Joe's Seventh Book Cafe of 2025

January 2025

1. God of the Woods by Liz Moore. A pretty good mystery about two children from the same well-off family who disappeared in the woods about ten years apart. I was a little disappointed after the raves and commercial success. It was fine, but it felt like the set-up of all the pieces went on and on. I did like several of the characters, including young detetective Judyta Luptack, who has to deal with sexism and being underestimated because of her age. I would read another one featuring her.

2. Orbital by Samantha Harvey. A beautifully, poetically written novel centering around six men and women astronauts on an orbiting space station, observing the beauty of our world from high above as they take scrupulous care of their new orbiting home. In the book’s one day they experience sixteen sunrises and sunsets as they hurtle on their path. We get into their daily routine, including hard exercise to maintain some muscle tone in weightlessness, and get glimpses of their lives and loved ones back on earth. What makes this one stand out is how the author draws us in to her rhythmic language and a high altitude perspective on our tiny, vital lives and the spectacular universe we live in. A spacewalk outside the station is transcendingly lovely. My first 5 star read of ‘25.

3. When the Sea Came Alive: an Oral History of D-Day by Garrett Graff.

Much of the D-Day planning was a chess match, as the allies attempted to disguise (sometimes elaborately) their liberation assault on France’s coast, an assault Hitler and his generals knew must be coming.

“The final major secret at the core of Operation OVERLORD was that the Allies didn’t plan to capture or target a key harbor in the opening of the invasion. German officials believed that places like Pas-de-Calais or Cherbourg would be vital early targets of the Allies in order to secure the port facilities.”

As I mentioned along the way, I thoroughly enjoyed this oral history of WWII’s D-Day, including events preceding and after. Graff has skillfully woven together what was said at the time by soldiers, sailors, pilots, civilians, generals, admirals, politicians, the lowest levels and the highest, and media reports. His concise transitional bridges give the essentials without fuss. The result is a great way to arm chair experience one of the most momentous times in our history, and a turning point in WWII.

4. Now or Never by Janet Evanovich. The 31st Stephanie Plum mystery, centering around her pursuit of a killer (who jumped bond) who thinks he’s a vampire. I stopped reading the series for several books but resumed with the one before this one, without having missed much. This one’s predecessor really caught my attention when the eternal love triangle between her, Joe Morelli and the dangerous Ranger actually moved toward resolution, with both of them proposing to her. In this one, she accepts one of the two..

The plot formula remains much the same, with lots of chuckles with Lula and others, but she introduces a new character, Herbert, who’s infatuated with Stephanie and a loquacious pest. His rambles about his high self worth and desirability, and opinions about nearly everything, are funny and wear well. Debbi and I hope he becomes a continuing character in the series.

5. Brittle Joints by Maria Sweeney. A good GN about the poor author’s highly unusual brittle bone disease about how she painfully negotiates every day, endures ignorant comments, and manages to put together a sustainable life.

6. Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. For readers of this author’s Inheritance Game series, this collection of short pieces is rewarding reading. It includes the prequel novella
The Same Backward as Forward. That novella is one of the highlights of the book, as it winningly explains the relationship between the main character Avery’s mother and adoptive father Toby Hawthorne/Harry the homeless man who plays chess with Avery. . The series books give only glimpses of why some things are the way they are, in favor of keeping the plot sleek. These stories fill in many of the blanks, and have their own charm. I particularly enjoyed Avery and Jameson using the streets of Prague as a personal board game. The book, like the series, is filled with puzzles to be solved, with the solutions well-explained. Good book for those enduring cold winter days.

7. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarrows. This is the third in the author’s Fourth Wing series, and as with the first two, she has readers flying through the pages. Her writing is propulsive and wry, rather than poetic.

“To the ones who don’t run with the popular crowd, the ones who get caught reading under their desks, the ones who feel like they never get invited, included, or represented. Get your leathers. We have dragons to ride.“

*****

“Oh gods, just stop flirting and fuck already,” Ridoc says. Every head slowly turns in his direction. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?” he asks me in a hushed whisper. “Oh yeah, you did,” I reply, patting him on his back. “Garrick’s going to blow you off the mat.” “Now that I might enjoy, depending on the method he chooses—” Ridoc winces. “I’m going to stop talking now.”

****

One again, Violet and her powerful paramour Xaden have to climb on their telepathically-connected dragons to battle the good people gone bad venin, while also pursuing diplomacy with reluctant potential allies.

There are many interesting characters besides those two in this rip-roaring saga, including Theophanie, a storm-wielding Mage hoping to convert lightning-wielding Violet to the venin cause.

There is humor, heartbreak, family drama, romance and more in these effulgent books, and bookish Scribe-wannabe Violet, pressed into leadership, is a character worthy of our commitment. Can’t wait for the next one!

8. Rare Flavours by Ram V. An ifrit (demon) recruits a young filmmaker to accompany him as he visits various eating establishments and talks about the history of the food and its flavor. The young man is thrown into a quandary when he learns that the ifrit includes people in his diet. This unusual premise results in a very fine graphic novel, complete with mouth-watering recipes (recipes for eating people not included). A fun recommendation from brother Mark.

February 2025

9. Halcyon by Ron Rege. An unusual GN, both graphically and in its storytelling. The graphics have been described as “psychedelic”, but that’s not quite right, nor is “swirly-vescent”, which isn’t even a word, for goodness’ sake. (This book forced me to make it up). A boy and a girl (who are intended to be nonbinary) are on a journey that turns out to be spiritual. Following that journey was challenging at times, as there are few words. For a large swatch of it we seem to be in a bizarre videogame. This is an idiosyncratic and distinctive book. Those up for a challenge will experience something different from the more typical GN fare.

10. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict. An imagining of the circumstances of the never-explained 11 day disappearance of famous mystery writer Agath Christie. It is quite plausible, focusing in part on the misdeeds of her first husband. A good read for Dame Agatha, with true-to-life nuggets like her learning to surf(!)

11. First Test by Tamora Pierce.* Good graphic adaptation of the story of young Kel, a rare girl in a program full of boys training for knighthood. She hopes to follow in the footsteps of her hero Alanna, the Lioness, a female knight and Protector of the Kingdom. We used to read the Alanna books with iur young daughter back in the day, swapping copies around and iscusding the stories. Kel has much of Alanna’s charisma and determination, and in intervening against bullying, manages to organize the bullied into an effective counter to their tormenters. I enjoyed this revisit with Pierce’s storytelling.

12. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. A beaut of a book recommended by brother Mark. Charlotte grew up as an outsider after a childhood of abandonment, but fate brought her to a man who appreciated and deeply loved her differences.

13. Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb. A former member of “the Twelve”, a skilled rebel group during the Urban Wars, feeling mistreated, wants to kill the other members many years later. Dallas and Peabody are after him, although his acquired skills make him slippery. Another good one in this long-running series.

14. Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish.* An affecting story of two lonely women, one a single mom, trying to make their way in a difficult world. One hopes for more from the relationship than the other is initially prepared for. The strongly colored graphics are a plus, with idiosyncratic character depictions.

15. Brittle Joints, a graphic memoir by Maria Sweeney.* The author suffers from a rare combination of two diseases that make her bones extremely fragile and painful. Very much a “count your blessings” and “how in the world does she keep pushing” kind of book for me. In well done art we find out how she negotiates life, continues seeking relief, and finds periods of joy, including finding a patient, caring boyfriend. Well worth the read.

16. Cosmic Detective by Jeff Lemire.*. An entertaining sci-fi noir GN. Like Mark, I’m a Jeff Lemire fan. He’s known for gritty blue collar graphic stories like Essex County, so this is a departure, although he also did the very good Descender/Ascender sci-fi GN series.

>17 msf59:. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. What an excellent and extremely moving book this is. Set in German-occupied France during WWII, it follows two sisters, Vianne and Isabella, as they try to survive the deprivation, cruelty and atrocities. Vianne is determined to protect her daughter and home to which she hopes her captured soldier husband will return; Isabella is determined to somehow strike back against the Germans. By bringing us into their daily lives, Hannah vividly shows us how much we need to count our blessings. It’s a harrowing read, but also extremely rewarding. The treatment of the Jews is the stuff of nightmares. The sheer persistence of the sisters is heroic, and they also manage to help others threatened with death and deportation. This is one of those where I’d give more than 5 stars if I could.

18. The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore. This is a pleasant read about a passionate teen romance that left one devastated and the other either dead or far, far away, and an abandoned foursome of siblings being raised by the eldest sister. The characters, including a grumpy old neighbor who goes through a lot of challenges and changes, and a survivalist teacher who’s charming but hiding something, grew on me, and the many book references added to the casual good time.

19. Blurry by Dash Shaw.*. A GN about pretty mundane moments in people’s lives that somehow makes it all interesting. It covers:

A man can’t decide between two dress shirts for a wedding.
A woman questions the style of her new glasses.
A teacher considers quitting teaching.
A figure-drawing model considers quitting modeling.
A man drives into a fog bank and is unsure how to get home.

Maybe its secret sauce is that we can all relate.

March 2025

20. The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. A novel by the author of The Midnight Library. Grace Winters has become stuck in mud due to unwarranted guilt over her young son’s bike-riding accident and a brief betrayal of her late husband. Than a small house is left her on the gorgeous island of Ibiza. What she finds there reminded me of my old days of reading Carlos Castaneda. It results in quite an awakening and departure from the mud, as Grace is enlisted in a fight to save the island’s natural beauty from overly aggressive hotel development.

Haig is adept at maintaining the reading momentum. I enjoyed this morality tale that reminds us about how guilt from the past can hobble us, and the pleasures freedom from it can bring.

21. An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison. A fascinating look at bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder by a clinical psychologist who suffers from it herself. She’s frank about her struggles to lead a productive (and strikingly successful) life, and her foolish mistakes along the way. One was resisting taking her necessary medication. She has another book about the fine line between exceptional creativity and madness (e.g. Van Gogh), called Touched With Fire, which I’ll add to my wishlist.

22. Water, Water by Billy Collins. Another excellent collection from our country’s premier poet (IMO). Some poems are slight and fluffy, but not many. My copy is bristling with post-its for ones I want to revisit. He’s known for his poems’ accessibility, but they often have surprising depth. And he often sends me to Google or the dictionary to better understand what he is referencing. What a gift - He’s one of three people I’d like to be. (Springsteen and Yo- Yo Ma are the other two). (Also Mary Oliver when she was alive).

23. The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman. The third short novella in her Bookstore series. Okay but not as satisfying as the first two.

24. Hang on St. Christopher by Adrian McKinty. The eighth Sean Duffy mystery is set in Northern and Southern Ireland, and partially in Scotland where Duffy now lives. What a corker! What appears to be a carjacking turned fatally violent is actually a disguised murder that Duffy and his CID pal Crabbie doggedly pursue. Duffy is a virtuoso at annoying everyone but the reader and his common law wife Beth. His unflagging curiosity and often reckless bravery make for a joyous read, one of the best in the series.

25. The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. A pleasant read, but no great shakes. Female members of the Detection Club of mystery writers band together to solve a real life murder: Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and the Scarlet Pimpernel author, Baroness Orczy. It’s a fun way to learn a little about each and their lives, and to imagine all of them using their mental prowess to take down a real life murderer. Sayers is the narrator, and we learn more about her than the others. Fans of this era of mystery-writing will have a good time.

26. We Do Not Part by Han Kang. A Nobel Prize winner relating to the effect on three women (mother, daughter, daughter’s friend) of a little known piece of South Korea history - the 1948 massacre of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The U.S. was in charge, and the impetus was fear that Communism was taking root. Carried out by young right wing Koreans, it reminded me of Hitler’s lackeys: ruthless, barbaric, power-mad.

The writing is poetic, the story drifts between dream and reality. The book is worthy of much respect, but I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. This took me back to the days of homework for class.

27. Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz. The new Orphan X thriller. Orphan X, aka The Nowhere Man, is an omnicompetent former assassin who now helps those who have no other hope. Normally stoic and efficient, the author after several series books is expanding his emotional range, first by pitting him against his one close friend, Tommy Stojack, a bespoke arms manufacturer.

What to do when a close longtime friend crosses the line by helping a dangerous villain? In X’s world, do you have to kill him? X even helps his 17 year old hacker assistant Joey with her social problems, just because she means enough to him.

There’s still plenty of bang bang gunplay, with the latest gun tech, and plenty of close hand to hand combat, with both X and Tommy accommodating a long list of past injuries. Perhaps the best part for me is the insider’s view of a small gang of racist young Maga types, who, as a sarcastic sister says, are busy trying to protecting white ethnocentricity from the couch while unemployed. One of the Magas is a friend’s son who Tommy is trying to help while skirmishing with X. He and X try to figure out a just result while figuring out whether one of them has to die.

28. The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry edited by Stephen Mitchell.i

29. Firebugs by Nino Bulling.*. A well done graphic novel about a queer woman, thinking about transitioning to a man, and her girlfriend, and how their relationship evolves. I liked the loose, flowing artwork.

30. The Women by Kristin Hannah.

April 2025

31. Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles. Well done historical novel by the author of The Paris Library. American Heiress Anne Morgan is determined to help France recover after the first World War, and building libraries in the bombed out north, and training librarians are featured in her plan. She enlists the help of young Jessie Carson fron the NYPL, who quickly matures into a force, transforming France’s library system.

The old system, run by men, ignored children and reflected the belief that the upper class and working class read different books and would not mingle. Carson overcame much resistance in creating children’s sections and open stacks, and training students in American library principles. The book brings to life a neglected historical figure, along with Morgan and others. A pleasant read that reminded me of the author Marie Benedict.

32. Time of the Child by Niall Williams. A very Irish tale, set in the author’s fictional coastal town of Faha, last visited in his This is Happiness. Ther are two prominent story threads: the local church’s beloved Canon is descending into dementia, and a baby is abandoned by the church gate. What to do?

The baby is brought to the town doctor and his daughter, who fall in love with it but know they normallly wouldn’t be allowed to keep her. At the same time, the Church’s young curate is pressing the doctor to sign off on institutionalizing the Canon, which the doctor resists. The storytelling is like gently running water, with regular glimpses of shining wisdom gems. Very soothing on a cold spring day. The resolution makes sense and fits Faha. This author has the gift of the gab, and a lot of insights into Faha’s inhabitants which both entertain and have application in the wider world.

33. Midnight Black by Mark Greaney. A solid new thriller featuring the Gray Man trying to break his sweetheart Zoya, also a skilled agent, out of a Russian prison. Even getting into Russia undetected is near-impossible, and freeing her on his own probably a suicide mission. Luckily he picks up some help along the way including from Russian resistance fighters hoping to impede and to some day topple the Putin-like Russian leader and to help the Ukrainians in the ongoing war with Russia. The first half struck me as overly detailed in its setup, but the action-packed second half made up for it.

34. Diviners Bow by Sharon Lee. A welcome new entry in the long-running Liaden Universe series. Shan yos Galan and his daughter heir Padi are on the long-isolated planet Colomeny, hoping to turn it into a thriving trade post. The planet’s inhabitants seem in favor, but someone is pulling dirty tricks to obstruct. Meanwhile the planet’s power-affecting ambient Ribbons have to be dealt with as they cause diverse, sometimes dangerous effects. As always I enjoyed the relationships and problem-solving. The series always features kindness and caring, and interesting characters. Here, many new characters are introduced which,at times, were a challenge to remember and place. Another good adventure with Clan Korval. Can’t wait for the next one.

35. Battle Mountain by C.J.Box. The newest Joe Pickett thriller. Another solid outing. Villain Axel Soledad is up to his old tricks, having recruited a small army and hoping to take down a bunch of mucky-mucks gathered for a party/convention on the titular mountain. Nate Romanowski and Geronimo Jones team up to thwart him and get revenge for soledad’s attacks on their families. Joe gets involved, at the request of Governor Rulon, trying to track down someone kidnapped by Soledad. It all plays out satisfactorily in darkness and confusion on the mountain.

36. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. She can’t write a bad book (knock on wood) but I didn’t need the extra effort to create story twists in this one.

37. Murder in Mercy by Anne Cleeland. Kathleen Doyle grew up poor in Ireland and then joined the London police force. Inspector Acton there, of noble descent, became infatuated with her and rushed her into marriage. She has a very useful talent: she can tell when people are telling the truth. ( she’s part fae). She’s religious-minded and Acton is willing to sin in order to bring about justice or add to the family fortune, so she is constantly trying to get him to mend his ways. Their family keeps growing while Kathleen sorts out crimes and keeps after Acton. These are quite the joyful comfort reads if you’re a mystery buff.

This one involves murder and art theft, and i was a little disappointed that one major thread wasn’t resolved. The good news is she’s publishing two of these a year (!) and the next one that will resolve it isout in the fall. The first one is Murder in Thrall.

May 2025

38. Basho’s Haiku translated by David Landis Barnhill. His wonderful, spare poems. He was dedicated to experiencing the moment in his journeying, and capturing them in his brief poems. It does make me think of Impressionist painting. One thing I like about this translator’s translations is he includes Basho’s brief journal entries/intros to the poems, which have a charm of their own and give context.

39. Naked City by Eric Drooker.* An exceptionally well-drawn graphic novel tracing Isabel’s journey into New york city, hoping to make it as a singer/songwriter. To make rent money she poses as a nude model for a talented painter while also busking. She gets to know the underside of the city, and befriends a street dancer who inspires her to persist with her music. A big quiet window cleaner recognizes her and saves her one night in the subway. They will meet again. She gains a fan base, but sometimes longs for simpler times. Reminds me a bit of Brian Wood’s Local and his NYC books, but with less grit and less detailed storytelling.

40. Necessary Stranger by Graham Foust. His poems. Meh. A mentor for my poet-goddaughter. I hoped to like it more.

41. The Full Moon Bookshop by Mia Mochizuki. Too fluffy for me. A disappearing coffee shop, 6 foot tall talking cats, and lots of astrology.

42. The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson. A well done fantasy involving several animal-based clans (e.g., Bears, Ravens, Tigers) vying for power as the emperor following tradition retires.
43. Haruki Murakami Manga Stories, third volume. This one has two excellent stories, Scheherazade and Sleep. As a consequence, i liked it more than its predecessors. While enjoying reading his weird stories in comic book style, i wish the visual art was more realistic. Part of the fun with his novels and stories is the contrast of the weird happenings with the deadpan, straightforward narrative. Something similar could be done visually: here is a realistic, straightforward visual depiction, but wow is this story taking some strange turns.

44. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. A very well-done fantasy.

June 2025

45. The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose. Loved it. A great time with Molly the Maid and her paramour Juan, and the now familiar cast, including molly-fan and hotel manager Mr. Snow, selfish and off-putting Cheryl, Molly’s lovely Gran, the doorman Mr. Peterman, and many others, including Detective Stark.

46. Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin. A fun but formulaic romance in which a bookstore owner by inheritance learns to love books, and also to love the handsome as all get out author of one of them.

47. Relentless by Mark Greaney. Another good Gray Man thriller.

48. Generosity by Richard Powers. A young woman, Thassadit A, has survived Algeria’s civil war, and is infectiously brimming with enthusiasm and joy. She quickly becomes the star of her university writing group, and soon begins to attract interest outside of it. As it becomes clear that her happiness is genetically-based, the scrum begins to control her and to develop and market the gene. As usual, his researching skills enable the author to give a convincing portrayal of gene editing and the competitive battle. The descent into reality tv and one-upping social media posts, while well done, depleted my reading enthusiasm and left me missing the book that might have been: Thassdit as a celebrity happiness guru and how our current world might handle that, kind of a 2025 Brave New World. Oh well. It was still good and thought-provoking.

49. Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey. An interesting romance.

50. This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini. A pretty good, four star graphic memoir. The author grew up in India, entered an abusive relationship, ad left it and India behind by moving to NYC. It was a perfect healer, and the last half of the book abounds with her love of it. Pretty good art: realistic.

51. Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood. A new romance by an author I’ve enjoyed. Hazelwood uses STEM characters and this time it’s a young Biotech star Maya who’s in love with Conor, her brother’s 15 years older than her friend. The average difference has Conor convinced that they cannot be together, that it would unacceptably damage Maya’s life. They’re thrown together at a Sicily wedding and hilarity and heat ensue.

52.King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby.His darkest one yet - and quite possibly his best. The disappearance years ago of their mother traumatized the three Carruthers siblings, Roman, Dante and Nevilah, as well as their father. The sibs have grown up, but remain traumatized. Nevilajh runs the crematorium business for her father, but has no personal life besides some shabby sex with a married cop; Fante lives from drug to drug (and alcohol), trying to escape his emotional misery. Roman is a successful investment advisor, but has to deal with his anxiety by regularly visiting a dominatrix who shames him.

When Dante miscalculates on a drug deal, Roman has to come save him from some local gangsters.He uses his investment savvy to grow closer to the head gangsters, with a plan/hope to eventually turn the tables on them. The plotting has a gritty realism that has the reader rooting for Roman, even as the bodies pile up. The ending has surprising poetic resonance.

53. Somadina by Akwaeke Emizi. A magical fantasy set in West Africa. Somadina and her twin brother are becoming teens and their powers are beginning to appear. Because the twinning makes those powers even more valuable, a dark fellow kidnaps her brother and plans to entrap her when she tries to rescue him.. The plot was a little too predictable, unfortunately. It's a YA, so maybe the younger readers will forgive that.

54. Decagon House Murder by Yukito Ayatsuji. Japanese mystery that's an homage to the golden era of mystery writing with Agath Christie and others. Fun!

July 2025

55. Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce. The third of four charming Emmy Lake novels, with the 4th coming out soon. Emmy is the advice columnist for a Women's magazine in London during WWII. Jaunty and charming, with an endearing cast of characters. The constant presence of the war, with loved ones' lives threatened, adds poignancy and significance to all they do.

56. Mae: The Definitive Edition by Gene Ha.*. A large, full color volume of Ha’s stories about sisters Mae and Abbie. Abbie finds a portal to a different planet where fantasy reigns: monsters, unusual creatures small and large, greedy, scheming nobility and sometimes villainous scientists. Abbie becomes the hero Ani there, showing impressive warrior skills accompanied by sarcastic banter. Mae shares her gift for sarcasm and, it turns out, at least some of her warrior skills. Their father has disappeared onto the planet and Mae joins Abbie’s search for him.

Nothing particularly novel here, buy the storyline and banter are fun, and the colorful artwork is engaging. The author knows how to “draw anything” and gives some tips on that in the book’s after-material.

57. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the NBCC Award - but by the end ogf the book I still hadn’t figured out why.

The novel weaves together the stories of at lesst a dozen characters, with all of them having ties to record producer Bennie and his assistant Sasha. The general theme is the ways in which time alters youthful dreams, yearnings and aspirations. There is a lot of ill-timed and ill-fated love, along with some happy couplings. Accomplishments vary. In an interview, Egan explained that "time is the stealth goon, the one you ignore because you are so busy worrying about the goons right in front of you."

My guess is the smooth skill of the interweaving of so many life stories led to the prize-winning. The book did successfully make me think about the webs of connection we all have, maybe to some extent unknowingly, and how small moments can determine how it all sorts out. This panoramic vision of how we live now doubt also contributed to yhre book’s prestigious prize recognition.

The book’s structure was considered experimental at the time. I did enjoy the Powerpoint chapter presented as a schoolgirl’s journal.. But otherwise the structure didn’t seem all that experimental. There’s a lot of switching back and forth in time. Time-switching happens in a lot of books. Here, the quantity of the characters and the smooth intricacy of connecting their stories while also time-jumping must’ve impressed the prize judges.

58. Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi. Pretty good noir fantasy. a private detective in a western African town has a bleeding woman stumble into his office, asking to be hidden. Later he sees her floating in the air, dead and artistically displayed. Pushing to uncover her story leads him deeper and deeper into a high-up conspiracy, calling his old friendships into question and endangering his life. I have to admit that I loved the premise but was hoping for better delivery from this highly regarde, award-winning author.

59. Bodies by Si Spencer. Apparently his graphic novel already was adopted by Netlix. Jack the Ripper-type murders in 1890, 1940 and 2014 with a bizarre supernatural "long harvest" background. I appreciated the ambitiousness of the story and wanted to like the book more, but it was often disjointed and difficult to follow.

59. Proust’s Overcoat by Lorenza

60. Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor.

61. The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami.

62. My Mindful Walk with Grandma by Sheri Mabry, The Treasure Box by Dave Keane,

August 2025

63.The Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz. I enjoyed the heck out of this one, which once again features a book within a book. Sue Ryeland is the editor of a continuation of the Alan Conway mystery series that almost got her killed in the last Horowitz book. Detective Atticus Pund is hot on the killer’s trail in the continuation, which once again has eerie parallels to what is happening in Sue’s RL, along with a hidden agenda and clues to a real life murder. Sue becomes a murder suspect, and has to work with the Inspector pursuing her to clear her name. The resolutions in both books make sense, and this is a very successful two-fer.

64 Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra jackson- Oputu. Savvy runs a soul food restaurant on Chicago’s South Side whose food sounds delectable (recipes at the back of the book). A patron dies, and her instincts tell her something is wrong. While she is exlporing how might have murdered him, someone else dies under similar circumstances. A lot of tbe fun is the interactions of this black community, as some try to help Savvy find the truth, and some try to stymie her. Not a traditional cozy, but it did win an award for best debut traditional mystery.

65. Bringing the Beach Home by Laura Atkins, illustrated nicely by Evgenia Penman. This ARC was accompanied by a lovely note from Kaitlyn Lutes at the publisher, which says in part, “We hope you enjoy this tender story of love, memory and family that helps children explore the emotions and changes that come with aging family members while celebrating the traditions that keep us connected across generations.” As you’ll see, the aging family members and celebrating traditions parts didn’t stick out for me. But if they’re also there, all the better.

Rowan appears to be an 8 or 9 year old child of divorce. We can tell from the first illustration that the mother and father parent well together. It’s Friday, Rowan’s day with his father, and his father has a surprise. Unfortunately, it involves a long drive and Rowan has grown to hate long drives. So by the time they get to the beach, he hates it, too. The father, I’m glad to say, stays chill and just does little things to help Rowan enjoy the experience.

The spell of the beautiful beach starts to sink in, and Rowan has such a wonderful time that he doesn’t want to go home (of course!). The father suggests one last satisfying activity, and then Rowan wishes that they could somehow bring the beach home. They gather some of the pretty things they’ve found at the beach, and on the way home Rowan has an inspiration. He races into his Dad’s house on fire with his idea, and together they mak a lovely reminder of the beach.

I really liked this one, and think all sorts of kids would enjoy it. For those with still married parents, it’s a chance to get a positive glimpse of the life of a child whose parents divorced. For a child of divorce, it’s a chance to see parents working well together and that happiness and lovely experiences remain possible. For parents, it’s a reminder of the rewards of staying chill and not getting annoyed (tempting as it may be), and how transcendent a love-filled day with your child can be.

66. I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together is an exceptionally well done 482 page graphic memoir. It’s the life of successful gay illustrator Maurice Veelekoop. The illustrations are very high quality, and he keeps the reader quickly turning the pages as his story develops. Much of it revolves around his struggles with his homosexuality and his desire to find a partner he can love. As a heterosexual, it was a bit weird to read about, and witness, his yearnings for male sex and male love. But as someone must’ve said, sex is sex and love is love. And Vellekoop is a beguiling storyteller, honest to a fault about his shortcomings, and the sometimes absurd human frailty in his relationships. With the help of a skilled therapist, he’s able to sort through it all and bring his boat into harbor.

*Signifies a graphic or illustrated books

Poet Andrea Gibson 1975 - 2025

May they rest in peace

Our visit in Chicago from Jim (magician's nephew) and Judy (fortsa), with brother Mark

Son Jesse and his two goofballs, Fina 5 and Rafa 7, on Father's Day



Adriana grows a remarkable head of hair, and regularly cuts it off and donates it for use by cancer patients who have lost theirs. This is her after her most recent donation. Looks nice, yes?

From The Wind in the Willows by Inga Moore

from The Secret Garden by Inga Moore

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread and thanks for the snow in July! I was just saying to my husband that this seems like the longest summer ever...I guess it's the relenting heat. I can't wait for September.

Kudos on the new thread, Mr. Joe. Such helpful blurbs on the books you've read.

Happy new thread, Joe!

Happy new one!

Happy new one. I am another who appreciates the topper, in these scorching days we are currently in.

New-thread orisons, Joe...and happy Wednesday.

Happy new thread, Joe.

>1 jnwelch: Lovely topper. Is it a book illustration?

Happy new one, Joe.

Sweet Thursday, Joe. Happy New Thread. Were you in a wintry mood when you decided on that topper? We could us a little cooling off, which we are getting today. I will also miss Andrea Gibson. What are a couple of your favorites by her and I will share them on the poetry thread?

Joe - from previous thread on moving to Colombia = An online Search
for: "Is it safe to travel to Colombia?" can be pretty scary.

>8 foggidawn:. Thanks, Misti! You win the quickness award!

>9 kac522:. Thanks, Kathy. Ha! Snow in July! It was so peaceful I couldn’t resist. It doe help withe heat though, doesn’t it.

>10 weird_O:. Thanks, Bill. And thank you for telling me the book blurbs are helpful. It’s been working well for me to “review” them that way. Who would’ve guessed that time would be such an issue in retirement? I’m constantly trying to be more efficient. So good to hear they’re helpful.

Oh dear. Lost your topper, just when I needed some snow.

>11 quondame:, >12 figsfromthistle:. Thanks, Susan and Anita!

>13 jessibud2:. Ha! Thanks, Shelley. The coolness of the topper is welcome, yes?

>14 richardderus:. Thanks, RD. And a Sweet Thursday to you from your slowpoke friend.

>15 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella. Yes, the topper is a book illustration. I’ll put more info up there today. It’s from my favorite illustrated version of The Wind in the Willows, and is by Inga Moore. I’ll post another of hers from it later today.

>16 PaulCranswick:. Thank for sending that all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Paul. So cool that we can connect this way, across the planet.

>17 msf59:. Sweet Thursday buddy, and thanks. I really like Andrea Gibson’s First Love and that chemo room one. I’ll think of another and tell you on your thread. I’ll probably post First Love over here, too. You asked about Proust’s Overcoat earlier: i haven’t quite finished it, but I hadn’t known that his homosexuality had caused such problems within his family. That SIL, trying somewhat unsuccessfully, to burn all his papers after his death - OMG.

P.P.S. Check out her poem in >26 jnwelch:.

>18 m.belljackson:. No worries about us, Marianne. We’ve gone to Colombia before. Adriana, of course, would have to worry about getting back into the USA under present circumstances. Thanks for thinking about it.

>20 ffortsa:. Aw, how did that happen, Judy. The topper shouldn’t disappear. It’s by Inga Moore, in The Wind in the Willows. All of hers are so beautiful.

They aren't the greatest photos Joe, but here's Andrea in May 2019 in the old church now used as an arts venue in Islington.

>24 Caroline_McElwee: How great, Caroline. Oh, we miss them already.

P.S. Islington! That’s the part of town where we stayed. I wish the timing had been right to see her there.

P.P.S. Be sure to check out her poem to Megan in the next post.

Bring your Kleenex, but here is a beautiful poem, “Love Letter from the Afterlife”, that Andrea Gibson is reading to their wife, Megan Falley.

https://youtu.be/QmZHLvq-gDg?si=p_dUsf5Jut6HHZ9E

>26 jnwelch: Sadly not available in the UK Joe.

Joe - one more Midwest fine author = Charles Baxter, mostly for THE FEAST OF LOVE, centered in Ann Arbor!

>27 Caroline_McElwee: Crap! That ain’t right, Caroline. I know she’d want it accessible everywhere.

It’s called “Love Letter from the Afterlife”. Maybe you can access a different version?

There’s also a documentary about them called “Come See Me in the Good Light” that did well at Sundance. I plan to se it when it gets distributed.

>28 m.belljackson:. Thanks, Marianne. I know him by name, but have never read Charles Baxter. Centered in Ann Arbor - intriguing. If you’ve never been there, Madison always reminds me of Ann Arbor.

>30 jnwelch: My best female friend, a nurse and lawyer, lives in Ann Arbor where my daughter also went to grad school and taught dance and pilates.
I sold my pottery at the A.A. Art Fair when The Art Ensemble of Chicago performed.

You are in for a major Ann Arbor treat!

Just caught up to threads Joe. Lots of interesting discussions but I’m in tears over Adriana’s piece. Tears of fury, I should add.

>4 jnwelch: I am jealous - as I always am of LT meet ups that I did not get to attend :) What a great group of people!

>5 jnwelch: Great family pictures! I cannot believe how fast your grands are growing.

Have a fantastic Friday!

Happy new thread, Joe! So sad that people are in fear of deportation if they don't fit the new criteria for your country.

>31 m.belljackson:. Sounds like you have some good connections with Ann Arbor, Marianne. Congrats on selling your pottery at the AA art fair. Last I knew, that drew big crowds.

>32 NarratorLady:. Tears of fury. Yes, indeed, Anne. I can’t believe that we have to worry about crap like this.

>33 alcottacre:. Hiya, Stasia. You’ll have your very own LT Meetup in Chicago soon! That was really fun with Jim and Judy and brother Mark. I wish all of them lived just down the street.

>34 Familyhistorian:. Hiya, Meg. Thanks! Yeah, this aggressive use of deportation has everyone worried. Trump and the Magas want white supremacy, and also know that immigrants tend to end up being Democrats. Brown people in particular are at risk now.

Thanks re the family photos. Jesse and Adriana stay pretyy much the same, thank goodness. But those kids! Minds and bodies growing every day. Not too long from now they’ll be teens and know more and better than all of us.

P. S. That last paragraph was supposed to go with the response to Stasia. Not sure what happened.

Today’s Bargains: The Alienist by Caleb Carr and The Bear and the Nightingale and Katherine Arden for $1.99 on e-readers. The first is a gripping psychological thriller set in 1896 NYC. This is before serial killers became a regular phenomenon(!). After a mutilated body is found, we see the protagonists breaking new in trying to construct the killer’ psychological profile. The historic detail and atmosphere of Gilded Age New York is one of the book’s main attractions, and it’s an engrossing thriller from start to finish.

The second is a beautifully written fantasy in which a young girl during Russia’s winter must protect her home and family from evil spirits while dealing with a disbelieving and difficult stepmother.

>37 jnwelch: I recommend The Alienist. Read it several years ago. It introduced me to Carr's work.

>38 weird_O: Good to hear, Bill. Me,too. I hope someone picks up on it and gives it a try. I love these high quality books coming back around as bargains.

Somadina by Akwaeke Emezi A magical fantasy set in West Africa by a new favorite author. Her Pet and You Made a Fool of Death were both terrific, the latter written for adults. Somadina and her twin brother are becoming teens and their powers are beginning to appear. Because the twinning makes those powers even more valuable, a dark fellow kidnaps her brother and plans to entrap her when she tries to rescue him.. The plot was a little too predictable, unfortunately. It's a YA, so maybe the younger readers will forgive that.

Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce. The third of four charming Emmy Lake novels, with the 4th coming out soon. Emmy is the advice columnist for a Women's magazine in London during WWII. It's jaunty and charming, with an endearing cast of characters. The constant presence of the war, with loved ones' lives threatened, adds poignancy and significance to all they do. More than most, this 4 book series is one that I hope people try. Richard is the only other person I know who reads it, although I'm working on my wife. The first one is Dear Mrs. Bird.

>41 jnwelch:- I've read and loved the first 2 and have the 3rd but haven't read it yet. Funny, I was just looking at this one this week but I have a couple of library books to get through first. I did not know there was a 4th in this series but am happy to hear this.

>42 jessibud2:. Yay! Great to have a fellow appreciator, Shelley! Spread the word. You’ll love the title of the 4th one, Dear Miss Lake. It’s supposed to come out August 5, so soon now. Go Emmy!

Happy Sunday, Joe. I hope you are enjoying a book-filled weekend. I have been reading more Cheever stories (it is a huge collection) and still enjoying King of Ashes, although I haven't had much audio time the past couple of days.

>44 msf59: Happy Sunday, buddy. More book-filled would’ve been welcome, but we had a heckuva good time with our TN SIL. She came to help the first two weeks after Debbi’s big operation, and got to see her at her lowest ebb. So nice to have her here just fo fun, and for her to see Debbi the way she was at the meetup with you, Jim and Judy.

Cheever wrote a huge number of short stories. I was working at small publisher Academy Chicago when they had a brouhaha with his children over a dozen previously unpublished stories.

Go King of Ashes! I’m having a heckuva good time with Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author,and appreciating having a disabled protagonist. More stories should do that- it feels unusual to me, and shouldn’t, right? I liked that with one leg gone Cormoran Strike, too, although his author is in bad graces for her inability to resist stirring it up about trans women.

>45 jnwelch: Have you ever read any of the Lincoln Rhyme series, Joe? I liked those a lot years ago, although I think they took a turn I didn't care to follow after a while. Denzel Washington played Rhyme in The Bone Collector.

>46 laytonwoman3rd:. Good one, Linda! I think of him as paraplegic. Debbi has read the books; I haven’t. I did see The Bone Collector, which I thought was quite good. Angelina Jolie is in it, too. I hope they enjoyed acting together.

Today’s Bargain: Caste by Isabel Wilkerson for $1.99 on e-readers. The extraordinary insightful book that looks at American’s systemic racism in the context of India’s caste system and Hitler’s oppression and genocide against the Jews. She manages to gracefully weave in personal experiences, too, something you won’t find in her other monumental work, The Warmth of Other Suns. If you haven’t yet read this one, here’s your bargain e-book chance.

Happy new one, Joe!

>49 drneutron:. Thanks, Dr. Jim!

How’s the sun doing these days? Still fiery and hot? Any news?

Poem for the Night

Deportations
Redskins
Obama Arrest

How Low
Will We Let This Country Go?

>41 jnwelch:
I read the first book and thought it was good. I haven't read the others because the local library here in Kansas doesn't have them. I would also recommend the books for people who like to read historical fiction.

>50 jnwelch: Still fiery hot, and the president's budget didn't cut us. So we'll keep on touching the Sun.

>51 m.belljackson:👍. Thanks, Marianne.

>52 benitastrnad:. Glad to hear that you liked Dear Mrs. Bird, Benita. I sure hope you can track down the next two. The concluding one comes out in about two weeks.

>53 drneutron:. Good! I’m amazed that you escaped the cuts, Jim. Can’t wait to hear/read more.

Hi Joe. 'Pears stuff is proceeding well here. Got any joe, Joe? I'm pumped here. Going to spend the afternoon with The Grand Claire (yeah, and other people...Darn 'em). She's gracing the homefolks with her presence after her visits to Sicily, Rome and the Vatican, and Argentina.

Weather here is unbelievable. I was cold when I woke up this morning. No AC in my house. 69° outside the front door!

>55 weird_O: Gosh, it’s been a while since anyone asked for some joe, Bill. It sounds like you’re already pumped up today, but if ever you need some, the exemplary kitchen staff remains reliable.

I love The Grand Claire’s nickname. (Reminds me of The Grand Sophy). We just call Debbi Your Highness and leave it at that. Have fun with her visit.

We had a lovely cool down here for a couple of days, but tomorrow the heat comes blasting back with a vengeance (and heat warnings). Luckily our afternoon at the food pantry is today. I get plenty overheated tussling with the edibles without needing any help, thank you very much.

>41 jnwelch: I recently read Dear Mrs Bird and Yours Cheerfully. I'm waiting a bit before I tackle the next one. Good to hear that there's a fourth one on the way.

>40 jnwelch: I will have to see if I can track down a copy of that one.

>41 jnwelch: Dear Mrs. Bird is already in the BlackHole. I will get to that series one of these years, Joe.

>48 jnwelch: I really need to get to Caste soon. I very much appreciated Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Joe!

The weather here in my part of Kansas was very nice for the last two days. We were trapped under a stationary front that produced rain every afternoon and lots of cloud cover. Those clouds kept our temperatures low. A hundred miles west of us, they were baking under 100 degree temperatures, but a curious circle right along the Kansas-Nebraska border that was about 100 miles in circumference was twenty degrees cooler. (The weather is indeed weird out here.) But today - look out Nellie, 'cause here comes the heat!

>57 Familyhistorian: Hi, Meg. Although you don’t mention your reaction to the Emmy Lake books, I take your continued reading and your looking forward to the 4th one coming out as an implied endorsement.

>58 alcottacre:. Hi, Stasia.

Somadina is worth tracking down. Emezi is such a good author.

I hope, when you get to them, you enjoy the Emmy Lake books as much as I have.

Caste is SO good. What gifts she has given us.

It’s been a darn good Wednesday. The orthopedist came up with a game plan for leg trouble I’ve been having. We keep finding ways to keep this old jalopy running.

I hope your Wednesday is going well.

>59 benitastrnad:. I’m glad you got yourself into the cool circle, Benita. The heat blast has landed here, with nary a cool circle to be found.

Hope the heat’s arrival where you are isn’t too bad. We’re hunkering down in the a/c.

Today’s Bargain: Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu for $1.99 on e-readers. Great, award-winning collection of sci-fi stories. The title one is worth more than this bargain price by itself.

Premiere of South Park - if only the Democrats were fearless!

>63 m.belljackson:. Unfortunately, I don’t know South Park well enough to understand the reference, Marianne.

>62 jnwelch: My dude! Ann Cleeves's Shetlands series' first four books are $2.99 each until the 29th. Heckuva deal for catcher-uppers.

I'm drowning in good-enough books. I wanna be thrilled, shocked, amazed, gobsmacked, and I'm deeply whelmed and pleasantly amused. *sigh*

>64 jnwelch: Hi Joe - we don't watch TV - last two times it was on, there was Barack Obama and Family.

Re: South Park - I may have watched it many years ago, but wasn't drawn to it until today!

Yahoo (my morning online list goes Weather Channel, CNN, NYT, Yahoo, then LT)

was on a major liberal roll raving about all the trump and satan liberties that were taken -

trump could sue til the sun turns blue!

>66 m.belljackson: Ha! I’m still not sure I get the SP part, Marianne. But good for you for foregoing the one-eyed monster. I can’t do it. The good shows and book adaptations call to me; sports, too. We just finished the impressive, intense The Last of Us. If I wasn’t a Pedro Pascal fan before, I sure am now. The young actor playing Ellie has been terrific, too.

I wish someone would tote up Trump’s losses in court. As you say, he loves to sue, and he seems to lose an awful lot- although CBS just caved in on a silly one for the sake of a merger (and cancelled Stephen Colbert’s show).

P.S. i’ve now seen several clips from South Park making scathing fun of Trump and get the connection. As we both know, Trump is going to want to sue.😀

>65 richardderus:. Hey, Dude -erotomy. That is quite a deal on the first 4 Ann Cleeves. I’ll slip over and take advantage, thanks. I loved the show but haven’t read the books - whatsamatta with me.

The best thing I’ve read recently is Proust’s Overcoat, thanks to Mark. A slim one I recommend if you haven’t read it. I did very much enjoy Nnedi Okorafor’s new one Death of the Author,but was nagged by a feeling that it should be tighter. Still, wonderful premise, and it was great to have an otherwise unfettered wheelchair protagonist.

Hey, the Washington Black adaptation on Hulu is getting rave reviews! What a great book that one was!

Today’s Bargain: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders for $1.99 on e-readers. The Booker winner. Grief-stricken President Lincoln, during the initial stages of the Civil War, communes with his recently deceased son Willie at the cemetery. Ghosts there have plenty to say, and Willie’s soul is in an important transitional state. Uniquely constructed and beautifully written.

South Park has been a blatantly liberal bastion of laugh-out-louds since its inception. It would make Stephen Colbert blush at times. South Park pokes fun at most things, but pinning Trump and company (including Steve Bannon) to the wall has given the writers special joy, while providing young liberals with laughs-a-minute. South Park is one of the reasons why I think that there is hope for the US. Young people watch shows like this and love them. The question becomes - will they then go out and vote? Sadly, indications are that they don't.

>67 jnwelch: Washington Black might be improved for screen viewing as opposed to page viewing. More room to round out things in eight episodes than ~300pp...and it seems they did the smart thing and got someone to produce who understood the impact to create with its emotive story.

Weekend orisons!

>70 richardderus:. We watched the first episodes of Washington Black, Richard, and thought it was excellent.

Any thoughts on the new Nnedi Okorafor?

Weekend orisons back atcha! We’re off to the Farmers Market and the library.

>69 benitastrnad:. Man, they tore into the Drumpster, didn’t they, Benita? Bless them. Not my kinda show, but I hope it has a positive effect on the young ‘uns, and they vote.

Woo, lots of good bargain on Bookbub today. Here are three: Today’s Bargains: The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, To the Lighthouse by Virgina Woolf, and Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre, the first two for $1.99 on e-readers, and the last for$2,99. The first is an LT favorite about a number of families surviving the catastrophic Dust Bowl. I found To the Lighthouse frustrating They never do make it to the Lighthouse, and I was desperate for a shot to ring out. But TTL has plenty of avid fans. Rogue Heroes is another excellent WWII NF by Ben Macintyre, who I always find engaging and illuminating.

Morning, Joe. Check out this Lego set....too bad it looks like it's out of stock:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/tribute-to-jane-austen-s-books-40766

>72 jnwelch:. Oooh, good one, Kathy. I’ve alerted the family for a holiday or birthday pick. This would go well with my Jane Austen action figures.😀

>74 jnwelch: I've got a JA action figure, too...it would be a good match. I've got a J.S. Bach action figure, too.

I've sent a message to Lego to find out when it will be available, so if I find out anything, I'll let you know.

>75 kac522:. 😂 Are we a couple of nerds or what, Kathy? My J.L Bach action figure is a Dr. Strange action figure (not quite as classy- a favorite character from my youth).

Describing LT to others, I call it a “book nerd website”, so this is in keeping.

Yes, please let me know what you find out about the JA Legos. Thanks again for ferreting them out!

>73 kac522: I got the Jane Austen LEGO set the first day it was available. Also a mini-fig dispenser, but that's collateral damage.

>77 quondame:. Wow, you win the Golden Nerd for that first day snag, Susan! Way to go.

I’ve had Lego mini-figs explained to me, but what is a mini-fig dispenser?

>77 quondame: Lucky you! I hope they will re-stock, especially as it gets closer to JA's 250th birthday (Dec 16).

I have no clue what Lego mini-figs are, so will have to look that one up...

>72 jnwelch: Oh - I'm reasonably tempted to get the Woolf, but I have a good clean readable physical copy, so maybe not. I checked the type and paper color just in case, and they are acceptable.

>78 jnwelch: The LEGO Minifigure Vending Machine:


>79 kac522: It would be great if they did, but the gift with purchase items have only been one shots in my limited experience. Otherwise I wouldn't be so bummed that my daughter took the book worm

That's really cool, Susan. A couple of my grands have had Lego-driven happy episodes. Olivia favored the mechanical assemblies, from cars to massive construction machines. Helen has a selection of architectural Legos. She got the Roman Coliseum set and assembled it in about two weeks time. Impressed me, anyway.

That gum-ball delivery system...it could make an old fart smile.

!48 I need to pull this from the shelf this year Joe, I've had it for a while.

Joe - Sunday morning = following my usual online news sequence - Weather Channel, CNN, NYT, & Yahoo =

I was brave enough after LT to read Robert Reich. He gives us a Thank Filled break!

>81 quondame: Ah, darn! Not being a regular Lego buyer, I didn't understand the "Gift with Purchase" thingy. I'll see how they respond to my query. The "bookworm" is cute, too, though I'd do anything for the JA one.

>79 kac522:. JA250 on 12/16- thanks, Kathy. That should inspire some cool things to appear for connoisseurs.

>80 ffortsa:. Yeah, I read it in hard copy, Judy, and liked it that way. But not a bad one to have in your electronic library for those in-between moments.

>81 quondame:. Great pics, Susan, thanks. Man, I can see our grandkids going crazy over those mini figure vending machines. And our daughter has always dreamed of having a rolling bookshelves ladder. Maybe I could find her a Lego one.

>82 weird_O:. 👍. Hiya, Bill. Yeah, like yours, our grands would eat up these Lego goodies.

>83 Caroline_McElwee:. Oh, I hope you do, Caroline. So good , so thought-provoking. As I mentioned somewhere, one of the many things I liked in it was her weaving in some of her personal experiences with racism.

>84 m.belljackson:. Hi, Marianne. My views align with Robert Reich’s, and I find his articles a good read.

>85 kac522:. I hope you get a positive response to your query, Kathy. With her 250th looming, they may be inspired (would be smart to be inspired) to bring it back out.

I was just asked on FB ”what under-rated fantasy deserves more hype?”.

My answer was War for the Oaks by Emma Bull.

What would your answer be?

>88 jnwelch: I'm looking into Amy Thomson's books - I've heard good things, but her books came out while I had a very narrow window for new authors - new baby, very time consuming job - so I missed her entirely. And her books seem to have gone out of print, though I've heard that e versions might eventually be available.
I'm tempted to say The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, but I think it was well received, but came out about a year before I started getting my hands on everything new in F&SF. So I'll just say that Jo Clayton assembled amazing sets of connected novels that I enjoyed for decades.

>89 quondame:. Thanks, Susan. I’ll have to check out some Jo Clayton. Anything you’d put at the top as a starter for her?

What do you think of The War for the Oaks?

Forgotten Beasts of Eld sold very well when I was in the bookstore.

>72 jnwelch: Rouge Heroes is a pretty good book. Churchill said "Now! Set Europe Ablaze!" and they certainly tried. Changed the nature of war??? well maybe

>88 jnwelch: Genevieve Cogman's The Invisible Library and Cornelia Funke's The Petrified Flesh tie for first. I'd love to see Cogman dethrone that transphobic snotrag's wee wizard forever. And Funke's family saga with goblins is terrific!

>91 magicians_nephew:. I’ve never had a bad or disappointing time with Ben Macintyre, Jim. He’s a reliably entertaining teacher.

>92 richardderus:. Ooh, good ones, Richard. As you may remember, I loved The Invisible Library. I’ll have to give The Petrified Flesh a go. I used to love old George Macdonald’s goblins.

Today’s Bargains: Force of Nature by C.J. Box and Beloved by Toni Morrison the first for $1.99 on e-readers, and the second for $2.99.

Force of Nature is one of the best Joe Pickett mysteries. An old enemy wants to kill Joe’s friend Nate Romanovski, a falconer, weapons expert and all round cool guy. It’s cat and mouse (sheep and wolf?) in the Bighorn Mountains as highly moral Joe tries to help his friend and still stay within the boundaries of the law.

Beloved is another knockout from the master storyteller, and required reading for admirers.

>90 jnwelch: I don't remember it. I've read it. I know Emma slightly through 2 mutual fandoms, and made a point of reading her books - the one I remember is Freedom and Necessity (she's the second author of the epistolary novel)
I think I've confused War for the Oaks with some of the Charles deLint's books as well.

Oh! I see that some of Clayton's books are now on Kindle - they weren't last I checked. So of those that are, Moongather, the first of her fantasy duology. Other choices are Skeen's Leap or the first of her SF - I can't believe she had sex with !???! series Diadem from the Stars which is only $1.99!

>95 quondame: 👍. Thanks, Susan. I read others by Emma Bull, but War for the Oaks was the standout. Probably my first urban fantasy, which is so much more common nowadays.

I would add into the mix an old fantasy series by Jennifer Roberson - Chronicles of the Cheysuli. There are 8 or 9 books in this series and when I read them back in the early 90s I simply buzzed through them. They are great fantasy.

Happy Tuesday, Joe. We stay in touch other ways so it feels like I haven't been missing for long. 😜

I am so glad you enjoyed Proust's Overcoat. One of those happy accidents. Glad you are enjoying the adaptation of Washington Black. That is on the Watchlist.

"Beloved is another knockout from the master storyteller, and required reading for admirers." Amen to that. I would go as far as saying it qualifies as one of the Great American Novels.

>97 benitastrnad:. Thanks, Benita. I added Shapechangers to the WL.

>98 msf59:. Ha! Right, Mark. Still talking about books and such even when you’re on the road.

What an out of left field treat Proust’s Overcoat was. Not only an interesting story, but what a good job she did of telling it. She didn’t overwrite it, but kept it modest and rolling down the track. Thanks again for thinking of me. It’s one of my favorites of the year.

Sterling K. Brown has a lot to be proud of with Washington Black. The young actors have been impressive.

Beloved and Sula are her two best for me so far. I still have to read The Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon.

Right now I’m in a mystery mood. I’m reading Elly Griffiths’ new one, The Frozen People, and Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz. That Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor was very good, with a nicely executed premise.

P. S. I picked up Song of Solomon at our neighborhood bookstore today for my birthday.

Today’s Bargain: God Bless You Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut for $1.99 on e-readers. One of his best; one of my favorites. Just right if you’re in the mood for thought-provoking humor.

>99 jnwelch: Come visit tomorrow for a Chicagoland mystery idea....

Stop doing that!!! How can I read all these books????

Happy Birthday, Joe. Our favorite proprietor. Glad you picked up Song of Solomon. I am not sure she ever wrote a bad book.

>101 richardderus:. Too intriguing to resist, Richard. See you tomorrow.😀

>102 ffortsa:. Sorry, Judy! So many good ones coming up as bargains!

>103 msf59:. Thanks, buddy. Becca and I were just talking about that. Neither of us knows of a bad Toni Morrison book.

>99 jnwelch: Happy Birthday Joe. You have a treatahead with Song of Solomon for sure.

Happy birthday, Joe!

Love seeing all the ebook deals. Beloved was assigned in more than one college class, but it wasn't until I read it more recently with my book club that I could understand what an utterly brilliant work it is.

Happy birthday, Joe!

>105 Caroline_McElwee:. Good to hear, Caroline. Looking forward to it!

>106 bell7:. Thanks, Mary!

Yeah, I’m always happy about great ones I’ve read that aren’t assigned. I never read Jane Austen in school, and now she’s a major favorite.

>107 jessibud2:. Thanks, Shelley! It was a delightful one, thanks in particular to Debbi and our daughter Becca.😀

I'd wish you a happy that day but at our age it really feels more like pointing a finky finger at you in hopes the Reaper will pass *me* by....

Love this one. Let’s have some fun today!

Shedding the Old

Samantha Thornhill - from poem-a-day

Such as the lobster
cracking loose
from its exoskeleton
after moons of moulting,
or the viper that squeezes
out of the skin
of its remembrance,
this oracle invites you
to rewild yourself,
to unbox, detox, and de-
clutter your blood.
Break free from the mold
you made for yourself,
for the animal
in you that craves
routines like sugar,
addicted to the stress
of your comforts. Sling
your arm around the waist
of your discomfort
like it’s a new lover
in these uncharted
seas and distances
untraversed. Take
and give glee.
Summon surprise.
Something whim-
sical this way comes.
It smells something
like wishes wrapped
in wind as you
trod the winding path
through
the forests
of your interior.
Be warned. You will
bewilder beloveds.
Hush. Some
events are better
experienced than
explained. Take soul.
Your joy is your job;
and yours alone.
Hire your
self every day.
Climb into your traveling
shoes knowing that
there, too, will
be dancing.

Ha! I actually read that poem, and it is a good poke. Just whined on my own thread about doing something that always elicits the same unproductive reaction. So change already. Stupid Weird_O.

I have a day off, kinda sorta. No appointments, no treks. I have sooo much to do here at home. I'm letting that "savage from Peru", Paul Gauguin, hobble progress on the reading front. And I can't account for it. Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux is a fine bio. I'm just at the point when Gauguin moves to Arles, France, to share housing with Van Gogh. This'll be entertaining.

>111 weird_O:. Hurrah! Glad you read the poem and it gave you a poke, Bill. Somewhere I have a poem of similar ilk and I’m hoping to fid it, with my daughter’s help. It’d be fun to juxtapose it with this one.

Good for you for reading a fine bio about Gaughin. His leaving his wife and children behind never sat well with me. Maybe the art is all that matters. It always boggles my mind to think of him and Van Gogh hanging out together in the yellow house in Arles. Two titans. I guess they ended up fighting and going their separate ways, yes? Quelle surprise!

>112 jnwelch: Fighting? - Van Gogh pursuing Gauguin in the street with a razor, then cutting off his own ear and offering it as a souvenir to a mistress...
could make for a friend's swift departure?!

>112 jnwelch:. Good one, Marianne. Yes, two temperamental artists combusted.

>114 jnwelch: My Art History degree finally comes in handy.

Joe - Why isn't the United Nations feeding the People of Gaza?

Why aren't the Muslim countries feeding the People of Gaza?

>>115 m.belljackson:, >116 m.belljackson:. 👍. I love art history, Marianne. What fun it must have been to major in it. Wait a minute; is it ever “fun” to major in something? That one would’ve come close for me, although I’m sure they worked you hard.

Those are very good question, Marianne, i could see the UN being divided on which side to support, but there’s no “side” fo feeding starving children.i

Why aren’t the Muslim countries helping them? I don’t get it either. I’m sure Americans, as usual, are trying to help.

>116 m.belljackson:, >117 jnwelch: I just heard a report this morning confirming what I thought to be true---Israel is actively impeding the distribution of food and Hamas may be seizing food before it can be distributed. Both sides seem to be using the people of Gaza as pawns in trying to make each other look like the "bad guy". Any "good guys" trying to help face serious risks, including lack of food, themselves. Disturbing reading here.

>118 laytonwoman3rd:. Crap. Humans. How awful they can be. Thanks for giving us the truth of it, Linda.

ICYMI: Robert Reich's Joseph Welch award.

>120 laytonwoman3rd:. Thanks, Linda. A cousin sent it to me, too. Good pick, well said. Man, that Trump is a devil, isn’t he?

Happy Sunday, Joe. How about the weather? We have been waiting for this, my friend. Love these cool nights. I like that Thornhill poem. I hope those current reads are treating you fine. I am enjoying The Ghost Map. No surprise there, right?

>122 msf59:. Happy Sunday, Mark. Great weather - and great timing for it. We have 40 or so people coming here for a friend’s wedding shower brunch. We could handle them inside, but now we can flow out onto the deck and patio. Much better.

Isn’t “Shedding the Old” a good ‘un?

Great pick to read Ghost Map. What a story. We were once where that well was in London, although my memory is it’s there no longer.

I’m having a grand old time with Marble Hall Murders. Can you believe that Horowitz has two successful series going at the same time? This is the Sue Ryeland one. The other has Horowitz as a character in the book, partnering with private detective Daniel Hawthorne, starting with The Word is Murder.

P.S. as an anti- orange guy person, you might enjoy Linda’s link in >120 laytonwoman3rd:.

Today’s Bargains: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and Night Circus by Erin Morganstern, each for $2.99. The first is about 4 generations of Korean immigrants in Japan. Who knew that Koreans had a problem with considered being “lesser” by the Japanese? Not me. Great book.

The Night Circus is a wonderful, magical circus in which two young magicians do battle while gradually falling in love. My wife and daughter talked me into reading this one and man am I glad they did.

>120 laytonwoman3rd:, >121 jnwelch: Lonnie Bunch used to be head of the Chicago History Museum before he worked on the founding of the National Museum of African American History. He is a class act through and through.

Enjoy the brunch, Joe!

>125 kac522:. Oh, thanks, Kathy. Good background info. He sounds like a worthy recipient, all right, and probably appreciates the support while he’s in a difficult situation with the orange gasbag.

>126 Familyhistorian:. Thanks, Meg. The bride-to-be and her hubby-to-be were as chipper as chipperdees about it all, surrounded by adoring friends and family. Lots of good food and the bride’s delightful mother is a skilled chef and baker. Mini graham cracker crusted cheesecakes with fresh berries on top were my favorite from her, although there were several contenders, plus more good food brought by four other co-hosts. Debbi did herself proud; my favorite of hers was gently spiced cold tomato soup in shot glasses. Yum. She got a lot of recipe requests.

Perfect weather - you never know in Chitown - and a fun group, with many writers and storytellers interspersed, and a very happy couple of honor. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Poor Debbi is wiped out from the orchestrating, but smiling. And she and I got it 90% cleaned up, with the help of the co-hosts. We sent people home with food packages, but still have plenty of delicious goodies for the coming days. Plus our house is clean as a whistle and looking great, with flowers all over the place.

Now I’m on out on our front porch, reading my Anthony Horowitz and enjoying not talking for the first time in hours. Typical book nerd!

>125 kac522: I remember seeing an interview with Dr. Bunch (now Secretary of the Smithsonian) in the last year or so, and thinking we need more minds like his leading us.

>127 jnwelch: If "Chipperdees" isn't a word - it should be!

>128 laytonwoman3rd:. 👍

>129 magicians_nephew:. Ha! Thanks, Jim. Isn’t that a good one? I have no idea what subconscious realm it floated up from, chipper as chipperdees. Let’s keep it.😀

Here's a fun story about Ann Arbor:

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/04/nx-s1-5477533/public-library-summer-game-ann-arbo...

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley and The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz, each for $1.99 on e-readers. As Mark knows, I love Mosley’s Ptolemy Grey. A 91 year old man with dementia is sliding out of life without family or friends when an experimental drug reinvigorates him and a teenage caregiver helps him revitalize his life. Apple tv did an excellent adaptation starring Samuel Jackson.

The Word is Murder is the first in Horowitz’s three books so far series in which the author is a character working with private detective Nathaniel Hawtorne to solve the mystery. Great fun. I’m just finishing the third in his other successful series, Marble Hall Murders. I need to learn more about Horowitz, as he’s also written a number of topnotch tv shows, including the superb Foyle’s War.

Wow, how did I get 70+ posts behind again, Joe??

>132 jnwelch: I very much enjoyed Ptolemy Grey when I read the book several years ago - on your recommendation, come to think of it :)

I loved Foyle's War, one of the very few series that I have watched since I rarely watch anything at all these days. Kerry also enjoyed it. I am not sure we ever finished the series out though.

Impressive, Joe!

You and Debbi undergo major surgery, recover to host Big Parties,

all the while flying around to enjoy grandkids -

Can we now look forward to your upcoming book = The Welch Recovery Plan!

I try to keep up with Anthony Horowitz's series - both of them. Both series are metafiction and are interesting reading with great characters. I usually listen to them and the narrator for the Hawthorn & Horowitz series is excellent.

Killing the mockingbird

BY ADRIANA E. RAMÍREZ
In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch reminds his children, after they receive guns for Christmas, to “shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em. But remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

The mockingbird gives the world its song and harms no one, Finch’s logic goes. To harm such an innocent creature would be a wrongness, destroying something precious for sport. It’s a good lesson that resonates with readers of all ages and backgrounds.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is typically taught at the ninth grade level, as it’s narrated from the deceptively-simple perspective of a child, delving deeply into and reckoning with perceived injustice — something teenagers understand well.

Or at least, it used to be typically taught. But now the title, along with “A Tale of Two Cities,” “A Separate Peace,” and other classics, is increasingly optional — except for those in gifted and honors courses, and often there too.

Which means that we’re turning what used to be a commonly-read novel into something that’s elective, depriving future generations of the American canon. We’ve used skill-building and perceived discomfort to rob our children of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

And we should be ashamed.

And if that mockingbird don’t sing

Christina Brussalis, Pine-Richland school board member and academic achievement subject lead, thinks that all the ninth graders in her district should read “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“It’s one of those books that is a shared book,” she said. “If there’s a book that we should all read, this is it.”

But the school board was recently presented with a new curriculum for ninth grade English that essentially removes “To Kill A Mockingbird” by making it a “secondary resource,” not required — and likely not taught.

As a board member, Brussalis intends to fight for a revised curriculum, but she still cannot believe it was up for “secondary resource” status in the first place.

“We should be reading more books. Right now, their digital lives make everything so immediate, so quick. Reading a whole book is a skill our students need to have,” she said.

But the administration at Pine-Richland feels differently. They’ve been trying to remove texts from the curriculum since 2024, when they recommended the removal of “The Odyssey.” The school board pushed back and preserved the book, but soon came a request to remove or make secondary “A Tale of Two Cities” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

There were too many required books that were too difficult to read, the argument went.

And if that diamond ring won’t shine

For some, the debate against books like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “A Tale of Two Cities” is about discomfort. But for Brussalis, that’s a feature, not something to worry about: “Good literature should make you uncomfortable.”

For others, the debate is that the books are too hard, too long.

“Yes,” said Brussalis, “Dickens is hard. You can’t get through the first pages without all these obscure historic references. What better way to expose these kids to difficult literature than with a teacher who can help guide them. These kids’ eyes can be open to a different time in history, to a different kind of thinking and seeing the world.”

“I think there has been a philosophical shift in our schools of education in the teaching of English Language Arts that skills-building is primary,” she continued. “That works like ‘The Odyssey’ are just a means by which to teach skills.” She acknowledges that skills are important. But great books do a whole lot more than teach language arts skills.

Brussalis echoes the chatter online. As one popular user on X tweeted out his ninth grade reading list, mostly books by Steinbeck, he added at the end, “What my daughter was asked to read: ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’” a book marketed at third to seventh graders.

I’m sure “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is great. But what this user, and Brussalis, see is the lack of a rigorous, widely-read American canon, the great works of literature that used to define our culture. As readers, we used to reckon with hard truths, and came out better for it. Now we’ve turned working through a novel into endless worksheets on reading comprehension. Books that used to be everything are now designated “secondary” to our great loss.

Surely break this heart of mine

Most of history’s scientists were also literate scholars across other fields. Education was not divided into STEM and the humanities as it is today, and most knowledgeable people strove to be well-rounded. It used to be du jour for engineers to understand literature and for writers to know the sciences.

Now, in the age of Artificial Intelligence, where kids can ask a machine to think for them and produce the paperwork of educational achievement on their behalf, it’s crucial we ask them to slow down and sit with books like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” quality novels that have stood the test of time and challenge us to think deeply.

A skill-building, mechanical approach to language arts will only make our children less able to wade through uncomfortable discussions, less able to find common ground, and less able to distinguish the blue jays from the mockingbirds.

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read,” Scout Finch says in the novel. “One does not love breathing.”

Adriana E. Ramírez is the editor of InReview, member of the editorial board and a columnist writing about books, culture and politics for the Post-Gazette. She is the author of “The Violence,” available for pre-order from Scribner.

>133 alcottacre:. Hi, Stasia. Yay! Great to hear that you enjoyed Ptolemy Grey. He’s such a good author; I always want to grab people on the street and say, “Try this guy!” Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned is another great one from him, also with a good tv adaptation, this time featuring Laurence Fishburne.

Wasn’t Foyle’s War one of the best? Michael Kitchen and the improbably named Honeysuckle Weeks as his sidekick. I’m trying to convince Debbi to try it.

>134 m.belljackson:. Ha! Thanks, Marianne. I think we’d both say, “Do what the doctors and therapists tell you to do, and stick with it.” That makes for a short book, doesn’t it. We’re also both grateful for the medical times we live in.

>135 benitastrnad:. Hi, Benita. I enjoyed the heck out of the most recent Horowitz book, Marble Hall Murders. It features Sue Ryeland and Atticus Pund. I didn’t cotton to the PBS Magpie Murders adaptation, but I may give it another go some time.

>136 jnwelch: - What an excellent article, Joe. She hits it out of the park with this one.

Aside from the sheer joy of reading a riveting story, and discovering new authors and subjects, I already mourn the losses awaiting the AI generation. And what scares me almost more than anything is that the next generation of *graduates*, if you can call them that, those who will quickly learn to rely on AI to think for them - will become a generation of illiterate trumps. He who, I would bet any amount of money, has never read a book in his life, who wouldn't *get* a cultural reference, let alone a literary one, if his life depended on it. Might as well remove books from schools altogether and deny education to girls or some such; the outcome is going to end up the same: illiterates, controlled by illiterates. It's a terrifying thought.

Look at the literacy differential between trump and Obama and it is easy to understand the difference in values, in valuing what literature gives us. Not just for today, in schools today, but for the future.

Edited to add that in a generation's time, if what Adriana reports comes to the worst-case scenario, there won't be anyone with enough literary, cultural or global knowledge left to play Jeopardy. :-(

>136 jnwelch: Excellent piece by Adriana. Thanks for sharing. We live in such dangerous times and this is only the first 6 months. Sighs...

>136 jnwelch: Go, Adriana!

Wow. That is a fantastic article by Adriana, Joe. I'm literally speechless, so I'll just stand and applaud.

When I was a Chemical Engineering major, before I switched to Microbiology, my curriculum skipped two semesters English Literature entirely in favor of one term of Technical Writing and another term of Public Speaking, as engineers are generally terrible writers and speakers. I would have been far better served by taking English Lit, and now that I'm officially retired I may make up for lost time by taking online English courses.

>138 jessibud2:. You remind me of a meme going around, Shelley: if you want to know the value of education, listen to an Obama speech and then listen to a Trump speech. Trump claims to be top of class well-educated, but he clearly isn’t. He speaks at the level of a 4th grader.

Isn’t that an excellent article from Adriana? Man, I hope we continue to have book readers! It makes such a difference.

Illiterates controlled by illiterates. Sure could happen, couldn’t it. Scary! I’m glad to report that Adriana’s 5 and 7 year old kids are big time book readers, in a house full of books.

Ooo, we can’t lose Jeopardy! Thank goodness that’s still out there to inspire. You have to read to do well on that. I don’t even want to think about them dumbing it down.

>139 msf59:. Right, Mark? I know these 6 months have already been 4 years of horrible. The Magas on social media love to remind liberals that there are 3and 1/2 years left and that Trump is “winning”. Needless to say, there’s a lot of pushback, as we all lose from his incompetence and avarice. They also, at his behest, want him to get a Nobel Peace Prize for having negotiated peace in six different wars(!). Bet you didn’t know that. What a world of delusion they live in. What a horribly divided country we are.

>140 quondame: I join you, Susan. Go, Adriana!

As far as I know, she’s the only liberal voice on that Editorial Board. To their credit, that’s what they hired her for.

>141 kidzdoc:. Hiya, Darryl. Adriana has the chops, doesn’t she. We finally get her book, “The Violence”, next year.

Like you, Darryl, I now wish I’d majored in English lit. Mine was Psychology and Social Relations, with a strong Eastern bent, as Buddhism was my jam even back then. I get educated a lot on LT in English Lit, as you can probably tell.

Chemical engineering and Mythology?! I never would’ve guessed. How’d you end up a pediatric hospitalist?

You’re such a good writer, but I imagine you were that along. It seems to spool from your brain onto the page.

Online English Lit courses: please let me know if you come across anything particularly good.

>131 kac522:. That is a fun article, Kathy, and I’m going to try to paste it here. Hope the ads don’t screw it up.

How a public library’s summer game took over a city

Summer for thousands of people in Ann Arbor, Mich., means scavenging for hidden codes around the city and voraciously reading books to collect points. It's part of an enormously popular game that's been a triumph for the public library that runs it.

"This summer, we have 16,000 active players and more than half of them are adults," says library director Eli Neiburger. Not bad for a library that serves about 150,000 people. It's such a local sensation that one couple even got married while playing what's known in town as "The Summer Game."

The Summer Game started as a reading challenge, but that didn't work very well, Neiburger says. Kids who didn't like reading would slog through the requisite number of books to get points, then be done for the summer. Kids who read long books resented getting the same number of points as those who read short ones.

Sponsor Message

So around 2011, the library decided to pivot. "Instead of a reading game, we started a library-using game," Neiburger explained. "It includes reading, going to events, using our website, discovering all the things that the library has to offer. And it has been successful beyond our wildest dreams."

The Summer Game's design, he said, was inspired by corporate loyalty programs such as Coke Rewards. Users earn points by solving puzzles, learning about local history and exploring neighborhoods. Points can be redeemed in the library shop for T-shirts, umbrellas and other merchandise, such as a very popular stuffed plushie animal that's updated every year. (The 2025 animal is a small, bespectacled flamingo.)

A Summer Game kiosk outside the Traverwood branch of the Ann Arbor District Library
A Summer Game kiosk outside the Traverwood branch of the Ann Arbor District Library
Neda Ulaby/NPR
"I was certainly not expecting how intensely popular it would be with adults," Neiburger added. Women in their 50s and 60s are overrepresented among Summer Game players, he noted, which reflects library user demographics. He wanted to use The Summer Game to raise awareness that the library can be used to borrow tools, art and music as well as books, and that it offers help with homework, finding jobs and provides a third space for lectures and crafting.

"Parks and Rec is not just baseball, baseball, baseball," he said. "Why should a library just be read, read, read?" The Summer Game reflects an ethos of meeting patrons where they are. And its code is open-access, so any library can download it.

A woman looks at books in a library in 2024.
BOOKS
These were the most-borrowed books from public libraries in 2024
Brooklyn Public Library reveals its most borrowed book ever to celebrate 125 years
BOOK NEWS & FEATURES
Brooklyn Public Library reveals its most borrowed book ever to celebrate 125 years
According to Raymond Garcia, spokesperson for the American Library Association, the popularity of the Ann Arbor District Library's Summer Game stands out, but is not singular. In an email, he said that the Anne Arundel County Public Library, in Maryland, had a participation rate of 10% of the population from the last census for its "Summer @ Your Library" program, including gameplay and event attendance, according to a library manager. Librarians in Dover, Ohio, created a Pokémon-style card-collecting program. Called "Reading Dragons and Friends," it is available for other libraries to use.

Sponsor Message

"Libraries are magical," Neiburger said. "It's something that wouldn't be allowed to be created today if it didn't already exist. And for most communities, the library is one of the most beloved government institutions. And for local governments to be able to turn outward and embrace their communities and find completely new audiences they didn't know they were reaching, and for those audiences to discover public services that were available to them that they didn't know about, that's magic too.

>131 kac522: I saw that piece, and made a note of it to share with our library board at the next meeting. What a great idea!

>144 jnwelch:, >131 kac522:. Good for them! Sounds clever and well-thought out. How satisfying it must be to have it be so popular in the city.

Thanks for bringing it to us, Kathy.

>145 laytonwoman3rd:. Good for you, Linda. Sure seems like an idea we’d love to see spread, and a counterforce to the apparent surge of illiteracy in this country.

>136 jnwelch: Another great Adriana Review!

Yet, I have never understood why Atticus' "shoot all the blue jays" never went unchallenged, in or out of the book.

>148 m.belljackson:. Thanks, Marianne. Adriana is a reliable good read, isn’t she.

Shoot all the bluejays, but not the mockingbird - I know, I stumble over that message, too. Bluejays are notoriously annoying, with a raucous cry, so I assume that’s the distinction, but you still make a good point.

>143 jnwelch: Not Mythology, Joe; Microbiology! I switched majors after taking Microbiology 101 as an undergraduate student. After graduation I worked in a molecular biology research lab at NYU Medical Center, and while I was there one of my undergraduate advisors urged me to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), as my grades at Rutgers were excellent, I was listed as a co-author on three articles that were chosen for publication in academic journals, and my very insightful advisor could tell that I wasn't enjoying working in the lab as much as I thought I would. I didn't think I was a good candidate for medical school, due to poor grades during my first years as a college student, but I remember this advisor urging me to study my ass off for the exam (check), take it once and nail it (check), and wait for the medical schools to contact me to set up interviews (also check). I set up interviews with the schools that interested me the most — oddly enough none of the NYC schools, including NYU, offered me an interview — and it was just a matter of picking which school I wanted to go to. I really liked Pitt, and I was awarded a 4 year $30,000 scholarship, which covered ¼ of my tuition, so that made it easy to choose it, and Pitt was an ideal choice for me.

That's interesting about your exposure to Buddhism as a young age; I keep meaning to ask you what encouraged you to choose that path.

Thanks for the compliment, but writing usually doesn't come easily to me, and that's the main reason I don't write as many book reviews as I should. I admire the more prolific and talented writers within or outside of LibraryThing.

There were several links about online college level courses in The New Retirement, an absolutely fabulous resource. I'll send links about English Lit your way later this week.

>145 laytonwoman3rd:, >146 jnwelch: Glad you enjoyed it, Joe--thought you'd like to see some good news from your old haunt.

>149 jnwelch: Your Birding Friends attract Blue Jays with Peanuts!

>150 kidzdoc:😂. Ha! One of my best mis-reads ever, Darryl, although I thought it was very cool that you majored in Mythology! Stephen Fry would approve.

Microbiology makes a lot more sense. Kudos to you for the path you created for yourself. It feels like “of course” in retrospect, but I’m sure it was anything but at the time. One of my favorite memories of your career is the stories you would tell us about using your Spanish to help ESL patients at the hospital, and how you’d be called in to help with communication. I’m glad you decided to that the lab wasn’t for you.

Why Buddhism: it always seemed like the truth, the right answer to me. As I looked around at the various religions and thought, “not me, not me, not me” (and I’m so fundamentally skeptical about taking things on “faith”), when I came to one that said, what we all think is so freaking important is an illusion, but you can learn to open your eyes and experience it fully, to appreciate its beauty and the beauty of what is not it (zen for another day’s discussion), to live freely without our acquired constraints and the jibber-jabber we fill our heads with, i thought, “yes, that’s me.” And it’s held up well over the years. I think Hesse’s Siddhartha probably nudged me in the right direction.

Your writing reads like it comes easily for you, and I guess that’s what writers want. You always convey a lot of info with a minimum of fuss.

P.S. Thanks for the resource link and info to come.

>136 jnwelch: What a great article!

>137 jnwelch: Adding Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned to the BlackHole. Thanks for that recommendation, Joe!

I hope you are having a terrific Tuesday!

>151 kac522:. Your instincts were right, Kathy. I remain fond of Ann Arbor, and it made me happy that the public library which I remember so well came up with such a good, town-involving program.

>152 m.belljackson:. Yeah, Marianne, I bet brother Mark would take umbrage at the suggestion that it’s okay to kill blue jays, but not mockingbirds.

>154 alcottacre:. Hiya, Stasia. Isn’t that a great article? She’s a keeper. We’ve been telling Jesse he better stay married to her. He didn’t need any persuading.

I hope you enjoy AOAO as much as I i did when you get to it. Laurence Fishburne was a good choice to play Socrates Fortlow, just as Samuel Jackson was for Ptolemy Grey. I thought Ptolemy’s teen niece did a great job in the tv adaptation, too. I want to keep an eye out for her in future parts. Dominique Fishback.

It’s a terrific Tuesday. A good Chicago pal just left, and a good San Francisco pal is about to arrive.😀

>153 jnwelch: I often do something similar to that, Joe! It's as though my eyes see one word, but the electrical impulse to my brain is a different, and far funnier or bizarre, one. I'll usually look at the word again, and realize my mistake.

Rutgers doesn't offer a degree in Mythology (yes, I had to check!), but you can take courses in it as part of a Classics major or to fulfill another degree. I can only imagine the questions I would have been asked by medical school interviewers if I was a Mythology major! 😂

My path to medical school was decidedly non-linear, especially since my first experience as an undergraduate student was an unmitigated disaster, and I was a non-traditional student when I matriculated at Pitt, as I was 10 years older than most of my classmates, who often viewed me and others who fit that category as "wise elders," due to our Real Life experiences.

Thanks for your interesting explanation on how you began to study Buddhism. I hope to be able to have a conversation with you about it the next time we meet in person. I would describe myself as a quiet Christian, specifically Lutheran, as that was the church I went to in my youth, and it fits my personal beliefs, and reluctance to force them on others, more than other sects.

Thanks for your compliments about my writing. I suppose it's similar to professional or far more talented writers in that it requires numerous revisions before I get it right...which I often don't.

>155 jnwelch: Yay for good friends arriving! Departing, not so much.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

>156 kidzdoc:. I do enjoy those slip-ups in hearing/reading a word, Darryl. They’re so often good for a laugh.

The Christians who aggravate me no end are the Trump-supporting ones. In my mind, there’s no way to follow the teachings of Christ and also support that guy.

I didn’t know that you were an older(wise elder) student at Pitt. There’s another story there, I’m sure. Way to position yourself for a safe retirement in a shorter amount of time.

Revising is so important in quality writing. I don’t do it here, other than my dopey typos, but I sure do for the poetry. The trick there is to, at some point, stop the revising and cut it loose. The temptation is to keep fiddling around to the end of time.

>157 alcottacre:.
This guy is in town for a conference, Stasia, so I may get him one more time before he goes back. We’ll see. We had a nice time out on the deck last night. She had’t seen him in longer than I had, so she was particularly pleased.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday, too!

>158 jnwelch: The Christians who aggravate me no end are the Trump-supporting ones. In my mind, there’s no way to follow the teachings of Christ and also support that guy.

I agree, of course. They come from the same cloth as those "Christians" who used the Bible to justify slavery and segregation. A close friend of mine, a White nurse who grew up in a small town in north Georgia, told me that the pastor in the church she went to as a child and young adult often preached that marriage between the races was a sin, as Whites were the preferred race in His eyes, and that was okay to treat other races as second (or third) class citizens. Needless to say she rejected that narrow view of Christianity once she went off to college and met people of other races.

One other group of "Christians" who I find highly offensive are prosperity theologians such as Creflo Dollar of suburban Atlanta, the recently deceased Jimmy Swaggart, and their followers. They usually have mega churches that can seat thousands if not tens of thousands of idol worshipping parishioners, along with Rolls-Royces, private jets, and several mansions. Similar to the (Im)Moral Majority Christians they are not true believers, IMO.

Even though I will have worked 10 to 15 years shorter than many of my partners and colleagues I'm in a great position to retire, and it's also allowed me to care for my mother in her home for as long as I possibly can.

Your comments about revising your work and deciding when it's time to release it makes perfect sense.

Buddhists follow the basic teachings of Christ more than Christians have since back near B.C. -
a terrifying history which continues today with male dominated violent "religions,"
as well with the shocking Hindu murdering of animals in their Gadhimai festival.

>154 alcottacre: I read Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned three years ago, and since then, I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of Walkin' the Dog, which is the second book in the Socrates Fortlow trilogy. I have the third book, The Right Mistake. But I've burdened myself with the notion that I should read 'em in order, and also that it should be a used book, as are the two I have.

Since My WANT!! List™ has 185 titles on it (not nearly as many as your "Black Hole', Stasia), it's beyond me how to focus on one title.

>137 jnwelch: There should be a raising up and not a leveling down - wonderful books made a wonderful childhood for me (and my kids) and I don't see on what planet would To Kill a Mockingbird be seen as a "secondary resource".

Thank you Joe for sharing Adriana's thought provoking musings.

I am not an expert in American literature but some of its works need to be preserved and promoted for the benefit, learning and understanding of future generations.

John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Henry James, James Baldwin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Willa Cather, Toni Morrison, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Emily Dickenson, Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy, Kent Haruf Robert Frost, Harper Lee, Flannery O'Connor Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, and Colson Whitehead are twenty American authors whose work should be on everyone's shelves in my opinion.

>162 PaulCranswick: >137 jnwelch: Ivan Doig?!

>162 PaulCranswick: I cannot imagine reducing American literature to 20 "essential" authors. Such a list doesn't even begin to tap the genius, wisdom, social impact or entertainment value of our output.

>159 kidzdoc:. Yeah, the money-obsessed mega pastors aren’t following Christ’s teachings either, Darryl. I wonder what mental gymnastics they and their followers go through to justify it. It’s a shame. That money could do a lot of good somewhere else.

As I’ve said before, you’re a mensch for taking care of your mother the way you do. I’m sure she feels very fortunate to have you as her son.

>160 m.belljackson:. Hi, Marianne. Yeah, Thich Nhat Hanh always viewed Buddhism as a good complement to Christianity for practicing Christians. It does marry up well.

>161 weird_O:. Hiya, Bill. I count you as one of my fellow admirers of Mosley. I wish there were more of us. Walking the Dog and The Right Mistake are good ones, giving Socrates more chances to explore and debate philosophy, morality and race issues. I hope you track down the middle one soon. If not, DM me and we can arrange for me to mail you my copy.

I think of his excellent short story collection, The Awkward Black Man as being in a similar vein. That’s another one that would be well worth your reading time.

It’s great to have a long list of desirables like you do. I always seem to be eating on the run, reading what looks delicious at the moment. Speaking of which, Richard has me reading a delectable Savvy Summers mystery. She runs a Chicago South Side soul food eatery, and is determined to solve a patron’s murder in this one. Her food sounds so good!

>165 jnwelch: I'm four pounds heavier after reading those awful book meals. And I'm mad about it.

>162 PaulCranswick:. Hiya, Paul. Whenever I’m asked which book should everyone read, I say, To Kill a Mockingbird. This secondary source nonsense is BS at its richest.

Nice list of American authors, thanks. It tickles my heart strings in particular to see Cather, Haruf and McCarthy on there. I hope some day that people consider Mosley for such a list. I suspect he’s too prolific for his own good.

I appreciate your bravery in offering the list. You’re going to hear about the ones left off. Ray Bradbury is one that comes to my mind, even though he often wrote in the once denigrated genre of science fiction. (Still denigrated by some, but now there are so many crossovers, like Ishiguro and Emily St. John Mandel).

>160 m.belljackson:. Ivan Doig is another good ‘un, Marianne, thanks.

>164 laytonwoman3rd:. Hard to argue with that, Linda. I suspect a Top 20 list of Brit authors would run into similar problems. Probably France, Germany, and Japan, too? Others?

Would Top 50 work? Top 100? Or is it hopeless and wrongheaded to try? I know Top 100 books lists always intrigue me, and always spark my own dissent.

>166 richardderus:. You have such an enormous appetite, Richard! You’re bound to have the occasional leaden meal in there, often sent for free by some hopeful publisher, yes?

>168 jnwelch: Somebody wants All five-star warbles of ecstasy from me, send me a year of pork belly collards, shrimp grits, and mac'n'cheese...I'll deliver!

>167 jnwelch: Yep, Joe, so many I could add: Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Louise May Alcott, Walt Whitman, Edith Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Theodore Dreiser, Thornton Wilder, Edna Ferber, E. L. Doctorow, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright....for starters. And my own personal underdog favorite: William Maxwell, an Illinois boy.

This is why I think reading off lists and awards is dumb. It's all subjective. Just read what interests you!

>169 richardderus: 😂

>170 kac522:. Good additions, Kathy. We probably should go Top 50 or more. Hard to argue against any of your picks.

>171 katiekrug:. I’m certainly in favor of reading what interests you, Katie. Nonetheless, I like looking at the lists and seeing whether I agree. Also, I sometimes get a reminder of books I’ve missed that I want to get to. That happened recently with Pale Fire.

I was genuinely startled to hear this from some of our non-USA based LT-ers that Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn aren't much read across the pond. A shame. People who read James should at least be somewhat familiar with the text he's building on.

>165 jnwelch: I won't pretend to understand the attraction of these opulent pastors and the practice of prosperity theology to parishioners who follow them. As you said the donations these money and power hungry pastors receive could be much better spent, especially in Black communities such as College Park, Georgia, where Creflo Dollar's megachurch is located.

Regarding my mother I do get a lot of praise for sacrificing my life and career and moving back into their house to care for her after my father died in late 2021. I do appreciate those kind words, but to me the sudden decision to let the head of my group know that I had to resign, only a matter of hours after I learned on Black Friday that the seizure which had stricken him on the Saturday before Thanksgiving caused severe and irreversible brain damage, was a relatively easy decision to make. I became her power of attorney after my father became incapacitated, and I knew immediately that I would not and could not commit Mom to a nursing home, so that I could continue my career; that would have been cruel and selfish, and it would have contradicted the last words I said to my father in our local hospital's ICU: "Don't worry, Dad; I'll take care of Mom."

Despite her dementia she greatly appreciates what I'm doing for her. Every time we pray before a meal she says "Thank you, God, for Darryl. He is my son, and I love him very much." Despite only living roughly 35 miles away my younger brother rarely visits us (only once this year so far), and when he does come he barely interacts with our mother, and sits on our dining room table, which is out of her eyesight due to a sizable peace lily plant in between our living and dining rooms. As a result she barely recognizes him as her son, despite my efforts to point photos of him out to her.

One comment that people, including the members of a dementia support group I attended for several months, have made repeatedly is that it's unusual for a son to take on the role of primary caregiver for a parent with dementia. That saddens me, as my mother has been my biggest supporter for nearly six decades, with my father not far behind, and the thought of abandoning her to a nursing home, as my brother wanted to do, is a sickening and deeply troubling thought.

Today’s Bargain: The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher for $1.99 on e-readers. Sylvia Beach meets and publishes James Joyce when no one else would. Well told story and pleasurable read.

>173 magicians_nephew:. Mark Twain! There’s a biggie! IMO, you can’t have an American author list without him. Good catch, Jim, thanks. I’m also surprised that he’s reportedly not read more abroad. If they go for James Fenimore Cooper because he’s so exotically “American”, they can do far better with Twain.

I want as many people as possible to read James, so I’m not as much of a stickler for reading Huck first. But I do agree that reading Huck first greatly improves the reading experience.

>174 kidzdoc:. Happy Friday, Darryl. Your explanation of why you take care of your mother makes perfect sense, and I’m very glad to hear that she’s with it enough to appreciate that and express her love.

But I do understand those finding it unusual for the son to take care of his mother like you do. Why? Mostly because so many men are like your younger brother, lacking your level of compassion and your sense of responsibility. I don’t know whether it’s a Y chromosome or how we bring up boys to be men, but I’m glad you’re otherwise and admire you for it.

P.S. Because we lived in other cities, my sisters and I were tempted to put my widowed father in a nursing home. We even put down a deposit to reserve him a place, in case it came to that. But we had all read Being Mortal, and one of its morals was listen to the person dying. He wanted to stay at home until the end. So he did, and we organized professional caregivers for him. We had to move him into a hospice at the very end, because he was big and no one could physically take care of him except me. (Hard decision). I still had my Chicago family to take care of. The hospice was wonderful (those people are saints), and it was a good send-off. He even, through the Herculean efforts of Adriana and Jesse, was able to see his brand new great grandson Jesse before he passed away.

>173 magicians_nephew: >176 jnwelch: You don't have to go across the pond to find a place where Huckleberry Finn isn't part of the reading list.

>127 jnwelch: The event sounded wonderful, Joe, but it was the part when everyone was gone and you were enjoying not talking that made me smile.

I am not a big fan of To Kill A Mockingbird. To me it represents southern hypocrisy. It is not that I think that book should make the south appear hypocrite free, but nowadays most people in the South think that they, or their parents, were Atticus Finch. That can't be true because if it were then Jim Crow would have died long long before it did. TKAM makes it easy for Southerner's to claim that they didn't believe in, or support Jim Crow, when the facts throw a blinding on that they did.

That said, I do think that the book should be read, and taught, in schools. I don't think that schools should prohibit, blacklist, or restrict books that teachers want to teach. As Adrianna pointed out, high school is the perfect time to teach books that deal with uncomfortable subjects. Students can get guidance from adults who are trained, and held responsible for what they say in the classroom. Therefore, they should be careful and become as knowledgeable as possible about the book, the author, the history, background, and setting so that when they teach it they can point out the subtleties of the novel. This kind of teaching makes high school the perfect place to teach this type of novel because teachers are teaching students how to read difficult literature, and how to look for the messages in such novels. To use an old cliché - the journey to understanding is as important as the understanding.

I don't believe that we should have to struggle with every book we read, but a good tussle every-now-and-then has it rewards. Young people need to know that every book can't be Harry Potter. Some books demand more thinking than that.

>176 jnwelch: But I do understand those finding it unusual for the son to take care of his mother like you do. Why? Mostly because so many 8thmen are like your younger brother, lacking your level of compassion and your sense of responsibility. I don’t know whether it’s a Y chromosome or how we bring up boys to be men, but I’m glad you’re otherwise and admire you for it.

Perhaps it's just me, but I don't fully understand or accept this male mindset towards their mothers. I'm not completely sure, but I believe that most mothers bestow more love and attention on their sons than their daughters—I never had any sisters, and my younger brother is my only sibling—and so it would seem natural to me that these sons would repay their love in kind. When I was working a full time day job and taking 1-2 courses at Rutgers practically every week night I would often leave home at a little before 6:30 am and typically not return until after 10 pm. My mother would always stay awake to be sure that I returned safely, long after my early to bed father had retired for the night, and we would share a mug of herbal tea, and either chat for a while or watch The Honeymooners or the 10 o'clock news before we each went to bed around 11 pm. Those were often the most special part of my day, and I dearly and very sadly miss the rich FTF or phone conversations we had before her dementia robbed her of that ability nearly a decade ago.

My brother is so different from me that my parents and many of my closest relatives jokingly and privately speculate that he must have been switched from birth in the hospital nursery—and, to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if a genetic profile did show that that was the case! My parents gave David untold thousands of dollars over decades when he was in financial difficulty, even though he has been, for most of his adult years, a pharmaceutical representative making a high five or low six figure annual salary—he somehow spends money as if he would lose it if he didn't do so—whereas I haven't borrowed a dime them since early 1982, when I returned home with my tail between my legs as a chastened 20 year old with terrible grades after my first, failed attempt as a part time biomedical engineering student and a full time disciple of what my closest male friends and I wryly called Creole Women's Studies, as many of us spent far more time with our girlfriends than with our coursework. That alone would suggest that he would be more devoted to the parents who rescued him dozens of times in the past, but I suppose they spoiled him so rotten that he felt entitled to their numerous and unappreciated gifts. From our most recent conversation I gather that I am in a much better state financially than David is, even though I haven't worked in close to 4 years, but I'll be damned if I'll allow him to be a financial dependent, and a burden to me.

Happy Friday, Joe. Happy Anniversary. A perfect couple. I hope you two have been celebrating all day. ❤️

>179 kidzdoc: I'm sorry your brother isn't willing to share support of your mother with you. In some ways you are better off that you understand and feel gratitude and know how to provide support where he seems to feel the need to be supported. Families are often complicated and creaky construct, and each member has entirely different experiences, however similar the events.

>180 msf59: Yes. Happy Anniversary, indeed, and many more of them!

>181 quondame: Thanks, Susan. David has verbally expressed his willingness to help out, but he is so unreliable that I no longer take him at his word. There is something that accounts for his shameful behavior towards my parents but I don't understand what they could have done to earn his disdain. Yes, you're absolutely right in your description of families, and I have learned to accept David for who he is—and isn't—rather than trying to change him. We have a good though superficial relationship, and I can only hope that it will improve with time, and that he will be more open and honest with me in the future.

Joe - here' one in line a bit with Buddhism:

"I am fond of American Unitarians.
It is the only church I don't feel like running screaming out of.

(It) seems to me a happy place, a community-oriented organization
based on acceptance, tolerance, and inclusion. In Louisiana, I know
atheists , Jews, and socialists who go to Unitarian meetings to hear
intelligent discussions of their community.

The emphasis seems to me to be on love and tolerance, not on
fearful injunctions from life."

Andrei Codrescu

>177 Familyhistorian:. That’s a bit of the sad, isn’t it, Meg? Does it get banned because of the N word, or simply neglected? There are an awful lot of good books out there now, so selecting the reading can’t be easy. But I hope Huck Finn continues to come up in people’s lives. The N word part is a great teaching opportunity for the brave. My BIL used to teach Huck in college.

Ha! I’m such a typical book nerd, aren’t I? “Great - everybody’s gone!”😂

They were a great group, but Debbi and I were wiped out. Some quiet reading was definitely on the menu.

>178 benitastrnad:. Good to have another perspective, Benita, thanks. I had no idea that many Southerners decided they were Atticus and gave themselves a pass on the malignant racism around them.Based on our experience with Magas, though, I’m sure they’d have found some other excuse and rationalization without the beautiful TKAM.

I agree with you that high school is a great time to address uncomfortable subjects and difficult books. I don’t remember reading TKAM for a class, but I probably did. We certainly addressed racial issues a lot, as we had a mixed group, and there was a lot of tension between poor whites (“greasers” back then) and black students. A surprising tension-easer was school-authorized and school-supervised drag races in the parking lot. It was so crazy it helped, with a lot of laughs.

>179 kidzdoc:. I don’t disagree with you, Darryl, about there being a lot of good reasons for men to take care of their mothers. And I’m not sure my explanation carries water, but the lack of that happening is what I see. Jesse is very close to his mom and appreciative like you; i could easily see him taking care of her like you have yours.

Mother-daughter and mother-son relationships can differ a lot as far as I know. My sisters had a very difficult time with my opinionated, strong-willed mom, while she and I always had an easy time together. I speculated that it was because she grew up with four older brothers. When she tried to mold me, I just shrugged it off without getting shitty about it, and we moved on. It was quite different with my sisters. My difficulties were with my taciturn dad, who couldn’t/didn’t talk about subjects which impassioned me, and who made “you owe me” demands at critical times that really turned me off.

Nonetheless, I grew up in a safe secure house with two kind, well-intentioned parents (which was way better than what some of my friends had), and I’m grateful.

Your brother: how difficult for him and your family. Sometimes what drives someone takes them far away. Addictions are the worst for this, but emotional hangups can have the same effect. One sister didn’t speak to me for two years because of a silly flare-up after my dad (and last parent) died. It was over something hanging on a wall, for goodness’ sake, but she filled that something with emotions that are still affecting us all.

Once again I’m impressed that you’ve built the life you have after the distractions and rough start due to Creole Women’s Studies. Good decision not to major in Mythology!😀

>180 msf59:. Thanks, buddy. Happy Friday. It was a low key but strong anniversary. We’ve had a lot going on, including Debbi leaving for Pittsburgh this morning to help take care of the grandkids. We’re going to celebrate some more, including dinner out, when she gets back. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to adjust a bit - which is one reason we’ve made it to 43 years married!

>181 quondame:. 👍😀. Agreed, Susan.

>182 kidzdoc:. Thanks, Darryl. We got Debbi through that open heart surgery and me through that dratted stroke; I think we’re well-positioned for a lot more anniversaries, and I’m looking forward to them.

I appreciate your comments about your brother David, and I’m sending positive thoughts for his family relationships to settle into a healthier place.

>183 m.belljackson:. Thanks, Marianne. Yeah, we got married by a Unitarian, and I’m very appreciative that they exist. We both yearned for something with more of a fixed focus. We raised the kids Jewish, and celebrate Shabbat and the Jewish holidays. Yours truly continues with the Buddhism, and now, with a friend’s help, I’ve found a good Zen center to go to.

Today’s Bargain: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman for $1.99 on e-readers. The wonderful book that got me started on the wonderful Alice Hoffman. Life is magical.

The modernity of this way back Chinese poem surprised me:

The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter
Li Bai
translated from the Chinese by Ezra Pound

While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.

At fourteen I married My Lord you.
I never laughed, being bashful.
Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.
Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.

At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever, and forever.
Why should I climb the lookout?

At sixteen you departed,
You went into far Ku-to-Yen, by the river of swirling eddies,
And you have been gone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.
You dragged your feet when you went out.
By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,
Too deep to clear them away!
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden,
They hurt me.
I grow older,
If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang,
Please let me know beforehand,
And I will come out to meet you,
As far as Cho-fu-Sa.

More Bargains: An Immense World by Ed Yong and Old Man’s War by John Scalzi for $1.99 on e-readers. I haven’t read this NF by Yong, but I sure enjoyed his I Contain Multitudes about the microbes inside us. I own this one now.

Old Man’s War is high quality sci-fi by one of its most popular authors. Starts a short series, but could be read as a standalone.

>189 jnwelch: I'll read any Yong book ASAP after I Contain Multitudes reoriented my sense of what a "self" actually *is*.

>190 richardderus:. Ha! Ditto, RD.

>185 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. I think the portrait you're painting is the more accurate one, whereas mine is more idyllic in nature. As I'm sure you've gathered my parents showered me with love and support, and as a result the worst thing I could do was to disappoint them in any way. The last time I did that in a major way was December 1981, when I had to return home and remake my life after poor grades at Tulane, and I vowed to myself and promised to them that I would be honest and trustworthy, which I'm pleased to say that I've done since then.

>186 jnwelch: I pray that your and Debbi's recent health challenges are in the past, and, as I said, that you two have many more good ones to look forward to.

P.S. Thanks for mentioning An Immense World. I also enjoyed I Contain Multitudes, so I'll check to see if this e-book is still on sale. (ETA: It is. 🥳)

>192 kidzdoc:. Cool, Darryl. An Immense World looks really good from the description and blurbs.

P.S. I’m glad it’s still on sale! I bought it, too. He’s so good.

Happy Sunday, Joe. I like the Li Bai poem. Thanks for sharing and thanks for posting it on the poetry thread. I appreciate that. Darryl has been posting over there too.

So, what have you been up to, with the house all to yourself?

>194 msf59:. Thanks, Mark. Happy Sunday! The blessed Becca is here helping me renew my passport online. They don’t exactly make it easy. Thank goodness she’s a patient young woman. Her dog Indy is being patient, too.

Isn’t that Li Bai poem a good one? I will try to remember to get these over to the Poetry thread going forward. I saw Darryl’s most excellent posts.

What’s the first thing anyone wants to do when they have the house to themself? The answer always is, filling out online forms. Also, people keep showing up so I don’t have it to myself. What’s up with that?

Can we keep the joy of youth alive in us?

August 11, 2025

Sehnsucht
Michael Dumanis from poem-a-day

My daughter says six is her favorite year ever
though she suspects that seven will be better.
Her dress spins down the corridor.
It’s made of butterflies and billowing
like the memory of a chocolate souffle.
Was I ever more like her than like me,
shoulders not flagging, breath hot
with awe as I sidestepped each stone,
the promise of age like a helium balloon
dragging me behind it on a flouncy string?
My daughter tries to show me everything
she’s left a mark on: painted clay,
a smiley-faced cotton ball perched on a stick.
her name in all-caps on an envelope.
Does she already somewhere in her spleen
or pancreas, in the soft tissues and marrow, sense
that the impossible goal is, for all of us,
just to keep going? No, she is not grieving
over Goldengrove whatever. Six is her favorite
year ever, I feel not so much nostalgia
as Sehnsucht, the desire for something
missing, vertigo under the infinite sky.
We crane our twin heads as a falcon or drone
pierces the cloud cover into the future.
How to get closer to the mystery.
Older, she will do whatever: name a new nation,
isolate a microbe, hear the whales mutter
the muscadine water. Every time the regimes change
she will dance Swan Lake, bending her knees
at the requisite intervals. Attagirl, daughter!
The economy continues to show resilience
in the face of despair and mass depredation.
My daughter is swan. Is crab grass run riot.
Meanwhile, I am becoming unrecognizable
to everyone except myself, and it does not matter:
before it is time to resemble no one
I have had the mixed fortune to resemble most things.
My shadow lingers in the corner of the photo of the painting.
I may not know more than a bedraggled llama
craning its neck past the impregnable fence. Still,
I participated in the world. I wore the ceremonial
knee breeches required by protocol.
Led her through ferry boats and Ferris wheels,
this ardent daughter clinging to my hand
as though it was God’s hand on a church ceiling.
We took turns licking the strawberry ice cream.
In this knowledge, I feel content.

>196 jnwelch: 'bedraggled llama'! What a good poem.

>197 ffortsa:. Right, Judy? He has a gift for surprising and apt images.

I hope you get to use your passport soon. I had to renew mine in 2023 and have only used it as ID to vote in 2024. I should get busy and find an excuse to travel somewhere. Like maybe check out Winnipeg, Canada. It really isn't that far from here and I could drive there. It is just straight north.

>199 benitastrnad:. Hi, Benita. Maybe 4-6 weeks to get the passport, but I paid for express mail so I’m hoping sooner. I need it to travel in the U.S. in October - I don’t have a Real ID yet (coming up on the to-do list). My other upcoming online adventures involve Social Security. Oh boy.

Winnipeg sounds like a grand idea. Never been. What draws you there?

>200 jnwelch: Joe, there's a "Seniors only" walk-in Sec of State in Evanston where my husband & I applied for our Real IDs. No appointment needed and very easy and fast. I think it's at the Levy Center on Dodge. You don't get the ID on-site--it is mailed to you some weeks later. Just check the website to be sure you have all the proper docs:

https://apps.ilsos.gov/facilityfinder/facilityfinder?command=getFacilityDetails&...

My husband did the online Passport renewal in March and it took less than 4 weeks to receive it, even without the express request. It may have been faster because his current passport had not yet expired.

>200 jnwelch: - Joe, why would you need a passport to travel within the US? Is that something new or has that always been the case? I never heard of that before. I thought passports were for travel to other countries. Still. it's always a good idea to have a current and valid passport.

>195 jnwelch: I'm guessing that you didn't renew your passport before it expired, Joe? I didn't find it terribly difficult when I renewed mine online in 2017. I wonder if the process is more of a burden for lapsed passports, though.

>202 jessibud2: A Real ID is necessary to board all passenger aircraft in the US, for both domestic and international flights. Most fliers use Real ID compliant driver's licenses to meet this requirement, but a valid US passport would also count. You can get a driver's license that is not Real ID compliant in some if not all states — that's certainly the case in Pennsylvania and New Jersey — and, from what I understand from local media, you can usually board domestic airlines, although you will be subjected to additional and time consuming screening before you are cleared by Security.

My mother has a non Real ID compliant Pennsylvania driver's license that expires soon. Obviously her dementia keeps her from driving, but I would like to keep a valid license as a form of ID, especially when I take her for doctors' appointments, even though she also has a valid US passport that should be adequate.

ETA: My apologies for sticking my nose in, Joe.

>203 kidzdoc: - Thanks for that explanation, Darryl. This is the first time I have heard of such a thing.

I use my passport for everything that requires an ID. The reason is exactly as Daryl said - some states don't require a realID driver's license and if you take out your passport and use that they can't argue with it. A passport proves you are a citizen. It is real ID. It trumps all other forms of ID (yes that is a pun.) The reason is that in order to get one you have to prove that you are a citizen. I use my passport whenever I vote. In my small community here in Kansas I am the only one who votes with a passport.

I also use my passport whenever I go through an airport. I simply speeds things up. I also have the TSA Pre-check because that speeds things up as well. It has saved my bacon on several occasions as well when I have had tight scheduling to fly.

>204 jessibud2: It's new, Shelley--although they've been talking about it for years, the actual enforcement for airline travel (you must have a "Real ID" or a valid passport to fly within the U.S.) started this past May. I think it got delayed because of COVID and then some states weren't ready to issue the Real IDs. Essentially the documentation for a Real ID is standardized throughout the US; I think prior to that each state had set its own ID requirements.

>204 jessibud2: You're welcome, Shelley. I always carry my Real ID compliant driver's license (initially from Georgia and now from Pennsylvania) and my passport whenever I fly, whether domestically or internationally. As Benita said below I also applied for the TSA PreCheck program, particularly since the cost of it is reimbursable as a perk of the Platinum American Express Delta credit card I own. An additional benefit of that is being able to get a Global Entry card, a credit card sized form of identification that allows easy entrance into the US for Americans returning on international flights, but, in the era of Trump 2.0, it also serves as further proof of US citizenship beyond a US driver's license, at least as far as I know.

Several years back when I flew from Atlanta to San Francisco on holiday I lost my Georgia driver's license at SFO, San Francisco International Airport. I didn't realize this until I was about to check in for my return flight back home. Fortunately I had my passport handy, so I wasn't delayed in any way, and, after an inquiry into the SFO Lost & Found department my license was found, and sent back to me a few days later.

On the other hand my best friend from medical school flew from Madison, Wisconsin to Philadelphia a couple of years ago to attend a medical conference here. When he arrived at PHL he didn't have his driver's license; he didn't stay with me at that time, but he reached out to me anyway. I asked him if he brought his passport with him, but he didn't, and he had to be cleared by TSA Security at PHL, which took several hours, and as a result he missed his original flights back home.

>205 benitastrnad: I either voted in person or cast a mail ballot when I lived in Georgia, and I'm pretty sure I used my Georgia driver's license each time. I've voted by mail every time I've cast a ballot since the 2022 midterm elections, and the county board of electors mails me a ballot several weeks before each election. I prefer that, as it allows me time to review the position statements of each candidate in advance. I have relied heavily on the League of Women Voters' very useful web site to get detailed information about the candidates, even though this era of political polarization means that I never vote for Republican candidates.

>206 kac522: I'm pretty sure that Georgia was one of the early adoptors of the Real ID requirement for driver's licenses, as I had my first one long before my parents (in PA) and especially my brother (in NJ) did; he probably only got his new license last year or in 2023.

Joe is going to be shocked when he sees all the activity on his thread! 😂

>201 kac522: oh, more god info, Kathy, thanks. (Good info I mean). I’ll alert my much better half. I love it when there are perks for, ahem, the more experienced among us. (Debbi does not like me saying I’m old😀).

That’s encouraging re your hubby getting his renewed passport rapidly. As you’ve gathered, mine expired, darn it. I’ll be more on top of it next time.

>202 jessibud2:. It’s my lack of a Real ID, Shelley. At the airport they’ll accept a passport as proof that I’m really who I say I am in lieu of this new ID.

You’re right. It’s always a good idea to have a current and valid passport. You’d have to be an idiot to let one expire. In case you weren’t sure how to characterize me, now you know. (My inner “you can’t tell me what to do” really works against me sometimes).

>203 kidzdoc:. Yeah, I’ve renewed my passport before expiration before, Darryl, and it was easy-peasy. You’d think I might’ve learned something from that. After expiration, it’s a chore. I have a Roman numeral suffix on my name, for example, and the online form punished me for that. Becca finally figured out the get-around, bless her. She and I both think the form should have a chat function for questions. But they probably figure that’s a Pandora’s box they’d just as soon leave closed.

Good explanation of Real ID. A passport can substitute; otherwise you’re in for a hassle. My regular DL is mostly an amusing artifact now, although it still works when asked for ID, e.g. at the pharmacy.

>204 jessibud2:. 😀

>209 jnwelch: Joe - "more god info" is perfect for these hard times -

hope he/she is listening and will clear up Washington DC, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan...

>205 benitastrnad:. 😀. Exactly, Benita.

>206 kac522:. Right, Kathy. Real ID is still fairly new, and I kinda hoped its requirement would be postponed again, or there’d be a phase-in period where a regular DL still worked. Nope.

>207 kidzdoc:. Well, aren’t you the smart guy, Mr. Do Everything Right. Good thing you have people like me to keep you in touch with the shortcomings of the rest of the world.

I do agree with you and Benita about the value of TSR pre-check and Global Entry. I think the former helped me sail through at the airport last domestic trip with only my expired passport. I’m sure not counting on that going forward.

>208 kidzdoc:. I am shocked by all this activity on my thread, Darryl, although sometimes we all get going on a particular topic. Debbi couldn’t believe it one time when she found the topic exceptionally mundane. I’ll have to ask her to remind me which one that was. My dislike of beets? Maybe.

Yeah, a regular DL still works for my voting, too. My dear departed mother would be delighted to hear you speak positively about the League of Women Voters. That and Planned Parenthood were her two passion projects that I knew about. I think she was on the local Board of both; I know she was for PP.

>211 m.belljackson:. Oof. At least this time one of my all too common typos had some poetic value, Marianne. I know the typos are tied to my congenital impatience, which is a topic of great interest (along with anger and annoyance) to my Zen interior. Thanks to everyone for their patience with my impatience and typos.

Oh, wouldn’t it be great if a Supreme Being came down and spanked Trump and straightened things out? Unfortunately, I suspect the Grand Plan of the universe is to let us make the best we can of this great learning opportunity. We’re lucky to have it, the thinking goes. So annoying.

>212 jnwelch: Well, aren’t you the smart guy, Mr. Do Everything Right. Good thing you have people like me to keep you in touch with the shortcomings of the rest of the world.

Hey! Be nice, you. 🤣

Ooh, we haven't talked about the health benefits and great taste of beets in quite awhile. Thanks for the reminder!

>214 kidzdoc: 😂😂. Uh-oh.

Today’s Bargain: The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt for $2.99 on e-readers. The extra bargain buck is worth it. This guy is so smart and so good at talking us though complicated ideas. This one won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award. Not many have done that. In 1417 book hunter Poggio Bacciolini found a dusty manuscript of incalculable value. It was Lucretius’ ancient and lost poem On the Nature of Things. It was shockingly modern in its views of religion and the way the universe actually functions without the need of gods, and that matter is composed of small particles in motion. (!). This of course later fascinated and influenced subsequent scientists like Darwin and Einstein, and even Thomas Jefferson in formulating our new country. Greenblatt has a new one coming out this year about Christopher Marlowe.

>209 jnwelch: You're not alone, Joe--my husband probably would have let his expire, too, except I'm the Keeper of the Passports and knew his was coming up.😉 Because our older son lives abroad, we need to be sure that the paperwork is up to date, in case of an emergency.

>212 jnwelch: I'm with you on beets, buddy. Slimy things that look like they're soaked in Red Dye No. 3.

>216 jnwelch: Thanks for the tip, Joe

Hi Joe, mate, a very belated Happy New Thread dear friend.

* sticks neck out, whispers *

I like beets and even -- gasp -- grow them in my garden.

Red beet eggs, anyone? Anyone?

I just had several on Saturday.

>220 lauralkeet: That's great, Laura!

I often have a spinach salad for dinner, and I'll typically put crushed walnuts, English cucumbers, radishes and grape tomatoes in it. Thinly sliced or julienned beets would be a good and very healthy substitute for radishes. I developed a taste for beetroot juice on past trips to London (Joe, if memory serves me correctly I would often have this juice when we met Claire for lunch in the Au Bon Pain in Marylebone before or after visits to Daunt Books), so I'll look for recipes on how to make them at home.

ETA: Cooked beet greens are edible, and quite tasty.

>221 weird_O: Uh...pass.

>217 kac522:. Thanks, Kathy. I look forward to meeting your hubby some day, if we both remember to be there. I imagine I have a fair amount of passport expiration company; i suspect that a lot of it is male. My wife made the mistake of letting me be in charge of part of my own life.

Woo, lovely to have some “no beets” company. I know a bunch of beet accolades are about to roll in from our fellow cafe patrons.

218👍. I’m glad you’re a Swerve kind of guy, Jim. If you think of it, please let me know your reaction to it.

Hi Joe - here's one you don't often come across:
(notably in a book on World War II and Montana Football!)

"ONE THING WAS leading to another more precipitously than Ben wanted to be led,
all signs pointing to a celebratory kiss at Midnight
to start off the Adrianna era."

From The ELEVENTH MAN - an entwined and memorable Ivan Doig I'd not yet read...

>219 johnsimpson:. Hiya, John! Nice to see you, buddy. How is your lovely bride and the fam doing?

>220 lauralkeet:. Hi, Laura. Omigosh. You grow them near you?! Sounds scary. Eating them, forget it. Seriously, good for you. Eating things you grow is wonderful.

>221 weird_O:. Et tu, Weirdo Bill? What a shame to ruin eggs that way , say the beet-dislikers like me.

>222 kidzdoc:. Hey, Darryl. I must admit that I averted my eyes when you drank (gag) beet juice on our escapades with Claire. Man, do I miss Daunt Bookshop! And Marylebone. And seeing Claire and Caroline and Bianca and others . And London. . .

That salad sounds delish. Stick with radishes and don’t ruin it. Let’s not extend the discussion into beet greens. Are you crazy?!

P.S. And Amsterdam . . . We still hope to meet up with you in Portugal some day. Will our improved Spanish help any? I know they speak Portugueses, not Spanish.

>224 m.belljackson:. Thanks for the quote from your current reading, Marianne. Ease up, Ben. A celebratory kiss is a good thing.

You’re becoming a completist for Doig. Cool. Murakami is the only one I can claim that for. I’ve got one to go for Haruf. Mosley writes way too many for me to even contemplate it. I’ve read a lot of Cather, but not the total. For Austen I have the Juvenalia remaining.

Patrons: what author have you read everything by?

For Master Doig,
I've got Last Bus to Wisdom set up on the end table
- after finishing Julia Glass' truly engaging Widower's Tale;
with Mountain Time arriving on Monday!

The Sea Runners is the last and only of his books that doesn't draw me in =

ocean drownings rank along with mysteries (a few exceptions), crime, true crime, horror...making me a far LT Outlier.

Bringing the Beach Home by Laura Atkins, illustrated nicely by Evgenia Penman.

Rowan appears to be an 8 or 9 year old child of divorce. The mother and father parent well together. It’s Friday, Rowan’s day with his father, and his father has a surprise. Unfortunately, it involves a long drive and Rowan hates long drives. So by the time they get to the beach, he hates it, too. The father, I’m glad to say, stays chill and just does little things to help Rowan enjoy the experience.

The beach’s spell starts to sink in, and Rowan has such a wonderful time that he doesn’t want to leave (of course!). Rowan wishes that they could somehow bring the beach home. They gather the pretty things they’ve found, and on the way home Rowan has an inspiration. He races into his Dad’s house, and together they make a lovely reminder of the beach.

I really liked this one. For those kids with still married parents, it’s a chance to glimpse the life of a child whose parents divorced. For a child of divorce, it’s a chance to see parents working well together and that lovely experiences remain possible. For parents, it’s a reminder of the rewards of staying chill, and how transcendent a love-filled day with your child can be.

>226 jnwelch: Beetroot juice is so visually appealing! I can't remember if it was Claire or Rachael (FlossieT), the first LTer I ever met, in the sadly closed London Review Cakeshop in 2009, who first introduced me to that delightful drink.

Yes, I absolutely miss our outings in London. We have so many good friends there, including Fliss, Margaret, Heather, Rhian and her husband, Jenny, and others wh I'm undoubtedly leaving out. I used to be in much closer touch with Bianca, especially on Facebook Messenger or FaceTime, but it's been at least two years since our last chat. I'll try to get in touch with her no later than this weekend.

I also had numerous great trips to Amsterdam in particular, and the Netherlands in general, during my past visits there, especially when Claire, her sister Karen and I met up for a week there in, I think, 2016 or 2017. As much as I liked Amsterdam I preferred Utrecht, the city I stayed in when the three of us traveled from London to Amsterdam. The last time I saw Anita & Frank was a very enjoyable dinner in a restaurant there, although I never would have imagined that would be the last time I saw her alive. I also had great LibraryThing meetups in Leiden, Rotterdam, Maastricht, and 's-Hertogenbosch. Connie was also a great ambassador to the Netherlands, particularly during my first visit to Utrecht with TadAD and his family, and an enjoyable day in 's-Hertogenbosch with...a member of the Green Dragon group who was entertaining and quite witty; her name escapes me at the moment, but we're still friends on Facebook.

Retirement in Portugal is absolutely still on the table after two detailed discussions with my new financial advisor. It will be a few years before I begin to seiously think about that move, and I would want to look at quieter and less touristy and expensive cities and regions. Coimbra, a city roughly midway between Lisbon and Porto, would seem to be a good possibility, but there is much that I need to learn about that lovely country and its other regions. I did meet up with deebee1, one of the first LTers who befriended me after I first joined LibraryThing in 2006, and she would be a great person to reestablish ties with, as her main job, IIRC, was helping people from Asia relocate to or do business in Portugal (she is originally from the Philippines but has lived in Portugal for many years). I spent three weeks there, and even though I only picked up a few words of Portuguese I had no problem communicating with people there, whether in Spanish or English.

>230 kidzdoc: I will not deign to listen to tales of beet juice, Darryl, no matter how attractive you try to make them sound. Don’t try to bring up my mother’s chipped beef in cream sauce either. Ugh. I flushed that one.

I’d love to hear how Bianca and her son are doing. I miss seeing her. We never did meet Rachel or Fliss, darn it. I’m not sure about Margaret, but we did indeed meet the others. I also think of Paul Harris and the Cranswickians, Paul and Hani, from that epic get-together in Golden Square? Golden Lane? Golden Dreams? That area with the great restaurant/Jewish bookstore.

Go Portugal! We’ll track you down whatever small town you happen to settle in. But not by car, so be sure to pick some place close enough to a train or bus. I’m sure you appreciate our input on this life decision.

P.S. is there some author whose books you’ve read all of? (Please don’t point out my dangling preposition (you never would); we’re talking in a virtual cafe for goodness’ sakes).

>228 m.belljackson: Good luck in your quest to read all the Doigs, Marianne. I did think of two others where I’ve read them all, Sarah Addison Allen, the Garden Spells author, and Tan Twan Eng, who has only put out three so far, but they’ve all been beauts.

I can’t imagine a life without reading mysteries and thrillers, but I know they’re not everyone’s jam. Good for you for allowing for some exceptions.

>223 jnwelch: My passport is long expired. I haven't been out of the country since 1996. My passport was renewed once when Becky went on a school trip to China, but that trip went very smoothly, requiring no parental presence.

>231 jnwelch: Fair enough, Brother Joe. However, I wasn't the person who first mentioned beets on your thread! 😎

Chipped beef in cream sauce sounds hideous. However, being the good "Southerner" that I am, I do love split buttermilk biscuits with either redeye (ham) gravy or white (pork sausage) gravy.

Bianca, like you & Debbi, are one of a select few of LTers who I've met in three different countries, US, UK and the Netherlands for you two, and the UK, Spain and Germany for Bianca; the first time I was in Amsterdam I traveled by train to Cologne (Köln), and had a very memorable day with her there, and we vacationed together for one week in Barcelona followed by another week in Andalucía (Sevilla, Ronda, Granada) immediately after I flew from Amsterdam to Barcelona after spending a week with Claire and her sister in the Netherlands. I was so spoiled by having the entire month of June off for the last few years I worked in Atlanta, although I did earn that time off as a payback from working extra shifts in our busy fall and winter months. I did meet Bianca's son at least once, which had to have been in London. I especially miss going to some fabulous restaurants with her close to her flat in South London, particularly the Duck Egg Café (which Claire also loved), the Sea Cow, both of which are no longer open, and a fantastic Indian restaurant close to the East Dulwich National Rail station, where we often met. South London is so charming and far removed from the hustle of central London that it feels like you're in an entirely different town altogether (and, back in the day, that was the case).

I knew you haven't met Rachael yet, but I wasn't sure about Fliss, as she and I saw a lot of plays together, especially at the National Theatre. She and Rachael both live in Cambridge, and whenever I was in town I would typically travel from King's Cross station to Cambridge, and typically spend several delightful hours in their company in a local pub, often scurrying to catch the last train back to London that arrived after midnight. Lately I've also become friends with Rachael's husband, an NHS physician and researcher who happens to be an outstanding cook. I've had two or three restaurant quality meals in their home, including their children and Fliss. I also wasn't sure if you had met Margaret or not, as she is another of my frequent theatre going friends, along with Rhian and her husband. Sigh...I miss seeing all of them!! 😪

That restaurant of which you speak was in Golders Green on Finchley Road, IIRC. Wait...the Underground station we got off was Golders Green, but we walked close to a mile on Finchley Road to get to the neighborhood where the café was located. The restaurant was Café Also, which was joined to Joseph's Bookstore. That was the first place I met Paul, and it was my introduction to shakshuka, an absolutely divine treat. Café Also was the site of the huge LT meetup with Paul and Hanni as well. Unfortunately Debbi found out that Joseph had sold the café and bookshop, which was converted into a nondescript upscale pub.

The infrastructure in Portugal, at least in Lisbon, Belèm, and Porto, is excellent, and I never drove anywhere. I took a train from Lisbon to Porto, and even though it wasn't as sleek or as high speed as trains in other western European countries it was better than most Amtrak trains. Lisbon and Porto also have excellent metro systems, and the hundred year old trams in Lisbon are utterly charming (you can Google "Tram 28" to see photos of the most beloved line).

Sorry, I was thinking and researching your question before I fell asleep. The only authors that definitely fit your criteria are Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor, the two Georgia powerhouses who sadly died at young ages. I've read all of James Baldwin's novels and searing essays, but there are two or three plays that I haven't read yet. The recently deceased Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o also comes close, as I've read all of his fiction, but I haven't read his memoir about the year he spent in a Kenyan prison or his last two essay collections. There are other authors who also come close, particularly Mario Vargas Llosa, Javier Cercas, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, and Juan Marsé, but — thankfully — there are still at least a couple of their books I haven't gotten to yet. The brilliant British author Sarah Moss also comes close; I do need to get to Signs for Lost Children and her recently published memoir, though.

>227 jnwelch: I'll give you the list...pages and pages...if you'll try pickled beets on toasted bread with egg salad.

>231 jnwelch: Don’t try to bring up my mother’s chipped beef in cream sauce either.

Sounds almost as bad as my mother's "creamed eggs"--it was a Friday night special (no meat Catholics)--perfectly fine poached eggs smothered in a disgusting creamed muck. Didn't come anywhere close to Eggs Benedict.

Creamed chopped beef on toast is a blast from the past! We called it SOS at school - "shit on a shingle." I didn't mind it but I remember it was very, very salty...

(I also like beets. One of my favorite salads is beets with goat cheese and pecans...)

>233 kidzdoc:. Hi, Darryl. You’re right. What was I thinking, mentioning beets?! I’ll add it to the long list of Joe’s Big Mistakes. Wish I could tell you I have a MIM (Mistakes I’ll Make) list, like a tbr, but the mistakes always manage to surprise me.

Chipped beef in cream sauce sounds hideous.. Yes! My point exactly. It’s the only plate of food I’ve ever flushed. I wasn’t being punished, and my mom’s intentions were good, but OMG!

I like that D and I are members of your three country meetups club. Portugal can make it four, if there’s not another one sooner.

Golders Green! That’s the name I was searching for. Cafe Also, Joseph’s bookstore. Good memory, bro. My first shaksuka, too. Delish! How lucky we all were. Gone but not forgotten.

I thought Baldwin might be one of your read (close to) everything authors. What a writer! I need to read more of him. You introduced me to Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Wizard of the Crow. Hats off to you for being a completist with him. A great writer who deserves to be better known.

I need to learn more about your others, other than Llosa, whom i admire and have read a fair amount of. Sarah Moss? Definitely need to learn more about her. Thanks for responding.

>234 richardderus:. Shoot, what a shame I won’t see the list, Richard.😀. Hold the pickled beets and I might have a chance.

How about your top 3, or 5, or whatever, favorite authors?

>235 kac522:. Oh, my poor Kathy! perfectly fine poached eggs smothered in a disgusting cream muck.. Yikes! That would’ve been Flush the Second for me.

Mmm, Eggs Benedict. That would’ve been so much better.

>236 katiekrug:. Hiya, Katie. “Shit on a shingle” - appropriate, eh? I’ve had this niggling feeling of a military connection - you don’t suppose we served this slop to our citizens in uniform? A quick Google check says “yes”:

“Origin: The dish was popularized in the US Armed Forces during World War I and World War II. It was a fast and easy meal for troops, using ingredients like dried beef, white gravy, and toast.
The Nickname: "Shit on a Shingle" is a slang term, where:
"Shit" refers to the creamed meat mixture, possibly because some people found its appearance unappetizing.
"Shingle" refers to the toast that the dish is served on.”

Ha! “Popularized” sure seems like an overstatement. Unappetizing to “some” seems like an understatement.

I've read everything by Abraham Verghese, except his newest one, which I am waiting for to come out in paperback. Don't want to break my nose if the hardcover falls on my face while reading in bed; it's a tome! I have read most titles by a handful of others but not yet *all*. That said, I did just finish Mrs. Porter Calling, the third in the Emmy Lake Chronicles by AJ Pearce, so I guess that counts as complete so far. I hear (I think from you!) that a 4th by her is in the works. She is a fun writer, with both the talent to write about serious and poignant topics as well as laugh out loud moments.

>239 jessibud2:. I have that 4th Emma Lake book, Shelley. It’s called Dear Miss Lake and, 1/3 of the way in, it’s very good, just like the others. I agree with your description.

I have to read Verghese. I know he has tons of fans. Good for you for being a completist. That’s quite a compliment.

>237 jnwelch: Ha! I think we could spend many hours talking about our Big Mistakes. However, as Frank Sinatra famously sung, "I did it my way," for better or worse.

Claire, Fliss and Margaret, at least, are also in the select three country meet up club; I don't think I've met anyone in four countries...yet.

I have the two Library of America collections of Baldwin's work, his Novels and his Essays, and, with the exception of some book reviews I've been both from cover to cover. Baldwin, as you may know, is my all time favorite writer, and at least one of my favorite public intellectuals, who cut through all the bullshit and overt and hidden racism of mid 20th century America to tell it like it is.

Let's see...Mario Vargas Llosa is the recently deceased Peruvian Nobel Prize winning writer; Javier Cercas is a fabulous Spanish writer of historical fiction and autofiction who I could see winning a Nobel Prize in the near future; Juan Gabriel Vásquez is a Colombian writer of historical fiction; and Juan Marsé is another top notch Spanish novelist. I can't believe I left out José Saramago, the brilliant Portuguese Nobel Prize winner, and I've read everything by Jesmyn Ward except her début novel.

Rachael knows my taste in books, and is a great source of reading material. She recommended Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss to me, and I absolutely loved it.

Regarding Café Also it helped that Paul and I had dined there at least twice previously before the two of you, Claire and I first went there. It was probably my favorite London restaurant, and the one I went to the most, despite it being far removed from central London.

ETA: I'm not a completist, but I also love the books I've read by Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer and Siddhartha Mukherjee (actually I have read everything by him).

I've enjoyed getting caught up on your thread, Joe. Had to laugh at your comment about what can get us going that are mundane subjects... reminds me of one time I mentioned getting my car inspected and it made a whole conversation go off because, shocking to me anyway, not every U.S. state requires annual inspections. (Having only ever lived in MA this is a regular part of life haha) Anyway, I have both my passport and a realID and have never had to show either to vote.

Oh, and I like beets, too. There's a really good beet-and-greens phyllo pie that I've made a couple of times and really like.

Finally... the only author that comes to mind that I have read completely is Jane Austen, but that would be her six completed/published novels. Shakespeare is one of my lifetime goal authors, but I have several plays left to go, including most of the history plays.

I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together is an exceptionally well done 482 page graphic memoir. It’s the life of successful gay illustrator Maurice Veelekoop. The illustrations are very high quality, and he keeps the reader quickly turning the pages. Much of the story revolves around his struggles with his queerness and his desire to find a partner he can love. His yearnings for male sex and male love made for an enlightening read. Vellekoop is a beguiling storyteller, honest to a fault about his shortcomings, and the sometimes absurd human frailty in his relationships. With the help of a skilled therapist, he’s able to sort through it all and bring his boat into harbor.

>241 kidzdoc:. Mistakes are learning experiences, Darryl, that’s what i try to remind myself as I seethe and steam. Just stay chill, man, as I say in that kids’ book review up there.

I like your description of your Baldwin collection. Some day I may get a cool- looking collection of Murakami, for gazing at with a smile and re-reads.

What Saramago do you recommend? Blindness? That’s the one I have on hand.

If you haven’t read all three Tan Twan Engs, you seem like a natural reader of them to me. I’m agog (with my mouth wide open) at his talent.

I’ve only read about Paul Farmer - Mountains Beyond Mountains and Strength in What Remains, but I’m a big admirer and donator to Partners in Health, may he rest in peace. And that reminds me that I’m a near completist with Tracy Kidder’s books. He’s an engaging NF writer who first made me aware of Farmer. I wish the Mountains Beyond Mountains touchstone would work. Such a good book.

Mukherjee is great, although so far I’ve only read I’ve only read Song of the Cell. I still can’t read his one about cancer after it got my mom.😢

>242 bell7:. Hiya, Mary. I was just thinking of you. I saw your Pa about 10 days ago, as you probably know, although unfortunately only briefly. We plan on visiting Pittsfield/Richmond again in late October this year, to see Debbi’s awesome Aunt Ruthie. Any chance you’ll be around in the last week of October? Is that cafe still open, or did it go the way of great memories like so many others?

I won’t hold loving beets against you. Some of my best friends love beets, and can’t resist trying to lure me into their beet cult. Beets sure do stir up a lot of opinions though, don’t they.

I love that you’ve read Austen’s Big Six. I wish we could say that of everyone. The one I’d suggest adding to that for sure is Lady Susan. It’s one of her funniest, and the word scathing comes to mind, too. I’ve always suspected that Cassandra burned a bunch of her letters because of JA’s unrestrained scathing opinions shared only with her beloved sister.

Shakespeare: what a monumental task! I can say i know most of his plays now, thanks principally to Chicago Shakespeare theater. And I joined an LT tutored shared read of his sonnets, which helped a lot with understanding those. I’ve often thought his collected works would be a great pick for what you’d want while stranded on a desert island. You could re-read them a thousand times and still get new gleanings and appreciations.

>244 jnwelch: Mistakes are learning experiences, Darryl, that’s what i try to remind myself as I seethe and steam.

Absolutely, Joe. We all have to be open minded about our innumerable mistakes, as that's how we grow and evolve as human beings. I continue to pray for God to grant me an "attitude of gratitude" just before I go downstairs in the morning to care for my mother, and even more so when she wakes me up before sunrise when I'm in a deep sleep. If I react badly to her waking me up she will get upset, which only makes both of our days dramatically worse. If I respond with respect, care, and the love she deserves she will be in a good frame of mind, and we will both have at least decent days together.

I've read much if not all of Murakami's earlier works, but I haven't read anything by him in years.

Blindness is the first novel by Saramago I read, and it induced a strong visceral response in me, in the same way that The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa did.

I've read all but one of Tan Twan Eng's novels, if I recall correctly, and he's certainly one of my favorite authors. I'm also very fond of Tash Aw, and I'm waiting for the copy of his latest novel, The South, to come to my local library; it was chosen for this year's Booker Prize longlist.

I'll have to go back to see which of Paul Farmer's books I've read. I also need to get around to reading Mountains Beyond Mountains. Farmer, Verghese and Mukherjee are on the top of my list of favorite physician writers.

ETA: I have read all three novels by Tan Twan Eng.

I have also read a few by Tracy Kidder including the 2 you mentioned, Joe. I also own at least 3 other titles by him and have recently started Old Friends but nowhere near a completist with him. Although, now that I think of it, I will have to check but I may be a near completist of books by Bill Bryson.

>245 jnwelch: They were sorry to only be able to stay one day, but my mom had read about the need to get acclimated to the elevation for their next leg of the trip and they ended up changing their plans, as she was worried she'd not be able to appreciate the Rocky Mountains if she got elevation sickness.

I should be around that last week of October. With a potential foster placement by the fall, I have no idea what life will be like and am only making tentative plans. But if you have a couple of dates in mind, shoot me a PM and I'll see about taking some time off from work to make it even more likely that I can. It does appear that little cafe is still open, and their website says there's a bookstore across the street that perhaps we should check out!

Agreed re: Shakespeare, and I'll have to make a note of Lady Susan. I appreciate snark and scathing opinions the more middle aged I get haha.

I am a Toni Morrison fiction completist, including her one short story. I'm sure there is some nonfiction she's written that I missed.

Have a great weekend, Joe!

>246 kidzdoc:. I’m trying to get that “attitude of gratitude, too, Darryl. I understand re trying not to upset your mother coming out of sleep. I’m learning new ways to respond to Debbi when I know from experience what’ll trigger her. We all could use a little more peace these days.

If you - oops, gotta go. Back. If you haven’t read 1Q84, I’d resume withst Murakami. A personal favorite is Sputnik Sweetheart, which I hope to re-read soon.

Mountains Beyond Mountains is so good! I’ll look for Tash Aw.

See, you’re a Tan Twan Eng completist! I thought you might be. He must’ve been very careful/deliberate/fastidious/intense in crafting his three books. I suspect we’ll have another long wait for his next one.

>247 jessibud2:. Kidder would be a good one to be a completist for, Shelley. Bryson, too. I was a bit disappointed by his Short History of Everything, although I admired the ambition. I loved his take on the multi-volume Australian encyclopedia: “Ways Australia Can Kill You” in In a Sunburned Country.

>248 bell7:. I’ll cross my fingers and pm you, Mary. Great to hear that the cafe is still open and now there’s a bookstore across the street. Yahoo!

>249 katiekrug:. What a great author to be a completist on, Katie. I’m way behind you, but I’ve got Song of Solomon coming up soon, and my daughter says it must be The Bluest Eye after that.

I hope you have a great weekend, too!

>250 jnwelch: We all could use a little more peace these days.

That is, I think, especially true when you are married or a primary caregiver, especially for a child or spouse of someone with dementia or another disability. In any of these scenarios you can't just walk away from your loved one, and in my case that isn't possible.

My LT library tells me that I have 19 books by Murakami, which I suspect is more than anyone else except for the total number of novels contained in the six Library of America collections of William Faulkner's works that I own, and I've rated 15 of them, including 1Q84, which I gave 4½ stars to. LibraryThing tells me that I haven't read my copy of Sputnik Sweetheart, although I thought that I had, and I definitely don't own or haven't read Killing Commendatore. So, I'm sure I've read more of Murakami's work than anyone else.

I have yet to read Fevers, Feuds and Diamonds and Haiti After the Earthquake by Paul Farmer, and I do own a copy of Mountains Beyond Mountains.

I would also apply what you said about Tan Twan Eng to the brilliant Canadian author Rohinton Mistry. I believe he's only written three novels, of which I've read two, both of which were superb.

Another favorite of mine who doesn't get enough attention is Tahmima Anam. Her Bangladeshi Trilogy is absolutely superb.

Now that I've moved back into my parents' cozy but not spacious suburban house my book purchases have sharply declined. I bought four books from a nearby indie bookshop when Claire and I met up in May, and a copy of The New Retirement last month after reading the copy I borrowed from my local library, but I think that's been it so far, not counting a small number of e-books. Fortunately I have access to two excellent library systems, which have practically everything I've wanted to read in the past 3 years.

>252 kidzdoc:. I bet you could use a little more peace, buddy. That’s a tough one you’ve taken on.

I’m glad 1Q84 rated highly with you. Quite the memorable one. That’s a lot of Murakamis you have! I think I have the complete set.

Rohinton Mistry wrote the saddest book I’ve ever read, A Fine Balance. Superbly written indeed. Unfortunately, that one is enough for me.

Tamima Anam. Ok, I’ll follow up. She’s new to me.

A good library is a gift from the book gods. And a big money saver. Ours has started to report how much money we’ve cumulatively saved by checking out instead of buying. Fun- i’ve saved a fortune on those pricey graphic novels I can’t resist.

Sunday I’ll be gone at an all day, 10 hour Zen thing, no phones.

So it’ll be radio silence from me. Enjoy your Sunday!

Back in the fold. Nearing the end of the very good Dear Miss Lake, set in England during WWII.

>255 jnwelch: - Ooo, I can't wait! Is it in stores already, Joe?

>256 jessibud2:. Hi, Shelley. Yes!

>255 jnwelch: You're her platonic ideal of a reader, Joe! Emmy has a future when she can lurve in committed readers. I hope it's Netflix not Prime that does the miniseries.

Good week ahead!

Today’s Bargain: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach for $1.99 on e-readers. Want to learn about life in space while having a good laugh? This one’s for you. What a one-of-a-kind NF writer she is.

>258 richardderus:. Thanks, buddy. I remember you’re also a fan of these A. J. Pearce books. We can be platonic ideal readers together, although you may have to show me the ropes. Have you read this last one yet? There was almost too much happy-happy at the start (I was thinking, can the whole book possibly be like this?) but then reality returned, and it was as good as its predecessors.

P.S. Why Netflix not Prime for the adaptation?

>260 jnwelch: ...you haven't seen their War of the Worlds yet...*shudder*

I have not kept up with the series. I read Yours Cheerfully and then forgot about them. Really don't know why, it wasn't a bad read, but never knew about the others until I was no longer drawn to them. I think it's an ideal binge-series, like Miss Buncle.

>261 richardderus:. 😂. I’ll take your comment as a fervent suggestion that I not see their War of the Worlds. Done.

Miss Buncle is a nice comparison. Yeah, you were enthusiastic at the start.

Good review of I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together. I am sure you will feel the same way if not even more enthusiastic about the latest Takei.

>184 jnwelch: Huckleberry Finn wasn't banned. It just wasn't taught which might have been because it was so foreign to our experience. We probably read something like Two Solitudes instead as it was more relevant to our experience. I went to high school in Quebec.

Interesting comments about series fatigue. I am on book three of the Mapp & Lucia series and I am really getting tired of them. I generally like comedy of manners books, but Miss Mapp is really an ugly person and as such very tiring. I probably will finish the series (there are 6 books) but at this point it is really getting to be a drag to pick them up and read them.

One series that I have not tired of - yet, is the Su Lin mysteries series (so far 8 books with a new on due in September) by the Singaporean author Ovidia Yu. I have read all of them and find each of them to be relaxing books to read. I think it is because the author starts the series in 1936 and the latest one is in 1947. The world has brought lots of different events to Singapore and Su Lin and company have had to make many adjustments in that time. Su Lin is ten years older, as is everyone else in the book, and that has caused the author to make adjustments in the way Su Lin sees the world, and in how she reacts. Another thing this author is very good at doing, is presently the city and state of Singapore. The history of the place is fascinating, and the author works many historical events into the books. They are rarely first and foremost in the stories, but they have an impact on the way the characters life and work, so the reader gets a feel for the real-life impact without beating them over the head with ponderous descriptions of the political, or otherwise, events. One other thing, is that the author brings in the multiethnicity of Singapore. Immigration from many different places took place over the space of 100 years, and that was something I did not realize until reading this series and Singapore Grip. Ethnicity is very important in the city state and I find it fascinating to read about all the different people, religious practices, cultural differences, and how the characters deal with this diversity. As Richard says so often, it isn't great literature, but it is fun and relaxing reading.

>263 msf59:. Thanks, Mark. Jeez, I don’t hear “Good review” much anymore. My newish, briefer style doesn’t seem condusive to it. This Time Together is a good GN, isn’t it.

I’m enjoying the George Takei GN. I forgot that he spent most of his life closeted, poor guy. Makes sense that he’d be super cautious after his internment as a kid. I’m glad the environment has changed, although of course an unfortunately large amount of bigots remain, most of them, I’d guess, Trump supporters.

>264 Familyhistorian:. Right, Meg. That’s what I was getting at with my “there are an awful lot of boos to choose from” comment. Teachers can only cover a finite number of books to teach, and choices have to be made. I just hope that enough attention is brought to the importance of reading Mark Twain.

I think Percival Everett, with James, is causing a lot of people to read, or re-read, Huckleberry Finn.

>265 benitastrnad:. I find it fascinating to read about all the different people, religious practices, cultural differences, and how the characters deal with this diversity.. That’s a good recommendation for the Singapore-located series right there, Benita.

Like you, I enjoy series and armchair traveling. My series usually are mysteries and thrillers, like Reacher, in Death, and Molly the Maid.

>265 benitastrnad: I need to borrow someone's hands so that I can give four thumbs to J.G. Farrell's Empire Trilogy: The Siege of Krishnapur, The Singapore Grip, and especially Troubles.

>269 kidzdoc:
I still have Troubles to read, but have read the first two. I am not sure how I feel about them. I didn't care for Siege of Krishnapur, but liked Singapore Grip much better. It will be interesting to see where he goes with the third book.

>270 benitastrnad: From reading the reviews on LibraryThing it seems that there is a divide between 3 star reviews and 4½ to 5 star reviews of The Siege of Krishnapur. I gave it 5 stars, and my review of it in 2010 may be the longest one I've ever written here. My review does note one criticism of the book, but it was so brilliantly written that it didn't affect my rating of it.

Troubles is my favorite novel in the Empire Trilogy, followed by The Siege of Krishnapur and The Singapore Grip, which only earned 4½ stars from me.

>269 kidzdoc:, >270 benitastrnad:, >271 kidzdoc:

👍😀

Has anyone here read the author Jason Mott?. I’ve started his new one, People Like Us, and it’s promising so far.

>273 jnwelch: Good morning, Joe. I loved his book, The Returned, a 5 star read for me! I just got his new book as a signed first edition from Parnassus Books in Nashville. I'm looking forward to reading it!

>274 Dianekeenoy:. Thanks, Diane. He’s so new to me that I only knew about his NBA winner, Hell of a Book. Now I’ll add the 5 star The Returned.

>267 jnwelch: Strongly hoping that people who read James will be incentivized to go back and read or re-read Huckleberry Finn.

A lot of people seem to think that James is the whole story and they don't need to return to Huck.

Which I think is a mistake.

>276 magicians_nephew:. Totally agree, Jim. Part of the magic of James is knowing Huck Finn and enjoying the two complementary visions together. Plus Huck Finn is just a pretty darn amazing book, isn’t it.

Today’s Bargain: The Stories of Ray Bradbury for $1.99 on e-readers. You can’t go wrong with Bradbury short stories, and there are a slew of them here. “With over 3,000 five star Goodreads ratings.” I bought a copy just to have it on my Kindle for future use.

I Always get a kick out of this tongue-in-cheek (or is it?) song from rock star Joe Walsh:

Life’s Been Good

I have a mansion, forget the price
Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice
I live in hotels, stare at the walls
I have accountants pay for it all

They say I'm crazy, but I have a good time
I'm just looking for clues at the scene of the crime
Life's been good to me so far

My Maserati does 1-85
I lost my license, now I don't drive
I have a limo, ride in the back
I lock the doors in case I'm attacked

I make hit records, my fans they can't wait
They write me letters, tell me I'm great
So I got me an office, "Gold" records on the wall
Just leave a message, maybe I'll call

Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through
Everybody say, "I'm cool." (He's cool)
I can't complain, but sometimes I still do
Life's been good to me so far

I go to parties, sometimes until four
It's hard to leave when you can't find the door
It's tough to handle this fortune and fame
Everybody's so different, I haven't changed

They say I'm lazy but it takes all my time
Everybody say, "Oh, yeah." (Oh, yeah)
I keep on goin', guess I'll never know why
Life's been good to me so far
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Uh oh, here comes a flock of wah-wahs
(Wah-wah, wah-wah...)

Today’s Bargain: Shakespeare by Bill Bryson for $1.99 on e-readers. The funny BB writing about Shakespeare was all I needed, and it was pretty good.

I’m about halfway through People Like Us by Jason Mott, and liking it very much.it features the very different experiences of two black authors, one an NBA (“the Big One”) winner like Mott.

Thanks to you People Like Us is now on my radar screen (BTW your link goes to the identically named novel by Dominick Dunne). I look forward to your final thoughts about it.

Today’s Bargain: A River Runs Through It by Norman MacLean for $1.99 on e-readers. One of the best books ever. Tales from rural Montana. Beautifully written. If you haven’t read it, please do.

>282 kidzdoc:. Oh good, Darryl. Thanks for letting me know about the touchstone. No matter how hard I try to remember to doublecheck them, I still slip up. I’ll fix it. I’m going to get back to reading People Like Us at a cafe right now.

P.S. He won the NBA for Hell of a Book, which I also intend to read.

>284 jnwelch: I'm completely unfamiliar with Jason Mott, but thanks to you he's now on my radar screen.

>285 kidzdoc:. I think both of us are going to be glad we know him now, Darryl.😀

Joe - Check out Linda (Whisper) Threads from 116 on through Montanas...
we may have another Ivan Doig fan!

>287 m.belljackson:. I’ll take a look, Marianne, thanks.

BTW, as a Doig fan, you’d probably enjoy A River Runs Through It, if you haven’t read it yet.

The new cafe is open. See you there!

>288 jnwelch: J = Loved the River; loathed the fishing...

>290 m.belljackson:. 👍