcottacre: I love I Capture the Castle, too.
>91 alcottacre: Oh no!! I hope Kerry is totally OK, but even so, what a pain to deal with the car.

Hi Stasia, I am so very sorry to hear about Kerry's accident. I am glad he is okay and knows to be aware of how he's feeling.

I loved Crow Lake when I read it years ago. I've loved everything I've read by Mary Lawson, but this one's my favorite.

I'm very very glad to hear that Kerry felt better today. Insist that he keep that up!!!

I'm also glad for the insurance co. finally getting the rental arranged for you. I hope that they're even more cooperative about replacing your car. Good grief!

oh! I have Blind White Fish in Persia unread on the shelf. I thought I might be the only person on LT with the book. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.

Good news to hear that Kerry is feeling better and that you'll be able to have a rental car soon. This has been a year of hassles for you two but you seem to maintain your calm.

I'm glad to hear the Kerry is feeling better and you will have a rental car soon, Stasia.

Happy Wednesday, Stasia. Glad to hear that Kerry is doing better. May that continue. All good here and my current reads are treating me just fine. I am in the grip of my audio of King of Ashes. This guy has quickly become a favorite.

>127 curioussquared: Hey, Natalie! I am very behind everywhere - events seem to be conspiring against me this year - so I completely understand. I am glad to see the love for I Capture the Castle! It is a classic, isn't it? As far as Stargazy Pie goes, yeah it held up better than well for me - I think that reading it again after having completed the series to this point was actually helpful.

>128 AMQS: Thanks, Anne, about Kerry. He was doing better yesterday than the day before and seems to be doing even better today although the soreness is still there.

As far as Mary Lawson goes, I definitely want to read more of her stuff. I have the second book in the Struan series already and have ordered the third one.

>129 LizzieD: Oh, believe me, I am very insistent. I told him that he is not allowed to scare me like that again!

He is supposed to pick up the rental car today at 11am. We will see how that goes. The insurance company is picking up our car from the towing place this afternoon to evaluate all the damage. I think the car is toast based on Kerry's description of the damage, but I guess the final decision is up to them.

As far as Blind White Fish in Persia goes, my thoughts are below as I finished the book this morning.

>130 Kristelh: Kristel, I know it sounds trite to say that I know who is in control, but that is the only reason I maintain any degree of calm - after venting, that is :) Thanks for your concern about Kerry.

>131 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah. Hopefully today!

>132 msf59: Hey, Mark! I have Razorblade Tears here to read, the only one of Cosby's books that I own. I just need to make time for it. Happy that you have found a new favorite author! Isn't that great?

>134 alcottacre:. It’s not trite at all Stasia. Have a great Wednesday. And keep on staying calm.

Finished this morning:

192 - Blind White Fish in Persia by Anthony Smith - Nonfiction; This is an account of an expedition mounted by four Oxford students during the early 1950s in search of a blind white fish that supposedly existed in Persia's (at that time I guess it was still not Iran?) qanat system, a system that I understand is still in use today to provide irrigation. However, despite Smith's best efforts, the fish was never discovered and turn out to be almost mythological. The book reads better as a travelogue than it does as a scientific treatise and it is a fascinating look back in time to an Iran that existed before the revolution. I think that the book is a bit too long for what it is, but I still found it to be an enjoyable read; Guardedly Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

The big thing happening today is us getting a rental car. The guy is supposed to be here at 11am to take Kerry to the rental place to make the arrangements. Kerry is then going to come home, pick me up, and the both of us will go over to where the car is being temporarily stored and clean it out before the insurance company picks it up to take it to be evaluated.

Kerry continues to feel better day by day although he is still sore, which will probably last at least a few more days.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Finished this morning:

193 - Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson - Nonfiction; The authors of this book were young, idealistic, and determined to work for and with the UN in various places with various peacekeeping missions. They ended up in Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Liberia. It did not take long for their idealism to go. They witnessed atrocity upon atrocity and the seemingly endless incompetence of the UN peacekeeping forces to do anything about the various situations. Written as journal entries by the three of them and interlaced together, a picture is formed of young people in places they never thought they would be doing things that they never thought that they would do; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

"We are in lockdown, all I can do is listen to the radio and watch CNN. But it's the same thirty-second clip every fifteen minutes with nothing new. Yesterday was so nice and domestic. . .Meanwhile Americans are fighting and dying a mile away. And I didn't even know until CNN told me. I'm useless and frustrated and there's that surge in my chest and tightening in the stomach but nothing to do and nowhere to go." (Ken, October 4 - Mogadishu)

"My romantic ideas about peacekeeping are so obviously untenable now that I would be out of my mind to stay here, which forces me to realize that I was probably out of my mind to be here in the first place. Now what?

Time to go home. I've spent my youth." (Ken, 1996 - Liberia)

>138 alcottacre: Oh my, Stasia. I won't read that one, but you remind me that in the 70s one of my cousins served his Peace Corps term in Liberia as an agriculture specialist. The government valued his service enough to keep him on the job another two years. It's sad to see that time isn't improving the situation.

Hmmm. I see that I couldn't have used *White Fish* as fulfilling this month's nonfiction challenge, so I guess it stays on the shelf another however many years.

I also said that you probably want to lose the *Safehold* series if you've gotten any. I enjoy them, but at least half of the content is political machinations. The other half is a combination of 18th-19th century naval warfare with far-future tech and some nifty characters. I like it, but I'm afraid you'd be bored by the politics.

You and Kerry have a busy few hours. I'll be glad when things begin to return to normal or more normal or what passes for normal these days.

Kerry and I just returned from emptying the car of our possessions. It was my first look at the damage. I thought Kerry had been T-boned. He was not - he was hit straight on. The front end of our car is beyond my descriptive powers but I told Kerry his guardian angels must have been working overtime last Friday. It is bad. The front axle is broken, one of the front tires is bent at an unnatural angle, and the engine block is a mess. Totaled as I feared.

>139 LizzieD: Yeah, I was kind of bummed about not being able to use Blind White Fish in Persia for this month's nonfiction challenge (although the effort counts, doesn't it? How was I to know that the fish never made an appearance?)

OK, I think I only have the one book in the Safehold series. I will not get any more of them because, yes, I will be bored to tears by the politics.

Normal? Is there such a thing??

>140 alcottacre: - I hope the other guy's insurance will pay for a new car.

>123 alcottacre: Glad to hear Kerry is feeling better and things are moving along with the insurance. Hope the rest of the process continues to go well.

ZOMG

I was hit like that in my 1979 Corolla, that replaced the 1977 Gremlin that had a similar life-ending smash. My left ankle's bothered me ever since. I'm glad Kerry's largely unscathed.

>134 alcottacre: Ugh! We read Razorblade Tears for my RL book club last year, and I did *not* like it. Way too much violence for me. And some of the plot wasn't believable to me either.

I am so glad to hear that Kerry is doing better and that you've got the rental car. >140 alcottacre: Given that description, thank heaven for the guardian angels!

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. Funny, I have not read Razorblade Tears yet. I will bookhorn it in before years end.

>145 atozgrl: You may want to also avoid King of Ashes, Irene. LOL.

Hi Stasia! Belated happy new thread.

From your last thread, I’ve put Memorial Days on my wish list. Doomsday Book is on my Kindle. I’ve read the second book, but never this first of the seres. Thanks for the reminder. I’ve queued it up, we’ll see if it makes it to my ‘Currently Reading’ list. Murder on the Orient Express is one of my favorite Poirot books. I did not like the most recent movie, haven’t seen either of the others.

>27 alcottacre: Not a book that I’ll read, as you can well guess, but I’m so glad that a book that Peggy recommended worked for you after a slow politics-filled beginning.

>87 alcottacre: I read The Shipping News the year it came and still have my original hardcover copy. I have That Old Ace in the Hole and Close Range on my shelves just waiting for the right time.

>91 alcottacre: Wow, sorry to hear that Kerry was in an accident. I’m happy to hear that the seat belt did its job even if he’s sore across the chest. I’m sorry about the car and am happy to hear that the other driver had insurance.

>140 alcottacre: I’m sure looking at the car for the first time and Kerry looking at it again was not pleasant. Glad you were able to get your possessions out, and I hope the opportunity arises for you to get a great vehicle out of it.

>146 msf59: I will. After Razorblade Tears, I figured S.A. Cosby was not for me.

>143 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba!

>144 richardderus: Maybe it is just Corollas that get hit like that, Richard? Lol. It is a shame because Kerry really loved that Corolla. Thanks.

>145 atozgrl: If there was too much violence in Razorblade Tears for you, Irene, there likely will be for me too. I will keep that in mind for, if and when, I ever get to the book.

You got that right about the guardian angels!!

>146 msf59: I may wait to read Razorblade Tears until you do, Mark, and wait until I see your reaction to the violence. I do not have a very big threshold were violence is concerned, having too active an imagination.

>147 karenmarie: Hey, Karen! Thanks for visiting. I am so very behind on everyone's threads it is not even funny.

Yeah, I hope everything gets resolved with the insurance soon and we can get another vehicle soonest. Kerry and I are both clear on the fact that we do not want to get into car payments again, so we will see what we can get without having to do that.

Finished this evening:

194 - Enlightenment by Sarah Perry - I am really starting to think that the books that make the Booker Prize longlist, which this book did in 2024, are not for me. The last 2 books that I have read from that, The Safekeep and this one, have both been disappointments for me. This one in particular, which had astronomy (a subject that interests me although I do not know a lot about it) as one of the driving factors of the book. I genuinely liked one of the main characters of the book, Thomas Hart, but in the end I found the book far more convoluted than it ever needed to be. Why not introduce the character of Maria as herself and not some ghost that haunts people? Why not undertake the mystery of Maria as just a straightforward mystery? Arg. It is like the author was trying to deliberately make the story more convoluted, which irritated me; Not Recommended (3 stars) Mine

>149 alcottacre: Smoochling. I know I wasn't consulted but after rising twenty years I know a wee bit about your reading tastes...Shawn Cosby will NOT work for you because it's not *just* violent it's rage-filled. I can't think of a book you'd enjoy less. I strongly urge you to avoid it.

>151 richardderus: OK, not touching Razorblade Tears then, Richard. I know that you know my reading tastes - gosh, 20 years? wow! - and I trust your judgment.

Finished tonight:

195 - Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert King - Nonfiction; I have already read King's Devil in the Grove for which he won the Pulitzer and can attest that he has done as equally good of a job with this book. It is not a pleasant read. This story of, as the subtitle says, "Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found," is distasteful in the extreme for much of the book. A woman, who happens to be married to an influential man in town, is raped and initially tells the sheriff that she was raped by 'a dusky Negro.' So why then was a white man, who was tested and found to have the intelligence of a 'moron' arrested for the rape? I kept asking myself that for much of the book until, about 3/4 of the way through, a newspaper reporter who had followed the entire case from the beginning asked the same question and finally got an answer: the influential man did not want it to get out that his wife had been raped by a black man. This whole book reeks of racism, people in power that should not be, and the sadness of a 19-year-old young man arrested for a crime he did not commit; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/372482

>151 richardderus: >152 alcottacre: Richard is right, rage-filled it is. Not to my taste at all, and the ending was over the top for me.

>154 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver!

>155 atozgrl: That seals the deal. Off it goes. . .Thanks for the input, Irene!

Sorry to see the news about Kerry's accident, Stasia. Best of luck in finding a new vehicle.

>157 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg!

Finished tonight but too tired to type up proper reviews:

196 - Apprentice in Death by J. D. Robb - Read for my series reading; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

197 - The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs - Read for the American Authors Challenge; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

Happy Sunday, Stasia. I know it is your "tech-free" day but I hope you are enjoying a relaxing and healthy weekend. Go Cubbies! They have won their first 2 games after the break. Yah!

Sunday *smooch*

>160 msf59: Thanks, Mark. Yeah, I am thrilled for the Cubbies especially since the Red Sox were hot going into that series.

>161 richardderus: ((Hug)) and **smooches** back at you, Richard!

My 'day off' technology and I am tired, so it is a good day for it, lol. We have not heard back from the insurance company regarding a settlement for our old car, but I doubt we will get as much as Kerry wants from it :)

I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday!

Finished this afternoon:

198 - Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer - This book made the 2022 Booker longlist, which is the reason I was interested in it. However, once I learned more about the book I was really unsure as to whether I would like the 'my body as a narrator' that Mortimer used throughout the book - and it, rather than the main character of Lia, was writing in the first person. Well, it turned out that I liked it more than I thought I would as I enjoyed quite a bit of the word play that was assigned to the character (I guess you would call it) of 'Lia's body.' Some of it worked for me, some of it did not. The story overall of a family that is decimated and slowly coming to terms with the fact of the mother's (Lia's) cancer is a good one and it rings true to me throughout the characters of Lia, her husband Harry, her daughter Iris, and even her estranged mother, Anne; Guardedly Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

Enlightenment was a tough slog, Stasia. I was determined to get through for the Booker Prize list. Why did it get on the list, I don't know. It was too convoluted, and all that astronomy stuff was a bore. Glad it's behind both of us.

>165 vancouverdeb: I did not find the astronomy stuff a bore, Deborah, but I can see why people who are not interested in the subject would. I agree that the book was way too convoluted.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

I am currently reading a book that Reba recently recommended, How We Learn to Be Brave, and there is a quote in there that the author, Mariann Edgar Budde requotes: "It may be the neighborhood we live in rather than the neighborhood we want that will really make human beings out of us." The reason that this quote resounded with me is that I consider the 75ers 'my neighborhood' and it has definitely made me a better human being :)

Another 2 hours of sleep night for me. I actually had a decent night's sleep the night before so I was hoping for a repeat. Silly me! I have already washed, dried, and put away the laundry. Today is my meet up day with the girls so I try and get my chores done early, but even that is a bit ridiculous.

Still nothing from the insurance company about the car. At least we have the rental although I do not know for how long. I guess we will see.

Space Base is on the agenda to play today with Kerry and I am hoping to play Vantage, my most anticipated game of the year, again today. Vantage arrived just yesterday and we have already gotten it to the table.

I am still listening to There Are Rivers in the Sky, which I am loving. I have several paper books on the go too including How We Learn to Be Brave, Started Early, Took My Dog, Un Lun Dun, and We Remember with Reverence and Love. I do not think I will be finishing anything today - or starting anything else for that matter.

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

Hope you can enjoy your Tuesday in spite of the lack of sleep. I agree that the 75ers are “community”.

>168 alcottacre:
Un Lun Dun was a slog of a read for me, but once I finished it, I find that I still think about it. And I read it in 2013! I don't generally find Mieville's books easy readers but somehow they pack a message in them.

>167 alcottacre: Ah, Stasia -- you made my day with that!

We are community. In fact, we are family!!!

I haven't read Miéville in a long time, but I loved him from the second or third word of Perdido Street Station. He and Murakami were my two great finds while I was a member of *Quality Paperback Club* long ago - maybe even better than the 2 volume copy of the OED that I got as a joining bonus. That said, I haven't read Un Lun Din. Oh well.

Happy day to you!

I pretty sure I have liked everything I've read by Mieville. I started with Un Lun Dun.

Hi Stasia! I'm swinging by after a long while. I'm sorry to hear that Kerry was in a crash but glad to hear that he's okay.

Stasia! Happy Wednesday, smoochling.

Happy Tuesday, Stasia. I hope you get a good night's sleep. 🤞🤞🤞

I loved There Are Rivers in the Sky. Glad you are having a good time with it. I fell off the Mieville fan-wagon. I really liked a couple of his earlier novels, including Perdido Street Station and then struggled with a couple of his later ones. No one since, has convinced me to reconsider.

I hope things will start looking up for you and Kerry: more sleep, him feeling better, some move,ent in the insurance settlement.

You’ve had a rough road lately..

>169 Kristelh: Well, the day went better than I might have hoped given my lack of sleep, Kristel.

>170 benitastrnad: I am liking Un Lun Dun this time around a bit better than the first time I read it about 15 years ago.

>171 RebaRelishesReading: Yay, Reba!

>172 LizzieD: You said it, Peggy!

I tried to read Perdido Street Station twice but never could finish it. Given the way that my reading has changed over the years, I really need to try reading it again.

>173 Kristelh: Good to know, Kristel!

>174 humouress: Hey, Nina! Kerry is ok, still sore but improving.

>175 richardderus: I had to look just to be sure, but today is Wednesday not yesterday :)

>176 msf59: Nope, not a good night's sleep unfortunately, Mark. I am hoping to finish There Are Rivers in the Sky today. I am not huge Mieville fan by any means, but I am giving him another try.

>177 Matke: Thanks, Gail!

No sleep again last night despite my best efforts. My sleep did not even register on my Fitbit. *sigh*

We did hear from the insurance company yesterday and are working out the settlement. We lose the rental car in 2 days and I doubt we will have purchased another car in the meantime so it is going to get interesting.

I have already played a solo game of Vantage this morning and Kerry and I should be playing Wild Gardens at some point today.

As I mentioned above, I am hoping to finish my audiobook read of There Are Rivers in the Sky today. I am also hoping to finish my paper books Started Early, Took My Dog and Un Lun Dun as well. We will see how long my tired eyeballs hold out!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Finished this morning:

199 - There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak - Oh, I am so glad that I got to this book this month as I absolutely loved it - and I really needed this read right now. I have read 2 others of Shafak's books to this point and she is now firmly ensconced on my list of authors to check out when they put out a new book. Shafak takes three disparate people and ties them together with water - in specific, three rivers. It sounds rather bizarre, but it works. I was especially interested in Arthur, a boy genius from the slums, who grows up to head to Nineveh in quest of the complete poem of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The other primary characters of Zaleekhah and Narin are well-rounded characters, as is Arthur. There is one incident in the book that I found particularly disturbing and that is the massacre of Narin's Yazidi people - I will be honest, when I listened to it I was reminded of the Babi Yar massacre in the Ukraine during WWII. As much as I would like to believe that genocide is a thing of the past, it still raises its very ugly head. That episode aside (and a very important one it is), the entire book is just wonderful; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>181 alcottacre: That's a great recommendation, Stasia. I've read only *Bastard*, and I liked it a lot, so she's still on my catch-up list.

I'm enjoying Hello Beautiful for sort of the same reason - continuing to need a positive writer now, however much the characters may be troubled.

GRRR for the sleep. Glutted or Deprived; no in between. I wish it were not so.

Hope your insurance/car issues get resolved soon and that Kerry is doing well.

Sending hugs! *smooch* for good measure.

Sorry to hear the car situation will get complicated. I hope it is resolved soon!

>182 LizzieD: She is very good, Peggy, and I hope that you get a chance to read There Are Rivers in the Sky very soon. I need to read Hello Beautiful yet. I very much enjoyed Napolitano's Dear Edward several years ago.

Well, I can always hope to get more sleep tonight. I am surprised I am coherent at all tonight since I got no sleep at all last night. I did take a 30 minute nap today though.

>183 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba. Slowly but surely we are getting there as far as the insurance goes. Kerry is doing better day to day too.

>184 richardderus: I will take all the hugs and smooches that I can get, Richard! Thanks!

>185 curioussquared: Thank you, Natalie!

Finished tonight:

200 - Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson - A reread for me, this is book number 4 in the Jackson Brodie series. This book has a lot of threads that Atkinson is able to connect - a lot of coincidences, but I think that is one of Atkinson's fortes - and weave into a believable story of an actress, a child, a copy etc. I do not care for a ton of coincidences in my books, but Atkinson is able to carry those coincidences off and make them work in her story of an orphaned child who wants to know who her real parents are, a retired cop and another child, a cop who is grieving for his daughter and grandson, and of course, Jackson Brodie; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>182 LizzieD:
I am also reading Hello Beautiful. I just have a good start on it (page 60) and am enjoying it as well.

Looks like car shopping is on the agenda for today at some point and possibly tomorrow. We still do not have the settlement from the insurance company yet though. The rental car has to go back tomorrow so we would like to find something before it is gone. We will see how that goes.

Other things on the agenda today include groceries arriving, game playing (The Pursuit of Happiness today), wrangling with the insurance company on not enough sleep (yet again - 3 hours last night.)

On the reading front, I started a new audibook yesterday, Four Souls by Louise Erdrich. I am hoping to finish both We Remember with Reverence and Love and Un Lun Dun today. Continuing on with How We Learn to Be Brave and potentially starting Creation Lake. After that, we will see.

I hope everyone has a thoughtful Thursday!

I am reading A God In Every Stone and really liking it. It is also very intense about massacre and genocide. I am reading this one because it is for my real life book club. it is a very good selection for the book group as it has lots of things to talk about in it. I have a couple of books on my TBR list of her's but this is the first one that I am actually reading. If all of the books she has written are of this quality, she is quite an author.

Kerry and I bought a 'new to us' car today. We still do not have the insurance pay off on our Corolla, but we were able to put a down payment on a 2017 Nissan Sentra SV. Our Corolla was a 2017, so it is the same year, but the Nissan has 50+K fewer miles on it than our Corolla did.

Hopefully we will have the insurance sorted by the middle of next week so that we can take possession of the car.

>191 alcottacre: Congratulations on finding a car and hope your insurance settlement comes quickly. I know it's all a huge hassle but hope the end result is satisfactory. Wishing you strength in dealing with it.

>190 benitastrnad: I have read a couple of Shamsie's books, Benita, A God in Every Stone and Home Fire. I thought they were both very good. I hope you continue to enjoy the book!

>192 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba. The whole experience has been a pain but hopefully we are getting to the end. The important things for us were that we did not have to devastate our savings account for another vehicle and we did not want to have to make monthly payments. The Nissan solved both problems for us even if a non-exciting acquisition. Hey, at least it is red! Lol

Finished this afternoon:

201 - We Remember with Reverence and Love by Hasia R. Diner - Nonfiction; As she says in her subtitle, Diner addresses "American Jews and the Myth of Silence after the Holocaust." I never knew that this was a thing. Evidently there as a myth in American Jewry that they were silent and "purposely forgetful" regarding the years from 1945-1962 and basically denying the memory of the fate of 6 million of their European brothers. Diner refutes these misconceptions throughout the entire book showing that historians, literary critics, writers and others have been wrong in their assertions. At one point, she states that "American Jews felt compelled (emphasis mine) to memorialize the victims of the European calamity," a strong statement. One of the most important sections of the book, to me as a reader, is the section on "The World of Books," in which Diner details many of the books written in the U.S. regarding "the spread of knowledge about the European Jewish catastrophe."; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

"Did American Jews. . .have the cultural wherewithal to step into the chasm left by the brutal departure of the six million? Did they have the Jewish stamina to fill the void created by the destruction?"

So glad to hear your found a new car! Now here's hoping the insurance stuff all gets sorted out soon.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/372642

>194 alcottacre: That myth sounds odd. I certainly didn't know it was a thing either. I read Exodus last month, and there were a few references in that to American Jews funding a lot of the efforts to bring displaced Jews to Israel. And I got some sense of them feeling survivor's guilt as well from reading that book. Exodus itself was published in 1958 and included a lot about the horrors experienced in the Holocaust.

I'm glad you've gotten a car, and I sure hope the insurance gets resolved ASAP!

Hurray for finding a car! I hope the insurance process wraps up quickly.

>195 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

>196 SilverWolf28: I am in, Silver!

>197 atozgrl: Diner's book covers the time period from 1945-1962, so Exodus was published during that time frame and its references to American Jews funding efforts to relocate displaced Jews rings true.

Thanks, Irene!

>198 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura.

Happy weekend, smoochling.

>193 alcottacre: Our Miss Ruby is red too -- great color for a car :)

I'm pleased to see that you liked The Free by Willy Vlautin so much - this one is still TBR for me but I've read three of his other novels and I love his writing.

>191 alcottacre:.. How about that. You changed your mind since we talked. You were strong in saying you would not buy another car. What made you change your mind?

Congratulations on finding a workable car so quickly, Stasia. Now ---- if you can get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight and the insurance gets a move-on to a reasonable settlement, I'll feel better about things out your way!

I started Creation Lake not so long ago, and when I realized that I'd probably like it, I saved it for later. Makes sense, right?

Benita, I hope that you continue to enjoy Hello Beautiful and that you read it soon, Stasia!

>200 richardderus: Thanks, RD! ((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today

>201 RebaRelishesReading: We are naming the new car Rosie. Now if only the insurance will come through!

>202 elkiedee: The Free was my first exposure to Vlautin's writing, Lucie, but I thought it was terrific and hope to read more of his work in future.

>203 Whisper1: We had to as our other car was totaled. Believe me, it was not by choice.

>204 LizzieD: Well, since I got no sleep the night before last, I am happy to report that I managed more than 3 hours of sleep last night :)

Still nothing on the insurance settlement other than emails/paperwork back and forth although we had been told yesterday we should have it in 2-5 business days. We will see.

I am hoping that I like Creation Lake, which I have not even started yet.

Hope the insurance comes quickly. One would think/expect that they would pay for a rental car for as long as they take to get you the money to buy a new one with -- but perhaps that's expecting too much :(

>206 RebaRelishesReading: We had the rental car for 10 days, the maximum time that the insurance company would pay for it. Unfortunately, we did not even have all of the "paperwork" (primarily a series of emails) for the insurance claim until day 10. We went through a change of adjustor along the way so that slowed the process down from what it normally is, but they were still not going to extend the time frame for the rental. Ah, well. Hopefully we will see the money soon.

Thanks, Reba!

I am struggling at the moment with my reading (and life in general) so although I finished the following 2 books this evening, it was hard for me even though the books are good ones!

202 - Four Souls by Louise Erdrich - Audiobook; This is book 3.5 in the series and The Bingo Palace is book 4. I inadvertently read them out of order, but I am not sure that it matters all that much. I already knew ahead of time history that was "filled in" by Four Souls because of it. I love the way that Erdrich weaves Native American folklore and storytelling into her books. This book focuses on Fleur, but I have to say that Nanapush steals the show, providing some much needed LOL moments for me; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

A caution should you decide to listen to the audio form of this book: Audible has Four Souls and Tracks bundled together and there is no clear delineation between where one ends and the other begins. I 'follow along' in my hard copy of the book, noting where each day's reading ends, so I knew when Four Souls ended.

203 - Un Lun Dun by China Mieville - Young Adult; I first read this book about 15 years ago and gave it 3.5 stars at the time. My reading tastes have changed over those years and I have to say that I appreciated the book more this time around. The book is a mishmash of Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, J. K. Rowling, and more, I am sure - and somehow Mieville makes it work. It is a book in which the "minor" character of Deeba plays a major part and "the chosen one" of Zanna, fades into the background. I love the alternative London as portrayed by Mieville!; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I hope I can shed this reading funk I am in soon as there quite a number of books I would like to finish before the month is out, but I am not pressing myself to do so. . .

>181 alcottacre: Glad this one was a hit for you too Stasia.

Happy car shopping. Grrr re sleep.

>209 Caroline_McElwee: Shafak has become an author that I am actively following. I am very curious to see what she does in future.

Thanks about the car and sleep (or lack thereof!)

My day off technology. . .let's see if I can get out of my current book funk. . .

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

>211 alcottacre: Funk-b-gon whammys your way, smoochling.

>212 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I am trying to take the pressure off myself today by just reading a bit and then deciding if I want to read more or not rather than sitting down and reading for hours as I normally do, lol.

((Hugs)) and **smooches**

Good to see that the car shopping is done. I hope the insurance payment comes through soon!

Congratulations on the red car! I had two red ones in a row and now have a very light silver small Cadillac SUV. I've named her Pearl and she is hard to find in large parking lots! I miss the red cars.

"Hopefully we will see the money soon." I hope so, too, Stasia. What a major inconvenience you are going through. No wonder you are in a Book Funk. I get them occasionally and agree that it's best not to fight it. The Book Mojo will come back when it's good and ready!

>208 alcottacre: How strange that the two Erdrich books ran together on the audio version. I love her early books so much and have considered listening to them. I will pay attention if I decide to carry through with my plan.

((Hugs))

Your funk is totally understandable -- too much going on!!! Hope it eases up soon.

>215 Donna828: >216 RebaRelishesReading: I think my Book Funk is extending into a Life Funk right now. I pretty much do not want to do anything. My IBS has decided to make a reappearance after not having bothered me for years, my sleeping is what it is, and all I want to do is nothing. I do not like myself much right now. Even finishing a short book seems beyond me. At least I can still stand to listen to audiobooks. . .

And yet I am planning reads for August. Not going to finish July reads, but planning August ones, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Well, Stasia, I like you. I'm sorry that you're feeling punky and especially that you have another physical symptom to deal with. SO unfair! You know that I know all about wanting to do nothing at all and doing that.

>218 LizzieD: I have pretty much decided that my body is reacting physically to the aftermath of Kerry's accident and my mind is not far behind, so everything has just decided to shut down all at once. Hopefully the funk will go away soon. I would really like to finish How We Learn to Be Brave - evidently I really need to learn it - and at least one other book before the end of the month, but right now reading is just not happening.

OTOH - My weekly meet up with the girls is tomorrow, so maybe that will help with the funk!

Sending hugs for you, Stasia. Be gentle with yourself and take whatever pause you need. The books will always be there when you're ready for them again.

>219 alcottacre: I think you're right about your body's reactions Stasia. I find that with book funks there's nothing to do but ride it out. Life funk, I can't help you with I'm afraid because I'm too laid back as it is. Maybe find something else relaxing to do that you don't usually do like jigsaw puzzling or mindfulness colouring? I hope you're over it soon.

Oh Stasia I am hoping you will feel like yourself again soon. Sending you love from Colorado. Thanks for your recommendation of There are Rivers in the Sky. I did love The Island of Missing Trees.

Ah, Stasia , I am also occasionally troubled with IBS and it is a nuisance to say the least. In my case right now I think I need to eat less fibre. We purchased Dave's car after his crash before our insurance was through, but Dave was certain his car was totalled , so it all worked out. I am so glad you have the car purchased and I hope you are soon feeling much better. Try not to worry about your reading funk, you have lots of the other stuff to be thinking of.

Hi Stasia I am thinking about you and hoping the life/book funk is very soon over and you will be back to much better health soon. Fingers crossed.

>220 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky. I am trying to be gentle with myself, but it is not in my nature, I do not think!

>221 humouress: I have been playing meaningless games on my phone and spending quite a bit of time with my newest board game obsession, Vantage. Thanks, Nina.

>222 AMQS: I will take all the love I can get right now, Anne. Thank you. I hope you enjoy There Are Rivers in the Sky as much as I did!

>223 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah. I am sorry to hear that you are also an IBS sufferer.

>224 mdoris: Thanks, Mary. I appreciate the good thoughts.

Still no insurance settlement has arrived, but we were told 2-5 days last Friday, so I am not worried just yet. Give me time, lol. I did actually manage to read about 100 pages last night - nowhere near my normal 400-450 a day - but definitely an improvement over the whole 15 pages that I read on Sunday.

Today is my meet up day with Beth and Catey, so at least one board game is sure to be played with them. Kerry and I are going to try and get at least one game in today as well. Board games are keeping me sane at the moment, although I have not wanted to play them as much as I usually do either.

I am listening to Echoes in Death, a comfort read, in the hopes it will help with the funk I seem to be in right now. I am reading How We Learn to Be Brave which I am loving - thanks, Reba, for that recommendation - but I am having problems even finishing this short book. I started another book last night, The Salt Path, just because it sounded like a nice serene read, one I can use about now.

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

Stasia, I am thinking of you and Kerry. You have been through so much in the past year and the body does take it all in. Be patient and kind to yourself. We’re half way through this year so I hope the second half will be better than the first half. You’re a ferocious reader, maybe it’s okay to step back for a short time and then you can hit the books running once again.

{{hugs}} Stasia. I know from experience what these funks feel like. Not fun, any way you look at it. Be kind to yourself. Pretend you are someone else and treat yourself as you would anyone else you love. Yeah, I know, easier said than done. Still... It's nearly the end of July. Tear that page off the calendar and wake up to a fresh start. (my mum used to tell me that. Ha)

>226 alcottacre: Enjoy the day with your girls, Stasia, and May the games bring some ease to your bruised self. *smooch*

Sorry you are in a funk. *hugs* I'm in a bit of one myself, so I definitely empathize.

Sending kind thought your way. Be nice to yourself.

>227 Kristelh: Everyone keeps telling me to be kind to myself. I am just not really sure how to do that, lol. Thanks, Kristel!

>228 jessibud2: Yep, August is another month and one I am looking forward to as Kerry and I are heading to Chicago mid-month! Thanks, Shelley!

>229 richardderus: ((Hugs)) and **smooches** back at you, RD!

>230 foggidawn: I am so sorry about your funk, foggi. Let us hope we both get out of our respective funks soon! I hate these things!!

>231 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba!

>232 alcottacre:. I guess what I mean is if you don’t feel like reading then just be okay with that and don’t beat yourself up when expectations need to be adjusted. And I do pray that things will normalize for you.

>232 alcottacre: " Everyone keeps telling me to be kind to myself." Yes, what Kristelh said. Don't expect too much of yourself for the time being...coping with the accident and its aftermath is enough. Reading is for pleasure, not for points! And if you're keeping a tally, I like you fine.

Here is something to make you smile in the hope that your love of books will return soon.



I hope your reading funk is gone soon. And, I agree with so many that you have been through a lot, and you deal with an illness that you cannot control -- which lends itself to helpless feelings.

Much Love

Happy Wednesday, Stasia. Boo to the book funk. Hooray to the new car. Post a pic. Four Souls was my very first Erdrich- lent to me by a co-worker/friend. Years before LT. Of course, I can't remember anything about it.

>233 Kristelh: Today was a gaming day all day - Kerry and I played 3 together and I soloed one. I have not felt like reading all day long, so I didn't :) Thanks, Kristel.

>234 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. I like you fine too! I am trying hard to cut myself some slack, but it is really hard for me when I know I have not finished a bunch of books that I am supposed to have done by end of day tomorrow.

>235 Whisper1: Thanks, lovey. Much love back at you!

>236 msf59: I do not know (or have forgotten) how to post pictures, Mark. Anita always used to have to guide me through it and even then I managed to mess it up half the time, lol. Four Souls bears re-reading if you are so inclined.

>237 alcottacre: Jim has posted some helpful links in the 75ers wiki (click on the group name at the top to get to the page; he's put the links to the wiki and threadbooks at the top). The How to do cool things in your posts has the instructions (under 2. Images).

>238 humouress: Oh, yeah. I know it is there but still I manage to mess things up. Thanks, Nina!

Finished last night:

204 - How We Learn To Be Brave by Mariann Edgar Budde - Nonfiction; A huge 'thank you' to Reba for the recommendation of this one which actually turned out to be the right book at the right time for me. In one of the reviews for the book, the reviewer said, "A timely reminder is that, just as we must anticipate the lows with the highs and take both in stride, progress is always followed by backlash. Remembering this helps prevent us from feeling disheartened." Having been disheartened for a couple of weeks now, I needed this reminder. I started the book before Kerry's accident and was already in a mind to take it slowly, which I was definitely doing after the accident. This is such a good book in a small package. Even if you are not a Christian, I think there are things you can take away from a read of it; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>239 alcottacre: Let me know if you get stuck; maybe I can help (or can you just not be bothered ;0) )

Hi Stasia, I really hope you beat your funk, get your car insurance $$ and that Kerry feels much better too.

>194 alcottacre: I wonder if you could post your comments on this book in the Holocaust Literature group, it would be good to draw attention to the book. There's a thread 'What are you reading: Nonfiction.
https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/23593/Holocaust-Literature

I remember reading somewhere that the Holocaust was not mentioned much on tv in the USA. until the 1953 'This is Your Life' episode on Hanna Bloch Kohner.
I found an article on 'Hollywood and the Holocaust' which covers the episode.
https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/TIYLv8.pdf.

>242 avatiakh: Thanks, Kerry. Working on beating the funk, the insurance money finally came through, and Kerry is improving, but it is slow.

I will be happy to post my comments in the Holocaust Literature group. It has been a good long while since I was over there.

Thanks for the link to the article. I will check it out!

Finished this evening:

205 - Echoes in Death by J. D. Robb - Audiobook; I read this one to help get me out of my book funk as comfort reads tend to help, but I had forgotten how much this particular book in the series 'echoes' with me. Dallas and Roarke literally stumble across a victim who is beaten and naked when she lurches from the side of the road on which they are driving. They get her rushed to the hospital and find out that her husband, Anthony Strazza, is on the staff at that particular hospital and go about finding where he is - only to find him dead inside his home. This murder and the rape of the wife, Daphne, sets Eve on the trail of a multiple rapist/murderer. The echoes in this book remind me of my mother who, like Daphne Strazza, was an abused wife, which caused a lot of ramifications; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I am not saying that this book has pulled me out of my funk, but it is certainly helping me get there!

It's been a hot minute since I have visited!

I am sorry to hear about the crash but happy that no injuries occurred.

Congrats on reading 205 books!!!

>241 humouress: Thanks, Nina. I probably will not bother, lol.

>245 figsfromthistle: Hey, Anita! Happy to see you here. Thanks!

Finished tonight - with hours to spare! My last read for July is:

206 - The Salt Path by Raynor Winn - Nonfiction; I am not sure who first recommended this book to me years ago, but when I visited Linda last month I saw it on her shelf and she promptly gifted it to me, so how could I not get it read? I must say that this was not the easiest read for me right now, but that is on me and my frame of mind more than anything else. This was Winn's first book, but you certainly cannot tell from the quality of her writing, which was very good. Winn and her partner, Moth, lose their home as one of Moth's childhood friends took advantage of their naivete and trust. The man stole more than just their home though as it was a farm and so was also their livelihood. On top of being homeless, they are now jobless, and Moth is extremely sick to boot. Almost on a lark, they decide to follow the 630 mile Salt Path, walking all the way, and relying on the 40 pounds a month they receive from the government to help them pay for such niceties as food. Winn does not shy away from describing things that happen along the trail, both the good and the bad - there really were some gits along the way - and there is a lot of internal dialogue as she wrestles with the right things to do, especially as Moth and his health are concerned; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

From the very end of the book: "At last I understood what homelessness had done for me. It had taken every material thing that I had and left me stripped bare, a blank page at the end of a partly written book. It had also given me a choice, either to leave that page blank or to keep writing the story with hope. I chose hope."

I do too. . .

>246 alcottacre: Ah. Okay then, got it :0)

>247 alcottacre: I didn’t want to say anything before you read the book but someone else on LT recently read ‘The Salt Path’ and apparently things didn’t happen quite as they were presented in the book. I’m on my phone at the moment but I’ll have a look via the comments and see if I can find the thread later.

>243 alcottacre: Thanks for doing that. I'll add a comment over there.

>248 humouress: It was in Caroline's thread.

>249 avatiakh: No problem, Kerry!

>250 humouress: I read about the controversy. I based my comments on the book itself. It sounds like Winn is presenting documents to prove that at least some of what the article claims is untrue.