Irene (atozgrl) Reads in 2026

Christmas gift from my DH (a pair of socks)

Happy New Year! Welcome to my first thread for 2026.

I'm Irene, retired librarian, and I've been on LT since 2008. I joined to catalog my book collection but still haven't finished that project, although I continue to work on it sporadically. I did not get involved in the social aspects of LT until a few years ago, when I returned to the site after a long absence to track the books I've been reading since I retired. Fortunately, I found the 75ers at that time. This is such a wonderful group, and I have been blessed by meeting so many people here and sharing our love of books.

I'm married, living in central NC. I enjoy watching sports, especially baseball, and I am a big Cubs fan. No cats, unfortunately, because my DH is allergic. But we enjoy feeding the birds in our backyard. I hope to make a big dent in the clutter around the house this year, a project I did not succeed with last year.

My work in the library was mostly with systems and websites, not so much directly with books. I also worked for a government library, not a public library, so I don't know as much about current fiction as the public librarians do. I didn't actually have much time to read books while I was working, so I have a lot of recent fiction to catch up on. I've got a large collection of nonfiction, mostly history, that I've collected over the years, and I'm trying to concentrate on reading much of that. I enjoy a wide range of genres but especially enjoy historical fiction. Growing up, I loved reading classics, some for school, but most for my own enjoyment. I also read a lot of science fiction and fantasy when I was young, but haven't kept up with it over the years, so I've got a lot of catching up to do in that genre. I have also realized there are some classic children's books that I somehow missed while growing up. I have made a start, but still have more that I need to read.

I currently belong to two RL book clubs. The first one is a general interest book club, and members suggest titles and vote on the books to read. The other one reads books that have been challenged for one reason or another. I was able to keep up with the two clubs for the previous two years; I hope I can still do that this year.

Last year was a good year for my reading. This year I hope to tackle more of my ROOTs and clear off some of the books already on my shelves. Quite a few are chunksters, so I may not get to 75 books read this year either. (I have yet to meet that mark. But the point is not the total books read, but reading good books and enjoying the reads.) As always, I am looking forward to a good year of reading!

The last couple of years, I have participated in a number of challenges here on LT. I will try to continue with some of them this year, but I will probably be less diligent in trying to pick a book for each month of the various challenges. For example, I will continue with Reading Through Time and will definitely read something for each of the quarterly challenges, but I may or may not do the monthly challenges. The reason for this is that I want to try to do better reading more of the books on my own shelves this year, and sometimes I have had to get a book from the library to meet a challenge, or even purchase a book (though sometimes I had planned to buy the book eventually anyway).

The ROOT challenge
Link to my thread there: https://www.librarything.com/topic/377366

ROOTs Counter



 
The Big Fat Book challenge (BFB)
Link to my thread there: https://www.librarything.com/topic/377716

2026 Nonfiction Challenge (75 Books Challenge) (75NF)

January - Prize Winners (prizes that are off the beaten tracks; including nominees)
What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds by Jennifer Ackerman

February - All That Jazz
did not read anything

March - Off the Beaten Path Religious Sects

Happy New Year, Irene! I look forward to seeing what you are up to in 2026.

Reading Through Time

Quarterly Challenges (RTTQ)
January-March 2026: 19th Century - EXCLUDING the Americas
Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende
The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson

April-June 2026: 19th Century Americas - EXCLUDING the Old West

 
Monthly Challenges (RTTM)
January: Retellings of Classics
Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende

February: Agents of Change – natural disasters, epidemics, etc.
The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson

March: Antebellum South

Other LT Shared Reads and Challenges that I may dip into as I have interest and time

British Author Challenge (BAC)
January: Cressida Cowell & Richard Adams
Watership Down by Richard Adams

 
Roads Less Travelled: The Americas Off the Beaten Track (RLT)
January: Chile
Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende

 
NonfictionCAT (NFCAT)
January: Science
What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds by Jennifer Ackerman

February: Medicine & Disease
The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson

March: I Want to Learn About ...

April: History & Ancient History

 
LT Shared Reads
August? with Mark @msf59 et al: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
?November with @bell7 and @alcottacre: Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

RL Book Clubs:

ASC Book Club (ASCBC)
✔ January - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
✔ February - The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
✔ March - How to Read A Book by Monica Wood
April - The Women by Kristin Hannah
May - Isola - Allegra Goodman
June - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
July - The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
August - Go as a River by Shelley Read
September - The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
October - Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
November - The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Challenged Books Club (CBC)
✔ January - Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
✔ February - 1984 by George Orwell
✔ March - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
April - Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
summer break

 
The books for my book clubs have an unusual number of titles where the default touchstone goes to a different book. I'm going to have to remember to update the touchstones every time I start a new thread.

Top Reads of 2025 (in order read)

5 stars
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

4.5 stars
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (reread)
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien
The watchmaker's daughter : the true story of World War II heroine Corrie ten Boom by Larry Loftis
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (reread)
The Exvangelicals : loving, living, and leaving the white evangelical church by Sarah McCammon
James by Percival Everett

4.25 stars
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Krakatoa : the day the world exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Ship of the Line by C.S. Forester
 
 
2025 Top 5 (rereads not included)

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
James by Percival Everett
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

Best fiction: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Best nonfiction: Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer

Books read in 2026 (1st quarter)

January
1. The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley 3.75* - ROOT
2. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison - CBC
3. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - ASCBC; ROOT
4. What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds by Jennifer Ackerman - 75NF; NFCAT; ROOT
5. Physics for Cats by Tom Gauld

February
6. Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende RLT; RTTM; RTTQ; ROOT
7. Watership Down by Richard Adams BAC (Jan)
8. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray 3.75* ASCBC; ROOT

March
9. 1984 by George Orwell 3.75* CBC; ROOT; reread
10. The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson RTTQ; RTTM (Feb); NFCAT
11. A Blessing of Peace by Welleran Poltarnees
12. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor CBC; ROOT
13. How to Read A Book by Monica Wood ASCBC; ROOT

Books read in 2026 (2nd quarter)

April

Coding for stars, for my reference.




alternate:



alternate:

alternate:















Instructions at https://www.librarything.com/topic/129158#6620607

My ratings
= Outstanding; exceptional; I loved it
= Excellent; absolutely worth reading
= Very Good; for nonfiction: has an interesting viewpoint, or I learned something
= Good
= Average; for nonfiction: there are some issues with it
= Written well or a classic but I didn't enjoy it
= Writing is hard. I appreciate the work the author did. (borrowed from @humouress)
= Bad
= Very Bad
= Terrible; for nonfiction: lots of problems

BingoDog

I gave the BingoDog card a try just for fun for the past couple of years, and I am going to try it one more time. The first time I tackled it, there were a lot of reads I had for book clubs or other challenges that fit the BingoDog card, and I nearly completed the entire card easily. Last year I didn't have as many automatic hits, so it was a bit harder. I don't know how well it will go this year, but I'll give it another try.

Planning thread for more information: https://www.librarything.com/topic/374676



1. Features senior citizens - How to Read A Book
2. Microhistory - The Ghost Map
3. Set entirely or in part at sea
4. Dead author - The Mark of Zorro (Johnston McCulley)
5. Book with a tree on the cover A Blessing of Peace
6. Retelling of a fairy tale or myth
7. Something living on the cover - What an Owl Knows (an owl)
8. A book that has won an award - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Watership Down
9. End it
10. A book published before you were born
11. New-to-you author - A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)
12. A "green" book - Lawn Boy (green cover)
13. Read a CAT or KIT (free space)
14. A beautiful cover
15. Word in the title that's an onomatopoeia
16. Difficult to categorize
17. Female author's debut novel
18. Great first sentence - 1984
19. Book by an indigenous author
20. Book set in a province/state bordering your own
21. Road trip book
22. Mode of transportation in the title
23. Classic from another literary tradition
24. A book of poetry
25. Book from an LT Legacy Library

See https://www.librarything.com/topic/374676#8995137 for more information

 



This billboard is currently up in my DH's home town. We need much more of this.

Welcome, everyone! And Happy New Year!

>4 alcottacre: Welcome Stasia, and thank you! And the same to you! You certainly got in early today. I'm glad I didn't miss your post.

We got home late yesterday afternoon. We're pooped. Glad to be home, and taking it easy as much as possible today. I haven't gotten much accomplished besides starting this thread for the New Year.

I had checked out The Remembered Soldier from the library in hopes that I might be able to read it for Paul's Grand European Tour in December, but there just was not time. December was too busy, and that's a big book. I had expected that it would be auto-renewed by the library since there are several copies available and there was zero waiting list when I checked out the book. But while I was out of town, I got an e-mail from the library saying that the book couldn't be renewed, because there are now holds on it. All copies are now checked out, and there are 6 people in the holds queue. Richard should be pleased to hear that the book is in demand. I had feared the other book I have out (for my Challenged Books Club in January) would be the one I couldn't renew since several of us need to read it and the library doesn't have a lot of copies, but it renewed with no problem. Now I will have to return The Remembered Soldier unread, and come back to it sometime later.

Happy new year, Irene! I’ve left my star, and I’ll be back!

Now, get some rest! ☺️

Karen O

Happy reading in 2026! Looks like you will be quite busy with all the challenges.

New Year greetings from Kuala Lumpur. My project is at least physically completed and an addition to the city scape.

Look forward to keeping up with you in 2026, Irene!

>13 atozgrl: I'd love to have more kindness to give...it's just that I turn in to the guy Satan feels he has to rein in when I get around "Them."

New-thread orisons!

Welcome back for 2026!

>17 klobrien2: Thank you, Karen! I was just over visiting your new thread. I'm looking forward to the new year.

I'm up late now, but I slept late this morning. I will probably be sleeping late tomorrow too, so I'll get my rest. But I do need to make a substantial grocery run. I was too worn out for that today.

>18 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita. I may do fewer books from the challenges this year than I have in past years, but we'll see. I'd like to clear out more books from my own shelves this year, and I do still have some big books that I need to read, which cuts down on overall numbers. I'm hoping to dip in and out of challenges this time rather than trying to meet every one of the monthly topics in a challenge. My tendency is to want to be completist. So we'll see whether I can actually stick to my intention this year.

I'll get over to your thread tomorrow, but I have already starred it.

>19 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! I will try to keep up with you as well, though your threads tend to fly by. I'll be over to visit tomorrow.

>20 richardderus: I understand what you mean, Richard. It's not always easy.

I'll be over to visit your thread tomorrow, though I see it has already run away to a great extent after only two days in the year. You and Paul are hard to keep up with.

>21 drneutron: Thank you, Jim, and thanks for all you do for this group! We all appreciate it, even if we don't always say it.

Cute socks in your topper, Irene! Happy New Year!

>27 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah! I thought that was a cute gift from my husband. I probably will use them to keep my feet warm while reading. I'm not sure I want to walk around on them too much, since the wording is on the soles.

>25 atozgrl: Things stay busy in our threads...PC's because he's very active in the group, in mine because I review a LOT of books...or so it seems to me.

Cheers!

>29 richardderus: They do indeed! Plus you both get so many visitors, so there's lots of talk on both threads. I hope I can get around to both later today, before they get too out of hand. But I've got errands to run first.

>7 atozgrl: Happy New Year!! Starred. : ) I have read or am going to read over half of your ASC bookclub list. I think I should visit here more often. ; )

>30 atozgrl: Thanks, Kim! My book club definitely has an interesting reading year ahead. I think we've got more books that are on the longer side than usual this year. I will definitely post my thoughts about the books.

I hope to get over to your thread later today. I've already starred it. But there are so many new threads to visit that I've only gotten to a few so far.

Happy New Year, Irene. I love your favorites of '25 list. I will add Out of Darkness & Whale Talk to my obese TBR. James topped my list in '24 and Monte Cristo topped my list in '25.

>33 msf59: Thanks, Mark! We read both Out of Darkness and Whale Talk in my Challenged Books Club. Both books were surprises to me, and I really liked each one. They are YA books, although Out of Darkness felt to me like it was written as much for adults as youth. Both are definitely worth reading. I didn't put Monte Cristo on my best of list for 2025 because it was a reread, and I wanted to limit my Best list to books that were new to me this year.

I enjoyed perusing your top of 2025 list. The Count of Monte Cristo has been a favorite of mine since 10th grade when we read it in literature. Our teacher made it enjoyable.

>35 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori! Monte Cristo was a reread for me. It was one of my favorite books from when I originally read it, I think while I was still in high school. I got interested in Dumas after seeing the "Three Musketeers" movie. I eventually rated it at 4.5 stars after the reread because the middle section was pretty slow moving. I don't remember that from my original read, and I wonder if the first one was an abridged version. I read it on my own; it would have been interesting to have a class discussion of the book.

Happy New Year! I have to read Washington Crossing--it is even on my shelf!

>37 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda! I thought Washington's Crossing was one of the best history books I have read. So well researched, and it really covered what was going on at that time. It filled in a lot of gaps that I had wondered about and weren't discussed in other books I've read. With the 250th celebrations coming up, this year would be a good one to read it.

>1 atozgrl: Love the socks, Irene--all the best in your New Reading Year!

Hi Irene! Happy New Year and happy first thread of 2026. I look forward to being a Wordle Sister with you and possibly seeing you at one or the other or both of our Book Sales.

>7 atozgrl: The ASCBC club books include one I’ve read, one I’ve started, and 2 that we’re reading this year in my RL book club.

I can understqand why 1984 was challenged but not Flowers for Algernon. I’ve read both.

>13 atozgrl: I’ve seen the Gauld before and still laugh, and Dolly Parton is an admirable woman.

>39 kac522: Thank you, Kathy!

>40 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen! I also look forward to being Wordle sisters. I already was once so far this year, yesterday with 3.

I agree with you on the challenged books. I have also read both of them, and from what I remember, I don't know why Flowers for Algernon would have been challenged. I'll have to look that up. I used to have a copy of Flowers for Algernon, but I haven't been able to find it, so I guess I must have given it up during one of my moves. It was a Mass Market Paperback, so no huge loss there. But I haven't been able to find a cheap copy that's better than the Mass Market one, so I hope I'll be able to check it out from the library. (I have not read the other two books on the list for our Challenged Books Club.)

I've posted the Gauld a couple of times in the past, and since I like it so much I decided to bring it back for the start of this thread.

Irene, I've had your thread starred since you started it, but this is the best i could do about visiting. I do wish you and your DH a wonderful, wonderful 2026 with good news for all of us coming regularly! And I LOVE the socks!!!!!

Happy Wordling with 3 3 Sisters often!!!

Flowers for Algernon is on the challenged list????? Oh, good grief.
(I think I've mentioned at least once that when I taught AP English Language, I sent home a letter every year asking parents who objected to their 11th graders reading books with adult content should let me know so that I could give them alternatives. The only mother ever to respond had a son with the foulest mouth and dirtiest mind I ever encountered in my years of teaching. Poor kid was trying his best to escape what had to be an oppressive home atmosphere, I thought.)

No worries, Peggy! I am so happy to see you here whenever you are able to drop by. And thanks for the good wishes.

Some of the titles we've been reading for our Challenged Books are a puzzle to me. There have been several that I couldn't see why they were challenged. Most (if not all) of the books we've been reading since I started attending the group have been YA books, so I guess parents have been complaining about books that were being read for school. The one that was really funny to me was A Separate Peace, because that was the book our school provided as the alternate option for when parents didn't want their children reading Catcher in the Rye.

Hi Irene. I'm stopping by to say Happy New Year and may it be a good one of reading, resting and relaxing.

Happy New Year, Irene!

>45 Whisper1: >46 norabelle414: Thank you, Linda and Nora! I hope you both have a wonderful 2026!

Happy New Year, Irene!

>48 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella!

Happy New Year! I saw The Hiding Place in your top books of 2025 list. It's one of my all-time favorites, and it's the reason why I continue to read memoirs, biographies, and histories about the Holocaust.

>50 cbl_tn: I thought The Hiding Place was a moving book too.

(not my photo - we had a quiet New Year's Eve in, with both boys at home)

I'm dropping by to wish you and yours all the very best for 2026. Happy New Year and happy new thread Irene!

I love the socks your DH gave you.

>50 cbl_tn: >51 PaulCranswick: Oh, yes, it's such a good book. It was a reread for me in 2025. There were some things that made such an impression on me when I first read the book that I have never forgotten them, but other things that I did not remember, so it was a good reread for me. The Holocaust is such a tough subject, but it is very important that we remember what happened.

>52 humouress: Thank you, Nina! I wish you and your family a wonderful New Year as well!

When I was a teen, my church youth group read The Hiding Place, and watched a documentary by the author. It stays with me these many years since.

>50 cbl_tn: >51 PaulCranswick: >53 atozgrl: >55 Whisper1: I also read The Hiding Place as part of my church youth group and remember it to this day. My library has a digital copy of the 35th anniversary edition with extra content. I have clicked borrow. They also have the documentary. Thanks for the reminder.

If you listen to audiobooks and you have access to the audio of The Hiding Place, it's very good in that format, too!

>55 Whisper1: Hi, Linda! It really is a book that sticks with you, isn't it?

>56 witchyrichy: Hi, Karen! I wasn't aware of a 35th anniversary edition. I will have to go take a look.

>57 cbl_tn: Thanks, Carrie, that's good to know. I'm not an audiobook reader, because my mind tends to wander when listening, so I'm afraid I'll miss something if I try to listen to books. But I'll try to keep this in mind if I ever do decide to try audio.

I haven't had a lot of success reading so far this year. After recovering from our holiday trip, I spent a lot of time here setting up new threads for the new year and trying to visit other threads. I hope I have gotten to everyone. If not, my apologies, and I will try to drop by soon. I did finally finish my first book today, one that really should not have taken so long. It's not going to get much better for a couple of days either, as the US Figure Skating Championships are in progress. I've been watching them the last two nights, and they'll be taking my time for the next two nights as well.

Tuesday, my Senior Center Book Club had its annual holiday luncheon. My DH came back with an interesting-looking book from the white elephant book exchange, but I wound up with one that's a duplicate. There was a lot of excellent conversation though.

Funny thing. Looking at the list of my books on LT, six of the last seven books I added have red covers. I wonder if that's going to be a pattern this year.

1. The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley

My first book this year is a light read. I had never read the book before, though I was familiar with the movies, of course. I'm sure everyone knows the story, about a masked outlaw who fights corrupt rulers and defends the poor and religious friars from injustice. I was a bit surprised to see that in the original story, the "bandit" was not unmasked even for readers until the very end. A nice, easy read to begin the year.

[Zorro, trying to recruit other young caballeros to the cause:] "Look upon it as a lark if it pleases you, yet you would be doing some good. Would the politicians dare stand against you, scions of the most powerful families? Band yourselves together and give yourselves a name. Make yourselves feared the length and breadth of the land!"
"It would be treason--"
"It is not treason to down a tyrant, caballeros!"

3.75*

Congratulations on finishing your 1 st book this year, Irene. I hope to finish my second book this evening. I started listening to audio books last year, but I find I have to have a physical book as well. I'm improving at listening to audiobooks.

Happy Saturday, Irene. I hope you are getting back in the swing after the holidays. Looking forward to the Bears/Packers match-up tonight. Go Bears!!

Have a great book-filled weekend.

>60 atozgrl: "Treason is in the eye of the beholder" is the message I really want to get out there.

I hope you're finding something new that ensorcels you.

>61 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah! And congratulations to you on getting through two books already. I haven't tried any audiobooks yet. Sometimes my mind wanders when I'm listening to things, so I'm afraid I might miss something in an audiobook. If my mind wanders while reading, I can go back and reread the part where I strayed. Though I don't have that problem too often with reading a physical book. I'm glad that you find audiobooks helpful. I know you do a lot of puzzles, and audiobooks must come in handy while working on a puzzle. You can do two things at once that way.

>62 msf59: Go Bears! It sounds like they had a great game yesterday. I was absorbed in the US Figure Skating Championships, so I wasn't paying attention to football. Although, as I mentioned on your thread, when the skating was over, I wondered about the Bears game, and discovered it wasn't available here. Hidden away on Prime. It doesn't make sense to me for the NFL to put their playoff games behind a paywall.

I hope the Bears continue to advance through the playoffs. Maybe I'll tune in a little.

I was about to turn out the lights last night when I saw that the Cubs signed Bregman. That was a surprise! It kept me up late, looking for more details. I sure hope that works out!

>63 richardderus: Very true, RD! As someone pointed out on YouTube a year ago, our loyalty in this country is to the Constitution, not the president.

Right now I'm reading a book for my book club. This one is not really my thing, but it's interesting. It shows life in America from the point of view of someone who lives a much less privileged life than I was blessed with. Seeing what others have to deal with is always a good thing.

>64 atozgrl: I generally limit my fiction audiobook listening to re-reading. That way, if I miss a little, it's no big deal. The one thing about audio is that a narrator can give a certain nuance or emphasis to dialogue that I might not have heard the same way in my head. It also helps with books that have a lot of written dialect--a performer can say it so I understand it. Right now I'm listening to Our Mutual Friend and there are parts that I had forgotten and passages that weren't part of the main story that are standing out to me on this time around.

I do sometimes listen to nonfiction audiobooks, especially memoirs. It's like listening to an interview on the radio. Plus, if I miss something that I want to hear again, I just "re-wind."

I also listen to audiobooks while doing puzzles (or listening or watching a game). Last night I finished a puzzle during the Bears game--I think it helped me deal with the stress!

>67 kac522: That's a good approach--listening to books that are rereads. I might have to try that. I'm sure a good narrator is a help, especially with certain books.

I can see how working on a puzzle would help with the stress. I felt stressed for a month back in 2016 when the Cubs were in the playoffs with an actual chance to win the World Series. Something to distract from that helps. It certainly sounds like that was quite the football game last night. Go Bears--I hope they keep winning.

Hi Irene, have fun watching figure skating!

On audiobooks: I listened to parts of Nicholas Nickleby an audio. Dickens sometimes writes long complicated sentences. Hearing them pronounced right really helped me to understand them. Also a good reader can really make a story come alive.

>68 atozgrl: It's particularly good during a football game, since they almost always re-play every important (and many unimportant!) plays. I can look up when it's a play I want to see and ignore the bad ones.

>69 EllaTim: The skating was *really* good the last few days. We'll be sending a good team to the Olympics.

I'm glad that audiobooks work well for you. I might try them sometime.

>70 kac522: That sounds like a good plan!

>66 atozgrl: You are of course right Irene that allegiance to the President does not form part of the Oath of Allegiance - it is to the Constitution and the laws of the United States. There are also requirements to abjure foreign potentates etc etc and to bear arms for the USA if required to so so by law but those tend to get overlooked entirely by either side.

>73 PaulCranswick: Everything here is supposed to be subject to the Constitution, and our country's leaders have to swear to support it when they take office. So if the president fails to support it or follow its laws, he would be subject to being removed from office. The Constitution is at the top, or supposed to be. I'm afraid a bunch of the country has forgotten this.

Having been born a citizen, I hadn't thought about the Oath of Allegiance. I had to look up what it says. It too puts the Constitution at the top. It's interesting to see what naturalized citizens have to swear to.

2. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

I read Lawn Boy for my Challenged Books Club this month. The book tells the story of Mike Muñoz, a 22 year old who still lives in a single-parent home with his mother and disabled brother. They are poor, working-class, living on a reservation in Washington state. Mike is trying to find out who he is, as well as looking for a steady job. He is excellent at yard work and loves creating topiaries. However, he keeps losing jobs, sometimes due to his own fault. He spends time looking for any work available, as well as sporadically trying to write a novel.

An interesting aspect to the story is a couple of Mike's employers. He goes to work for one in what appears to be a legitimate business. However, this man drinks a lot and has some other side businesses that are sketchy. Another one is a real estate agent who came from the same place as Mike but has been very successful. He likes to do favors for people to get them to owe him and give return favors. Both of these men like to "think big" to get ahead, but take different paths. Mike learns from them what he does not want for himself and the kind of person he does not want to be.

Lawn Boy is not a book I would have chosen to read for myself. And I am definitely not the intended audience. But it does show a lot about working class life and the struggles and prejudices that people in this situation face. The situations appear to be realistic, and I think it's good for me to learn more about what life is like for the working poor. Some of the details in the book reminded me of Evicted, although no one here was actually evicted from their home. The book does end on an upbeat note, with Mike coming to realize who he is, and with his work life looking up.

For anyone who thinks they might be interested in this book, do be aware that there is a lot of foul language, so if that bothers you, it might not be the book for you.

All our Tuesday accounts are located across the Agate Passage on Bainbridge. We call the bridge the service entrance because virtually nobody on the island, as far as I can tell, mows their own lawn or maintains their own pool or cleans their own gutters. ... They all appear harmless enough on the surface, except that most of them don't seem to realize how good they've got it or how people less fortunate than themselves have helped account for their good fortune, have even suffered, so that they can enjoy their wealth and security.

>75 atozgrl: Sounds interesting, Irene. I just finished a book that was quite dark and well, some pretty graphic imagery, so for now I am sticking to a cheerful read.

>76 vancouverdeb: It wasn't bad for a coming of age book. From what I saw on your thread, it sounds like you need to find something more cheerful to read. I sure hope you find something good.

I had a good report at the doctor's office today. After having to go for a mammogram every 6 months while they monitored a spot in one of my breasts, today they determined everything is fine and I can go back to once a year.

I also had good results in Wordle. I must have been channeling the Wordle gods, as Karen says, because the first word I thought of after my usual first guess turned out to be the right word today.

Wordle 1,671 2/6

🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, CHASM

>78 atozgrl: Good news from the Dr. today! I am happy for you!

>78 atozgrl: Excellent on both fronts--medical and wordle-ical!

>79 Whisper1: >80 kac522: Thanks, Linda and Kathy!

>78 atozgrl: I was surprised to get Wordle in two today , too, Irene.

>82 vancouverdeb: Congratulations, Deborah! Two is always a wonderful surprise. It took me 3 today.

Stopping by to wish you a happy Sunday! Glad to hear your doctor's appointment went well. I did the every-six-month mammogram for five years after surgery, and it was lovely to go back to once a year.

I agree that our figure skating team is very strong and am really looking forward to the Olympics.

>84 witchyrichy: Thanks, Karen, I hope you had a nice Sunday as well. It was cold and wet here, so I stayed home. I did get in quite a bit of reading this afternoon.

The Olympics should be fun this year. The US team is pretty strong in a lot of areas this time. I sure hope the Europeans don't hate our athletes as a result of the crazy actions by our president.

We had a cold drizzle all day today. Apparently there were flurries at some point, but whenever I looked outside, all I saw was rain. I did have to refill the bird feeders too. I topped them off yesterday, but it got cold and the birds were all over them. I don't usually like putting seed out when it's raining, but with the deep cold moving in, I thought I should check. The tray feeder and the "house" feeder with the shelled seed were both out or almost out, so I refilled them.

As I mentioned, the feeders were hopping today. We saw all kinds of birds visiting. Mostly it was the usual visitors, but twice I saw a flock of red-wing blackbirds. Both times I saw the blackbirds, they were in a large group.

I saw some of the Patriots/Texans game. It feels weird to be rooting for the Patriots, but I do have to cheer for Drake Maye (Charlotte boy, former UNC QB). I did not see the Bears game since it was up against my regular Sunday programming, but I was sorry to find out they lost. At least it was a close game.

>78 atozgrl: That is good news, Irene.

>87 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, it is indeed!

Stopped by to share a title with you that helped us with our eastern NC explorations: Touring the Backroads of North Carolina's Upper Coast by Daniel W. Barefoot. It is a fun guide, the one that pointed us to the dirigible hangars.

Hope the week is going well.

>89 witchyrichy: Thank you, Karen! That looks like an interesting book. I'll have to see if I can find a copy. I appreciate the recommendation!

My laptop upgraded itself to Windows 11 last night. So far things are working OK and I'm only noticing fairly minor changes. One I didn't expect was how things look in Word. I've been saving some Wordle puzzles in Word, and they used to look like they do on the website, with correct letters in green, used but misplaced letters in yellow, and unused letters in gray. Now the correct letters are still green (but the font doesn't *look* the same even though it is the same font), but the misplaced letters are orange, and the unused letters are lavender. Very odd.

It was a cold day again today. I think it may have gotten up into the 40's, but the low this morning was around 20F. I think it's supposed to be about as cold tonight. It will warm up a bit later this week, but the cold will be back by the weekend, along with precipitation. Right now they think we'll get a mix of snow and ice. I'm hoping they're wrong and it will be all snow. We don't want ice.

The Challenged Books Club met this afternoon to talk about Lawn Boy. I think everyone liked it. We didn't go around and have everyone give a rating or say if they liked it this time. Some folks were like me, saying that it wasn't a book they would have read on their own but thought it was a worthwhile read. I think we all appreciated getting to see what life is like for people who have to live in a much less privileged way.

Hi, Irene. Hooray for the visiting red-wing blackbirds. It is very rare that we see them this time in the winter. I remember enjoying Lawn Boy.

>91 atozgrl: Lawn Boy is stuck somewhere on my Kindle, and I still feel little urgency about getting to it since it's not going anywhere.

I am delighted with your return to the annual schedule! Hooray for health!

3. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

What an utterly delightful, lovely book, with a truly charming central character. I read A Gentleman in Moscow for my RL book club this month. I was completely absorbed in the book right from the start. This is one of those books that you can completely lose yourself in. I used to experience that a lot when I read books when I was young, but not as often in recent years. And the writing is beautiful, which is another thing you don't find much any more.

I don't have time to write much about it right now. I'll try to return later, but I may not say a whole lot. It's difficult to describe much without giving the story away, and so many others here have already written wonderful reviews of the book. But I have tagged it as a Favorite, and I have very few of those.

-----

ETA: I will just add something that I found surprising. It's helpful to be familiar with the movie Casablanca. I burst out laughing at the end when the Chief Administrator said "Round up the usual suspects."

Some echoes of Animal Farm which I read in December:

For however decisive the Bolsheviks' victory had been over the privileged classes on behalf of the Proletariat, they would be having banquets soon enough. ...
The soldiers of the common man may toss the banners of the old regime on the victory pyre, but soon enough trumpets will blare and pomp will take its place at the side of the throne, having once again secured its dominion over history and kings.

Russian official on postwar Russia and America:

"But do you think the achievements of the Americans--envied the world over--came without a cost? Just ask their African brothers. And do you think the engineers who designed their illustrious skyscrapers or built their highways hesitated for one moment to level the lovely little neighborhoods that stood in their way? I guarantee you, Alexander, they laid the dynamite and pushed the plungers themselves. As I've said to you before, we and the Americans will lead the rest of this century because we are the only nations who have learned to brush the past aside instead of bowing before it. But where they have done so in service of their beloved individualism, we are attempting to do so in service of the common good."

>94 atozgrl: I'll be rereading this with my book club next month, and remember very much enjoying it. Glad to see it was an absorbing read for you, too!

>95 bell7: Yes, it was wonderful. After I finished, I looked at the LT reviews, and yours was one of the ones that summarized it so well. I see a lot of love for that book, from my LT friends, and just in general on the site. There are way more 5 star reviews than any other rating for this book, and that is a real rarity.

I guess I now need to read some more of Towles' books.

>94 atozgrl: What a great revie of A Gentleman in Moscow. I have this book, and I know where it is located! I'll dread it as soon as i've read the few near my reading chair.

We had a very cold day today. I went to lunch with a friend and was surprised just how cold it was. We are slated for some heavy accumulation of snow this coming weekend. After two realitively minor bad weather the last two winters, we are paying for it now.

>96 atozgrl: I don't remember a single bad review of the book and can only ask myself, why haven't you read it yet, dunderhead?

Hello Irene!

Re Windows 11 - I need to confirm with Dell that Windows 11 is compatible with my laptop. Microsoft kept badgering me to upgrade my old laptop from 8.1 to 10, so I eventually did so. Thank godness I had a Dell maintenance contract, because we had to back it out twice. I was scolded for not checking with them before making the upgrade. I just need to call them...

Weird how Word's changed for you.

>94 atozgrl: I’m so glad you gave A Gentleman in Moscow 5 stars. I also gave it 5 stars.

Nasty weather coming up, isn’t it? More freezing rain and sleet than snow, darn it. As I wrote on Peggy’s thread, batten down the hatches!

And, I got Wordle in 3 today.

Hooray for A Gentleman in Moscow! It is also a 5 star read for me. It sure has been a big hit around here.

You missed me up there the other day...

Sweet Thursday, Irene.

Checking in on you, Irene, and not even trying to catch up. Being out of town with no Internet stinks, lol.

>94 atozgrl: I absolutely love that book. I think I have read it at least 3 times.

Stay warm and safe this weekend, Irene!

>94 atozgrl: Hooray for your love of the Count, Irene! I'll plan to reread it in another couple of years. I think I said that neither my mother nor her best friend, both in their 90s at the time, liked it at all. They couldn't say why, so I still don't understand.
Mama hated Enchanted April too, and I love that one. After those, I stopped recommending.

>78 atozgrl: Another big HOORAY! I'm hoping to get the pass back to normal in October with the same business.

Stay warm and in the house these next few days!!!!!

>99 karenmarie: When I got my laptop, it came with Windows 10, but Windows 11 had been out for a little while, not too long. So the new laptop also had a free upgrade to Windows 11 included. I did try once, maybe 6-8 months after I got the laptop, to run the upgrade, but it failed. I never bothered to try it again. I knew Windows 10 was supposed to end support last fall, but by then I was wary of trying to run the update myself. I did get a couple more OS updates before the end of the year though. I was thinking about what I needed to do about it. Then we hit the new year, and the laptop handled the Windows 11 update as though it was a regular OS update, so that made it easy for me. Being lazy about getting the upgrade done turned out in my favor this time.

As it turns out, the Wordle display looks the same in LT posts as it does in Word, so it's definitely not a Word issue. Something is different with the fonts in Windows 11 apparently. And I got Wordle in 3 today too, so we're Wordle sisters today! and always.

A Gentleman in Moscow is definitely worth the 5 stars! It was a good way to start the year.

I am not looking forward to the weather this weekend. The one thing I really hate with winter weather is ice storms. I don't mind being snowed in for several days, but ice is something else. I hope it doesn't get too bad where you are.

>100 msf59: Good heavens! I not only missed you, but I missed Richard too. I'm not sure how that happened. My apologies. And thanks for pointing it out.

I haven't seen the blackbirds since that day, but they might come back with the bad weather we're expecting. I'll check the feeders over the next couple of days to make sure they're full, but if it gets as bad as they think it might, I probably won't be able to get out and fill them on Sunday, or maybe Monday.

Lawn Boy was definitely a worthwhile read. I think it's important for us to read about people whose lives are so different from our own, and have to deal with different and more basic problems of living. I'm glad I read it.

And yes, A Gentleman in Moscow really has been a hit on LT. I was amazed by just how many 5 star reviews there were compared to all the other ratings it got.

>97 Whisper1: Dang it, I almost missed you too Linda. Somehow the post wasn't showing as new. But I've got it now.

Given how many people here love A Gentleman in Moscow, I would recommend that you read it too. I hope you like it as much as we have!

Good luck with the snow. I would rather have what you're supposed to get than what's in our forecast. I just hope we don't lose power. You're right, we're paying for the recent mild winters.

>98 PaulCranswick: I'm surprised you haven't read A Gentleman in Moscow yet, Paul. You definitely need to put it on your list.

>93 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! And my apologies for missing you here.

You've got plenty of time to get to Lawn Boy, so there's no rush. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it.

>102 richardderus: It sounds like it's supposed to get pretty cold where you are too. Will you get much snow there? I will do my best to stay warm this weekend, RD.

>101 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia, and I know the feeling. We've had multiple visits to Mississippi to visit my DH's family, and most of those we have had no Internet. It makes it pretty hard to catch up on LT when you finally get home.

I love that book too. It's definitely a keeper, and I'll probably read it again one of these days.

>103 LizzieD: I wonder what in the world caused your mother and her best friend not to like the book. It seems like most people really do love it. I'm looking forward to our book club meeting to discuss it, and I hope we'll be able to meet on Tuesday. With the weekend weather, I'm not sure about it. Everything might still be closed on Tuesday.

I haven't read Enchanted April. Something else to add to my list.

And thanks for your good wishes. I hope you will get good news in October.

I will definitely hunker down at home this weekend. Right now it looks like your weather is not supposed to get as bad as ours. I hope so. But you and your DH stay safe too!

>103 LizzieD:, >110 atozgrl: I love The Enchanted April, too, and just about anything Elizabeth von Arnim wrote. I think my favorite of hers is Father; another good one is Elizabeth and Her German Garden.

I'm another one that hasn't read A Gentleman in Moscow. I've been waiting to read his earlier novel Rules of Civility first, but haven't gotten to that either 😧 I'll get there....someday....

>111 kac522: Good to know. It sounds like I really should read The Enchanted April.

You definitely need to get to Towles, Kathy. A Gentleman in Moscow is so good!

Well, it's starting. We're getting sleet now. Very small pellets. It looks like it is temporary for now, just a small bit of precipitation that is passing. The main line is still out to the west. I'm still hoping we won't get too much of the freezing rain, and won't have trees down or extended power outages. It's hard to understand how we can be getting freezing rain when the temperatures are in the 20's. But whatever the case, the weather here is going to be very bad for the next 24 hrs +.

Depending what happens, I may be offline here for a while. Wish us luck.

Best of luck with the sleet, Irene. I hope it it not too bad. I'll be thinking of you.

‘Morning, Irene! We’ve ‘only’ had sleet so far, but are still projected to get .2-.4” of ice before this thing ends. I don’t anticipate wanting to or needing to get out before mid-week.

I can’t tell if you’ve lost power by looking online, hope you haven’t.

>114 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah, I appreciate all the good thoughts.

>115 karenmarie: As far as I can tell, all we got overnight was sleet. There could have been flurries, but I didn't see any, and if we had some I was probably sleeping. We're fine so far, as far as power goes. But it sounds like we're supposed to get freezing rain this evening, so we're definitely not out of the woods yet.

I'm glad you're safe at home and don't need to get out. I hope to get out for book club Tuesday afternoon, but if roads are bad I don't need to go anywhere. Still keeping fingers crossed that we don't lose power.

As I told Karen, as far as I can tell, all we got last night was sleet. The ground is white. I didn't see any glaze on the trees, so I think we avoided freezing rain. It's dry now, but very cold, currently 21F. We're supposed to get more precipitation this evening, projected to be freezing rain, possibly turning over to rain before it exits the area. So it may well get worse before it gets better.

The birds are all over the feeders today, and we've had squirrels getting into the tray feeder again. And as I suspected, the flock of red-wing blackbirds returned, and they were over all the feeders for a while.

A couple of the kids in the neighborhood set out their hockey goal in the street and were playing for a while. I saw the goal after they put it out, but my DH saw the kids when they were playing. One of them was wearing shorts, in spite of the 20° temperature.

>118 atozgrl: It turned from snow to sleet here, as well. Ick! I'm very glad you never lost power. Stay safe.

We got just a little snow before about 10-15 minutes of sleet. Since then it has been all rain--and not the freezing sort. Our roads are fine. I'm just so disappointed! I wanted enough snow to get a couple days at home next week. I did not want ice. So far we don't have it although I understand they think there may be a thin layer by morning. As the meteorologists have gotten just about nothing right about the forecast until it was on top of them, I will believe it when I see it.

Hi Irene, I just read over on Karen's thread that you came close to seeing the monks walking through your community. I completely understand your reasons for not trying to get closer though.

It sounds like your weather has been okay all things considered. I hope it stays that way!

>118 atozgrl: Sleet has all the downsides of snow without any of the upsides.

>119 richardderus: I'm sorry you got sleet too, RD. I figured it would be all snow where you are. And you stay warm!

>120 thornton37814: I was surprised to see on the maps that the mountains were just getting rain. I guess that explains our forecast--it was warmer higher up, so it would have been rain falling into cold here. I'm sorry you didn't get the snow you wanted. But I hope the roads won't be bad for you.

>121 lauralkeet: The weather has been bad, but we didn't have the big ice storm that they were predicting. Thank goodness. So far so good.

I did miss the monks, but it just wasn't worth the problems this time. There was lots of coverage on the news, though. I was amazed that they got up early and continued their walk this morning, in spite of the frigid temperatures and the ice on the ground. They've got a lot of fortitude.

>122 PaulCranswick: Actually, Paul, the sleet was our saving grace. It was just cold enough in the higher layers of the atmosphere to allow the rain to refreeze enough to form sleet. If the cold layer had been shallower, as they predicted, we would have had freezing rain, and we would have looked like Nashville, with trees and powerlines down everywhere. They have a real mess there. I'm saying thank goodness for the sleet.

The second batch of precipitation came through this evening, as expected. This time it started as sleet before turning over to freezing rain. But it didn't last long enough to cause us big problems. The roads are iced up and we probably can't go anywhere tomorrow, but we don't need to go anywhere. The main thing I was worried about was trees falling and people losing power for hours or days. It's still possible that power could go out, but it no longer looks like major damage and extended power outages will happen.

Also, after the daytime temperature remained at 21F all day, it's up to 29° now. So the roads aren't going to get a hard overnight freeze, and maybe things will melt quickly in the morning. Unfortunately, it will be a lot colder every night this week after tonight.

I am just very glad the worst of this storm missed us.

>123 atozgrl: It's good it was brief...sleet is awful!

>124 atozgrl: The roads are bad this morning in neighborhoods and on secondary roads feeding to the main roads, so we actually have a work-from-home day and university classes are online.

>128 richardderus: Sleet is bad, in that it's all ice and you can't go out and have fun in it like snow. And it doesn't look pretty. But we've had several storms, including this one, where the forecast was for freezing rain, which leads to trees falling on cars and houses, and to power outages. We've gotten sleet instead, which has saved us. So I don't hate sleet. I would rather have it than the alternative, and I've prayed for sleet over freezing rain.

I hope your sleet was brief. I know you would rather have had all snow.

>129 thornton37814: Well, that's good, Lori! Not great that roads are bad, but you did get at least one more day at home. Since that was what you wanted, I'm glad you got it.

Today we had temperatures in the upper 30's and sunshine, so there was a lot of melting. What's left of the ice on my street is what was in the shade. I refilled a couple of bird feeders.

Most everything was closed today, and we weren't planning to go anywhere anyway. But we never lost power, and for that we are very grateful. It looks really bad in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.

Whew! Glad you missed the worst of the storm, Irene. We are still stuck in a deep freeze. We won't see the 30s for awhile. Sighs...

>130 atozgrl: It was brief, blessèdly...and we're more set up for snow than y'all are, which makes a huge difference.

Dropping in to wish you a happy week ahead!

>133 msf59: Thanks, Mark. We are also stuck in the deep freeze. It's dropping down to 12° tonight, and the warmest low we'll have all week is 20°. That may be balmy compared to your temperatures, but it's abnormal for us. And the colder than usual weather is supposed to last all the way through February.

I refilled the tray feeder today. There was still some ice in it when I went out there. I also refilled the "nuggets." The birds and squirrels have been filling up on everything I put out.

>134 richardderus: We were dealing with it for a couple of days, which is more than we usually have to do. But things melted nicely today.

>135 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita, and I wish you the same!

I'm sure the birds appreciate your care, Irene.

>137 atozgrl: I'm really envious of the melting part....

>139 vancouverdeb: I imagine that they do! They need the food, with as cold as it has been.

>140 richardderus: So it's not melting where you are, RD? I'm sorry about that. We may not get a whole lot more melting, as cold as it's going to be here for the rest of the week.

>142 atozgrl: It got all the way up to 24°! 8 more degrees before we get to freezing. Hence the problem.

The senior center was closed all yesterday and again this morning, so I missed two of my exercise classes. However, it reopened this afternoon, so we did have our monthly book club meeting, this time to discuss A Gentleman in Moscow. We had a lower turnout than usual. The group's leader is apparently on a trip to Italy, so she was absent. I suspect the bad weather was also at least partly to blame for other absences. But there was enough of a turnout that we had a really good discussion.

Everyone really liked the book. There were a couple of people who didn't like the count at the start of the book, but came to like him as the story progressed. They thought he was too much of a snob at the beginning. But everyone liked him as things developed. Of the people who were there (except one newcomer to the club, who had not read the book), I may have been the only one who had not read it before. Most everyone who said something said that it was their second time reading the book. And almost everyone said they would give the book 5 stars. One of the ladies who didn't like the count at the beginning said she would give it 4-4.5 stars. I didn't hear whether the other lady who didn't like the count at the beginning gave it a star rating. We had a couple of books that were rated highly by everyone last year, but I think this is the book that has gotten the most love of any book we've read since I started going to the club. Several people said they planned to read it again.

And I got Circe back! The wife of the fellow who led the discussion today was the one who "stole" it from me at our white elephant book exchange at the club luncheon earlier this month. She had finished reading it, so he brought the book with him to see if anyone else wanted it. I asked about the book when I saw it, and I claimed it since I had had it before she "stole" it. So I'm finally going to get to read it after all. *happy dance*

And tonight's forecast is predicting a rather healthy snow for us on Saturday. We are really getting winter this year.

As I mentioned over on Karen's thread, my DH cleared a path on our patio Monday so that I could get to the bird feeders to refill them. And it's a good thing he did, because what's left has refrozen hard. Fortunately, it's not black ice. The low wall around the patio has had ice on it the whole time, and it's not budging because it doesn't get sun this time of year. On the other hand, our driveway is on the other side of the house, facing south, and the ice all melted there and was easy to clear.

Tuesday started with a surprise: our Internet was out. I checked the down detector, and there weren't any reports of outages, so I went on the app to report the problem. I clicked a link that I thought was going to take me to a place where I could report the problem. But it spun for a while and then came back to say they needed to send a technician. Apparently the link I clicked was checking to see what the problem was. So I set an appointment for later in the afternoon. But around noon, wifi was suddenly working again, and everything was back, so I cancelled the appointment. I don't know what the problem was, but it was extremely cold Monday night, so maybe something in their equipment somewhere along the line broke down.

After worrying about losing power and not being able to raise our garage door last week, we decided to go ahead and replace the garage door opener. The fellow who helped us last week came back out Wednesday morning to do the work. So now we have a new opener and new remotes.

As for the coming weekend, they are now predicting that we will get 3-6" of snow on Saturday. And the deep cold we are experiencing will get worse until it finally moderates on Tuesday. It's supposed to get up to 40F then. I'll be glad to see it. The extended cold is getting old. However, I hope we have finally gotten a cold enough winter to kill off some of the bugs.

4. What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds by Jennifer Ackerman

I pulled this one off the shelf because it fits a couple of challenges this month: the Category Challenge-NonfictionCAT for January (Science) and the 75ers Nonfiction Challenge of Prize Winners. It covers just about anything you want to know about owls. Ackerman tells us about owls' superpowers, including their night vision, hearing, and silent flight. We also learn about how they communicate, their breeding, and migration patterns, which vary quite a bit between species. She also covers how people have viewed owls through time and the superstitions and folklore that various cultures have developed about owls. Through all of this, Ackerman introduces us to the many scientists who are studying owls, and we find out how they have discovered what we know about owls. The book ends with some thoughts about things we can do to help save owls.

I thought the book was really well done. There is a section for "Further Reading," which includes notes for each chapter as well as general reading. There are photos throughout, a section of color photos, and an index. I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is interested in owls.

We had to run some errands today. I needed to pick up a hold at the library, then we ran by the bank to deposit a check, and finally my DH wanted to top off the gas tank before the snow storm hits tomorrow. But they now think we'll get less snow than they have been predicting. It looks like we may be in the middle, where we will get less. Eastern NC and parts to our west are still supposed to get more. It is still supposed to be the light, fluffy kind of snow that's so rare here.

Raising and lowering our garage door is so much quieter now, since we replaced the opener. That's unexpected because we didn't replace the door. I thought replacing the door was what was necessary to make it quieter, but it was the opener instead.

It looks like it's going to be really cold for the entire eastern half of the country this weekend. Stay warm everyone!

Hi Irene, I learned a lot from What an Owl Knows too, I'm glad it was a winner for you. I'm also pleased to see you won't get as much snow as you feared. It looks like it's going to be more of a coastal thing here, so it will miss us completely. I'm not complaining. It sure is cold though.

Great news about your garage opener, too. Have a good one.

>149 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! It still hasn't started snowing here yet. We seem to be in between areas of snow, both east and west of us, and not far away. I wouldn't mind being snowed in for a couple of days. It looks like we're not going to get as much right in our area, and I'm a little sad about that. I'd rather have a little more snow and less deep cold.

5. Physics for Cats by Tom Gauld

I ordered Physics for Cats back when Amazon was having their buy 3 for the price of 2 Christmas sale. I planned to send it to my sister for Christmas. Unfortunately, I could not find any way to send one book to a different address. I guess with the 3 for 2 sale, they were only sending everything to one address. So I just had the whole thing sent to me. Since I had already sent my sister and her husband a Christmas basket, I decided to wait and mail the book to her for her birthday. While I had the book on hand, I went ahead and read it.

This is a book of science-related cartoons by Gauld that were originally published in New Scientist magazine. Most of them are pretty funny, and some are laugh-out-loud good. It's a fun book if you have any interest in science.

This one feels very appropriate right now:

>94 atozgrl: I loved A Gentleman in Moscow.

Keep safe out there! It started snowing here about an hour ago and our accumulation depends on the dry air. Our backyard is an ice rink so I didn't want to risk the bird feeders. I resorted to throwing sunflower seeds on the ice and the back porch.

I am tucked in and not unhappy to have a snow day at home.

>147 atozgrl: I have this on my shelves, and will need to get to it!

>152 witchyrichy: We stayed in the house today. Since I filled up my feeders yesterday, I did not try to get out today. But I did like you did, threw some seeds out on the back patio. I am also not sorry to have a snow day at home.

>153 banjo123: It's a good one, Rhonda. I hope you like it when you get to it.

>144 atozgrl: Hooray for repatriating Miller's delectable Circe!

I'm so freezing I need to put my hands back under the covers, but yay for a good book club with such unanimous contentment with the book.

>151 atozgrl: His books are always chock-a-block with moments I relate to. I wish he was a 75er!

Well, we didn't get a whole lot of snow. I don't know what the exact total was here, maybe 2-3". It's a little hard to tell, since we still had some ice left from last weekend's storm. It started snowing here around 2:00, and we had several hours of light, very fine snow. We were on the eastern edge of the western storm. It finally started coming down heavier in the evening, and it was still coming down when we went to sleep. It was very cold overnight, maybe 15F or lower. We woke up to snow over everything. It looked nice, but not spectacular, since we didn't have a large amount. Most of the snow that was in the sun melted, even though we were in the 20's all morning. We eventually got up to 32F before temperatures started dropping again. The driveway, sidewalk, and road that we can see from the house are clear. However, city offices will be closed until noon tomorrow, and garbage pickup has been postponed until Tuesday, so there must still be plenty of roads that are not in great condition.

We did hear that areas around Charlotte got a foot or more of snow, so it was heavy to the west. And we saw video from the beach that looked like a blizzard, so they got a lot too. We were in the drier spot in the middle.

And the air is certainly dry. For evidence, last week I put several cold packs in the freezer in case we lost power. I've taken three of them out at separate times during the past week, and they warmed up with almost no condensation. No puddles under them. That's something I am really not used to.

ETA: Precip.ai says we got 3.8" of snow. It didn't look like that much when I looked outside this morning.

>156 richardderus: I was very glad to get my hands back on Circe, Richard. Now I just have to find time to fit it in.

I am sorry to hear that you are so cold. I hate that your building can't do better. I presume they do not allow space heaters.

>157 richardderus: I do too! He certainly would fit in well.

Happy Sunday, Irene. Glad to hear you are not suffering too bad with the weather. Still 2-3 inches of snow when you are not used to it has to be tough. Sadly, this could become the new norm. Keep warm and safe.

I also really enjoyed What an Owl Knows. Ackerman is such a good writer and she loves those birdies.

>159 atozgrl: We're in a very old building...it's really cold and windy...there's no way it won't have this effect.

I think he'd like it here!

>160 msf59: Thanks, Mark. The snow here was not a problem since we really didn't get much. It's definitely worse in other parts of the state. The real issue is the cold. *That's* the thing we aren't used to. More than the extreme cold is the fact that it has lasted so long. Most years we get a brief cold shot, and then it's gone. But this time we've had a couple of weeks or more of low 20's and lower. Lots of nights in the teens lately. It's supposed to get to 13F tonight. We really aren't used to extended bouts of cold like this. And it's also hard on the birds.

My DH saw a flicker in the backyard a couple of times today. It has been a while since we've seen one of them.

I think I got the BB for What an Owl Knows from you, so I owe you thanks for that. I didn't note where I got that one, but I'm pretty sure it was you.

>161 richardderus: I get that. Old building + cold and windy = drafty and cold inside. I'm sorry it's so unpleasant. Here's hoping it warms up soon both here and where you are.

>163 atozgrl: It's a lot less brutal today, at 17° it's already warmer than it got up to yesterday...on the way to 31° which feels nigh-on tropical. Warmer your way, too, I hope?

'Morning, Irene! We got 5" to your 2-3", and don't have any plans on going out any time soon.

The birds are making serious inroads, and I might have to go out tomorrow to fill the feeders. It's powder on this side of the house, but still.

Take care, stay safe and warm.

>164 richardderus: We got down to at least 13° last night, which was definitely brutal. But we've gotten up to 34° now, so it's improving. And there's no wind, so no wind chill. That's a lot better than we had this weekend. I'm glad to hear it's improving for you too!

>165 karenmarie: Good afternoon to you, Karen! Based on what I was seeing on the radar Saturday afternoon, I'm not surprised you got more snow than we did. I saw on the news this morning that the airport got 2.9", which sounds about right for what we got.

I'm sure I'm going to have to get out at some point to refill our feeders. Of course, the patio now has snow on it, so I will have to be careful.

You too, stay safe and warm!

We had the same problem this morning that we had last week. When we got up, no Internet. It went out last week when we had the coldest night; same thing today after it got down to at least 13°. I reported it on the app, like last week, and got an appointment time. Then, just like last week, service came back right around noon. I still suspect the cold weather is the cause of the outage, but I don't know whether AT&T is finding and fixing something in their equipment before a technician can show up here, or if the equipment is recovering on its own once it warms up outside. It's annoying in any case.

The wind chill we had on Saturday was brutal. I really felt it going out to fill the bird feeders before the snow started. I'm very glad we have no wind today.

>168 atozgrl: Thank goodness for the 5G network! Warmly (well, it's warm compared to the past week), RMD

>147 atozgrl: Being an owl fan - they are my favorite animals - I had to get a copy of that one and am thinking of rereading it for one of the nonfiction challenges later in the year.

>151 atozgrl: I enjoy Tom Gauld's books - I have his Baking with Kafka sitting here on my nightstand waiting for me to get to it (again) - but have not yet read that one. I will have to see if I can get hold of a copy!

>168 atozgrl: I understand about the windchill. It was -5 with the wind chill here on Saturday. On the other hand, we are supposed to be up to 70 by Friday of this week. Weird Texas weather continues.

Stay safe! Stay warm! Have a marvelous Monday!

>169 richardderus: Indeed! It's a good thing we went to unlimited data a while ago.

>170 alcottacre: I have Gauld's Revenge of the Librarians on my wishlist, but I hadn't heard about Baking with Kafka. Looks like I'll have to find a copy of that one too.

Your weird Texas weather sounds a lot like what we often get in the spring and fall. Right now, we're sticking with the cold for a while, which has not been our usual winter experience in recent years.

And our Internet went out again in the early afternoon. This time when I opened the app to report the problem, it came back with a message saying there was a reported outage in our area. The map showed that the outage was for our subdivision. Later we noticed an AT&T truck up the street from us, so we know there were workers here. We've got service back again, and I hope this time it is permanently fixed.

From the evening news, we apparently got all the way down to 11° last night, so I'm sure that had an impact on their equipment.

Sorry about the internet outages, Irene. Hopefully they've now wrapped all their equipment in cozy blankets and parkas, lol.

>174 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura, I hope so too!

My internet has been fine, Irene, but I have had a couple of days that the LT site seems to have been full of glitches.

>176 PaulCranswick: I have noticed some slow response times on LT in recent days myself, Paul. Although I have not experienced that today.

I'm sorry you have had so many outages with your internet, Irene. There was a few hours a day or so ago that LT was down, so maybe that affected you too.

We didn't get much snow at all over the weekend and we have gone from ice to mud. I may venture out with the dog today and fill the feeders.

Sorry about the Internet. We were able to sign up with Spectrum last year and I have been impressed with both their service as there have been few outages and also their timely communications about any outages that do happen.

>178 vancouverdeb: I missed when LT was down. Maybe it was down while we had no Internet. However, it was quite slow one day when I tried to use it.

Our Internet is working again--no problems since the workers were here. However, the monitor on our PC is acting up, so we may need to replace it soon.

>179 witchyrichy: I'm sorry that you've got mud now. That is never pleasant. We're getting more rain today, so I'll wait until tomorrow to refill our feeders.

I don't trust Spectrum for Internet. Our cable has been down more often than our Internet. Since they are separate services, I still have TV if the Internet is down, or online access if the TV is out.

As I mentioned, we're getting rain this afternoon. Fortunately, it stayed above freezing overnight, so the ice that has been on the low wall around our patio is finally gone. We've still got some of the ice on the patio itself, but the rain may help to remove it. The rain may turn into an icy mix later this evening, but is not expected to cause too much trouble.

The weather folks are reporting that parts of NC have gotten more snow than the Rockies, which is really strange.

>181 atozgrl: I have to pay a small fee for their cable box to get some deal but only checked it out once and wasn't impressed. I just stream stuff over my TV or via my old-fashioned antennae.

>183 witchyrichy: I still prefer cable to streaming. I never know when something will start buffering. And I don't know if Paramount for one has fixed their streaming--they used to have lots of problems with commercials coming in where they were not supposed to. I do stream some things, but cable is more reliable for watching.

6. Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende

I pulled this book off my shelf to read for Paul's Roads Less Traveled challenge. January was authors from Chile. I've had this one for many years, and this gave me the impetus to finally read it. It also fits the Reading Through Time threads, both the quarterly and January monthly challenges. My husband actually grabbed this one to read a few months ago. He was good until I was near the end about not giving me any spoilers, but he let one slip this morning. I had already guessed it, but it would have been better if he hadn't said anything until I finished.

This is a fun reimagining of the Zorro story. Allende gives Zorro/Diego a background, so we can see where he comes from and why he does the things he does. She does the same thing for his companion, Bernardo, whom I almost did not even remember from the original story. The story begins with Diego's parents and his own childhood in California. But half of the book or more is set in Spain during the Napoleonic era, where Diego is sent with Bernardo for his education. He makes enemies during his stay there, and the politics of Europe where Napoleon is in power to start but then is exiled to Elba also play a big part. Their return to America is interrupted by pirates. All the experiences Diego has during his childhood, on ship, in Spain, and with the pirates are important to the development of his Zorro persona. They finally get back to California, where the fortunes of Diego's father and the community have changed for the worse. Of course, they take up the challenge to make things better for everyone.

Zorro has many adventures in this book. Allende pays a lot of attention to what was happening with the Indians in California at this time in history, and that plays an important part in the story. Allende also adds new characters, and women are strong and have agency of their own in this version. There's quite a twist at the end. This story basically ends where the traditional Zorro tales pick up. Weirdly, since my previous book was What an Owl Knows, there's a reference to one of those folk beliefs about owls that I read about in that book, where owls are perceived as harbingers of death. Zorro is a lot of fun, and I'm glad I finally got to it.

A couple of quotes that caught my eye:

He realized that bullies generally are easy to cow, that the loudest are the least sincere, that arrogance is a quality of the ignorant, and that flatterers tend to be vicious.

In the United States, democracy was controlled by white men; on Barataria it worked for everyone--except women, of course. [The pirate] Lafitte's peculiar ideas seemed worthy of consideration. He maintained that the powerful invented laws to preserve their privileges and to control the poor and discontented; therefore it would be stupid to obey them. For example, taxes, which in the end the poor paid while the rich found ways to avoid it.

>185 atozgrl: I am going to have to find a copy of that one! It sounds like a fun read! Thanks for the recommendation, Irene.

Have a fantastic Friday!

>185 atozgrl: Stasia! You sneaked in before I finished writing up my review. I'm watching the Olympics while trying to write this up, so I decided to save bits of what I had written so I don't lose them if I stop to watch.

It really is a fun read. I hope you can find it.

Even after getting some rain the last couple of days, we've still got a little bit of the ice from 2 weeks ago sticking around in the shady areas. We're supposed to have another bitterly cold weekend, dropping back into the teens, and then it's finally supposed to warm up a bit with 60's on Tuesday and Wednesday. It has been a while since we've seen temperatures that high.

I went out to get a trim at the hair dresser's today. Otherwise, I started watching the Olympics. I will be spending a lot of time watching the games for the next couple of weeks, so I don't know how much reading I will manage to do this month. I do need to get my book club reads in, but fortunately they are shorter this month than some of the other books we have coming up. My hold on Watership Down that was for the January BAC also finally came in, too late for January, so I hope I can get it read. We'll see.

>188 atozgrl: I watched the opening ceremony this evening. Liked it. What games are you planning on watching?

>189 EllaTim: I watch the figure skating the most, but I really enjoy all the sports in the Winter Olympics. There are so many that I never watch outside of the Olympics but that I find compelling during the games. I do tend to watch sports that have individuals competing against each other more than the team sports in the Olympics. I'm not sure why, since I am a big baseball fan, which is obviously a team sport. I also watch some NHL hockey. But there's just something about the sports with individual competitors at the Olympics.

I haven't watched any of the Olympics, except for a few figure skating clips online on CBC . I would enjoy watching some figure-skating. I read A Christian Case Against Donald Trump and found it fascinating and learned quite a lot. I had a kindle copy, so I wrote down a lot of quotes.

>191 vancouverdeb: There's plenty of figure skating coming up this afternoon, my time. Try to watch some of it if you can.

A Christian Case Against Donald Trump was very quotable, wasn't it. I wound up putting a couple of posts with quotes from it on my thread, back when I read it. I sure hope some more people are looking at that book now, though it's too late to stop them from voting for him.

>190 atozgrl: I am with you on figure skating and other individual sports. Getting ready to settle in for the afternoon. We are hockey fans in this family so always happy to watch those games. The US Women's team is quite good.

>193 witchyrichy: Sounds like we are sympatico with what we like to watch at the Olympics. The US women's hockey team is definitely good. But I won't complain this time if Canada beats them, with all the ridiculous threats toward Canada coming from our government.

We're not having a great afternoon today. I needed to refill all the bird feeders today because everything was empty. Things had emptied out over the last couple of days, and I was a bit behind getting the refills out. After doing that this morning, we discovered that one of those nasty mockingbirds has moved in and is chasing all the other birds away from the food. Usually we get one of those in November if we're going to have one. But we hadn't had any problems until now. I wound up moving two of the feeders off the feeder pole into separate locations, so that the mockingbird can't defend all of them at once. But I'm probably going to have to put them back on the pole tonight to keep them away from nocturnal predators. I'd rather have to put up with the squirrels than the mockingbird pest.

Later my DH was working on budget stuff. Something has changed on my pension, so I needed to log into my retirement account to get the latest statement. I had just logged into it within the last couple of weeks to get my tax statement. But now I can't log in. Without advance warning, I suddenly have to have an ID.me account to log in. And the steps for creating such an account are onerus. From what I can see, I'm going to have to go to some in-person location to verify my identity, and they won't tell us what the in-person locations are until we first start the account creation process online. Heaven only knows how long this is going to take. It all makes me want to spit nails.

>195 atozgrl: Maddening! I'm so sorry.

>196 richardderus: Very! I hate bureaucracy.

>195 atozgrl: I loathe trying to log in to our government pension plan online too, Irene. It's onerous to create on , and it seems I can never log into it either. I can my manage the Canada taxes online returns, but that is bad enough. Sorry you have to go in person to ID yourself.

Happy Sunday, Irene. I hope today is much better than yesterday. Bummer. I had no idea the mockingbirds were such pests. They are not common in northern Illinois. Good luck with figuring out the feeders and good luck with that doggone log in problem. 🤞🤞

>198 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah. If it weren't for all the bad guys, they wouldn't have to make logging in so difficult. I wish I'd known I needed a copy of last month's pension info before they changed the login.

>199 msf59: Happy Sunday to you too, Mark. Today's better overall, though I did have a bad dream last night that I was going to have to go to Washington, DC to do the in-person verification. The mockingbird is still harassing the other birds, but I moved one feeder into the front yard. I don't know if any birds have found it in the new location yet. I moved another one onto a different pole in the backyard, and I've seen a Carolina wren and another bird in it without the mockingbird bothering them. So maybe that will help. Unfortunately, there was a squirrel in it twice already, because it's in a spot where the squirrels aren't going to have any trouble getting into it. But at least some birds now have a chance to get something. I'll have to put the hot seed in it the next time I fill it up.

We have mockingbirds all over down here. I don't remember ever seeing one when I grew up in Illinois. Unfortunately, it seems like every second or third year, we get a nasty one in the backyard in the winter, harassing the other birds and driving them away from the feeders.

>200 atozgrl: Stopping by to touch base with you Irene and hope all is well. Not like you to be away from us for 3 or 4 days.

>201 PaulCranswick: I'm fine, Paul, thanks for checking in. It's quiet here, because I've been watching the Olympics this week. I haven't had much to say. I have been trying to keep up with some of the threads on LT, but I haven't gotten to all of them this week, yours included. I did make comments on a few threads, but otherwise I haven't done a lot here. I also haven't been reading much. I've had my exercise classes and had to run some errands, and then otherwise watching the Olympics.

>203 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda. And a belated Happy Valentine's Day to you too!

Time for you to visit Chicago to see this new acquisition at the Art Institute:

https://www.wbez.org/arts/2026/02/10/art-institute-chicago-norman-rockwell-cubs-...

Afternoon, Irene! I hope you're happily page-flippin' the afternoon away.

>205 kac522: Oh, the famous dugout painting. Thanks for letting me know about that, Kathy. It's cool that the painting wound up in the Art Institute of Chicago.

>206 richardderus: I haven't gotten much reading done today at all, unfortunately. Exercise class this morning, and more Olympics for most of the rest of the day. I'm hoping I can fit more reading in tomorrow.

I still have not watched any Olympics, just busy walking the dog, reading etc . I do watch a few things on youtube.

>209 vancouverdeb: I wish you had watched at least some of the Olympics. It's been really good. You would have enjoyed the figure skating. I was surprised when the US got a gold medal in the women's competition. I really expected Kaori Sakamoto to win. We missed out on the ones that were more likely going into the Olympics. There were surprise wins in most of the competitions.

I'm really finding the Exevangelicals a fascinating read, Irene. It's you that I think helped me decide I had to read it. Thanks!

>211 vancouverdeb: I'm glad you are liking the book, Deborah! I thought it was really good. I'm glad I helped you decide to pick it up.

>212 atozgrl: Thanks Irene. I hope to finish it tonight, but either that or tomorrow.

I had quite an unexpected coincidence this afternoon. I had the closing ceremonies for the Olympics on in the background while I was reading my book for book club, The Personal Librarian. I got to Chapter 23, entitled "August 18, 1910 Verona, Italy." Which took me by surprise, since the closing ceremonies were taking place in Verona, right as I was reading the book.

I did finally finish Watership Down, and I'll say something about it as soon as I get the chance. I need to finish The Personal Librarian by Tuesday. Fortunately, that one is proving to be a quick read.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The January British Author Challenge was reading Richard Adams, and since I've been wanting to read Watership Down, I decided to join in. Unfortunately, all copies at my library system were checked out, so I had to put it on hold, and my hold didn't come in until the very end of January. Then, of course, my reading time was cut down because I've been watching the Olympics this month, so it took me a while to finish it.

This is one of those children's books that I didn't read when I was young and I wanted to fill in the gap. Now I see why I missed it. The book was published after I was past the age that the book was written for. I was busy with school, etc., by the time it came out, and I don't even know when I became aware of it. It's too bad it wasn't published earlier, because I'm sure it would have been a favorite childhood book. I loved The Wind in the Willows, and I have no doubt that this book would have taken its place beside that one.

Watership Down tells the story of a group of rabbits whose warren is destroyed by humans wanting to build a new development. They are forced to search for a new place to start over. We follow their adventures on the way to their new home, and then the conflict they have with another, established warren when they try to bring some female rabbits to their new home. The story is interesting and well told, and the characters are memorable. I am glad to have finally read it.

Watership Down almost counts as a Big Fat Book, but not quite. It's 476 pages, plus xvi pages of prefatory material including the introduction, making 492 pages total. Just short of a BFB. I may be reading several books like that this year. {Sigh}

[Fiver:] "There's terrible evil in the world."
     "It comes from men," said Holly. ... "Men will never rest till they've spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals."

8. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

I read The Personal Librarian for my RL book club this month. It's one I have had on my shelves for a while now, so I was glad to have a chance to read it. It tells the story of Belle da Costa Greene, who was hired by J.P. Morgan as librarian at the Pierpont Morgan Library. She was to organize, curate, and help develop the library's collection of rare books, manuscripts, and artwork. She was also a black woman passing as white in the early 20th century. The book is a fictional telling of Greene's story, but she was a real person.

I was fascinated by Greene, her life and her work, and how she was able to be successful at a time when there was such deep-seated prejudice. Her father was Richard Greener, the first black graduate of Harvard and a well-known promoter of civil rights. There is conflict in the family when Greene's mother sees the writing on the wall as far as hopes for equal rights is concerned and decides for the sake of her children that they would need to pass as white. Her father leaves them at that point. Greene goes on to get an education and eventually obtain the job at the Pierpont Morgan Library. The book tells the story of how she was able to succeed in the world of collectors and rare books, as well as in high society.

The authors tell the story in first person, from Belle Greene's point of view. They have used what is known to construct a fictional story revealing her inner life and feelings, and personal events that are unknown to history. This is the weakest part of the book, as it is hard to know what is true to her real life. Sometimes I had trouble believing that some of the events could have occurred. However, it is fiction. Because of this, I had trouble coming up with a rating for the book, but decided to give it 4 stars--revised to 3.75*, since the story of Belle da Costa Greene is fascinating. Maybe I need to find a nonfiction biography to read.

My real life book club met today to discuss the book. A lot of folks there felt pretty much the same way that I did. Most everybody liked the book but gave ratings in the 3-4 star range, mostly 4's. Several people commented that the book was repetitive, saying the same things multiple times. Some didn't care for the writing style, though they were fascinated by Belle's story. But as one of the book club members said, the book provoked a spirited discussion in spite of its flaws. That would certainly make the authors happy, since they say in the reader's guide at the back of my copy of the book: "Thus, we hope that book clubs will reach out and join together with other clubs, bringing together readers from a broad range of backgrounds, ages, and experiences to share in the discussion of Belle."

A quote from Belle's mother, explaining her choice to pass as white:

Your father and I lived through a brief, fleeting time in history when equality might have been possible. But racism and fear rose up within white people and eradicated that possibility when they were asked to stand side by side with the colored people. It was in that moment that I could see the future clearly. Our tiny, accomplished colored community would soon be gone. The lofty postwar ideal of integration would disappear along with it. There would only be black and white, two races separated, but certainly not equally.

3.75*

>215 atozgrl: I have never read Watership Down, Irene. I did not realize it was so long. "There's terrible evil in the world."
"It comes from men," said Holly. ... "Men will never rest till they've spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals." Great quote that you caught.

>217 vancouverdeb: I didn't realize that Watership Down was so long either, until I got my copy. If they'd printed it on taller paper, I guess it wouldn't have been as long. But it's still a substantial story.

Yes, that quote really stood out to me. I left out the part where Holly mentions how the animals that attack and eat them do so because they have to for survival, not because they are evil, but Holly used the "rabbit" terminology that I didn't want to have to clarify in my post. At least there are some helpful humans at the end of the story.

>218 atozgrl: I read it in maybe 1973/4. I thought it was just okay but I was not thinking of it as a kids' book, so totally missed the point. Enjoyed the cartoon, though... good review indeed.

>216 atozgrl: was a decent read IIRC but I remember nothing about it...kinda damning.

Happy weekend-ahead's reads!

>219 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. Yeah, The Personal Librarian was a decent read as you say, but maybe the story of Belle da Costa Greene deserves a better treatment. A straight biography might be better, I might have to seek out An Illuminated Life that the authors mentioned.

>215 atozgrl: This is one of those children's books that I didn't read when I was young I am a rare one, I guess, but I really do not think of Watership Down as a kids book. I never read it until adulthood either so maybe that has some bearing on my thoughts.

>216 atozgrl: Dodging that BB as I have already read it.

>220 atozgrl: A straight biography might be better I definitely think so!

>221 alcottacre: I certainly think that Watership Down works for adults as well as children. But since Adams says it was written from stories he told his children when they were driving on trips, it does seem to be intended for children. And I do think I probably would have loved the story more as a child.

>220 atozgrl: She really didn't leave the paper trail or the comet-tail of a Notable Figure so the biography would be short and unsatisfying. I get why people write historical novels about folks like Belle da Costa Greene. We don't leave enough behind, us little folks.

>222 atozgrl: But since Adams says it was written from stories he told his children when they were driving on trips, it does seem to be intended for children A valid point!

Have a fantastic Friday, Irene!

>223 richardderus: That is certainly true. They mentioned how she burned her letters, so she deliberately got rid of some of the material that would have helped us to know her better. But she sounds like a fascinating woman.

>224 alcottacre: It's been a dreary, drizzly day here, but we've gotten a few things accomplished. I hope you have a great weekend, Stasia!

>225 atozgrl: I would love to know more, but her wishes were very clear and I reluctantly accept them.

>227 richardderus: She burned her letters at a time when racism was still the order of the day. I wonder if she would have done that if she knew that eventually people would be interested in uncovering and promoting all the contributions that black people have made to our country. But we have to be satisfied with the knowledge that we do have.

Well, it looks like I am not going to finish my current book before tonight. I'm reading 1984 for my Challenged Books Club this month. Unfortunately, I missed the club meeting, but I've been wanting to do a reread of this book for about a year, so I was going to tackle it anyway. If this month weren't so short, I'd finish it within the month. If the weather hadn't been so nice today, I would have finished it today. But after two days of rain (or should I say, one full day of rain and one full day of drizzle), we needed to get out this afternoon and do some yard work. We're supposed to get mulch in a couple of weeks, and we needed to clean out the garden beds and pull some weeds. We managed to get most of the front yard done today, so that was progress. But it put my reading on the back burner.

Aaaand, just as I suspected, I finished 1984 today. (Dang February for being such a short month.) That was in spite of church and Sunday School this morning, and more yard work this afternoon. It was in the 70's today and sunny. We had to take advantage of the good weather before the rain moves back in tomorrow.



9. 1984 by George Orwell

My RL Challenged Books Club read this book for February. As I mentioned, I missed the meeting, but have been wanting to do a reread for quite a while. We read this when I was in school; I think it was Junior High. I honestly remembered very little of the story. Obviously, I remembered things like Big Brother, but I was surprised to see that the term "thought police" came from the book. That phrase is ubiquitous these days, and I honestly had forgotten it was used in 1984. I had also forgotten that Big Brother watching people constantly just applied to those who were in "the Party." The lower class "proles" seemed to be living their lives pretty much as they always had.

Having read Brave New World and The Giver relatively recently, I was struck by the difference in the dystopian worlds. While Brave New World and The Giver show societies that aim to be utopian by getting rid of or covering up the messiness of real life, making things neat and clean, the world in 1984 is dirty, gritty, unpleasant. And as it turns out, it is deliberately so. The ugliness of that world made the early part of the book somewhat difficult to read for me. It was so all around depressing, that I had to put the book down a couple of times. But the story got more interesting in parts 2 and 3. There actually isn't a lot of plot or action in the story, so it's no wonder I didn't remember much. It's a lot more internal thought of the protagonist, Winston Smith, and what happens to him in the totalitarian world in the book. The blurb on the back cover says "As we follow Winston Smith through his rebellion, imprisonment, torture, and reeducation, we witness firsthand the destruction of the truths and freedoms that make us who we are, and the creation of a world where black is white, two plus two equals five, and evil is good."

There are some things in the book that seem very applicable to today (one of the three slogans of the Party, "Ignorance Is Strength," seems to be a main part of the current administration), and others that seem more like a criticism of how socialist ideals were perverted in Soviet Russia, and are therefore less of a concern these days. This isn't the easiest read, but I am glad that I got back to it again.

The frightening thing ... was that it might all be true. If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened--that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death.

In a way, the world-view of the Party imposed itself most successfully on people incapable of understanding it. They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening. By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird.

"The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited, time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. ..."

3.75*

Hi Irene!

>200 atozgrl: We had a Mockingbird who chose to only harass one of our kitties – Coco Chanel. She got scolded and dive bombed while we watched from the front porch.

>215 atozgrl: I didn’t read Watership Down ‘til after Jenna was born, so my mid-40s. I was actually rather disturbed by it for all the violence. The best part of the 1978 film was ‘Blue Eyes’ performed by Art Garfunkel, which we all watched when Jenna was about 5.

>216 atozgrl: I have this book on my shelves. Looks like there’s at least one biography of her, and another book of her letters.

I heard peepers when I was filling bird feeders yesterday. Early spring?

>230 atozgrl: Such a misunderstood read. "Aren't THEY bad?!" was how I was told to interpret it. It's a mirror not a window!

Enjoy your mulching.

>230 atozgrl: There are some things in the book that seem very applicable to today It is amazing how often you read books written years ago that still have pertinence to today, isn't it?

Have a marvelous Monday, Irene!

>231 karenmarie: I have not seen the film version of Watership Down either. If it pops up on TV, I might watch it now. I understand why you were disturbed by the violence. There was more in the book than I expected.

You heard peepers already? We haven't heard them yet. Winter came back today. I had yoga class this morning, and several errands to run, including filling my gas tank on the way back home. As I stood at the pump, the wind cut through my fleece jacket. I was glad to get back to the warmth of my house. But it's supposed to get to the 80's by the end of the week. I really don't want it to be that hot at the beginning of March.

>232 richardderus: Thinking about it as a mirror rather than a window is a good way to handle it. Thanks, RD.

We won't be doing the mulching ourselves. There's a guy who hires high school students to put out the mulch, so we have gotten up with him. But we need to pull weeds and clear out the leaves from the garden beds before they come to put down the mulch.

Happy Monday, Irene. Glad you got to that yardwork and I am glad you hung in there with 1984. I should also revisit it.

>233 alcottacre: That is very true indeed, Stasia.

We're doing OK, today. As I mentioned to Karen, I was out to exercise and running errands this morning. My DH is laid up today; he picked up some kind of bug that has affected his digestive system, so he's not doing great at the moment.

I hope you all are doing alright in spite of the situation. I know things aren't the easiest right now.

>236 msf59: Thanks, Mark! We haven't finished the yard work. We cleared out the beds in the front, but we still need to deal with the sides and back of the house. I hope they will be easier. But that will have to wait until the weather improves and my DH feels better.

Revisiting 1984 is worthwhile these days. I can see some of the current events reflected in the book. (But by no means all.)

>235 atozgrl: Good thing to hire the youth to do the heavy labor...nothing good comes of denying young muscles do better than ours at suchlike.

I'm glad that framing resonated!

I've been meaning to reread 1984 as well, Irene, but I might have to wait until real life isn't quite so dystopian. It is one of the most requested books in the library's bookstore.

>239 richardderus: Yeah, we're glad to leave that job to the younger folks these days. We noticed that they were putting out mulch at two of our neighbors across the street last year and asked about them. They did a good job for us when they came later in the spring. This time we're coordinating with the one neighbor; I don't know if the other is also having them do it. If they are, then they'll be doing three houses in one day.

>240 BLBera: Interesting that 1984 is so requested. I guess a lot of us are having similar thoughts and feelings these days. There's enough in the book that's quite different from today that I don't think it would be difficult from that point of view. For me, the difficulty was more that the setting was so dingy and depressing. I had forgotten that, or maybe that aspect of the book didn't affect me so much when I was young.

>236 msf59: I forgot to mention that we heard an owl when we were working in the yard yesterday afternoon. At least, we're pretty sure it was an owl. It had that trill. We kept hoping it would call again so we could be sure, but no luck.

Nice recap of 1984 and it is truly amazing (unfortunately) how so many of these chilling stories still seem to apply today. Sigh. Glad you are making progress on the yard work!

I'll have to think about revisiting 1984, Irene. I had to read it in High school and I don't think I really appreciated it then.

>230 atozgrl: I’ve just finished reading Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life which was excellent but does not paint George Orwell in a very good light at all. But I have to agree that 1984 is a very good book.

>241 atozgrl: A really great solution for everyone!

>244 Berly: Thanks, Kim! It is sad that these stories seem more relevant now than ever.

>245 vancouverdeb: I don't think I was old enough to really appreciate it either, Deborah, when I read it for school. I do think it's worth a reread.

>246 SandDune: That's interesting! I'm not sure I'm up to reading more about Orwell at the moment, but I'll have to keep that one in mind. Somehow the wives of famous men are often overlooked.

>247 richardderus: Yes, it really is! The young folks get to earn some money during their spring break, the guy running the lawn care company gets cheaper help and customers in one location, and we get the work done for us at a better price. Win, win, win!

Excuse my absence this week. We got hit by norovirus or some other stomach bug this week, and I've been down for a few days. My DH started feeling bad Sunday night. He was doing a lot better by Wednesday, but that's when I came down with it, and I was sick as a dog. I'm finally getting back to normal today, and was able to do a grocery run this afternoon. How ironic that I was in the middle of reading The Ghost Map when I came down with this bug.

It also hit a high of 84F today. First time in the 80's since October, and a record high for the date. Yuck. I really don't want summer the first week of March. Maybe we can have a cold April.

10. The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson

I decided to read The Ghost Map for the February: Agents of Change – natural disasters, epidemics, etc. It also works for the February NonFictionCat Medicine & Disease, as well as the quarterly Reading Through Time.

The Ghost Map tells the story of the severe cholera outbreak in London in 1854 and how the doctor and anesthesiologist John Snow was able to trace the source of the outbreak to a specific water pump in Soho. Snow's work was reinforced by the research done by a local clergyman, Henry Whitehead, who was skeptical of Snow's theory, but was tasked by the Vestry Committee at his church to investigate the cause of the outbreak. As he researched the problem, he found more evidence to support Snow's theory, and came to realize that the pump was indeed at the source. Since the scientific and medical community believed that miasma was the source of disease (rather than being spread by water), it took some years before the establishment was convinced. But once they were, the city finally took action to improve the sewage infrastructure in London, preventing future outbreaks. And as Johnson contends, making cities with very large populations possible in the coming century.

John Snow in this book reminds me a bit of William Smith, from The Map That Changed the World that I read back in December. Both were very intelligent men who were children from the lower classes in England and who made discoveries that had a real impact on science, and on the lives of innumerable people to come. And the land privatization that wound up leading to Smith's work on canals and eventually geological maps also shows up here in The Ghost Map. Johnson writes about how all those tenant farmers' lives were upended, and how they became a supply of cheap labor, which was essential for the Industrial Revolution to occur. And all these laborers were now moving to London and causing a dramatic increase in the population. Microbes such as the one responsible for cholera "were the primary force reigning in the city's otherwise runaway growth."

It was weird at the beginning of the book when Johnson mentioned Our Mutual Friend, since there has been so much discussion and a group read of that book here on LT recently. He mentioned it in his description of the scavengers who lived in London at the time, including "toshers." Apparently Our Mutual Friend opens with a father-daughter team of toshers who find a corpse. I also found one aside that Johnson made quite interesting. He mentions that the 1854 outbreak was the first since 1848-49, and if you know your European history, there were also a number of uprisings across Europe that year. Johnson's comment was: "Plagues and political unrest have a long history of following the same cycles." Sound familiar?

I was very interested in the story about the cholera outbreak and how Snow and Whitehead were able to prove the source of the cholera. But the last chapter and epilogue in the book concentrate on what their discoveries, along with the engineering feat of establishing a sewer system meant for the future of cities, and this part was not as interesting to me. I thought that section ran on longer than necessary. On the whole, though, I found it to be an interesting book and a worthwhile read.

11. A Blessing of Peace by Welleran Poltarnees

@Whisper1 mentioned this book on her thread back in January. It looked good, so I looked for it on Thriftbooks, but they didn't have any copies available at that time. I saved it to my wishlist, and got a notification last week that it was back in stock, so I ordered it.

It's short, but a beautiful book, containing paintings that convey a sense of peace. We need the feeling of peace even more now than we did in January. For more, just look at Linda's review at: https://www.librarything.com/topic/376696#9089780

>253 atozgrl: The norwalk virus while reading The Ghost Map, Irene. How did you do it? My son and his wife and two young kids had the norwalk virus a couple of years ago and he called, needing deliveries of gatoradge and pedialyte and eventually some bland foods.

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better Irene. That virus sounds nasty. Looking forward to your review of The Ghost Map. I thought it was fascinating.

Happy Saturday, Irene. I hope you are both feeling better. You are in the 80s? Wow! That is a bit warm for early March. That said- we are around 60 which is still pretty darn warm.

>255 vancouverdeb: I have never heard the term "norwalk" virus before. I wonder if that's a Canadian term for the same thing. I can promise you, it wasn't intentional to come down with that while I was in the middle of reading The Ghost Map! Today was the first day that I felt hungry since coming down with it, although Wednesday was the only day I experienced the gastric symptoms.

>256 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura, we are better today. And it definitely was a nasty virus. I hope I can get my thoughts about The Ghost Map written up tomorrow. I doubt I'll get to it tonight.

>257 msf59: Happy Sunday to you, Mark! As I told Laura, we are better. We're rather tired today, thanks to the time change and my DH playing at a jazz gig last night, which meant we got to bed late. As a result, we didn't get any yard work done this afternoon.

The mid-80's are too hot this early. It was somewhat humid too. It got hot enough upstairs that I broke down and turned on the upstairs air conditioner. I'm not happy about that. It's not as hot today, but we're supposed to get another couple of 80° days mid-week before it finally cools off.

I haven't had as many bird visiting since the mockingbird started chasing the other birds during our coldest cold snap. But now that it has warmed up, maybe the mockingbird won't be as aggressive, and I'll try to put more feed on my main feeder pole this week.

>259 atozgrl: I would welcome the relative cool of the mid eighties occasionally, Irene!

>259 atozgrl: 80s...ugh. 80s and norovirus...ickptui. Good reading done gets a yay, howsomever, and May that trend continue!

>260 PaulCranswick: I suppose you would, Paul! I don't think I would do well in the climate that you are living in. Apologies that I haven't made it over to your latest thread. I got behind with the illness, and it's already gotten quite long. Maybe I can catch up this week.

>261 richardderus: 80's and norovirus was definitely not a pleasant week. Today it was nice, in the 70's and without the humidity. My DH worked most of the day in the yard. I put in a couple of hours myself. It was a good day for that, as long you were not in the sun. I got a little bit of reading done later in the afternoon.

>258 atozgrl: For a moment I thought - is it not the Norwalk virus ? I looked it up and it's called the Norovirus or Norwalk virus, with the first most scientifically correct, I think. Apparently Norwalk, Ohio was the first place the virus was discovered, back in 1968.

>252 atozgrl: Oh no! I hope you are both feeling better soon!

>264 vancouverdeb: Interesting! I have definitely never heard it referred to by that term here. Well, you learn something new every day! Thanks, Deborah.

>265 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita, we've both recovered and we're mostly fine now. We've both gotten the sleepies today, but that's more associated with the time change.

Oh my! There's no way I could catch up, but at least I saw that you have been ill, and I'm awfully sorry. I hope your recovery is quick, but something that lays you low for that long is likely not something you'll spring right back from. Take care of yourselves!!!!!

I'm with Stasia on Watership Down. I'd never consider it a children's book even if Adams did say he based it on stories he told his children. I read another one or two of his books after that one back when he first published it and appreciated them all.
You've been reading some really good stuff this year. Keep it up!

(I'd love to meet you too.)

>267 atozgrl: Thanks, Peggy! We had one of those stomach flu things that makes you really sick for a day, and then you recover pretty quickly. It did take me several days to get my appetite back, but we're over it now.

I have had some excellent reads this year. Several of them are due to my book clubs, and I think that is going to continue for much of the year. I missed Watership Down when it came out, and I think that's because it was addressed to children, and I was already well past that point. As I said, I'm not sure when I first became aware of the book. But I'm glad I finally read it.

And I sure do hope we can meet sometime!

>268 LizzieD: & >269 atozgrl: I agree that some parts are quite dark for juvenile sensibilities but what a wonderful book. I read it for the first time when I was about 12 and I absolutely loved it.

Also by the way, Irene, I am so pleased to see you nigh on fully recovered.

>271 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul!

I think I would have loved Watership Down at 12. I read Gone With the Wind at the end of 6th grade and loved it, so I wouldn't have been fazed by Watership Down.

>266 atozgrl: I learned something new too, and that is the origin of the " Norwalk Virus" .

Happy Wednesday, Irene. I had forgot that your husband played in a jazz band. What instrument does he play? I am a classic jazz fan but I don't get a chance to listen very much. Those darn audiobooks take precedence.

Good luck with those mockingbirds. 🤞🤞

Hi Irene! Happy Wednesday to you.

>252 atozgrl: Sorry you got hit by norovirus.

>253 atozgrl: On my shelves… sigh.

>259 atozgrl: I agree about it being too hot too early. 86F today, ugh. I replenished my feeders yesterday. While filling the one on the front porch, I saw a wasp and two huge bumble bees. I don't mind the bumble bees, but I do not like wasps.

>259 atozgrl: It's been super hot here (DC) this week, too. Gross. It's still winter!

>273 vancouverdeb: I'm glad you looked it up.

>274 msf59: Happy Wednesday to you too, Mark. My husband plays the trombone. They play a pretty wide variety of music, from old big band style to pop music. This past concert was music from broadway shows.

>275 karenmarie: I'm falling down on the job, I still haven't written up my thoughts about The Ghost Map. I'll get to it soon.

The news said it got all the way up to 89F today. Yuck! And it's supposed to be 33F on Friday morning. That's quite the swing!

I hope the wasp isn't getting ready to build a nest on your porch. I don't like getting close to wasps either.

>276 norabelle414: Gross is right! Way too hot for this early in the year. Fortunately, the temperature is going down tomorrow. I'm just hoping we don't get any severe storms in the process.

We got our mulch delivery today. The crew is supposed to be here around 4:00 Friday to put it out for us. So we've got a couple of days to finish pulling weeds before they get here. I think we've pretty much cleared out the leaves by this point. I don't know how much work we will get done tomorrow, because a cold front is coming through and it may be stormy, though we don't expect the really bad stuff that the midwest has been getting. Maybe we can get a little done in the morning before the main rain arrives.

I finally got my review of The Ghost Map written up in >253 atozgrl:. Does anyone know what has happened to the stars? Some (but not all) of the star images have been broken for several days now. And of course the ones I use most often are the ones that are broken. I thought the broken ones would eventually be fixed, but they haven't been. I may have to update all my ratings to use the other set of stars.

The cold front has passed through today. It was still in the 70's when we got up, but dropped into the 40's by midday. We had heavy rain as the front came through, but it didn't rain as long as I expected, and it's clear with the sun out now. I wish we had gotten more rain. We're in a drought and we need it. And Roxboro actually saw some snow!

12. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

I read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry for my Challenged Books Club this month. This is a Newbery Medal winner. The book tells the story of the Logan family, a black family in Mississippi during the Great Depression. The Logans own their land, while most of their black neighbors are sharecroppers. The story is told by Cassie, who is in the 4th grade. She lives with her three brothers, her mother, and her grandmother. Their father lives with them part of the year, but has to leave for months at a time to work on the railroad, to earn money to pay their mortgage and taxes. Cassie is having to learn how to behave in a world filled with racism.

The story shows us what life was like for a poor black family during the Depression in the South. There is a lot of tension in the story, because the pressure of racism and how it affects the Logans and their friends is ever present. The events of the book felt realistic to me. What they have to live through is not easy, but it is good for us to read about it, to understand what life was like for so many. The Logan family is strong, and they are good people. I definitely recommend it.

    "M-Mama," said Christopher-John when we reached the road, "can't you ever teach no more?"
    Mama did not answer immediately. When she did, her voice was muffled. "Somewhere else maybe, but not here--at least not for a while."
    "But how's come, Mama?" demanded Little Man. "How's come?"
    Mama bit into her lower lip and gazed at the road. "Because, baby," she said finally, "I taught things some folks just didn't want to hear."

The young people came Friday afternoon to spread out our mulch. They did a good job. As it turns out, this group is doing the work to raise money to attend summer camps. After they finished with us, they headed across the street to do the neighbor's yard. It's really nice to have that done. I spent the weekend recovering from all the weeding.

Today our area was under a Level 4 threat for storms. They expected thunderstorms, strong straight-line winds, and possible tornadoes. When I went to the Senior Center this morning for exercise class, someone said that they were closing at noon. Apparently the powers that be decided to close the town offices at noon, out of abundant caution. Schools in the area were also closed today. But as it turned out, we were lucky. There was a strong line of thunderstorms to our west this morning, but they fizzled out by the time they got here around noon. Places to our west had wind damage, and Charlotte had a small tornado. But all we had was some rain, heavy at times. The second line with the front came through here around 6:30, with more rain, and really strong wind gusts this time. There are reports of a few trees down around the area, but it is mostly gone now, and that seems to be the worst we got. Very fortunate.

The Challenged Books Club discussed Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry today. Everyone liked the book. One thing that came out in the discussion that I forgot to mention in my >283 atozgrl: summary was how good the characterizations were. There were a lot of people in the story, and they were different from each other, and clearly delineated. They were believable as real people.

As seems to often happen in recent meetings of the Challenged Books Club, we got off into discussions of our own experiences or other topics, though this time it was mostly related to some aspect of the book.

>285 atozgrl: That's the kind of book club meeting I think is the best!

13. How to Read A Book by Monica Wood

I read How to Read A Book for my regular book club this month. It tells the story of three people whose lives become intertwined: a young woman who made a bad decision one day and wound up in prison as a result, the retired lady who leads the prison book club, and a retired widower who was harmed by the young woman's mistake. The three encounter each other unexpectedly in a bookstore in Portland, Maine, and the story takes off from there. I can't say much more without revealing too much of the story. The characters are interesting, and the three main characters are very likeable. When I started the book, I found it hard to set down, but some parts of the story later on didn't pull on me quite as much. Certain characters don't make the best decisions. There is also a research lab with parrots, and the parrots also make interesting characters.

Overall, I found this to be a fun story. It's not as memorable or impactful as some of the other books I've read this year, but it was enjoyable.

    "Books won't solve my problems, Harriet."
    "No, but they give your problems perspective. They allow your problems to breathe."

In her current world, being a well-to-do white lady felt dimly shameful, her yearning to "help out" close to pitiable. She wondered now if she'd chosen prison because her work there would be hidden. She'd told almost no one. She could do-good as she wished, be as laughable and cliché as she had to, without exposing herself to ridicule or scorn.

>286 richardderus: We did have a good discussion, RD. In general, I prefer more focus on the book itself. Some off-topic is OK, but not too much.

>287 atozgrl: An author whose work I've liked since Ernie's Ark hove across my bow.

>288 atozgrl: A good balance is hard to find in social settings, especially when the book is really hitting people's buttons.

>289 richardderus: This is the first one I've read by Monica Wood. I'll have to look for more of hers.

It is often hard to find the right balance in book discussions. And what one person feels is right may not be the same as the next person, which makes it even harder. And some books definitely make people want to share their personal experiences rather than talk about the book itself. But overall, the discussions at the two book clubs I'm involved in now have been quite good.

Another day, another AT&T outage. It was still a local outage, but this time it was not in the neighborhood. There was a line outage about 5 miles from here, and Internet was down most of the afternoon. Oddly, I couldn't get Internet on my phone originally, but the land line was still working, and my DH was still online on the PC. After troubleshooting, everything was down. The app initially reported no outages, but after troubleshooting and then waiting to speak to someone on chat, that person finally said there was a line problem and they were working on it. I hope that's the last of the problems for a while.

My DH's aunt is in the hospital with fluid in her lungs, and she will be having a procedure tomorrow. She's 95, so we're pretty worried.

Hi, Irene! I think you did a fine job of introducing *How to Read* without spoiling. I didn't even try. I did love it and will read it again. This week has been the perfect time for me to read it.

GRRR for AT&T. We still have our landline with them, and so far that's been fine. I know we should let it go, but with our vintage wiring, we had the only working phone in our neighborhood when Matthew took out everything else. The winds were not strong enough to bring wires down, but everything else was under water.

I wish your DH's aunt a successful, effective procedure. I expect that's where you are today and hope for good news from you.

>292 LizzieD: Just a heads-up: in Illinois AT&T is discontinuing landlines as of March 2027, and my understanding is it will eventually apply everywhere. We still have our landline, too. In a letter we got, our alternatives to keep our same number are 1) a cell phone with our current number or 2) keep our current landline equipment to use on some other sort of network--I think essentially cell phone service. I haven't called to find out the pricing yet.

>292 LizzieD: I'm glad you thought I did a good job with my comments about How to Read a Book. I was really into it at the start, but the plot kind of let up a bit later on. But I did like it.

As for AT&T, they replaced our landline a few years ago, and now we've got VOIP. So if the Internet is out, we don't have the landline phone. Funny thing, back when they were predicting we might have a bad ice storm, someone on TV recommended that people should keep the old-fashioned landline phone, because that would still work if you lost power. Ha! The phone companies aren't supporting that any more.

We got news that the aunt's surgery went really well this morning. They are going to keep her in the hospital for a few days. Given her age, I'm not counting on anything until we see how it goes the next few days, but the news was the best we could have heard, so we're hopeful.

>293 kac522: Hi Kathy! As you see, I just mentioned to Peggy that our landline was already replaced. We weren't given a choice, they just switched us over. IIRC, they were out here doing some kind of work on the line anyway. At least we no longer have to worry about a lightning strike coming into the house over the copper phone lines (which happened to us twice after we moved in).

>295 atozgrl: I knew they were selectively phasing out landlines (we were offered it a couple of years ago), but I think we're the first state where AT&T is eliminating landlines throughout the state. With a deadline.

I don't think what they're offering us as an alternative is VOIP. I have their letter here (in my "paperwork stuff to do later & dread calling" bin) which describes it as "AT&T Phone--Advanced." From their website it's described as:

"AP-A is a digital phone service that uses our reliable wireless network and any broadband connection as a backup. Today, AP-A is available in over 100 markets across 21 states, and will continue to expand to other markets and states across the country.....With AP-A, customers can keep their same number and use the devices they already own."

So it looks like it's using the wireless network, and VOIP when the wireless is down?? Anyway I hate calling them for any reason, but I should probably do so soon. The equipment in our neighborhood is very old--probably close to 100 years old now--as I've learned from outages in the past. And it seems to take them twice as long to figure out how to fix it or change it.

And hoping your aunt is comfortable and can go home as soon as she is able.

>296 kac522: Well, that's interesting. I didn't know any phone companies were going that route. I can imagine having to repair equipment that old is a problem, so no doubt they want to replace it.

As far as I know, things are still going well with my DH's aunt. His sister, who has been keeping us informed, had to go the opposite direction with her husband today, to attend the memorial service for one of his old friends. They're under a lot of stress here lately.

Happy Monday, Irene. I hope you had a good weekend. Hooray for How to Read a Book. I really enjoyed that one, plus it had parrots. 😜

How are those feeders doing? Mine have been quiet, other than those relentless house sparrows.

>298 msf59: Good grief, I just wrote a message, clicked Post, and it disappeared. I'll try this again.

I did think that How to Read a Book was fun. And yes to the parrots.

The feeders have picked up somewhat, because the mockingbird isn't attacking as much as it was since the weather warmed up. We have seen a brown thrasher a lot recently. It has been visiting the suet feeder regularly. I need to refill the suet feeder; it is out as of this morning. We have also seen a Carolina wren and downy and red-bellied woodpeckers. The other regulars (chickadees, cardinals, and mourning doves) have also been out there. But my feeders haven't gotten really busy yet, because the shelled seed feeder is empty. I need to take it down to clean, and I haven't gotten around to that yet.

A belated post here, since I never did post about our book club's discussion of How to Read a Book in March. Everyone enjoyed the book, though I don't think anyone thought it was one of the best things they had read. But virtually everyone there disliked the title. They thought the title was a bad choice.