Laura (lauralkeet)'s 2025 Reading Nook - Part 6

It’s wedding month!

Welcome to my cozy reading nook! I'm Laura, retired and living with my husband Chris in an 18th century farmhouse in northern Virginia with our two dogs, Alys and Ellie. Our two adult daughters both live in Brooklyn. We spend a lot of our time gardening and working on various projects around the house. Knitting is my other hobby, which I post about here occasionally. If you’re so inclined you can see more on my thread in the Needlearts group.

2025 is my seventeenth year in the 75 Book Challenge Group! It’s been years since I achieved the 75 book “goal,” although I came really close in 2024. But my totals don’t really matter. LT is my favorite place on the internet–I love the bookish conversations, recommendations, and of course the many wonderful people I’ve met here over the years. I read mostly contemporary fiction, but also enjoy classics and narrative non-fiction.

Books Featured on This Thread
(Go here to see all books read this year)
42. The Frozen People
43. A Passage to India
44. A Double Affair
45. Where the Dead Lie
46. Mourn Not Your Dead
47. In My Garden
48. Of Time and Turtles
49. The Correspondent
50. Evelina
51. Everything is Tuberculosis

Series Progress

Active series as of August 1 (updated quarterly):


A snapshot of my active series sorted on the "progress" column.

Series completed/current in 2025:
* Jackson Brodie
* Sean Duffy
* Shetland

Series started in 2025:
* Shetland

Series abandoned in 2025:
* tbd

Currently Reading & On Deck



Everything is Tuberculosis | The Sheltering Sky

Welcome to August!

ICYMI, on my last thread I posted a review of Wild Fire, the final book in the Shetland series. I really enjoyed it even though the Jimmy Perez in the novel is not at all like Doug Henshall's Perez in the dramatization. Once I realized that I could step back and enjoy the books for what they are.

I'm currently enjoying the new Elly Griffiths, The Frozen People. It's more "cozy" and humorous than the Ruth Galloway series. I'm interested to see what she does with this.

Kate arrived last night for a weekend visit. We don't have big plans, but will probably hit her favorite local thrift shops later today.

Over to you!

Happy new thread, Laura!

Happy new one, Laura! Love the wedding invitation :)

>1 lauralkeet: So classy!

Happy new thread, Laura!

Yay for wedding month and daughter visit.

Happiness is good, not?

When is the wedding, Laura?

Enjoy your weekend with Kate.

You are convincing me to read the Ann Cleeves Shetland books. I thought I had read the first two or three, but according to LT, I've only read the first one. I had decided, since I enjoyed the series so much, to forego the books, but I am rethinking that.

I'm too far behind on your thread to backtrack, and I've probably missed all sorts of interesting things. Ah well. Hello anyway.

>5 drneutron: Hi Jim! Congrats on being my first visitor.

>6 katiekrug:, >7 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Katie and Linda!

>8 karenmarie: Thanks Karen! Kate was supposed to visit several weeks ago but something (I forget what) came up and we had to postpone. So I'm glad this weekend worked out.

>9 weird_O: It sure is Bill!

>10 BLBera: Hi Beth! The wedding is August 23. Three weeks from tomorrow -- yikes! I hope you enjoy the Shetland books.

>11 ffortsa: Hi Judy! No need to catch up; it's always nice to see you.

Beautiful wedding invitation! So exciting that it's getting close.

Wedding month! That's so exciting.

Happy new thread, Laura.

>1 lauralkeet: Thanks for sharing with us the upcoming joy of the wedding. Wishing the happy couple a wonderful life together in advance.

Happy new thread, Laura!

It sounds like you have a busy month ahead!

Wow! That is coming up fast. Enjoy.

Happy new thread, Laura. I hope you have a grand time hanging out with Kate this weekend and that the final prep for Julia's wedding isn't too stressful.

>13 RebaRelishesReading:, >14 AMQS:, >15 PaulCranswick:, >16 quondame:, >17 BLBera:, >18 MickyFine:
Good morning y'all! We're pretty excited about the wedding too, as you might imagine. I'm hoping the last few weeks aren't tooo stressful but I'm sure there will be drama in there somewhere lol.

Happy new thread, Laura! Good luck with the wedding. I hope all the preparations go well and you avoid any snafus.

Happy new thread, Laura. Adding my good luck wishes to everyone else's about Julia's impending wedding and its preparations.

Happy Saturday, Laura. Happy New Thread. Hooray for the upcoming wedding. It missed Jackson's birthday by a day. Must be getting very excited.

>20 atozgrl:, >21 alcottacre:, >22 msf59: Hi Irene, Stasia, and Mark. I appreciate your good wishes about Julia's wedding. We're looking forward to it!

Meanwhile we've had a nice long weekend with Kate and she returns to Brooklyn today. The weather has cooled off significantly, which is most welcome. I have some garden catch up to do, mundane tasks I've been putting off due to heat. The weather will make boring tasks better.

Happy new thread!

I missed the last one so hopefully I remember to visit are frequently.

Sounds like you have a busy and exciting month!

>24 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita, thanks for stopping by!

Happy new thread! Hope everything goes smoothly in the run-up to the wedding!

Have a marvelous Monday, Laura!

>26 Sakerfalcon: Hi Claire, and thank you!

>27 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia. It was a pretty good day.

Yesterday I tackled some much-needed cleanup in our kitchen garden, weeding a few beds and dealing with general messiness. I also picked a bunch of San Marzano tomatoes that I used for dinner, in an entree salad with chickpeas and halloumi.

There's more cleanup to be done which I hope to get to today. I also need to catch up with a Guild member to talk about our annual membership renewal process which is coming to a close. We need to reconcile data in two different sources, and for some reason one of the parties involved has been dragging their feet. Sigh.

I think I'll need some reading time after dealing with that issue. The good news is, I just started Forster's A Passage to India last night. Chris just enjoyed it, which piqued my interest. We've seen the film so I have some familiarity with the plot but am looking forward to getting deeper into it.

This was a fun read!

42. The Frozen People

>28 lauralkeet: Sounds like you have a busy day ahead.

I'm pretty sure I read A Passage to India a thousand years ago (before LT) and enjoyed it. Hope you do too.

>30 RebaRelishesReading: The movie was released in 1984, Reba. Knowing you, there's a distinct possibility you wanted to read the book first. We missed the movie in theaters and I could have sworn I'd read the book. But when we watched the movie a couple years ago I realized I hadn't read it. I'm enjoying it so far. Forster doesn't hold back in criticizing the British in India, that's for sure.

I read A Passage to India in college and liked it a lot. I've been meaning to do a re-read...

Glad you had a nice visit with Kate! I was almost within spitting distance of you (not really, but closer than I usually am), as we were in Manassas Saturday night.

>31 lauralkeet: Actually I think I read the book before they made the movie :>

>29 lauralkeet: I am still trying to get through a different one of Griffiths' series before I tackle a new one, but I am sure I will get to that one. . .eventually!

I love the wedding invitation, Laura. Happy New Thread!

>32 katiekrug: Yeah you'd need olympic level spitting skills to reach me from Manassas, Katie. Thank goodness lol.

>33 RebaRelishesReading: Ahhh well, of course you did. Ha. I totally missed the movie, although The Jewel in the Crown TV series aired on Masterpiece at about the same time, and we were obsessed with that.

>34 alcottacre: I'm sure you will, Stasia!

>35 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah!

>29 lauralkeet: Time-travel. Of all the science fiction tropes, that is my least favorite, I think. Too bad, but I'll probably skip this series. Thanks for the review.

>37 ffortsa: My pleasure, Judy. I'm not into science fiction, so I haven't read many books about time travel. The Frozen People is much more mystery than sci-fi, and leans toward the cozy. But I completely understand avoiding something that isn't your jam. I do it all the time.

>28 lauralkeet: You are in for a treat, Laura. It is definitely my favourite book of Forster (and he had some good ones).

Have a lovely weekend.

>39 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Forster is one of those authors whose work I've enjoyed but turns out it's mostly through its adaptation for the screen. I've seen A Room with a View, Howards End, A Passage to India, and Maurice, but up to now had only read A Room with a View.

43. A Passage to India

I read Forster's one and only science fiction story earlier this year - The Machine Stops. I recommend it! Eerily prescient.

>42 norabelle414: Hmmm, that's interesting Nora, I didn't know he ever wrote science fiction. It's not really my jam but you never know ...

>43 lauralkeet: Being so old (1909) it's not really like modern science fiction, it's just a story set in the "future". I think you'd like it.

>44 norabelle414: Okay, thanks!!

Hi Laura my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

>44 norabelle414: Nora, I was pleasantly surprised to see our county library has 2 copies of The Machine Stops. Surprised because they are a little weak on classics and long-ago authors. Now it's on my wish list.

>46 johnsimpson: *waves* Hi John!

With the wedding approaching, light reads are in order. Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels to the rescue. A Double Affair is book #26 or 29, and as it happens opens with the wedding of a much-loved character. There's another romantic storyline developing, so this is pretty much perfect for the time and my mood. Thirkell can be a bit classist and bigoted, especially in her later works, so I do have to squint my way past it sometimes.

44. A Double Affair

With the wedding coming up and travel Thursday-Sunday, my reading time will be limited as will my attention span. I checked out two mysteries from the library, in Kindle editions for easy packing. These are both from series I'm well into: Where the Dead Lie is #12 in the Sebastian St Cyr series; Mourn Not Your Dead is #4 in Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James.

I started the St Cyr last night. The first part of this week is light on scheduled things: a Tuesday manicure, and dropping off the dogs for boarding on Wednesday afternoon. Naturally there are admin tasks to be done, and the garden is showing signs of slowing down so I'm burning off nervous energy by cutting back plants and cleaning up where I can.

I'm so excited for your family and the upcoming wedding. By all means, read those light books now as you must have a plethora of last-minute wedding details on your agenda. I hope the weather cooperates and that everything goes smoothly.

Have a great, fun, wedding, Laura.

I may not be around much this week so let me just wish you and your family a wonderful, beautiful, memorable wedding celebration!!

Let me add my good wishes for the wedding celebrations - I was Mother-of-the-Bride nine years ago and it was hectic but very enjoyable!

>51 Donna828:, >52 BLBera:, >53 RebaRelishesReading:, >54 CDVicarage: Thank you Donna, Beth, Reba and Kerry! Exciting times for sure.

Happy wedding week, Laura!

How far is the drive to the venue?

I'll be out all day tomorrow and I expect you'll be super busy Wednesday before leaving, so I'll send you and your family best wishes now, and many congratulations to Julia and Noah.

Can't wait to see some photos :D

Adding all my well wishes for the wedding!

>56 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, it's about a 6-hour drive. Head northeast from here to Scranton, wave to Linda/@laytonwman3rd, continue north to Binghamton, and then head northeast for a bit more. Weirdly we are also 6-ish hours from Kate and Julia in Brooklyn, from Noah's parents in CT, and Tyler's parents in western NY state.

>57 MickyFine: Thank you, Micky!

Echoing all the good wishes for an easy trip and a wonderful few days! Hope the weather cooperates and all goes smoothly. Mazal tov to Julia and Noah!

Best wishes for the wedding Laura! I am sure it will be a wonderful day!

I hope everything goes smoothly for the wedding and it is a joyful celebration!

>59 vivians:, >60 vancouverdeb:, >61 Sakerfalcon: Thank you for the good wishes Vivian, Deborah and Claire. I can't believe the big day is almost here.

>58 lauralkeet: Sounds like you're the hub in the wheel :)

Best wishes to all of you for a beautiful, wonderful wedding.

>63 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you Reba!!

Drive carefully y'all. May the event be serene.

>65 weird_O: Thanks Bill. I'm going for serene and fun

I'm spending today puttering around. I went to the car wash and forked out a bit extra for them to clean the interior. I hadn't gotten around to doing it myself and didn't want to use up the extra time it would take for me to do the job. I also did a little bit of house cleaning because I'd much rather return home to a clean house than a messy one. This afternoon I'll pack most of my stuff and we'll drop the dogs off at the boarding kennel around 5pm. Hoping to head out fairly early tomorrow.

Also, today is our anniversary! We always acknowledge the occasion but don't do anything fancy, even more so this year when our minds are on the events this weekend. But we'll enjoy dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants and raise a glass to the past 42 years (yikes where has the time gone).

I may very well finish Where the Dead Lie today/tonight, in any case I'm pretty close. I'm glad I checked out another book at the same time. Obviously I won't have time to curl up in a chair and read but there are always those moments of downtime, and it makes me twitchy to think about not having a book close at hand. I know you all will understand that!

Happy anniversary!! Hope you had a lovely celebration (our 37th is the coming Sunday..where has it all gone indeed!!) and that your travels are smooth and pleasant. Can't wait to see the wedding photos.

Belated happy anniversary wishes. I hope your travel day went smoothly!

Tomorrow, right? I'll be thinking about you all. Hope the weather is perfect and that everything goes wonderfully!!

Happy anniversary! Almost happy wedding day! I hope everything goes smoothly

>66 lauralkeet: it makes me twitchy to think about not having a book close at hand
Oh yes! My rule is that I pack one book per day whether I'm going out of town or to the grocery store.

Best wishes for the happy couple and the rest of the wedding party!

I really appreciate all of your greetings both for our anniversary and the wedding. The wedding was absolutely magical. I'm still basking in the glow and plan to write more about it, but I need a recovery day.

I did manage to finish Where the Dead Lie, which was an enjoyable solid read, but I'm not planning to write a review. I started Mourn Not Your Dead on Thursday but to no one's surprise, read very little until last night at bedtime.

Back soon!

>72 lauralkeet: Glad the wedding went so well! Can't wait to see a photo or two but please do take time to recover :)

I'm back!

The wedding weekend was really fun and really emotional, in the best way. The overall schedule:
* Thursday: Arrival, Meet up with family including my brother Chuck and SIL Kristen, who we haven't seen in some time.
* Friday: Rehearsal & Welcome Dinner
* Saturday: Ceremony & Reception

The photos I took were mostly of the venue and other guests, thinking I'd wait for the professional photos. It turns out it will take some time before we have them. There was also a way for guests to upload and share their photos, and of course I took a few of my own. But I'm currently lacking photos of family, wedding party, etc. and will have to post those when they're available.



This is the barn where the reception was held; there was lodging for the wedding party in an adjacent farmhouse. The part of the building behind the tractor has big sliding doors that open up to the dance floor. The tables are to the right (the part with windows).



From the barn and farmhouse you can take in the view of the pond. The ceremony began with a procession that stepped off from the farmhouse, went around behind the pond, and then up to the ceremony arch you can see on the left.


The bride's bouquet


Casper, Simon, and Addy, who tossed lavender down the aisle

The ceremony was simple but moving. Emma, the officiant, made some opening remarks and then invited Noah's dad Randy to read the Seven Blessings. He read each blessing in Hebrew, and Emma then read it in English. I'm not sure where Julia and Noah found the text; there are many versions from religious to secular, and theirs was the latter. For example, "May you be blessed with love. May your admiration, appreciation, and understanding of each other foster a love that is passionate, tranquil, and real. May this love between you be strong and enduring, and bring peace into your lives." After the Seven Blessings, Noah and Julia each read their vows which were beautiful and heartfelt. My heart was full. They both sipped wine from the Kiddush Cup (a ceramic wine glass), exchanged rings, and were pronounced married. Then Noah performed the ritual stomping on the glass with a different, easily breakable glass bought specifically for this purpose. I loved all of these traditions.

After the ceremony we high-tailed it over to the Farmhouse for more photos, while the guests enjoyed cocktail hour outdoors. We joined them once the photos were finished and at 7pm it was time for the reception. Guests were ushered into the barn, but we were held back. I didn't realize the parents and the couple were to make a "grand entrance", but that's what happened.



The barn doors were opened, and the DJ announced the four parents. After we crossed the dance floor, he announced Julia and Noah who entered to wild applause. We began with the parent dance (Chris & Julia, Noah and his mom Andrea), and then the first dance for the newlyweds.



During all of this the guests were seated at tables enjoying their salads. After the first dances the DJ opened the floor for 3 or so very danceable songs and then we returned to our tables for the meal, which was very nice.



After the main course there was time for parent speeches. Chris spoke on behalf of both of us and did an amazing job, with some funny anecdotes as well as some very sweet expressions of love and thankfulness. It was absolutely perfect. The rest of the night passed in a blur of dancing, mingling, and so on. The reception ended at 11pm, with an "after party" for the younger set until 1am. Needless to say we left at 11. And yet, we were still energized and not ready to sleep so once back in our room we did the Sunday Wordle and crossword lol.

Sunday morning came all too soon but we took our time packing up, had excellent pancakes at a farm that serves breakfast on weekends, and then went to Seven Ponds where we helped the "kids" clean up after themselves and check out. We were on the way home around 10:30.

Things are pretty much back to normal chez nous, which is to say quiet and uneventful. But what a wonderful, memorable weekend!

That is all so beautiful that I had trouble reading it because I was totally tearing up!!!

It all looks, and sounds, wonderful, Laura.

Oh, it sounds perfect, Laura, and the venue is lovely!

So lovely! I’m glad everything went well and congrats to everyone!

Congratulations to you and the happy couple on the wedding. It sounds--and looks--like it was beautiful. I'm glad it all went so well, and it looks like the weather was spectacular. Such a pretty setting!

OMG! I love that venue! I am so glad everything went beautifully, Laura. You both must have been so happy and proud. Looking forward to seeing more photos of the happy couple and happy parents.

Beautiful wedding, Laura; thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing your daughter's wedding, Laura. It sounds beautiful.

Everything in the wedding photos looks absolutely lovely!

>75 RebaRelishesReading:, >76 CDVicarage:, >77 katiekrug:, >78 japaul22:, >79 atozgrl:, >80 msf59:, >81 norabelle414:, >82 BLBera:, >83 quondame:
Wow, thank you all so much for your good wishes. It was an incredible weekend and it was nice to see Julia and Noah so happy, too.

What a beautiful wedding, Laura! Lovely pictures. The bride and groom look great , as does everyone else and the venue too.

Looks like a beautiful place for a wedding. And a beautiful bouquet. We attended one last fall which was also in a barn - very similar setting.

>85 vancouverdeb:, >86 dudes22: Thanks Deborah and Betty!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's taken me a lot longer than I thought to feel caught up on life and LT, and I'm not quite there yet with LT. There were a number of household admin items (car service, doctor's appointments, yadda yadda) as well as some Guild work that I intentionally put off until after the wedding and those chickens sure came home to roost!



Mourn Not Your Dead | Of Time and Turtles

My reading has been slow this week. I'm still reading the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery, and looking forward to some non-fiction about turtle rescue that's been on my library wish list for a while. I realize that's a bit niche, but I'm pretty sure I heard about it here on LT!

Last night we watched the Thursday Murder Club movie on Netflix. It was fun, and a decent adaptation of the book. Fans of the books will definitely enjoy the movie. Although there are some differences between book and film (which you can find online if interested), I don't think they detracted from the story.

>87 lauralkeet: AH!! I just heard about (and commented on my thread about) the Thursday Murder Club movie but I thought it was going to be in theaters. I may have to join Netflix again for a while.

And I thought it was going to be a series. I thought of it last night but too late to start. Sometime this weekend.

Welcome back to real life, Laura! The festivities sound wonderful - I'm so glad everything went well. Hard to believe summer's coming to an end. We're spending the weekend in New Hope with our daughter and the Thursday Murder Club movie will be an evening entertainment!

>88 RebaRelishesReading:, >89 dudes22:, >90 vivians: Hi there Reba, Betty & Vivian! I hope you enjoy TMC. Happy to have pointed y'all in the right direction, viewing-wise.

Vivian, we went to New Hope a number of times when we lived in PA. It's such a cute town. Enjoy!

Laura, what a lovely wedding. Thank you for sharing the pictures. I absolutely love the venue and am glad the weather cooperated.

>74 lauralkeet: What wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing. The barn venue looks beautiful as well.

Enjoy the long weekend and rest up :)

Thank you Donna and Anita! I feel pretty rested this morning, and hopefully I'm fully back to normal.

I finished a book last night. It was a decent diversion but just okay as mysteries go.

>94 lauralkeet: - I remember finding that one kind of boring, too, Laura.

Hope you have a good weekend!

Next Up:


Of Time and Turtles | Evelina

The turtle book will be first, and then I'll read the first book in my unofficial project to read Jane Austen's influences as described in Jane Austen's Bookshelf.

And it's time to hunker down and finish these Christopher Lloyd essays, In My Garden. These are organized by month and I'm up to October. The sudden onset of fall weather is motivating me to read the remaining few months.

We posted at exactly the same time :)

>95 katiekrug: Hi Katie! That's good to know and makes me feel better. I know how much you love this series and I was feeling guilty for not loving this one.

>97 katiekrug: and did it again! ha!

And again!

No guilt. It's a long series and they can't all be winners :)

>96 lauralkeet: @Lyzard did tutored reads of this and many other of the books mentioned in Northanger Abbey if you are interested. A search through talk in the Virago or 75ers groups should find them. I miss her - Liz.

>99 katiekrug: True that, Katie.

>100 CDVicarage: Thank you, Kerry. I miss Liz, too. I read Burney's Cecilia some time ago, and I bet it was in one of those tutored reads because I probably wouldn't have been courageous enough on my own. I'll definitely try to track those down each time I pick up one of these Austen-inspired authors.

Glad you're feeling rested and "your own self" again and thanks for the info re TMC. That was fun.

>102 RebaRelishesReading: I'm glad you enjoyed it, Reba. You know there's a new TMC novel coming out at the end of September, right? It's called The Impossible Fortune.

Just catching up here, Laura. I'm glad to hear the wedding went so well and you had such a lovely time. The venue looks beautiful!

Hope you're having a restful long weekend full of good reading.

>104 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! It's been a nice weekend so far and with any luck that will continue through tomorrow.

Hi Laura. Julia and Noah's wedding sounds and looks lovely. Thanks for sharing photos. I can imagine life feels a bit more relaxed now that it's done. I wish for them all the happiness that life can offer.

Of Time and Turtles sounds both excellent and terribly, terribly sad.

>96 lauralkeet: Of Time and Turtles is on my nightstand, and I've been dipping into it for most of the summer...it's hard for me to read large chunks of it at one time.

>106 EBT1002: I'm glad you enjoyed the wedding pics, Ellen.

>106 EBT1002:, >107 laytonwoman3rd: I have a bit of a fascination with wildlife rescue & rehab. I volunteered at a bird rescue for a few years (more than 15 years ago now), and have been impressed with the commitment of those involved in rescue/rehab where we're living now. But so much of their work is due to human inflicted harm (whether intentional or accidental) -- like cars. And we've disrupted so many natural habitats, making it more challenging for animals to lead normal lives.

Linda, I'm reading a library copy so I can't afford to read just a bit at a time, but your experience might explain why the previous patron held on to the book for a few weeks after its due date, despite my hold request.

>103 lauralkeet: I decided to stop the novels after the first four -- they were fun but I felt like I'd had enough! I loved the movie though and may watch all of them if they do the whole series.

>109 RebaRelishesReading: fair enough, Reba!

~~~~
Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday! I'm sure I'll have my days mixed up all week, but the nice thing about being retired is that it doesn't really matter what day it is.

The weather was gorgeous all weekend, and yesterday we wrapped up the holiday by spending the afternoon at a brewery with live music performed by a singer-songwriter duo. We know half of the duo and hadn't heard her sing before, so that was fun, and we brought Ellie because we think she would benefit from more exposure to public places. The brewery has a large outdoor space with a great view so even though it was really busy it didn't feel crowded.

My normal uneventful life resumes today. I'm meeting a Guild member for lunch and to work on a small admin task together. My to do list also includes a bit of household admin and my usual weekly cleaning, both of which may be superseded by reading or crafting. Ha.

I'm glad it's not just me. I'm totally confused by what day it is at the moment.

Same here, I changed my work schedule last week and this week is a holiday week so I have no idea what day of the week it is

I'm also confused about what day it is as not only is it a short week, I'm also alternating in office and WFH days (usually I do my in office days in a chunk).

>74 lauralkeet: I am a bit late but I had to chime in and say thank you for sharing the joy of the occasion with all of us. Simply lovely.

>74 lauralkeet: I am so glad to hear that everything went well for the wedding! It all looks so lovely - and I am also one who appreciates the traditions.

>111 RebaRelishesReading:, >112 norabelle414:, >113 MickyFine: I'm still confused! For no reason whatsoever I keep thinking today is Friday.

>114 PaulCranswick:, >115 alcottacre: thank you Paul and Stasia.

One of the loveliest weddings I've seen in a while, Laura! Such a happy day.

>117 tiffin: that's very sweet, Tui. We're still on cloud 9, to be honest. I keep scrolling through the photos to re-live the day. We received some highlights from the photographer this week and they're great too -- I can't wait to see the full set.

Hello everyone, happy Friday for those who celebrate :)

Yesterday I finished Christopher Lloyd's In My Garden, a collection of his columns in Country Life magazine, organized by month. I started reading it back in January, thinking I might spread it out over the year. So I dipped into it now and then, but once I reached September I decided to just press on and finish it. I enjoyed it, but I don't feel like it warrants a review.

Also yesterday we visited our local nursery/garden center, which has started putting certain plants on sale. Like hostas, buy 1 get 2 free. Yes please! And somehow other plants -- not on sale -- found their way onto our cart. I have a shady spot under a crepe myrtle tree that was overrun with invasives which I removed to replace with other plants like boxwood and ferns for foliage and a few flowering plants.

We've had a spell of cool, almost autumnal weather lately which has been delightful. Today it's going to be hot again but it looks like weekend rain will cool things off. It's been very dry and the rain is much needed.

I should finish Of Time and Turtles in the next day or two.

I celebrate Fridays! Well maybe not so much now that I’m retired, lol.
The wedding looked wonderful, thanks for sharing pictures.
Have you seen Ghosts? The British comedy, I’m quite enjoying. We just had a visit from my mom’s cousin and his husband from Liverpool so I’m still in England-mode.

>120 raidergirl3: I know what you mean about Fridays, Elizabeth. But in our house it's also a no-cook day so I know I have either take-out or restaurant meal to look forward to.

I haven't seen Ghosts, and I'm not sure I will. I looked it up in Justwatch and it showed two different programs, neither of which are available on my streaming services. Boo.

>121 lauralkeet: we do the same on Friday nights, but tonight is our anniversary (33 y) so we are going a little fancier, a local steak house.
I get Ghosts on Gem, the CBC streaming app. It has a number of actors from Taskmaster, my latest British show to watch which is on YouTube

>121 lauralkeet: I usually eat out on Friday nights, but I did cook some sausage this morning to go with some left over biscuits. I did chicken salad for my lunch so that was not cooking--just sandwich assembly.

I like the idea of an official "no cook" day. We eat out quite a lot but not on a regular schedule. May have to rethink that :)

Friday is our order in and eat together day. Sometimes we go out, but Becky was deep into the new release of Silksong and didn't want to stop - but her fingers are blistering so she's out with friends now.

>122 raidergirl3:, >123 thornton37814:, >124 RebaRelishesReading:, >125 quondame: Three cheers for no-cook Fridays! I had no idea this was such a "thing". We started it when the kids were young, and it was a nice break from the daily grind. Nowadays I generally enjoy cooking but it's also nice to do something different. We've also fallen into the habit of having breakfast out on Fridays, so I feel like a real slacker.

>122 raidergirl3: Happy anniversary Elizabeth! Hope you enjoyed your celebratory meal.

We've been doing Friday night take-out for so long I couldn't even say when it started. When I was working, I often brought home grinders (a toasted hoagie) from a shop a block from my office. There was also a good pizza place handy for me then. Now we alternate local eateries we like, mostly pizza, hoagies, or Chinese.

>127 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda, fellow long-time member of the Friday No-Cook Club! When we do takeout it's usually either pizza or Chipotle, occasionally Chinese or Jersey Mike's (subs, or hoagies to you lol). Our town also has a good local Thai restaurant where we prefer to eat in; same for the ramen place and a more upscale pizza & wine place. If we really want to pig out, there's barbecue.

>74 lauralkeet: It was soon, then sooner, then over. Lovely photos Laura.

>96 lauralkeet: Hmm, i trigued by Of Time and Turtles, will watch fir your review.

I bought Evalina too, maybe a winter read.

>129 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caro. I started Evelina last night, well actually the introduction so I'm not into the novel just yet.

And here's that review ...

48. Of Time and Turtles

>130 lauralkeet: This sounds really interesting, Laura. I will look for it. It sounds like you are back to normal after your festivities.

>130 lauralkeet:: I have a good friend who does this kind of rescue. A former nurse, she carried all the supplies in the trunk of her car for picking the poor squished souls up off of the road, something I would find hard--not from squeamishness but from fear of hurting them more. She was ace at putting shells back together. Like you, I really admire people who do this kind of work.

>131 BLBera: Yes, things have settled down Beth, which is probably a good thing.

>132 tiffin: That's really interesting, Tui. The founders of the Turtle Rescue League often said, "never give up on a turtle!" There were some amazing stories of rehabilitation (like putting shells back together or helping a turtle learn to walk again), and of turtles who appeared to be dead coming back to life.

>133 lauralkeet: "Amazing" indeed!!! I had no idea.

>134 RebaRelishesReading: Same here Reba. It gave me a new appreciation for the species.

Good morning, today started off chilly (48F! long sleeves!) but will warm up to the mid-70s later.

My knitting group meets this morning and I'm having lunch with a Guild member afterwards; the afternoon will probably be devoted to gardening. At this point in the season we're wrapping things up for example I've cleared the vegetable beds that are done (see you next year tomatoes), and this morning I ordered garlic because I'd nearly forgotten we should plant in October and a number of suppliers have already sold out. We're also taking advantage of sales at our local garden center, like last week's buy 1 get 2 free hostas, because in certain cases it's worth planting now to start off strong in the spring. Plus who can resist a sale?

Sometime this week we'll get our covid & flu vaccines, having obtained a covid vax prescription from our doc (VA is one of the few states still requiring this boo hiss).

I'm really, really enjoying Evelina. I have a paperback Oxford University Press edition which includes a really informative introduction and excellent notes which describe locations mentioned in the text and explain language usage. I have been known to ignore both of these sections in the past. Introductions of classic novels often include spoilers, and this one kind of did but also it's a romance so you know from the start there will be a happy romantic ending. And I've been pleasantly surprised by how useful the notes have been so now I have a second bookmark in that section to make them easy to find.

Have a good day, all!

Sounds like a nice, full day, Laura! We also had a chilly start to this morning, but I'm not complaining. It's been lovely sleeping weather with the windows open.

Hi, Laura!
I've been away from the threads for entirely too long and I missed the wedding! The photos are beautiful, though, and I'm so happy that you had such a lovely time of it.

>136 lauralkeet: I love hostas, but have never bought one because the ones we have grow like weeds and threaten to overtake the garden beds completely.

Evelina sounds like an interesting read - I've only heard of it in passing before, but it looks like it might deserve a spot on Mount TBR.

>137 katiekrug: Hi Katie. Yeah, yesterday was both busy and nice. Knitting was fun, just an unstructured knit and chat this month vs. a more "formal" topic, and I enjoyed catching up with my Guild friend while also getting a couple of things accomplished. Then Chris and I spent a while working outdoors and rewarded ourselves with iced lattes at the local coffeeshop after.

>138 scaifea: Hi Amber! It's so nice to see you here. I've been lurking on your thread. Thanks for the wedding wishes, it was a wonderful weekend.

>139 PawsforThought: Hello Paws. It's funny how differently plants behave around the world. Here I would say hostas are hardy and grow easily, but they aren't invasive. OTOH there are certain plants I know are popular in Britain, but anywhere from overly prolific to invasive in the US. Forsythia comes to mind.

As for Evelina, I was inspired to read it after reading Jane Austen's Bookshelf earlier this year. *JAB* discusses several authors who influenced Austen's writing and I decided I'd like to experience some of them myself as a mini personal project.

Have you considered making a List for the books mentioned in Jane Austen's Bookshelf? Similar to this one for Paperback Crush: https://www.librarything.com/list/20675/Books-Featured-in-%22Paperback-Crush%22
That way you and others could track your progress reading them

Forsythia is invasive? Oh dear. I love the early color in the garden so bought and planted one last year...but not in a place where it will be welcome if it starts a land-grab.

>141 norabelle414:. That's an interesting idea. I bought Jane Austen's Bookshelf but have been holding it back to read nearer my RL bookclub's discussion of her work (and more specifically Emma) in December. Perhaps I should start it sooner?

>142 RebaRelishesReading:: I don't think forsythia is invasive. I've had a bush which has sat quite stodgily in one spot for several decades, only needing an occasional trim.

ETA zone 5b with occasionally harsh winters. It might be a different matter to the south of us.

>141 norabelle414: I hadn't but that's a brilliant idea, Nora. I'll see what I can do!

>142 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I guess forsythia is technically a "non-native plant with invasive tendencies" meaning it's not on the state list of invasive plants in either VA or WA, (says Google). But it can spread rapidly, crowd out other plants, and be difficult to remove. Imagine it growing along the side of a road. Your space may be small enough to keep it contained.

>143 tiffin: Looks like we cross-posted, Tui. There are plants that grow well in some areas but a little too well in others. There's a lot of attention being paid to native plants in the US these days and debates can get rather heated (surprise). Native plants are strongly encouraged but personally I don't think one has to plant 100% natives or rip out all non-natives in their garden. Only some non-natives are invasive.

Yes, I know the burning bush I have out front is condidered invasive but it has not attempted an invasion in all the years I've had it. Myrtle, on the other hand, is attempting to take over Ontario!

I'll have to have a chat with the forsythia and explain that it needs to play nicely with its neighbors

>147 RebaRelishesReading: Just give it a stern look Reba, that ought to do it! 😂

I concur about forsythia...I planted to tiny cuttings from my husband's childhood home about 40 years ago. They have grown, filled out, and take up a bit more space than they used to, but I would have been quite happy for them to spread a lot further, creating a sort of hedge between our property line and the neighbors' sunken driveway, and they have not done that. Of course our soil is pooh, and we've done nothing to improve it, so....

Around here, the dreaded and uncontrollable Japanese knotweed is the worst invader. It has taken over river banks and roadsides manically in the last 20 years or so.

>148 lauralkeet: Will do :)

Just a few feet from the forsythia there is some plant that has gone into hyper-growth this summer totally dominating a beautiful peony and a hydrangea. It's even snuck a branch through the wood fence next to it (I keep looking at it out the kitchen window and thinking "I must get out there and cut that thing off before it damages the fence"...maybe tomorrow). I might even see about just ripping the whole thing out...no idea what it is.

Ooh, this is such an interesting discussion. Hostias aren't invasive here, they are just very easy to grow (which I greatly appreciate).

There is a fairly long list of officially invasive plants here, with the most problematic being Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed, rugosa/beach rose and the worst of all large-leaved lupine. The latter is my mortal enemy and I've spent many, many hours over the past few years trying to eradicate it from our summerhouse. I have managed to eradicate the Himalayan balsam from the riverside path.

>149 laytonwoman3rd:, >150 RebaRelishesReading:, >151 PawsforThought: Hi Linda, Reba and Paws, thanks for adding to the discussion.

In hindsight I was a bit unfair to the forsythia which so many of you love. I will happily add my name to the Japanese Knotweed Haters Club instead. Also: Japanese Stiltgrass, which is the bane of my garden's existence beginning in late summer.

>141 norabelle414: Nora, thanks again for this suggestion.

Jane Austen's Bookshelf includes an appendix of all the books Rebecca Romney collected as part of her quest. Some are very specific rare editions, some are books by other authors, and some just couldn't be found on LT. So I decided to focus primarily on Austen (obviously) and the works written by the other influential authors.
https://www.librarything.com/list/46931/Books-Featured-in-Jane-Austens-Bookshelf

Let me know what you all think!

>153 lauralkeet: Love it!

>153 lauralkeet: Thanks for the list, Laura. I think Jane Austen's Bookshelf will be my next NF read.

>153 lauralkeet: Thanks for making the list, Laura! I think I need to familiarise myself with Fanny Burney...

>153 lauralkeet: One suggestion - if you add Jane Austen's Bookshelf itself to the list, then the list will show up on the work page so people can find it easier.

>153 lauralkeet:: anything with an Austen focus is a Very Good Thing.

>154 norabelle414:, >155 BLBera:, >156 PawsforThought:, >158 tiffin: I'm rather pleased with my little list! Glad you all are, too.

>156 PawsforThought: Paws, one way to do that is to read Jane Austen's Bookshelf. Just sayin' 😀

>157 norabelle414: Thank you Nora! You must have read my mind because I was going to message you about how one makes a list "findable." I've added *JAB* to the list, thank you!

I haven't played around with Lists much. Is the idea of the one you started that I would put the ones I've read "on my list"? Would I also rank them?
Just curious how you envision the list being used!

>160 japaul22: I've been a casual list-user too, Jennifer, so I'm kind of figuring it out as I go along. In the past I've used lists of Women's Prize nominees (adding my personal ranking of those I've read), and lists of Top Reads for a given year. It's fun to see the aggregate results.

For this list, as the creator all of the books were on "my list" at first, which was overwhelming. I decided to limit "my list" to the books that are in my library. The master list then becomes a guide to choosing other books to acquire and read. That's as far as I've gotten. I'm thinking about reordering "my list" into a rough ranking of favorites from those I've read, leaving unread books at the bottom until I've read them.

Like a lot of things on LT I don't think there are hard and fast rules and I would be interested in hearing from others with more experience using lists. Maybe @norabelle414 has some ideas, since she started all this lol.

>161 lauralkeet: I put all the ones I've read on my list. I'll wait to see if others weigh in about "ranking" them. I also realized I don't have reviews posted for all of the books I read, so I might try to round those up and add them.

>162 japaul22: Sounds good, Jennifer.

>136 lauralkeet: OK Laura, you have convinced me to pull Evelina off the shelf, I too purchased it after reading Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, I’m away for a few days from Tuesday so my holiday read, though will start tonight.

>164 Caroline_McElwee: he he he Caro, my work is done! I'm still finding Evelina quite enjoyable, but I need to take a break after Volume II (of III). A library hold has come in, and there may be a second one soon. Evelina requires more concentration than a contemporary novel and I don't want to rush because of a library loan.

>130 lauralkeet: A friend who rescued turtles (and had devoted her basement and garage and sometimes kitchen to their care) is in the index, but she died over 20 years ago and this book will make me sad so I've avoided it though I got it soon after publication. Seems from the bits I checked that the Turtle Rescue League was a recipient of some of her turtles.

>166 qebo: Hi Katherine. How interesting that you have a personal connection to that book. I can understand why reading it might make you feel sad though.

Speaking of invasive species, how about the plant that ate the south: kudzu.

      

>168 weird_O: Right Bill. Nasty stuff!

~~~~

Good morning all, we've finally had some much-needed rain. We had a bit of a shower last night and a deluge this morning, about 2" altogether. That's ... a lot. I kind of wish it was more spread out over the day but that doesn't seem to be how it works anymore.

Last night I finished Volume II of Evelina, in which she encounters some very annoying relatives. I'm glad to be done with them. Even though I am eager to see how the story resolves in Volume III, I have to set it aside for a bit to read a The Correspondent, which I picked up at the library a week ago. So many of you have enjoyed it that I'm quite eager to dive in.

>169 lauralkeet: I'm still waiting for my library copy of The Correspondent so I'll be eager to hear what you think. I just finished, and was gripped by, Flashlight. I haven't seen much LT talk about it and am hoping you and others will get to it.

Envious of your rain. We're parched here.

We got a little rain on Sunday too -- not nearly 2" though!! We seem to be moving into some beautiful fall weather now -- 70-80 degree temps and sun. Hope it lasts a coupe of weeks.

>170 vivians: I'll keep you posted on The Correspondent, Vivian!

>171 tiffin: We've been in a drought most of the year. July was wet enough for "them" to declare the drought over, but then August was bone dry. So today's rain is most welcome.

>172 RebaRelishesReading: I love fall weather, Reba. Ours should be just around the corner.

We haven't had any significant rain since last spring but I don't think that's unusual here. People (at least western people) always talk about how rainy the northwest is but actually from the weather forecast discussions I think it's usually dry in summer. Fortunately we also have the Columbia River passing by. I too love fall though and will be pleased when it gets here.

Oh my. What a book. I finished The Correspondent last night and loved it from start to finish. The structure and style really worked. By the end I was deeply invested in Sybil's life story. 5 stars because it made me cry. I need to sit with it for a while before writing a review.

It looks like i haven't mentioned that we're currently taking care of Rizzo, Julia and Noah's dog. They came down from Brooklyn last weekend, worked remotely for a few days, and then went to Richmond for a wedding. Tonight they leave for their 2-week honeymoon in Florence & Siena. They're flying out of Dulles and have time to kill so we're going to meet up for lunch. Rizzo is a perfect houseguest.

I'll check out The Correspondent. Rizzo sounds like a darling.

fixed the faulty touchstone here--sorry, Laura!

>176 tiffin: Tui, I just double-checked my touchstone in >175 lauralkeet: and it goes to the correct book: The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans. The touchstone in >176 tiffin: goes to a different book.

>175 lauralkeet: Well, I'm sold...and you've hardly said anything about the book at all!

>175 lauralkeet: - I read this last month after taking a BB from Jennifer in June and loved it also. Funny story - I ordered it from my local bookstore and when it came, it was in Spanish and I didn't notice until I went to read it. So, I ended up getting it from the library anyway.

>175 lauralkeet: 5 stars? Very high praise, from you. I also cried at the end and I haven’t had many books like that lately.

>178 laytonwoman3rd: wow, okay then! But I'll still write a review ha ha.

>179 dudes22: I think Jennifer may have been the one who first tipped me off, too. That's funny about getting the book in Spanish. Did you get a refund for it?

>180 raidergirl3: I'm not a big cryer, Elizabeth so it takes a really great book to affect me that strongly. Tell me Everything and Demon Copperhead were two such books.

>181 lauralkeet: - I didn't realize right away. By the time I got around to it, I had lost the receipt. I may check with my sister who works at the library. She'll probably know some where I could donate it if the library doesn't want it.

I’m so glad you loved The Correspondent! I think it’s my favorite book this year. I passed my hardcover on to several other friends and they’ve all loved it too.

Really looking forward to getting to The Correspondent!

And seeing your review 🙂

>184 katiekrug: ditto

>175 lauralkeet: I usually agree with you about books so I've put this one onto the Kindle to take with us in January.

>183 japaul22:, >184 katiekrug:, >185 vivians:, >186 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Jennifer, Katie, Vivian, Reba!

Today has turned out to be busier than expected so I haven't had the time to turn my random jottings into a cogent review. Soon, I promise.

The Correspondent is already on my list, but I am number 27, so it many be a while.

>188 BLBera: it will be worth the wait, Beth!

I found this really hard to review -- I know I haven't done it justice, but if I shared any plot points it would spoil the fun.

49. The Correspondent

>190 lauralkeet: Lovely review, Laura. I have this one on my Kindle waiting for the January travels. You make it hard to wait ... but I will.

I wish I could do half as well writing reviews as you (and several others here on LT) do but I spent my career writing staff reports that had to be concise, totally un-ambiguous, factual, etc. As a result my writing is dull as dish-water. Yours are informative, lovely and almost always make me want to read the book.

>191 RebaRelishesReading: Aww Reba, you are too kind. But thank you!!

I finished Evelina a couple of days ago. Jennifer reminded me that several years ago a number of the authors who influenced Jane Austen were the subject of group reads. The group read for Evelina was in 2015, and in the group read thread I found this short post from yours truly:

I'm intrigued by the book especially with the Austen connection, but I'm just not in the mood for this sort of thing at the moment. I'll lurk here, and may read the book at a later date.

Better late than never, right?!

50. Evelina

You're making me want to read it/them.

>191 RebaRelishesReading: - I think your explanation of why you don't feel you write well is very interesting, Reba. I was an accountant with the military and besides the fact that my writing reports was mostly figures, it also had to be short and concise. There are a few people here that I wish I could write as well as they do. (Including Laura).

Happy Wednesday, Laura. We enjoyed our Cincinnati trip. Thanks for your thoughts on that. I just started The Correspondent. Glad to see you gave it 5 big ones! 😀

>195 dudes22: Thanks, Betty. It's nice to have company on both sides of that comment.

>194 RebaRelishesReading: excellent!

>195 dudes22: why thank you Betty!

>196 msf59: It was really good Mark. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

>197 RebaRelishesReading: LT is such a great place!

>175 lauralkeet: You got me with this one Laura.

>199 Caroline_McElwee: Hurray! I think you'll really like it, Caro.

>190 lauralkeet: I am patiently waiting for my copy of The Correspondent to become available at the library lately, Laura.

I’m also a big fan of your reviews. It helps that we have similar reading tastes. :-)

>201 Donna828: I had to wait a while myself, Donna, but it was worth it! And I'm glad you like my reviews too, that's very kind of you to say. Sometimes I wonder "why do I keep doing this," but then just this morning my husband and I were talking about a book I'd read a few years ago and I was able to pull up my review and give him a recap. Nice.

I am 80+ posts behind (again), Laura, and no hope of catching up at this point. Hopefully I can keep up better in the future - and not go out-of-town with no Internet any time soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A short thread hijack - apologies to Laura!

The Correspondent is currently on sale for $1.99 for Kindle, in case anyone (like me) is tired of waiting in the library queue for it :)

>203 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! It's always nice to see you and there's no need to catch up. Hope your weekend is great too.

>204 katiekrug: Oh wow Katie! That's a great deal. Thanks for sharing!

51. Everything is Tuberculosis

I just finished listening to The Correspondent!! Thank you!! It was beautiful.

>207 RebaRelishesReading: I'm so glad, Reba!

>206 lauralkeet: This does sound interesting, Laura. We are spoiled because we aren't exposed to some of these deadly diseases in the US. At least not so far....