Alcott Acre's Home, Room 2

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

We are now the parents of 3 furbabies: Mallory and Chalfont, who are littermates, and newly adopted Ilan, who was an outside cat until Kerry let him into the house. Mallory and Chalfont will be 5 years old in March. Ilan is about 8 months old.

I am a Christian, but I am not one of the evangelicals responsible for the current President of the U.S. I tell everyone that I would not have voted for him if he was the only one running!

I love to read it goes without saying and Kerry is very good about all of the books strewn throughout our house. Since Kerry retired in late 2023, we have spent a lot of time over the course of the past couple of years playing board games (my other hobby) and despite that, my reading has continued apace. I am hoping to slow my reading pace down in 2026 as I have a lot of projects around my house that I would like to get done. I am shooting for 240 books this year as opposed to the 350+ I normally read!

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

We traveled quite a bit in 2025 - for us anyway - but 2026 is shaping up to be quite different. Currently we have one family vacation planned and that is it. I still hope to get to the Pacific Northwest at some point, but it does not look like it is going to be this year.

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

Excellent Reads from 2026, Part I - Books Rated 5 stars
Birth, Sex and Abuse: Women’s Voices Under Nazi Rule by Beverley Chalmers
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

Excellent Reads from 2026, Part II - Books Rated 4.5 stars
Alone: Reflections on Solitary Living by Daniel Schreiber
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor
The Most Wonderful Books edited by Michael Dorris and Emilie Buchwald
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Coming Up Short: A Memoir of America by Robert Reich
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Love-in-a-Mist by Victoria Goddard
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Stolen in Death by J. D. Robb
A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul

Excellent Reads from 2026, Part III - Books Rated 4.25 stars
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
Playground by Richard Powers
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
The Auschwitz Photographer by Luca Crippa & Maurizio Onnis
Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor
Thelonius Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D. G. Kelley
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

February TIOLI Challenges:

Challenge #1: Read a book which pictures a fruit on the front cover
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen - Completed February 24, 2026
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - Completed February 8, 2026

Challenge #2: Read a book where a capital H begins a title word or starts one of the author’s names
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein - Completed February 11, 2026

Challenge #3: Read a book with a mode of transportation on the cover, title or author’s name
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Completed February 19, 2026
The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison - Completed February 23, 2026
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome - Completed February 26, 2026

Challenge #4: Read a book by an author you read between October 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026
Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard - Completed February 6, 2026
Stolen in Death by J. D. Robb - Completed February 6, 2026

Challenge #5: For the shortest month, read a book with the word "short" in the title or somewhere on the cover
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson - Completed February 12, 2026

Challenge #6: “The Common Ground” Challenge: Books containing the word “ground.”
The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty - Completed February 26, 2026
From the Ground Up by Amy Stewart - Completed February 27, 2026
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers - Completed February 22, 2026
Playground by Richard Powers - Completed February 2, 2026
Whispers Under Ground - Completed February 28, 2026

Challenge #7: Read a book featuring letters from RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS (title, author)
The Far Country by Nevil Shute - Completed February 20, 2026
On the Beach by Nevil Shute - Completed February 28, 2026
Other Voices, Other Vistas edited by Barbara Solomon - Completed February 15, 2026
Thelonius Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D. G. Kelley - Completed February 18, 2026

Challenge #8: Read a book whose title or author's name contains the letters "ing", in that order
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green - Completed February 5, 2026

Challenge #9: The month of love: Read a book originally written in a Romance Language
The Auschwitz Photographer by Luca Crippa & Maurizio Onnis - Completed February 11, 2026

Challenge #10: Read a book originally published in a Commonwealth of Nations country
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield - Completed February 3, 2026
Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute - Completed February 8, 2026

Challenge 11: Read a Book by an Australian author or one set in or about Australia
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson - Completed February 1, 2026

Challenge #12 - Read a book by an author featured in the 2015 American Authors challenge
Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf - Completed February 16, 2026

Challenge #13: Read a book with a cover that shows the exterior of a building
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson - Completed February 5, 2026

Challenge #14: Read a book with the color yellow somewhere on the front cover
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman - Completed February 17, 2026
Evensong by Stewart O'Nan - Completed February 14, 2026
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie - Completed February 23, 2026

Challenge #15 - Read a book with a full name in the title
The Indomitable Mrs. Trollope by Eileen Bigland - Completed February 18, 2026
Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark - Completed February 27, 2026

Challenge #16 - Read a book by an author from the British Caribbean Countries
A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul - Completed February 24, 2026

Challenge #17 Read a book where the same word (excluding articles and prepositions) occurs more than once in the title.)
Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor - Completed February 16, 2026

Challenge #18: Read a Book with a two digit or larger number written numerically in the title
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff - Completed February 8, 2026
500 Great Books by Women by Erica Bauermeister, Jesse Larsen, and Holly Smith - Completed February 12, 2026

Challenge #19: Read anything Korean
Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park - Completed February 5, 2026

Challenge #20: Read a book for the Two by Two challenge
Second Reading by Jonathan Yardley - Completed February 22, 2026
Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell - Completed February 25, 2026

Shared reads:

Place of Tides by James Rebanks - Completed January 1, 2026
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - Completed January 2, 2026
Love in a Mist by Victoria Goddard - Completed January 25, 2026
Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard - Completed February 6, 2026
Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley - Shared read with Reba in March
Balancing Stone and The Saint of the Bookstore - Shared reads with Mary in March
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker - Shared read with Mark et al in April?
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - Shared read with Anne in August?
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin - Shared read with Mary in November?
I, Claudius by Robert Graves - Shared read with Paul sometime?

Black Studies Reading
Must read for 2026: Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
1. Beloved by Toni Morrison - Completed January 6, 2026
2. The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson - Completed February 5, 2026

Jewish Studies Reading
Must read for 2026: Cultures of the Jews edited by David Biale
1. Birth, Sex and Abuse: Women’s Voices Under Nazi Rule by Beverley Chalmers - Completed January 25, 2026
2. The Auschwitz Photographer by Luca Crippa & Maurizio Onnis - Completed February 11, 2026

The British Authors Challenge - This is one that I dip into and out of as the case may be
January - The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell - Completed January 26, 2026
February - Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute - Completed February 8, 2026
February - The Far Country by Nevil Shute - Completed February 20, 2026

Kent Haruf Challenge:
The Tie That Binds - Completed January 22, 2026
Where You Once Belonged - Completed February 1, 2026
Plainsong
Eventide
Benediction
Our Souls at Night
Granta 109 essay

In Memory of Caroline:
Alone: Reflections on Solitary Living by Daniel Schreiber - Completed January 2, 2026

The “Read More Sci-Fi” Challenge - using the Esquire list found here (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/) - which has now been expanded - and the book Science Fiction, The 101 Best Novels, 1985-2010 by Damien Broderick and Paul di Filippo as guides. Also adding in Hugo & Nebula Award winners and nominees.
1. The City & the City by China Mieville - Completed January 31, 2026 (#34 on the Esquire list)
2. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein - Completed February 11, 2026 (#51 on the Esquire list)

Monthly Nonfiction Challenges - I try to read at least 100 nonfiction books a year and this challenge is instrumental in helping me achieve that goal. In 2025, I was able to read 124 nonfiction books.
January The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick - Completed January 19, 2026
January Birth, Sex and Abuse: Women’s Voices Under Nazi Rule by Beverley Chalmers - Completed January 25, 2026
February Thelonius Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D. G. Kelley - Completed February 18, 2026

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

The In Death series by J.D. Robb
Vendetta in Death - Completed January 1, 2026
Stolen in Death - Completed February 6, 2026
Golden in Death -

The St. Mary’s books by Jodi Taylor
Plan for the Worst - Completed January 8, 2026
Another Time, Another Place - Completed February 16, 2026
A Catalogue of Catastrophe -

The Decker/Lazarus series by Faye Kellerman
Serpent's Tooth -

The Three Pines series by Louise Penny
The Long Way Home -

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear
A Dangerous Place -

The Shetland Series by Ann Cleeves
Cold Earth -

The Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers Now complete
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - Completed February 22, 2026

The Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch
Whispers Under Ground -

The Brighton Mystery Series by Elly Griffiths
Now You See Them -

Trader's Tales From The Golden Age of The Solar Clipper Series by Nathan Lowell
Full Share -

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

Nonfiction:
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson - Completed February 12, 2026

Fiction:
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green - Completed February 5, 2026

Building Bridges Challenge: Using American Ethnic Writers, Volumes 1 & 2 as well as Bibliophile: Diverse Spines and 500 Great Books by Women as Guides

1. Beloved by Toni Morrison - Completed January 6, 2026
2. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie - Completed February 23, 2026

Roads Less Traveled Challenge:

January - Chilean Authors:
House of Spirits by Isabel Allende - Completed January 11, 2026

February - Anglo Caribbean Authors:
A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul - Completed February 24, 2026

March - Mexican Authors:
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Happy new thread, Stasia!

>14 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg!

Wow, second thread already! Happy new one, Stasia.

Happy new thread, dear Juana.

Happy new thread, Stasia!! : ) Hoping sleep patterns are better this month. And I am reading When the Cranes Fly South -- I saw you and Mark were talking about that one on your last thread.

Happy new thread, Stasia!

Happy New thread. From your previous thread, I've been a China Mieville fan and did enjoy Perdido Street Station enough to read the next book in that series. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest trying Embassytown. I don't do many rereads but The City & The City would be one I'd consider.
Another English writer you might like is John LeCarre's son, Nick Harkaway. I enjoyed his The Gone-Away World. Both wrote/write under pseudonyms.

I managed to finish The House of Spirits so we got the shared read and I finally read my second Allende novel.

Happy new one, Stasia

Happy new thread 🧵!

Happy Sunday, Stasia. Happy New Thread. Enjoy your tech-free day.

Happy new thread, Stasia.

>16 RebaRelishesReading: >17 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Reba and Paul!

>18 Berly: Unfortunately, I have not been able to put my hands on a copy of When Cranes Fly South yet, Kim. I am most anxious to do so though. I hope you enjoy the read!

>19 quondame: Thank you, Susan!

>20 avatiakh: I know for sure that I have never read Embassytown, Kerry. Thanks for the recommendation of that one. I will have to try the Nick Harkaway book as well.

I am glad that you finished the Allende book. I know it was a struggle for you but I hope you found it worthwhile in the end.

>21 jessibud2: >22 figsfromthistle: >23 msf59: >24 BLBera: Thank you, Shelley, Anita, Mark, and Beth!

Tech free Sunday is here so I am off to get reading in, games played, and other such analog stuff.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

Wow! 27 books already! I'm sure 28 isn't far behind.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Stasia. Now to go back and peruse.

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread! 🧵

Happy new thread, Stasia! Going back to your last thread - I really want to read Bleak House. I had a library copy that I ended up returning because I hurt my wrists trying to hold it! Audio may be the way to go.

I've had Playground on my radar also.

Hope you have a good week.

Happy New Thread, Stasia! I have When the Cranes Fly South on hold at my library, but there are two people ahead of me, and just one copy, so it will be a while.

>27 thornton37814: Number 28 is now finished, Lori. I am here to post my thoughts on it :)

>28 foggidawn: Thanks, Misti!

>29 Kristelh: Happy perusing, Kristel!

>30 drneutron: >31 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Jim and Silver!

>32 AMQS: I have listened to Bleak House, Anne, and thought it worked well in audiobook form, so go for it! As far as Playground goes, I will probably be wrapping that one up tomorrow. I am very much enjoying it. Thanks!

>33 vancouverdeb: I hope you enjoy When Cranes Fly South when you finally get your hands on it. I may have to buy a copy since it is not in my local library system at all.

Finished tonight:

28 - Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson - This is the second book in Stevenson's Ernest Cunningham series and I worried since I had not read the first one. I needn't have - Stevenson does enough recounting that it was not an issue. What was more of an issue for me was how slowly this book took to start and some of the blame there is because the author got 'cute' a little too much. That being said, once the book really got going, it held my interest and made for a nice Sunday read. I did not figure out who-dun-it, but then I rarely even try, rather going along for the ride, lol; Guardedly Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

Happy new thread, Stasia!

>36 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene! I will be visiting your thread shortly :)

New Thread, New Books! Happy Day, Stasia!!!!!

You know how I love Richard Powers, so I will be pulling Playground up on my Kindle even sooner than I had thought. I've just started The True True Story of Raja the Gullible and His Mother though, so RP will have to wait again.

Finished this morning:

29 - Playground by Richard Powers - Audiobook; This book was on the 2024 Booker Longlist, which how I first became aware of it. Then Mark wrote a wonderful review of the book and I knew I needed to get it read. I am so glad to have finally done so because I really liked this one. I do think it is misnamed however. I think it should have been named Playgrounds because there are a variety of them that show up in the book. Powers introduces a variety of characters in this book (although not as many as in Overstory, which I loved): Rafi and Todd, who play chess, Go, and other board games together, and are best friends; Ina and Evelyne. In all of their lives, the ocean plays a large part - in some earlier than others. My main quibble about the book is that Powers tends to get heavy handed in how we need to save the oceans - a stance that I very much agree with, but do not need to be beat over the head with. Otherwise, I liked this book quite a lot; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

A note on the audiobook that I listened to: I think that this is the first audiobook that I have ever listened to that had multiple narrators. For this particular book, I thought that worked very well.

>38 LizzieD: You snuck in while I was posting my Playground review, Peggy. I do hope you get to it sooner rather than later!

It has been a busy morning here what with chores and all. I am retired. I should not have to do chores now, should I? Lol

Kerry and I will be gaming this afternoon, I hope. We are set to play Witchstone and I would really like to try After Us on BGA. We were going to play that one yesterday, but time got away.

Now that I have finished Playground, the next audiobook on tap is Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield, whose books I am pretty sure I have never read. I am continuing on with my reads of Red Comet, which I expect will take me all month to read, and The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi. I would like to start a couple of my library books, At Home and An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I know for sure I will be starting Plum Duff today as it is a shared read with Mary and Nina.

I hope everyone has a marvelous Monday!

Happy new thread, Stasia!

I may get my hands on The Barn in time to join you all for the shared read, but we'll see. I do have Diary of a Provincial Lady, and I'm looking forward to it.

I hope your Monday has been marvelous as well!

>42 Dejah_Thoris: I am almost halfway through Diary of a Provincial Lady, Dejah. It reads very quickly.

I do hope you can get your hands on The Barn. I am about 100 pages in and finding it interesting reading.

Today is meet up today with Beth and Catey. We did not meet up last week - Beth was not feeling well - so I am looking forward to the meeting more than I normally do.

Kerry and I will be playing Istanbul, which we are liking quite a bit. Good thing as I have a couple of expansions for it.

Listening to Diary of a Provincial Lady, which I may finish today given how quickly it is going. I am now in the midst of 5 different books: Red Comet, Plum Duff, At Home, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi , and An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Those ought to keep me busy for a minute or two. . .

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

Back in 2018 I read South Riding by Winifred Holtby and really enjoyed it. It was a good novel, and it also explained the rise of the local committee way of governing in England. I found that instructive and useful knowledge. After I read that book, I put several more of her books on my TBR list, but I have not read any more. That is mostly due to the fact that they are hard to get at the library and not in bookstores. I will have to start checking secondhand stores for them and get more of them read.

Hi Stasia - I hope you have a lovely meetup with Beth and Catey!

Happy new thread! Hope you had a fun meet-up!

Hi Stasia my dear, Happy New Thread and hope you had a really lovely meet-up.

>45 benitastrnad: I ordered several of Holtby's books through Thriftbooks.com, Benita, as I am hoping to get to more of her work sooner rather than later. You might try that source if you cannot find them locally. I do not have a secondhand book shop here in Sherman as it went out of business years ago.

>46 AMQS: Thank you, Anne! We did have a great meet up - Beth stayed long so we could talk about books :)

>47 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer! We did!

>48 johnsimpson: Thank you so much, John!

Finished today:

30 - Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield - Audiobook; I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and the narrator, Lucy Scott, certainly helped in that regard. It was a quick read for me, even in audio form, as it was only a little over 5 hours long. The book is, as the title indicates, in diary form. The book was originally published in 1930 and so must be read with that in mind, although I do not remember any casual racism in this one. The lady in question is an upper middle class woman, married to Robert who seems chiefly in the book for her to ask questions of and get fairly noncommittal answers from, son Robin who is packed off to boarding school, and daughter Vicky who has a French tutor. The lady, whose name is never given, struggles with snobby neighbors, the bank at which she is constantly overdrawn - and keeps having to pawn and re-pawn her aunt's ring to help with that situation - and problems with servants and running a household. The entire diary is recited in a very deprecating tone and I found it to be hilarious at times - mainly because I have lived through some of her situations, I swear; Recommended (4 stars) Hoopla

>50 alcottacre: So glad you enjoyed it...I've read all of the books in the series, including one by her daughter R M Dashwood called Provincial Daughter, which was written after her mother died. I think the first 2 or 3 are the funniest, but they're all amusing.

>51 kac522: Good to know. Thanks, Kathy!

Hey, Stasia. I am sure you are having a fine time with Beth and Catey. I loved both Playground and The Barn. I hope you are sharing the love.

>50 alcottacre: I must get to that one soon, Stasia.

Stasia, I hope your Tuesday was, in fact, terrific, and that your meet up was fabulous!

Diary of a Provincial Lady is on my radar - I hope to get to it!

Hope you've had a fabulous day of family and gaming, Stasia! Reading too!!! Powers always has a "topic" that focuses each novel, and I didn't realize that it was marine environmentalism for Playground. I'll look forward to it.

Otherwise, I loved, loved, loved At Home, and I long to read more Bryson. I haven't read Delafield either although I own at least a couple of hers. For years I had her confused with R.F. Delderfield, doubly confused because of the initials. One of my long-time favorites is his To Serve Them All My Days, which I really didn't believe was written by a woman.
I'm glad to see Holtby love. I think I gave you a copy of South Riding a few years back. I certainly meant to. I think it's Holtby's masterpiece. (And speaking of gifts, I only half-recorded my downloading of The True, True Story of Raja the Gullible and His Mother, which was the first book I bought with your GC. Thank you!!! The last thing that I used it for is Britain After Rome: The Fall and Rise, 400-1070, which is finally supposed to arrive tomorrow after a long, long delay. Thank you again!!!)

>53 msf59: I had a great time with Beth and Catey today, Mark. We generally always do. I remembered that you loved Playground, but did not realize that you had also read The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi. I am glad to know that you loved it as well. Thus far, I have found it to be excellent.

>54 PaulCranswick: I hope you enjoy it when you do, Paul!

>55 Dejah_Thoris: It was all the way around! I hope you can fit Diary of a Provincial Lady into your reads for this month too.

>56 LizzieD: I hope you get to Playground soon, Peggy. I did not realize that about Powers' books but then I have not yet read that many.

I am very much enjoying At Home. I have read several of his books and liked them all. I can understand your confusion with Delafield and Delderfield as I went through the same thing when trying to figure out if I had read Delafield before (no, Delderfield yes).

Actually, I gave you a copy of South Riding for either your birthday or Christmas one year as it was on your PBS wishlist :) That was how I came to hear of Holtby in the first place, lol.

>57 alcottacre: Didn't I give you a Holtby this Christmas, Stasia?

>58 PaulCranswick: You did, Paul, the one that I read, Anderby Wold. I thanked you for it in my thoughts on the book, I think!

>59 alcottacre: How did I miss that! Not sleeping well, Stasia to be honest.

Hani just diagnosed with COVID so I hope that her trip back here is not jeopardized.

ETA Ah yes I found it now on your last thread, Stasia. 3.75 stars is not bad.

>60 PaulCranswick: Sorry to hear about the sleeping issues, Paul. I can relate - although thanks to Marianne, I have finally found something that keeps me asleep once I get there!

I am sorry to hear about Hani dealing with COVID. I hope she makes it back as well!

>61 alcottacre: Seems she caught it off Pip who is now perfectly fine!

I also really loved Bryson's At Home. I especially love listening to him read to me!

>62 PaulCranswick: Hopefully Hani will recover quickly too!

>63 jessibud2: Cool beans! I never thought of looking for it on audio. Perhaps I should. . .Thanks for that mention, Shelley!

How nice to have a daughter to discuss books with, Stasia! I have a sister that I discuss books with, but she mainly reads thrillers and mysteries. We loan between each other for some of our books.

>60 PaulCranswick: Oh dear -- so sorry about Hani's diagnosis! Hope she doesn't get too sick and has a quick recovery.

>65 vancouverdeb: My sister, who used to ask for book recommendations, has now stopped reading fiction. And is a bit snobby about it, to boot!

>65 vancouverdeb: What is even better for me is that this is the daughter who was not a reader growing up. Beth and I have different tastes in books with just a little overlap, but it is still a joy to me to be able to talk about books with her.

>67 quondame: I read both fiction and nonfiction and hope I am not snobby about either :) That would irritate me beyond mention, lol.

I am getting a very late start on my day as I was up reading all night. I am sure that has never happened to anyone else here, right?

Kerry and I will be playing Aquatica today. We are going to use our physical copy of the game for the first time - we have been playing it on BGA on our previous couple of plays.

I started the audiobook of Stolen in Death yesterday, the newest J. D. Robb release. Based on Shelley's recommendation of At Home on audio, I am going to listen to that one next. As much as I was enjoying the book, I was struggling with the hard copy of it.

I am continuing on with Red Comet, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, and Plum Duff. I will probably make a start on The Island of Missing Trees tonight too depending on how my reading goes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

>69 alcottacre: What. Up all night reading? Who does that. Silliness indeed.

*smooch*

>70 richardderus: I occasionally do that although not nearly as much these days as when I was younger, RD!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** back at you!

>66 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba. She does seem to be on the mend and at least I know that she will be dedicated and prompt in taking all her medicine.

Hi Stasia. Happy Thursday, and a belated happy 2nd thread.

>1 alcottacre: I never assumed you voted for the current president of the u.s. (lower case intentional) because you’re intelligent. I admit to making an incorrect assumption about my evangelical Christian Uncle Doug and only just this week learned from his sister, my Aunt Joyce, that he despises Trump and didn’t vote for him either time.

>69 alcottacre: My sleep patterns have changed dramatically in the last year. I rarely go to sleep before midnight and am frequently up ‘til 2 or 3. Sometimes I sleep in, sometimes I just get up after 2-4 hours of sleep. Naps are my friend.

>73 karenmarie: Hey, Karen! An entire branch of my family - my sister etc - did vote for Trump, something I just cannot stomach. Even Kerry voted for him, something that he really regrets.

Most nights I am up to at least 2. This morning I was up until 5. I agree completely about naps!

Well, the weird Texas weather continues. This past Saturday, we had a wind chill of -5F and a temperature of 13F. Today we have the potential for setting a record high as we could get up to 68F. That is just crazy to me!

Making meal plans and grocery list today. A load of laundry is running and no weird noises coming from the washing machine (yay!) so it looks like Kerry has gotten it fixed.

Gaming today is Zapotec, an old favorite. Not sure if we will get any more games played, but perhaps.

Still listening to Stolen in Death. I think I will be able to finish off two of my library books, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi. I am continuing to read Other Voices, Other Vistas, Plum Duff, Red Comet. I also started The Island of Missing Trees last night. I doubt I will start anything else today.

I hope everyone has a thoughtful Thursday!

Finished this afternoon:

31 - The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson - Nonfiction; Thompson's take on the murder of Emmett Till is so much more than a recounting of the history. His take includes the fact that much of the history has been lost - he never knew about the barn in which Till was tortured and murdered until later in his life, despite living mere miles from the structure. In the first chapter he says, "This book is my attempt to go beyond what is known and explore the unknown registers of a killing that, when seen clearly, illuminates the true history of our country." I do not think that I realized how Emmett Till's murder - the murder of a 14-year-old black boy over the perceived insult to a white woman - had such an impact on the Civil Rights Movement. Thompson admits that the history of Till's murder and the prompt exoneration of the defendants accused of said murder isn't comfortable history to face - it is basically a "threat to racial order", violence to protect their segregated way of life that Mississippians did not want to lose, which is now all gone. Thompson calls Emmett Till's murder "the tipping point"; Highly Recommended (5 stars)

Finished this evening:

32 - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green - I am going to be in the minority on this one, I know, but I really did not love this book. I really wanted to but this mishmash of a contemporary novel that has a lot to say about social media blended with the sci fi story of the Carls, giant alien Transformer things, just did not work for me. I think I would have liked the novel better if he had stuck with one of those two storylines, but not with both. It did not help that I did not care one iota for the main character, April May (what a cute name! not) either. I think that Green can write, I just think that this book could have been tempered a bit; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Library Book

>77 alcottacre: I can't say I've liked Hank's novels. They're...serviceable. I don't hate 'em but /I barely remember anything about them.

BEtter reads ahead, Stasia! *smooch*

Hi Stasia!
>75 alcottacre: meanwhile in Colorado in the foothills of the Rockies it was in the mid 60s today and will be for some time. We are going to have to pay the water piper for this and it won't be cheap.

>76 alcottacre: This looks like an important read. I'm not sure I'm up for it but now more than ever it is important not to look away.

>77 alcottacre: I haven't read anything by Hank Green. Looks like maybe I don't need to?

>78 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I hope I have better reads ahead too!

>79 AMQS: We were up to 68F today here, Anne, and it looks as though that is going to continue for a bit. We are supposed to be at almost 80F here tomorrow.

As far as The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi goes, I think it is a very important read. I hope that you get a chance to read it.

There are a lot of people who gave that book 5 stars. It just did not work for me. YMMV.

Finished tonight, but I am too tired to write up a review:

33 - Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park - I enjoyed this more than I thought I would; Guardedly Recommended (3.75 stars) Library Book

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/378417

>82 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver. I have already been over there to "report" in!

The Olympics begin today and I am very much looking forward to watching them as is Kerry. We have been up and doing - including gaming - for a while now this morning.

We have already played Endeavor: Deep Sea today and are planning to play Zapotec after lunch. We did not get it played yesterday as I did not feel well yesterday afternoon.

Still listening to Stolen in Death, but I am pretty sure I will finish it up today. I should finish Plum Duff today as well. I am continuing on with Other Voices, Other Vistas, Red Comet, and the Island of Missing Trees. If I start anything else today, it will likely be another big biography, Thelonius Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original. Since I am walking around on less than 3 hours sleep, we will see if I can start anything else.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday!

Hooray for The Barn! I agree it was an excellent read. Another ugly chapter in our history. I also want to read The Island of Missing Trees. I LOVED There are Rivers in the Sky.

Happy Friday, Stasia.

>85 msf59: Elif Shafak is on my list of authors to watch for, Mark, as I have not been disappointed in any of the books that I have read by her, including both The Island of Missing Trees and There Are Rivers in the Sky.

I hope you have a fantastic Friday yourself, Mark!

Finished this afternoon:

34 - Stolen in Death by J. D. Robb - Audiobook; This is the latest in the In Death series (#62) and is now my second favorite after Treachery in Death, which remains my favorite. In this one, a man is killed but his murder is almost secondary to the items that were stolen from the vault close to where his body is discovered. One of Eve's old nemeses turns up (not spoiling that one) unexpectedly (at least to me) so now she is trying to balance Interpol, who is interested in all of the stolen art in the vault, solving the murder, and catching the thieves; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

One of the books that I am currently reading, Other Voices, Other Vistas is a collection of short stories by authors around the world, not one of which I had heard of prior to LT:

African Stories:
Chinua Achebe
Nadine Gordimer
Bessie Head
Charles Mungoshi - I still have not read any of his work
Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Chinese Stories: It pains me to say that I am not familiar with any of these authors
Wang Anyi
Ding Ling
Wang Meng
Chen Rong
Lu Wenfu

Indian Stories:
Anita Desai
Mahasweta Devi - I have not yet read this author
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - I own one of her books but have not yet read it
R. K. Narayan
Khushwant Singh - I have not yet read this author

Japanese Stories:
Kobo Abe - the only Japanese author on this list that I have read
Sawako Ariyoshi
Yasunari Kawabata
Yukio Mishima
Yuko Tsushima

Latin American Stories:
Isabel Allende
Jorge Luis Borges
Carlos Fuentes - I still have not read any of his work
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Luisa Valenzuela - I still have not read any of his work

Luckily for me, the editor of the book has included lists of anthologies for each of the regions for future reading. . .

Finished this evening:

35 - Plum Duff by Victoria Goddard - Frankly, I have come to love the character of Jemis Greenwing so much through this series of books. Re-reading the series has certainly helped with that love. Throughout the series, we see Jemis grow and, although this book does not have all the action of the one previous to it, in this book Jemis is more contemplative as he is trying to figure out the world around him and the people who inhabit both this world and the world of The Lady. While this is not my favorite book in the series, I still very much enjoyed the read; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>89 alcottacre: Ha, again our reviews are very similar. Though I revised my rating on this one - I'd originally given it 4 and I put it up to 4.5 (I keep it to half stars 99% of the time). I'm looking forward to the short stories next month - I remember liking The Saint of the Bookstore very much.

>90 bell7: I will have to hop over to your thread and check out your review, Mary! I am also looking forward to reading the short stories next month.

>76 alcottacre: I remember how much @msf59 liked the book when he read it. I guess I am just going to have to give in and add it to the massive TBR.

ETA: As it turns out, I already had added it. There are multiple recommendations, so I really do need to read it.

I can recommend The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny: A Novel byKiran Desai , if you haven't already read it, Stasia.

>93 vancouverdeb: Seconded! Wonderful read, that.

Happy weekend-ahead's reads, Stasia! *smooch*

>88 alcottacre: LT is so great for learning about authors, Stasia. This collection sounds great.

>93 vancouverdeb: I have not yet read it, Deborah, but it is in the BlackHole. I just need time to get to it!

>94 richardderus: Happy to know that you enjoyed it as well, RD! Thanks, Richard. I hope you have a great reading weekend too. ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

>95 BLBera: I have only read through the African story selection thus far, Beth, but it was terrific so I am looking forward to the Chinese stories that are up next.

Since the Olympics are on, I will be Olympic-ing for the next couple of weeks. Kerry and I both enjoy the Games so I will be reading while watching and enjoying his company.

As far as board games go, not sure we will be playing anything over the weekend because of the other Games.

I am listening to At Home by Bill Bryson currently and very much enjoying it. Thanks to Shelley for the suggestion of looking for it on audio as I was having problems with the text in the library book I originally started with.

I am continuing on with Other Voices, Other Vistas, Red Comet, The Island of Missing Trees, and 500 Great Books by Women. I do not think I will be adding anything to that stack until I finish something up.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

>88 alcottacre: We've had that book on the shelf for about 20 years; I think my husband dips in and out of it. I'm glad you mentioned it...it's a good way to introduce myself to authors I might not otherwise try.

>98 kac522: It is an older title that I stumbled across several years ago, Kathy, and I am just now getting to it. I am taking it slowly, one short story a day. I was very surprised at the number of authors with whom I am still not familiar.

Hi Stasia! I'm watching the Olympics, too, which is going to make reading tricky, lol.

>76 alcottacre: I've got The Barn on hold, but I don't know it I'll get it in time to join you for the shared read. It's looking doubtful.

.81 I have gotten my hands on Love in the Big City which I tried reading once before. I try harder to stick with it this time!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. :)

>100 Dejah_Thoris: I do hope that you can get a copy of The Barn soon, Dejah. I would like to know your take on it.

As far as Love in the Big City goes, I have to say that the first part of the book was the worst part for me and I almost abandoned the read. It improved from that point on.

Thanks!

Wha ho! I've missed a lot because I apparently failed to check this thread. It's dorky to say, but do continue your entertaining reading, gaming, and chatting. Hope you'll keep the porch light on for me.

Hello Stasia. I can’t resist a list.

African Stories:
Chinua Achebe: I’ve read
Nadine Gordimer I’ve read
Bessie Head on my wishlist
Charles Mungoshi - haven’t read
Ngugi wa Thiong'o: I’ve read one, he seems to be hard to access for me and should be easier.

Chinese Stories: These do not seem familiar, I will check and see. Yea, I haven’t heard of any of these
Wang Anyi
Ding Ling
Wang Meng
Chen Rong
Lu Wenfu

Indian Stories:
Anita Desai. Read
Mahasweta Devi - I have not yet read this author
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - read
R. K. Narayan not read
Khushwant Singh - no

Japanese Stories:
Kobo Abe - no
Sawako Ariyoshi read
Yasunari Kawabata read
Yukio Mishima read
Yuko Tsushima read

Latin American Stories:
Isabel Allende, read
Jorge Luis Borges, read
Carlos Fuentes - read
Gabriel Garcia Marquez read
Luisa Valenzuela - no

>102 weird_O: The porch light will remain on just for you, Bill!

>103 Kristelh: I cannot resist lists either. Coincidentally, Ding Ling showed up in another book I am reading, 500 Great Books by Women, so I went ahead and ordered the book that it mentions, Miss Sophie's Diary.

Happy Sunday, Stasia. Happy tech-free day. Enjoy. I am off to do a little solo birding/owling. Wish me luck.

>105 msf59: Good luck, Mark!

Today is my 'day off' technology so I am hoping to get lots of reading, gaming, and Olympic watching in today. I am hoping to finish off at least a couple of books and will be back to report on them if all goes well. Oh and yeah, the Super Bowl is on today too.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

>106 alcottacre: Today is a travel day. Heading to Minnesota. Tech time will be down.

>107 Kristelh: Safe travels, Kristel!

>9 alcottacre: The City and the City is one of my all time favourites. Jacob and I went to a talk by China Mieville once and he was lovely, all the time looking like someone you might be worried about meeting on a dark night. I echo the recommendation of The Gone Away World as well.

Finished this afternoon:

36 - The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - Re-read; There is a quote from TIME on the front cover of my edition of this book: "A beautiful contemplation of some of life's biggest questions about identity, history, and meaning." I am not sure if that is what makes this book so special (at least to me), but it sure does come close. I will say up front that if you cannot buy into the conceit of a fig tree as a narrator, do not read this one because you have to believe in that tree as a witness to history. We start with a Romeo and Juliet situation as Kostas is a Greek Cypriot and Defne is a Turkish one, a romance doomed from the outset - and seemingly it was going to be so - he left for college in England, she stayed behind in Cyprus. But he came home and the romance began again, so they moved to England and had baby Ada, who was never told about their history at her mother's request. History marched on in the meantime and the fig tree, rescued from Cyprus and brought to England, witnessed it all. When her aunt Meryem comes to visit for the first time ever, Ada learns more about the history that had been hidden from her. I really cannot explain the poignancy that this book brings - perhaps because the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots are divided to this day - I am not sure. I just know it works for me; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

>109 SandDune: Good to know, Rhian. Thanks!

Finished this afternoon:

37 - Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute - Nevil Shute is (seemingly) one of the few authors I had heard of prior to LT. My favorite book of his is On the Beach, which I love and is probably more of a sentimental favorite that anything, so I was very happy to see him proposed as one of the authors for this month's British Authors Challenge. Trustee from the Toolroom is what I would call a 'feel good' read. It has a main character, Keith, who is someone that the reader can really care for - he is just your average man, a man who gave up work that he hated in a factory, to work on his hobby and write about, little realizing the impact that his hobby has on people around the world. Keith is married to Katie, who works in a shop to help support the two of them, so that Keith can continue to pursue after his hobby. Into their lives drops Janice, their niece, who comes to live with them after her parents, Keith's sister and her husband, are killed in a hurricane as they were sailing in the Pacific. There is never a question as to whether Keith and Katie will take Janice - she is family and he is a stand up guy who would never shirk his responsibility; however, it appears that the inheritance that Janice was to have had was on her parents' yacht, now abandoned on an island in the Pacific and Keith means to go and get it for her. I had a great time with this book - I guess it would be called 'old-fashioned' these days because no one is out to get anyone, there are a bunch of good people in it and not dastardly ones - and it all comes down to believing that people like Keith exist - people who are just everyday people trying to live their lives and do the right thing; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

"Keith took the report and thrust it deep into the pocket of his greasy overcoat. 'I don't want you to think I don't appreciate everything you've done, sir,' he said. 'But there's one thing sticking out like a sore thumb, and that's that I'm the trustee. I don't want to do things in a hurry.' "

Finished tonight:

38 - 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff - Nonfiction, Re-read (x5? x6? Not sure!); This is one of my all-time favorite books and I discovered the book through the movie version, which is highly unusual for me since I rarely watch films any more; The book is nothing more than a series of letters back and forth over the Atlantic Ocean as Hanff lived in New York and the bookshop (whose address is in the title). Over the years the Helene and Frank Noel, her correspondent at the shop. Not only does Hanff have a list of books that she wants - who doesn't? - but she does not want the cheap American editions so she reaches out to the shop after she sees an add for them in the Saturday Review of Literature. Thus begins a full 20 years of correspondence with its highs and lows; Highly Recommended (5 stars) Mine

BTW - I was very pleased to see that someone has posted a picture of Frank Doel on the book's page here on LT. Now I know he does not look like Anthony Hopkins :)

>113 alcottacre: Such a magnificent book! Have a great week-ahead's reads, Stasia.

>114 richardderus: Yes, it is, isn't it, Richard? Thanks and same to you!

It's awfully hard to catch up, Stasia. You sound happily busy!

I'd like to watch some Olympics too. They are sports, and our TV pretty much plays only sports. Trouble is that when I can watch, they aren't on OR my DH is enjoying some other sport feature.

I wish you a great week!

An interesting amount of reading going on here since I last checked in. I hunted down a copy of Wright's The Barn which sounds like a must read. I'm looking forward to getting to Stolen in Death but I still have the one before it to read.

>116 LizzieD: I am happily busy, Peggy! Sorry about you not getting to see some of the Olympics. Come to my house!

>117 Familyhistorian: If you have an interest in the Civil Wrights Movement or Black History, Meg, I would definitely say that The Barn is a must read.

I hope you enjoy Stolen in Death as much as I did. I will be curious to see what you think!

Monday already? Where did the weekend go? I have already put sheets on to wash, paid the bills, balanced the checkbook, taken care of the cats (indoor & outdoor) and the trash. Hopefully I am done with chores for a bit!

Not sure what Kerry and I are playing today but it may be Tales of the Arthurian Knights, his favorite game from last year. We will have to see - we have to fit board gaming in around the Olympics, lol.

I am still listening to At Home and enjoying it. Continuing on with Red Coment - I think I have finally made it to being 35% done, lol - Other Voices, Other Vistas, and 500 Great Books by Women. I started The Moon is a Harsh Mistress last night and am likely to begin Thelonius Monk today.

I hope everyone has a marvelous Monday!

>119 alcottacre: My cats are taken care of, but I don't consider it a "chore". I suppose it's more of a duty from my furry overloards. LOL I did get the trash taken out this morning since it is trash day, but the sheets have to wait until Thursday when I have time in the evening to do them.

I also love the fig tree in Island of Missing Trees, Stasia. It's great that you are rereading things. I need to do that more.

I am also spending a great deal of time watching the Olympics. It is my quadrennial lovefest with obscure and strange sports. I was fascinated with the women's skiathalon on Sunday and the women's speed skating yesterday. There truly are some mighty women athletes out there. Watching those two women from the Netherlands do the Hans Brinker thing was great fun! I can't wait for tonight to see more of those obscure sports - like curling!

>120 thornton37814: I really do not consider any of the cats a "chore" either, Lori, just to be clear. I love my furbabies! Kerry takes the trash out to our curb, I just help gather it up.

>121 BLBera: I have always been a big re-reader, Beth. If I find a book that I really like, why not re-read it so that I can enjoy it all over again?

>122 benitastrnad: I have to admit that I stay away from curling. It is just not my thing at all, but I do watch almost all of the other sports - except hockey, which I do not care for either.

Today is meet up day with Beth and Catey and I am looking forward to it! We are planning a family vacation in Arizona for later this year, so lots to talk about - aside from our normal jabbering, lol.

Not sure if Kerry and I will be getting a game in today or not as again, Olympics!

I am still listening to At Home and enjoying it - I am a bit over halfway through at this point, I think. Continuing on with Red Coment , Other Voices, Other Vistas, 500 Great Books by Women and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I started The Auschwitz Photographer last night. Until I finish one of these (and 3 of the 5 are being read in small increments), I am probably not starting anything else. Probably.

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

You've reread a couple of my favorites in The Island of Missing Trees and 84, Charing Cross Road. Indeed the Greek Cycpriots and Turkish Cypriots are still separated to this day, though there are bi-communal initiatives. You probably already know this but my husband Stelios is a refugee from the war in 1974. Before the war he lived in a Turkish neighborhood and spoke some Turkish. He says that there was sometimes tension, by and large Greek and Turkish Cypriots got along and were neighbors. Many Turkish Cypriots kept their neighbors' photos and valuables hoping to reunite them with the families.

You're starting the week off with a bang as usual, Stasia!!!

T. MONK!!! I adore his music, and since he was from Rocky Mount, I should read his bio too. I was happy to hear him perform when I was working in Charlotte in 1968. I went back to my apartment and started picking out "Straight, No Chaser" on my piano. At one time I could play maybe a third of it reputably!

You will be happy to know that my main book these days is *Portrait ID*. I'm finding Eve's mysteries to be a bit formulaic now, but that's OK. I like the formula. If I haven't misread, I think I've spotted the murderer. I'm loving that we get some of Roarke's backstory in this one, enjoying Summerset/Eve exchanges, and happy to be happy with Peabody (my favorite character) and McNab. What is his first name, btw?
No Olympics for me tonight. I expect I'll be watching another segment of *Downton Abbey*, season 3.

>125 AMQS: Although I knew that Stelios was from that area, I did not know that he was a war refugee. I am glad to hear that the Turks and the Greeks are at least trying to get along.

Very happy to hear that you enjoyed both The Island of Missing Trees and 84, Charing Cross Road, Anne!

>126 LizzieD: I love that Robb fills in backstories for both Dallas and Roarke as the series moves along. Even in the last book, Stolen in Death (#62 in the series), we learn more about Roarke.

McNab's first name is Ian.

>122 benitastrnad:, >123 alcottacre: The Grammar Girl podcast put out a show on the origins of the winter sports' odd names:
https://youtu.be/tQBdBGi69vs?si=tVXEB0Rol9o_Qc5q
*smoochings*

Your thread moves fast, Stasia!I have not watched any Olympics yet, and likely won't . I find I am just busy walking the dog in the afternoons. Or walking myself if Muffin is at doggie daycare.

>128 richardderus: Thanks for that link, Richard!

>129 vancouverdeb: We subscribe to PeacockTV, Deborah, so I am watching some things as replays. I walk 5 miles a day myself, so I know how long that takes (especially when you are as slow as I am!)

Running behind today - I have already done laundry, played a game with Kerry, and cooked lunch - but late getting here. I have a dentist appointment in 90 minutes as well, so more time gone from my day!

Pretty much continuing on with all the books from yesterday, but I added Thelonius Monk to the mix last night as well. Whatever possessed me to decide to read multiple 500+ page books in this, the shortest month of the year? And Red Comet is almost 1000 pages of reading - not counting the appendices, bibliographies, etc. I must be off my rocker! Lol

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday! Off to fold clothes now, how exciting. . .

Finished this afternoon:

39 - The Auschwitz Photographer by Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis - Nonfiction; This is the true story of Wilhelm Brasse, a Polish man who refuses to bow down to the Nazis and join their organizations even though he is of German extraction on his father's side. He ends up in Auschwitz and after a period of hard labor is eventually recruited to be a photographer (it is estimated that he took anywhere between 40,000-50,000 pictures), photographing the people who are brought to the prison camp, taking pictures of the German soldiers, as well as capturing in photographic form some of the prisoners involved in Dr Joseph Mengele's experiments. Despite struggling just to stay alive in the camp, he begins to try and subvert the Nazis by participating in acts of resistance. The photographs included in the book show some of Brasse's work and one of them just really got to me - a picture of 4 little naked Jewish girls, who are heartbreakingly thin, and were used for some of Dr Mengele's experiments; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

"Brasse knew, and if he survived, he would shout it out loud, even in Auschwitz there had been love. Every form of love: love between a man and a woman, self-sacrifice for another prisoner, sincere and loyal friendship, and love of one's country. The hope of a better world for everyone."

BTW - After the war, which he survived, Brasse took no more photographs. He went into another line of work entirely.

>132 alcottacre: After taking *those* photographs I can see the reason he'd never touch a camera again.

So incredibly hard to survive, bearing witness ever after. So hard.

Well, Wednesday won't be hard to survive, will it Stasia? *smooch*

>130 alcottacre: I subscribed to Peacock streaming for a month simply so I could watch the Olympics! I'll also be sure to watch My Cousin Vinney again while I'm subscribed. :)

I have the ice dancing replay on now....

>133 richardderus: I agree with you, Richard. He had more than enough cause to never want to take photographs again.

Well, I lived through my dentist appointment, so that is good, right? ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

>134 Dejah_Thoris: Coincidentally, I also have the ice dancing replay on now, Dejah!

Finished tonight:

40 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein - I *may* have read this book when I was going through a Heinlein phase in my teens, but if so I have forgotten all I knew about the book. Maybe I just blocked it out because I did not like the book all that much. My favorite character is Mike, the sentient computer, and that says something. I hated the way women were treated in the book and, yes, I do realize that the book was published some 60 years ago at this point, but still. The world building is very good and I think that was what kept me reading in the long run - that and the fact that the book made Esquire magazine's top 75 science fiction books of all time. There were 'sentences' in the book (repeatedly) that were not sentences and those like to have driven me crazy, lol. For example, "Was turned down." Ugh. Just not a book for me although I can respect the world building, as I said; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

>132 alcottacre: That sounds like a harrowing read, Stasia. I'm not surprised he gave up photography after the war.

>113 alcottacre: 84, Charing Cross Road makes for such a charming reread. I haven’t read The Island of Missing Trees. I’ll need to take a look at it.

Hope you’re having a good week, Stasia!

>136 alcottacre: I thought Wye Knott was great when I was 10 years old. Not one I'll ever re-read. In general he's fallen off my list of The Greats of SF#8480; because I think his ideas are deeply deeply sus these days. They're used by really questionable people for reprehensible purposes.

*smooch*

>137 PaulCranswick: The read itself was not actually all that harrowing considering other books on the Holocaust that I have read, Paul. It is more the knowledge of what Brasse went through and how hard it was on him to photograph people that in some (if not most) cases would soon be dead that was the really hard part.

>138 Copperskye: If you have not read Elif Shafak before, Joanne, you are in for a treat!

Thanks!

>139 richardderus: I think I may just stick with his juvenile books from now on out, Richard, although I do have a couple of his other adult books that I will probably read before deciding.

I got up late this morning - I was just dead tired last night and quite literally falling asleep over the book I was reading - so I am hoping that this is not a sign that my CFS is flaring, although I am still tired this morning, which is not good.

Normal stuff going on today - meal planning, grocery lists, gaming, Olympics. Kerry and I are playing an old favorite today, Fantastic Factories. Tomorrow is our monthly gaming marathon. Woot!

I am hoping to finish At Home today. I have really enjoyed this one but I really would like a hard copy so that I can look at the bibliography - my biggest problem with nonfiction on audio is that I cannot see the source material.

I am continuing to read Red Comet, Other Voices, Other Vistas, 500 Great Books by Women, and Thelonius Monk. Since I finished up a couple of books yesterday, I am starting Evensong by Stewart O'Nan and Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf.

I hope everyone has a thoughtful Thursday!

Finished this evening:

41 - At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson - Nonfiction, Audiobook; Thanks to Shelley and her mention that there was an audiobook form available, I finally got this book read - I had it checked out of the library but was really struggling with the text, so this was a great boon to me! - so, thank you again, Shelley! In this book, Bill Bryson takes a tour of his own home, a Victoria parsonage, from top to bottom examining why things are the way there are in each room of the home. Not only does he discuss that, but he ties in to the way things in the outside world relate to things in our own homes. We end up with discussions of the Eiffel Tower, concrete, overcrowding, disease, etc - a lot of topics that you might not expect to find in this book. However far afield it seems like Bryson goes, he ties everything back to home; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Here's the Valentine's Day readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/378586

>143 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver!

Finished tonight:

41 - 500 Great Books By Women: A Reader's Guide by Erica Bauermeister, Jesse Larsen, and Holly Smith - Nonfiction; The title of this one says it all - numerous contributors wrote about books by women that they thought warranted inclusion in this volume. You have not only fiction titles, but essays, memoirs, biographies, nonfiction, novellas, you name it, the genre is probably represented in this book. The book is divided into sections such as 'Growing Old,' 'Growing Up,' 'Power,' 'Work,' and a bunch more. Not only that, but the editors kindly included a bunch of indices further dividing up the work by titles, authors, books by date, books by genre, books by region and country, books about people of color in the United States, and finally, books about lesbian and gay people. There are a bunch of women writers of whom I have never heard written about here and while I appreciate getting to 'know' them through this book, I worry about how dated the book is - it was originally published back in 1994, so it is now 30+ years old - so I am unsure about how easy it is to get some of the books written about here. That being said, with 500 great books mentioned here, I doubt anyone would get to them all anyway!; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>145 alcottacre: A hit! A palpable hit to my TBR!

>146 ReneeMarie: I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it, ReneeMarie! I think it is going to be a wonderful resource for me going forward.

Your thread is so dangerous (in a good way), Stasia. I'm adding two books to my wish list:

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi
and
Other Voices, Other Vistas.

>145 alcottacre: I've put a hold on 500 Great Books By Women - thanks, Stasia!

>145 alcottacre: Well, there's a lifetime's reading in one handy-dandy reference book! Guess you'll need to live to be 140+ now! *smooch*

>148 EBT1002: My thread is highly un-dangerous, Ellen! I am glad you found something you liked though :)

>149 Dejah_Thoris: Good, Dejah! I will be curious to see what you think of it.

>150 richardderus: Yep, I have to live at least that long just to make a dent in the BlackHole, RD. ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

Well, the monthly gaming marathon at my house has been going on all day long and we still have a couple yet to play. Not a lot else going on here today other than the arrival of groceries.

I have gotten a little bit of reading in today on our breaks, but not a whole lot. It will be interesting to see how much I can actually get read.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday!

I'm glad to see you felt like gaming today and *shhhh* holding StupidCFS at bay. Enjoy!
Shots for me. I'm glad they're done, and I hope for another 8 weeks! No reading today, but maybe tomorrow!!!

>147 alcottacre: Women's history and women writers are a partiklar(sic) interest of mine. I have them tagged in my library as History of Feminism, Women's History, Women's Studies, and Scribbling Women (if you know, you know). Peek if you dare. :-)

>153 LizzieD: Yes, I have dodged the CFS bullet it appears, but not the insomnia one. I walked around today on about 90 minutes of sleep, lol.

Glad the shots are done for at least the next little bit!

>154 ReneeMarie: I will have a look at your library in near future, just not tonight. . .

Insomnia or CFS...so, on average, you're actually a normal sleeper just not All at the same time.

Aren't bodies annoying? Saturday *smooch*

>156 richardderus: I would love to be a normal sleeper all at the same time, RD, but it just seems like that is not going to happen in my lifetime, lol.

Yes, my body is very annoying!!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I woke up to flowers this morning and they are beautiful!

The disaster that was lunch did not end up being a disaster, thank goodness, due to my Instant Pot. My oven is officially dead now, it seems. *sigh*

Kerry and I will be playing our annual game of Patchwork, the Valentine edition, today. Beyond that, I am not sure we are playing anything.

I am now listening to Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor, another book in the St Mary's series, which is always fun. I am hoping to finish Evensong today, continuing on with the biographies of Thelonious Monk and Sylvia Plath and am hoping to start the biography of Anthony Trollope's mother today. I am not sure how I managed to be reading so many biographies at the same time, lol. Just like last month when I read so many debut books before January was out - 4 - and it was completely unplanned. I am also hoping to start Where You Once Belonged. We will see how it goes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

>158 alcottacre: Trollope had a mother? I mean, more than a biologically significant mother? Fancy that! I hope you enjoy the Disaster Magnets!

>158 alcottacre: Oooh, what's the name of the biography of Fanny Trollope? I've been meaning to read one of her novels--I have Jessie Phillips on the TBR and I've heard The Life and Adventures of Michael Armstrong, the Factory Boy is pretty good. Have you read any of her books?

>159 richardderus: Well, yes, Trollope had a mother. Why would you think he didn't? Lol

>160 kac522: The book is called The Indomitable Mrs. Trollope, Kathy. Reba recommended it several years ago and I am finally getting to it. I have not read any of her books.

>161 alcottacre: What little I know of her is from bios of Anthony Trollope. She kept the family going with her writing, is basically how I understand it. And she moved the family (without Anthony, who stayed in school) to America, hated it, and moved back to England.

>162 kac522: Thanks for the info, Kathy. I am very curious to learn more about her.

Finished tonight:

43 - Evensong by Stewart O'Nan - I very much enjoy O'Nan's 'slice of life' books and this one was no exception. Joanne brought this one to my attention with her recent review so I picked up a copy - thanks, Joanne! We once again meet Emily Maxwell (I loved Emily, Alone) and her sister-in-law, Arlene. This time we are invited into their circle of friends of the Humpty Dumpty Club, which is a kind of ladies social club whose members help each other out. The book revolves around this membership, so we have multiple points-of-view. The book does not shy away from the fact that these ladies are aging - the youngest being Susie at 63 (my age) - and dealing with the things that have to be dealt with as they grow older; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>165 Whisper1: Oh, pretty! Thanks, lovey!

Today being Sunday, it is my 'day off' technology so lots of board gaming and reading going on around here!

I hope you all have a lovely day!

>167 alcottacre: Enjoy your day, Stasia!

>164 alcottacre: I already read and liked Evensong, so win win! I don't have to add another book to my TBR pile!

>168 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks, Dejah!

>169 BLBera: Good on you, Beth!

Finished this evening:

44 - Other Voices, Other Vistas edited by Barbara H. Solomon - This is a collection of short stories from literally around the world: African Stories, Chinese Stories, Indian Stories, Japanese Stories, and Latin American Stories. The authors represented here are really the best of the best from their particular regions, including authors such as Chinua Achebe, Ding Ling, R. K. Narayan, Kobo Abe, and Isabel Allende. As with any such collection, there were stories that I liked better than others. My favorite in the book is probably The Magic Chalk by Kobo Abe. Indeed, the Japanese stories were my favorites overall; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

From Act of Worship by Yokio Mishima: "Books had spread like mold, eating their way through each of the ten rooms in turn."

Lots to do today - and I have already taken care of laundry, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the bathrooms, and trash - the biggest thing being putting together my new library cart. This one is not for books though - I already have 2 of those - this one is supposed to be for games. I just hope they fit, lol.

Kerry and I are playing Witchstone this morning and then this afternoon I will be playing Ark Nova with Catey. Should keep me out of trouble for a minute or two.

I am still listening to Another Time, Another Place and am hopeful of finishing it today. Continuing on with Red Comet, Thelonius Monk, The Indomitable Mrs. Trollope, and Where You Once Belonged. I started one of my favorite books yesterday, Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman and hope to finish it up today.

Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!

>164 alcottacre: I’m so glad you liked it, Stasia, and I enjoyed reading your thoughts. O’Nan writes so well about women and aging. Truthful but not depressing. Have you read about Emily’s husband, Henry, yet? I also loved Henry, Himself.

You’ve already had a busy morning - enjoy the rest of the day!

Happy Monday, Stasia. Slowly making the rounds after my FL adventure. I still need to get to Henry, Himself and Evensong.

>173 Copperskye: No, I have not yet gotten to Henry, Himself, Joanne.

Thanks!

>174 msf59: I honestly thought I had read Henry, Himself, Mark, but it appears that I have not. If you are interested in a shared read of that one, just let me know.

Finished this afternoon:

45 - Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor - Audiobook; Well, book 12 in the series certainly caught me by surprise. I was wondering where Taylor was going to head after the terrible death of Clive Ronan, but this was not the direction in which I thought she would head. All of the normal suspects are in the book, but we do not see a lot of Farrell and Matthew which may be just as well as Max had her hands full with all the new goings on at St Mary's. I am not going into further detail as I do not want to spoil things, but this was a very good entry in the series!; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

Finished tonight:

46 - Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf - I had not intended to finish this book tonight but once I got to a certain point in it, I could not stop reading for wanting to know what happened, lol. Set in the fictional small town of Holt, Colorado, as many of Haruf's books are, we meet hometown football hero Jack Burdette who, after graduating high school decides to go to college from which he is expelled, and then goes into the military. His high school sweetheart, Wanda Jo, is just waiting for him to decide that they are going to marry and indulges Jack at every opportunity, up to and including doing his laundry. Jack does not want to be tied down to Wanda Jo though and when he is appointed manager of the local grain elevator, goes out of town to a convention and comes back with a wife. A few years pass, Jack and Jessie (his wife) are now parents to two boys, but Jack has not really mended his ways - in fact, the town discovers that Jack and a partner have been embezzling money from the grain elevator's funds. Jack does what he always does, he leaves, only to return 8 years later after the statute of limitations has run out on the embezzlement charge. Haruf does such a good job of painting the picture of a small town with a hero that it wants to continue to worship, but just can't; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>176 alcottacre: After all this time I think spoiling anything for series fans isn't possible and for the benightèd it is irrelevant.

The Disaster Magnets are, I hope, immortal. Needing comfort reads, they are always there to answer the call.

>178 richardderus: Needing comfort reads, they are always there to answer the call. Thank goodness!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today, RD.

Today is my meet up day with Beth and Catey. That is pretty much my agenda for the day other than laundry - currently running - and cooking.

Kerry and I will be playing Istanbul today, an old family favorite that I have recently introduced him to.

On the reading front, I started Children of Memory on audiobook late yesterday so I did not get all that far into it. I am continuing on with Red Comet, Thelonius Monk, The Indomitable Mrs. Trollope, and Ex Libris, which I hope to finish today since I did not finish it yesterday. Next on tap is The Far Country by Nevil Shute. I may start something else today as well. We will see.

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

Books had spread like mold, eating their way through each of the ten rooms in turn. Perfect statement of my DH's feelings!!! He is a good man not to express them too often.

Enjoy your girls today and your gaming with Kerry! I trust that you will, in fact, get to read a little. *grin*

>181 LizzieD: I am married to one of those good men too, Peggy :)

I will get some reading done before the day is out if all goes well!

Is anyone else having problems with LT? I keep getting 'bad gateway' and other errors and have been for the past couple of days.

>183 alcottacre: Seems to be an issue with bots:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/378566

Whenever stuff like that happens, I check the Bug Collectors group.

>184 kac522: I have been getting different messages today even. It is very weird. Thanks for the link, Kathy!

Hi Stasia! Glad to see you're getting some good reading in even with the Olympics on :)

My Hubby is a book lover too -- tends to read different things than I do but totally understands the love of books and doesn't complain at all that there are lots of books in nearly every room of the house - of course some of them are his :)

Dropping in to say hi and finding that I envy you for having library carts!

Hooray for Mr Haruf! It always makes me smile when someone is reading him. I will add Henry, Himself to my audiobook list. Maybe I can book horn it in soon.

Happy Tuesday, Stasia.

oops...

>186 curioussquared: Since I watch the Olympics on my laptop, I prop a book directly in front of it and I can do 2 things at the same time - at least in theory :)

>187 RebaRelishesReading: Aren't you lucky being married to a book lover? Kerry is very good about my books (and games) even though he does not really get my love for them. Both Beth and Catey do though!

>188 mstrust: I am now up to 3 although the first two are about half the size of the third one! Thanks for dropping by, Jennifer!

>189 msf59: Let me know and I will try and bookhorn Henry, Himself in too, Mark!

>190 msf59: Happens to all of us. . .

Finished tonight:

47 - Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman - Nonfiction, Essays; This was the book that solidified for me my love of essays (sorry Montaigne!) The book is composed of 18 essays that Fadiman wrote over a number of years. All of them are at least tangentially linked to books and her love of them, something which with I can definitely relate; Highly Recommended (5 stars) Mine

"Books wrote our life story, and as they accumulated on our shelves (and on our windowsills, and underneath our soda, and on top of our refrigerator), they became chapters in it themselves. How could it be otherwise?"

>192 alcottacre: - Oh, I love this book when I read it years ago. I have read a few others by her as well. The 2 that stand out for me were The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, and The Wine Lover's Daughter: A Memoir. Have you read either of those, Stasia?

I have read all the books by Kent Haruf except for Where You Once Belonged, Stasia. One day I will remedy that.

>193 jessibud2: I read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down as well as her other book of essays, At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays, years ago, Shelley. I have not yet read The Wine Lover's Daughter.

>194 vancouverdeb: Where You Once Belonged is not my favorite book of Haruf's, but he can still write rings around other authors, that is for sure!

LT is continuing to be problematic for me as well as a lot of other people, I suspect. I apologize that I have not been online as much as I normally am, but taking 3, 4, and 5 attempts just to log in is a bit much. The Olympics are not helping either. . .

Not much going on here today - normal stuff like laundry and cooking - I am making blueberry pancakes for lunch, lol, and a casserole for dinner tonight.

Kerry and I are playing Aquatica today. We are very much enjoying it so I am hoping that today's game goes well for us both.

I am listening to Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky now but I am not enjoying it as much as I did the first two books in the series. Still plugging away at my trilogy of biographies: Red Comet, Thelonius Monk and The Indomitable Mrs. Trollope. I started a couple of other books yesterday, The Far Country by Nevil Shute and Second Reading by Jonathan Yardley, which is adding yet more books to the BlackHole.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

I've been having intermittent trouble with the site too, Stasia. Mostly just slow reactions (I never log out), but a few days ago I did get some bad gateway messages.

>197 laytonwoman3rd: I have had bad gateway messages, something about robots, some other error messages, etc. It is frustrating. Because I have 3 different accounts and am moving between them on a regular basis, I am logging in and out quite a bit.

It's really slow for me too, and has been for two days.

Happier, easier access day today! *smooch*

>199 mstrust: Yeah, between the slowness and all the error messages, LT has not been good for me over the past few days. *sigh*

>200 richardderus: Thanks, RD!

Finished tonight:

48 - Thelonius Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D. G. Kelley - Nonfiction; Darryl (kidzdoc) did an excellent review of this book a few years ago (you can check out Darry's review here: https://www.librarything.com/work/8952518/reviews/52056904) and I bought the book, which I am finally getting around to reading - it only took me 16 years to get to it. As a reader, I can tell when the author is emotionally invested in their resulting work and in Kelley's case, he clearly was. He spent 14 years of his life researching and writing this book about Monk. One of the joys of reading a book like this is digging into the man's music - I cannot tell you how many of Monk's recordings I listened to while reading the book (thank you, YouTube!). He was a towering talent, IMHO, and overcame much to both play and compose music, not the least of which was mental illness (undiagnosed bipolar disorder). He was lucky in that he had two women that helped out his career immensely - his mother and his wife. I thought this book was a very worthwhile read about a musician I did not know a lot about even though I respected and liked his music; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

Kerry and I are making an unplanned trip to Longview tomorrow so I will not be online much, if at all since my mother still has no Internet. I will check in when I am back home!

Finished tonight:

49 - The Indomitable Mrs. Trollope by Eileen Bigland - Nonfiction; This book was recommended by Reba (thanks, Reba!) about 6 years ago and, just like Thelonius Monk, I am just now getting to it. The Mrs. Trollope in question here is Anthony Trollope's mother, an author in her own right, and a woman who was absolutely a character. We first meet Francis Milton at age 27, just as Thomas Anthony Trollope, barrister, is proposing marriage to her. She then proceeded to provide him with 5 children in a 7-year span and became known for the dinner parties that she hosted. A lot happens in Fanny's life, including buying a farm, a move across the ocean to America with 3 of her children in tow, writing books about her travels (her book about her trip to America was not enthusiastic about the country), and unfortunately watching the slow deaths of children near and dear to her. I think encountering Fanny Trollope might have been a bit like running into a tornado - she seemed to be a whirlwind!; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I hope you have a good trip to Longview, Stasia. You are always on the go, it seems.

>204 alcottacre: I’ve heard bits and pieces about Fanny Trollope and it always struck me that she sounded like a remarkable woman. looks like an interesting read.

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. I have not read a musical bio in a long time. The Thelonious Monk definitely sounds good. I am a classic jazz guy. Have a safe trip.

>205 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah! Nope, I am pretty much a homebody :)

>206 SandDune: I know I would have had problems keeping up with Mrs. Trollope, Rhian, that is for sure!

>207 msf59: Thanks, Mark!

Kerry and I are making an unplanned trip to Longview today as Catey is off this week, so we decided to surprise her and mother. I will check in when we are back some time later today.

I hope you all have a thoughtful Thursday!

>209 alcottacre: Enjoy the surprise trip! *smooch*

>204 alcottacre: Got the book, just need to find time to read it...

>210 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. We did!

>211 kac522: If you could share the secret of how to find time, I would appreciate it, Kathy :)

Finished this afternoon:

50 - Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Audiobook; The good thing about long car rides is that you have plenty of time for listening to audiobooks. I just wish I had liked this one more. I spent a good deal of the book frustrated and when the big 'reveal' finally happens the book is almost over and I felt cheated. I loved the first book in the series and liked the second quite a bit, so this book was disappointing to me to say the least. Oddly enough, now that I know what the big reveal is, I think I will like the book better on rereading it; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/378812

>214 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver! I have already checked in over there, lol.

Well, Kerry and I are completely confused as to what day of the week it is - he thought today was Thursday and I was sure it was Saturday, so we are happily meeting in the middle and calling it Friday, which indeed it is :)

We have already played one game today and have another ready to go, so between gaming and reading, that is all I am planning to do today other than getting my daily 5 miles of walking done - and cooking dinner.

I have good stuff going on right now on the reading front: I am listening to A House for Mr. Biswas, which I loved when I read it the first time some 10+ years ago. I am hoping to finish up The Far Country today. I am very much enjoying reading some of Nevil Shute's books that I had not read before and will wrap up the month (hopefully) with my sentimental favorite of his, On the Beach. I am also continuing on with Second Reading and Red Comet and will be adding one or two books into the mix before the day is out, I think.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend!

All caught up! Happy weekend reading :)

>217 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! Same to you!

>216 alcottacre: I'm glad to know I'm not alone, even y'all whippersnappers get your days of the week fuddled up. Lovely weekend-ahead's reads, smoochling.

>219 richardderus: I think we are completely messed up because of the day trip yesterday. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

>204 alcottacre: I'm most impressed by your record keeping, Stasia!! (and thanks for reminding me of a book I had long forgotten). Glad you enjoyed it .

I am going to be going through Joplin, Missouri tomorrow and plan on stopping at the Book Guy and hope to get the other two books in the Batiara series by Guy Gavriel Kay. I will probably get more books than that, but those are my excuse for stopping and making purchases.

>221 RebaRelishesReading: I forget more often than not who recommends books, Reba, so as I add stuff to the BlackHole, I try hard to note who recommended a certain book to me. I did not do the noting on a consistent basis until about 2-3 years ago so if the book was recommended to me before that, I may have noted it down or I may not have :)

>222 benitastrnad: Cool beans, Benita! Say "Hello" to the folks in Joplin for me. Good luck on your book search!

Finished tonight:

51 - The Far Country by Nevil Shute - Another book by Shute for this month's British Authors Challenge. I am very glad to have the opportunity to revisit Shute, especially books of his that I have not yet read. This is one of his that I had not read previously and, while I enjoyed the book, it is not his best work IMHO. The book is what I would call a 'pleasant' read, but one that is far too easy to put down and forget about until you remember to pick it back up again. It is set in the time after WWII when rationing was still in place in England (it lasted until 1954!) and we see firsthand the results of it as initial part of the storyline introduces it through Mrs. Trehearn, whose granddaughter Jenny is a major character here. The other central character is Carl Zlinter who moved to Australia after the war and was a doctor in his homeland of Poland, but does not have the credentials, for which he has to study another 3 years, to be a physician in Australia. Jenny ends up going to visit relatives in Australia where she meets Zlinter. Of course, there is more to the novel than that and, although I think the novel suffers some from predictability, the getting to the end made a nice, pleasant journey; Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

Happy weekend and happy reading, Stasia! I LOVE Ex-Libris and I LOVE Kent Haruf. Catching up here left me feeling good:)

>225 AMQS: Thanks, Anne! Glad we can share some book love together! Glad to hear you are feeling good!

Happy Saturday, Stasia. I have not read Neil Shute? Bad Mark? To make things worse, I have had a beautiful copy of On the Beach on shelf... FOREVER.

>227 msf59: Get it down, Mark! It is still not too late! Lol

I cannot believe it is Saturday already! Where has February gone?!

I ended up doing stuff yesterday that I had not planned - making meal plans and grocery lists - so I am now waiting for grocery delivery. Reading did not go as planned to say the least.

Kerry and I will be playing Chronicles of Avel today, a campaign game, so we will be playing it every weekend for a while.

As far as reading goes, I am still listening to A House for Mr. Biswas. I am continuing to read Red Comet and Second Reading. I started The Galaxy, and the Ground Within last night and hope to start something else tonight. We will see. I ran out of gas last night and did not read as much as I hoped. . .

I hope everyone has a super Saturday!

Checking in very early - or very late - depending on your point-of-view. I have a busy day planned for this 'tech free' Sunday.

I hope you all have a lovely day!

>224 alcottacre: Shute rocks!

Have a great Sunday, Sister.

Have a restful Sunday, Stasia

>223 alcottacre: I had a whole spreadsheet of recommended titles and recommenders, but now I CANNOT FIND IT! Very annoying. I was all set to fold it into my mammoth list of great books.

>231 PaulCranswick: Yes, he does, Paul! You have a great Sunday too, brother.

>232 Kristelh: Thank you, Kristel! You as well.

>233 ffortsa: I hope you find it soon, Judy. That must be exasperating!

Finished this afternoon:

52 - Second Reading: Notable and Neglected Books Revisited by Jonathan Yardley - Nonfiction; Yardley, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1981 and was a longtime book reviewer/critic for the Washington Post, collected 60 of his reviews and recollections for this volume. The pieces in the book were published between March 2003 and January 2010, but his later reviews can be found on the website https://neglectedbooks.com/. In addition, Yardley provided a list of the 37 (at the time) Second Reading reviews that were not included in this book. As far as the pieces in the book go, Yardley is a man after my own heart - he enjoys rereading books as I do, some of the books mentioned he has not only reread once but multiple times. Most of the authors in the book are either American or English, but not all of them - he writes about books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Suetonius, for example. If you do not want spoilers for a book in which you might be interested, do not read this book as Yardley does give spoilers in his reviews. He includes brief biographies of the author in the chapters of the book. He also reviews short stories and nonfiction, although by and large the bulk of the reviews are of fictional books. Some of the authors mentioned in the book are ones of whom I had never heard and others were ones I have previously read, which gave me a little thrill each time it happened. I just added a bunch of books to the BlackHole!; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>235 alcottacre: Re-reading is a luxury to me because writers, those rotters, won't stop writing books, nor will they write worse ones! The audacity! How am I meant to keep up?!

*sigh* The reader's burden is heavy.

>236 richardderus: Oh, I totally agree that the reader's burden is heavy, Richard! Not only will writers not stop writing books, but more writers are showing up all the time! What are we to do when there is only one of us and multitudes of them?!

Finished tonight:

53 - The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers - I am not sure if this is going to be the final book in Chambers' Wayfinders series - this book was published in 2021 - but if it is, the series ended on a good note for me. In this book, ships land on a kind of deep space way station called Gora, but while there a freak accident makes the satellites around the planet have some kind of technological issue and the people who are now on Gora are stuck for the time being. There are multiple alien races and rather than give us the experiences of all the beings left stuck on Gora, Chambers concentrates on the owner of the Five-Hop One Stop and her child as well as the captains/owners of three of the ships left. I love that Chambers makes all of these characters feel different. I love the world building that she does throughout the entire series and this book is no exception; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

I have been up and doing for hours now and am sitting here eating my lunch - Black Bean Soup and Air Fried tortillas - so I can finally check in on my own thread.

Catey had last week off so I did not hear from her at lunchtime as I usually do and that was weird. We will be back on schedule today, I hope :)

Kerry and I will be playing Witchstone today and, as far as I know, that will be it. I am sorry to see the Olympics gone but the Games were reeking havoc with our board gaming on the weekends, lol.

On the reading front, I am still listening to A House for Mr. Biswas. I am continuing to read Red Comet - let's face it, I will not be finishing it until the 28th at the last minute - The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, which I am hoping to finish today, Twice Magic, and The Orb of Cairado, which I am also hoping to complete today.

I hope everyone has a marvelous Monday!

>239 alcottacre: Listening to Biswas?! Omigawd. How extreme.

Very very impressive for the US men to win gold 6 years later, wasn't it. I'm glad hockey's got so much wattage turned on it, with the gold and Heated Rivalry.

Enjoy the week!

>240 richardderus: Why is it extreme to listen to Biswas? I have read the book before.

I loved the hockey rivalries on both the men's and women's sides this year!

>241 alcottacre: The length! That's a huuuge commitment of time, but as a re-read it makes more sense.

>243 alcottacre: I listen to all my audiobooks at 1.5 speed - I can still understand them perfectly, but they do not take as long to listen to :)

Hi Stasia, strolling over for a little visit! Hope all is well.

>244 mdoris: Hey, Mary! Thanks for dropping by. Everything is well here! I hope the same for you.

Finished this afternoon:

54 - The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie - This book is a series of interconnected short stories, many of which have recurring characters. We see Victor, for example, from being a child into his adulthood. As with a collection of this short, I liked some stories more than others. Sometimes a story would start and you as a reader are not sure who is even speaking to you. I think the book is worth the read just for the glimpses into reservation life - Alexie is of Spokane-Coeur d'Alene descent and grew up on a Spokane Indian Reservation - not to mention the sense of humor sprinkled throughout as well as satiric wit, which helps balance out the pain and anger that many of the characters are dealing with; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Happy Monday, Stasia. On the Beach is now close at hand. It will be a March read. I ADORED The Lone Ranger. It was a 5 star read for me. My favorite Alexie. I sure hope he returns to writing. I have sure missed him.

>247 msf59: I am still hoping to get to On the Beach before the month is out since Nevil Shute is one of the authors for this month's British Authors Challenge.

Glad to hear that you thought so highly of The Lone Ranger. I have another of Alexie's books here to read, Reservation Blues. Have you read that one?

Borgie, I see you are still assimilating. it’s also nice to see other familiar names, as I will never catch up on threads I will have to wave when I see someone I know. ☺️

>224 alcottacre: I recently came across something about the effects of the rationing that lasted so long in Britain. One of the characters in a novel said that as a result of the rationing, it was unlikely to find tall women who were born during the war and after because of rationing.

It has been a long time since I read a book by Nevil Shute. They are difficult to find except for the more well known ones.

>249 beeg: Beeg! It seems like eons since I have 'seen' you! I will never catch up on threads either, so I can empathize with you.

>250 Familyhistorian: In The Far Country, one of the characters dies of malnutrition because of the rationing. I am wondering what all the ramifications of the rationing were. It must have been a very difficult time especially since the war was over. I think people were probably expecting life to go back to 'normal.'

I am sorry you are having such a difficult time finding Shute's books, Meg. I really like him as an author.

>251 alcottacre: Not specifically about WWII rationing, but you may be interested in You Are What Your Grandparents Ate by Judith Finlayson. I saw something on -- a PBS documentary, I think -- talking about a person's experience of famine having an effect even on the person's grandchildren. This book is on my towering TBR list.

Finished tonight:

55 - The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison - This is a novella set in the same world as Goblin Emperor, which I loved. I think it would be considered a prequel to that book. In this novella, we meet Ulcetha who, because he was framed for a theft that he did not commit, is now forced by circumstance to work for an underhanded dealer in fake imports. When Ulcetha's best friend dies, he leaves clues for Ulcetha to find the Orb of Cairado, the item Ulcetha was accused of stealing. When he follows the clues, Ulcetha finds a man who had been murdered, and now needs to figure out who committed that crime before he becomes a victim himself; Recommended (4 stars) Mine - Kindle

So much good reading here.

>235 alcottacre: I love collections of reviews. I will look for this one.

>246 alcottacre: I love this book. Alexie is such a good writer.

>254 BLBera: So much good reading here. Thanks, Beth. It is not really that surprising though since most of my reading comes from recommendations of people in the 75ers group and we are a well-read bunch if nothing else!

I hope you enjoy Second Reading if and when you get to it. The website is worth checking out as well.

This is certainly not the last Alexie I will be reading. I have read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian at least twice and very much enjoyed it. I have Reservation Blues on hand that I still need to read.

Today is meet up day with Beth and Catey. Beth has a job interview this morning and I really hope she gets the job since she has been out of work for several months now. Kerry and I have been helping her and Shaquille out with their finances, but it is straining us especially since I know that I have another $2000 of dental work being done in April. Thoughts and prayers for Beth would be appreciated!

Kerry and I have already played Istanbul today. Probably no more games with him today since I got just over 2 hours of sleep last night. I would imagine that a nap will be in order for this afternoon :) At least lunch is already in the oven, White Bean and Salsa Verde Casserole.

I am finishing up A House for Mr. Biswas today and then I will be starting Three Men in a Boat on audio. That one should not take me too long at all. I am continuing on with Red Comet and Twice Magic. I am hoping to finish Garden Spells today and start on The Cold Cold Ground - if I can stay awake.

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

>152 alcottacre: Okay, so maybe I'm just totally distractible but.... how do you get reading done during breaks of a gaming day? Are people quiet during those breaks? Do you use sound-canceling headphones? Just curious.

>235 alcottacre: This sounds like an interesting collection. I will check out the website as a starting point.

>236 richardderus: and >237 alcottacre: Oh, I so resonate with these facetious / not-facetious comments. I rarely reread books because.... So. Many. Good. Books. But, inspired by the January Chilean author group hereabouts, I just finished a reread of The House of the Spirits. It was a worthwhile investment of precious reading time.

>257 EBT1002: Well, since the "people" in question is only my husband, Kerry, it is not as difficult as it sounds, lol. We normally take breaks of an hour or so between games, depending.

I hope you enjoy Second Reading if and when you get to it, Ellen!

Completely agree about The House of Spirits. I reread it in January too.

Finished today:

56 - A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul - Audiobook; This was a re-read for me. I originally read the book back in 2011 after Daryl (kidzdoc) posted a wonderful review of it (https://www.librarything.com/work/10057/reviews/3484867). This is a case, at least for me, that the book is so excellently written that I like it despite the fact that I do not care for Mr. Biswas - to me, he is pathetic, trying to control things that are out of his control, and bullying (? not sure if that is the right word) the family that he does (or at least, thinks he does) control. There are moments of humor in the book, but not enough to outweigh the sorrow that I feel for Mr. Biswas in his petty little life. I also appreciate the glimpses into Trinidad and its culture, since I am completely unfamiliar with the island. I originally gave the book 5 stars, but I am downgrading it just a bit upon this reading; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>259 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. I struggled with the book. Going to look up Darryl’s review, thanks for posting it. There is so much going on in it, that is not good! Bullying, jealousy and envy, the sisters and widows who for the most part not even get a name, this family that Biswas hates. Difficult books do give a lot of food for thought. How was the audio reading experience for you?

>260 EllaTim: There is a lot going on the book which to me is a character study of Mr. Biswas - and he is really not a nice character when it comes right down to it, is he?

I enjoyed the audiobook. The guy who did the narration was not spectacular but he did not pull me out of the book as I have had narrators do in the past.

Finished tonight:

57 - Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen - This is a feel good book and a definite, welcome change from Mr. Biswas. I am pretty sure that this is the book that made me realize that magical realism is a thing and that I liked it. This was at least my third read of the book - the last one was in 2022 so it has been a few years - and I still quite like it. The story of the Waverley family and their, shall we say, oddities is a well known fact in Bascom, North Carolina. Lorelei Waverley took off from there but came back with two children in tow before disappearing once again. Her oldest daughter, Claire, stayed in Bascom and built a successful catering business, but the youngest daughter, Sydney, took after her mother and left - only coming back when she absolutely had to. The book has a great cast of characters and even though magical realism is involved, much of the book feels very true to life; Recommended (4 stars) Mine - Kindle

>259 alcottacre: One day I must try to read A House for Mr Biswas,Stasia. A couple of books came in on a hold for me at the library today, so those will be next. I also got a book I pre ordered from Blackwell's , so I am excited to get to that. It's The Barbecue at No.9 by Jennie Godfrey. I've read at least one of her previous books and loved it, so I'm hopeful for this one too.

>263 vancouverdeb: I think Mr. Biswas is a worthwhile read, Deborah. I will be curious to see what you make of the book when you read it. Good luck with the Godfrey book! I hope it is all you want it to be.

Not up to much today. Laundry is currently running. I got a call from the dentist today letting me know that my partial is in and I will be picking it up tomorrow. All I have to say is that I hope the permanent one is a lot better than the temporary one!

Kerry and I will be playing Aquatica this afternoon and I am really looking forward to it. I enjoy that game quite a bit.

On the reading front, I started Three Men and a Dog on audio yesterday and should be finishing it up today - it is fairly short (and funny). I did not get a lot of reading done yesterday, so the sprint to the finish line is going to be fun, lol. Continuing on with Red Comet and Twice Magic. I barely started The Cold Cold Ground last night, but what I read, I liked.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

>250 Familyhistorian: it was unlikely to find tall women who were born during the war and after because of rationing

>252 ReneeMarie: one of the characters dies of malnutrition because of the rationing

I actually thought it had exactly the opposite effect! Everything I’ve ever seen about rationing in the U.K. has suggested that the population was healthier during the rationing period as everyone got enough to eat even if it was pretty boring.

I remember when Jacob studied rationing in his history lessons at primary school he was very insistent that we should try living on the ration for a week, but luckily he got bored with the idea!

>266 SandDune: I do not know enough about the post-WWII rationing to comment, Rhian. I did not even realize that rationing was in place for 9 years after the war was over!

Happy Wednesday, Stasia. I have never read A House for Mr. Biswas. Due to your enthusiastic review it is back on my radar.

>268 msf59: I hope you enjoy the book if and when you get to it, Mark!

Finished tonight:

58 - Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell - Juvenile; This is the second book in Cowell's The Wizards of Once series and I liked this one a bitter better than I did the first one. In this book, Xar is not as obnoxious as he was in the first book - even his father recognizes that Xar is growing up - and that certainly helped in my enjoyment of the book. At the beginning of the book, Xar is confined to Gormincrag, which is supposed to be a rehabilitation center, but is actually little more than a jail. In the meantime, his friend Wish is also in trouble and in a locked cupboard. Needless to say, both Xar and Wish get out of their respective places and quickly in over their heads again. One of the things that I enjoyed about this entry into the series is that we learn more of the back stories of Queen Sychorax (Wish's mother) and Encanzo (Xar's father); Recommended for fans of the first book (4 stars) Mine

Finished tonight:

59 - Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome - Audiobook; This is one of those books that is just jolly good fun. This is at least me second read of this one. It is meant to be humorous as the narrator and 2 of his friends - not to mention the dog, Montmorency - decide to sail down the Thames. To say that they are really not ready or suited for such an undertaking may be something of an understatement. I can see why it is considered to be 'a classic of English humor.'; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>177 alcottacre: Where You Once Belonged is the only Haruf I haven’t read. I think I’ve been saving it since there’ll be no more. Your review makes me think I should get to it.

Hope you’re having a good week, Stasia!

>272 Copperskye: I will be curious to see what you make of Where You Once Belonged if and when you get to it, Joanne.

I am! I hope the same for you!

>271 alcottacre: Totally agree!! My first introduction to it was when we traveled to England with friends many years ago. We were staying in a lock keepers cottage which provided some books along with other furnishings. The husband started reading Three Men in a Boat and was laughing so hard the rest of us begged him to read it for us and the four of us nearly laughed ourselves sick. I read it myself later and enjoyed it all over again.

>274 RebaRelishesReading: It is a good one, isn't it? Even though it is well over 100 years old now! Funny thing for me is that I have never gone beyond this one in the series. Have you, Reba?

>275 alcottacre: I didn't even realize it was part of a series but I surely enjoyed this one.

>276 RebaRelishesReading: I guess it is technically not a series as there is only one other Three Men book, Three Men on the Bummel. I am almost afraid to ask what the Bummel is. . .

>277 alcottacre: To Say Nothing of the Dog

Thursday orisons, Stasia! Still using the phone to get Internet, so not here much but sending *smooches*

>278 quondame: I read that one in January, Susan, which is why I wanted to read Three Men in a Boat this month.

>279 richardderus: Thanks, RD. I hope things get squared away for you soon! ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

>280 alcottacre: the date is set so now I am in a different holding pattern. Better from my point of view because I have a goal and a schedule.

I am up early today and really do not want to be. I got maybe an hour of sleep and I am not even sure about that. Oh well, more reading time right? Provided I can stay awake!

Kerry and I will be visiting Mesoamerica today when we play Zapotec, a game in which you get all of 5 turns. Needless to say, it plays quickly!

I am starting Whispers Under Ground on audio today. I continue to plug away at Red Comet and should be finishing The Cold Cold Ground today. I am hoping to start From the Ground Up by Amy Stewart and/or On the Beach today - again, depending on whether I can stay awake or not.

I hope everyone has a thoughtful Thursday!

>271 alcottacre: I was hit with a BB for Three Men in a Boat—I can’t believe I haven’t read that before! Way past time—sounds lovely. Thanks!

Karen O

>270 alcottacre: I listened to The Wizards of Once several years ago. All I remember about it is that it was read by David Tennant, who did an excellent job of course. I can't get up any enthusiasm for continuing the series.

>271 alcottacre: I have been meaning to read Three Men in a Boat for some time. Maybe your review will finally push me to do it.

>283 klobrien2: >284 foggidawn: I hope you enjoy Three Men in a Boat if and when you get to it, Karen and Misti. It is relatively short so not a large time investment on your parts.

>284 foggidawn: I bet Tennant did a great job, Misti! I bought all 4 of the books at once so I am just reading them a bit at a time before passing them on to my daughter, Beth, who wants to read them.

All these positive comments about Three Men in a Boat prompted me to check my local library to see if they had a copy. They only had a couple of e-book versions, one of which showed Project Gutenberg as publisher. So I just downloaded a copy directly from Project Gutenberg.

I haven't been good about reading the few e-books I already have, so I don't know when I'll get to this one, but I do have it now.

>277 alcottacre: So, of course, I had to go and google "bummel" -- here's the result -- not so bad :) (and now I want to read that one too)

"Bummel" is a German word (often used in English contexts) referring to a leisurely stroll, wander, or loafing around, sometimes implying a shopping trip. It is famously used in the title of the 1900 humorous novel Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome, where it describes a journey without a strict end.
Merriam-Webster

So then I thought..."that would be a fun Audible book and I have credits" -- went there and found there are 7 (! count them, seven!) versions available!! I just picked one blindly and got it. I'll be listening to it in the car and laughing as I run my errands for a while :)

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. Is The Cold Cold Ground your first Sean Duffy title? I really like that series. I am 4 or five books into that series.

>286 atozgrl: I hope you enjoy Three Men in a Boat when you get to it, Irene! It is a short one so maybe that is in its favor?

>287 RebaRelishesReading: Now I want to read that one too, Reba! Thanks for your investigative work. The version of Three Men in a Boat that I listened to was narrated by Frederick Davidson, so I will see if they have the second book narrated by him as well.

>288 msf59: Yes, The Cold Cold Ground is my first Sean Duffy title, Mark, and it is not going to be my last!

I just took a wild stab and have Jerome Jerome as narrator -- hope he's good. I'm about to start it to accompany my afternoon knitting :)

>290 RebaRelishesReading: Since Jerome K. Jerome died quiet a long time ago (1927), I am wondering how he narrated an audiobook. . .

>291 alcottacre: So I went back a looked more carefully -- Jerome K, Jerome is author and the one I bought is narrated by Frederick Davidson.

>292 RebaRelishesReading: Well, I enjoyed Davidson's narration of the first book, so I hope you do too. I picked up the second book and found a version that he did the narration for on Audible.

Another book bullet-- I've added Three Men in A Boat. : )

>294 Berly: I seem to be hitting a lot of people with that one!

: ) I need some humor right now.

Kerry and I received some bad news this afternoon. His Aunt Christine, whom we both dearly love, has been moved into hospice. She is in her 90s and is refusing to eat. I am not sure that there is one specific thing wrong with her other than old age, but the family has been advised that she is not expected to live beyond a few more days.

The older generation is going and it makes me very sad. . .

>297 alcottacre: I’m sorry to hear about Kerry’s aunt. Losing favored family members thins the world terribly.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/379026

>298 quondame: Thanks, Susan.

>299 SilverWolf28: I am in again, Silver, and have already been over to the thread.

Finished tonight:

60 - The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty - A huge 'thank you' to Peggy for gifting this book to me last year. I finally got around to reading it and man, did I enjoy this one - not necessarily for the 'who done it' aspect of the case, although that was well done - but for the atmospheric setting of Ireland during the troubles of the 1980s. In the afterword of the book (although it is not labeled as such), the author says that he 'wanted to set a book in this claustrophobic atmosphere, attempting to recapture the sense that civilization was breaking down to its basest levels.' I think that he more than succeeded in his attempt. For those who do not know, the book is a police procedural that introduces the reader to Detective Sean Duffy, a Catholic police officer, in a predominantly Protestant area of Ireland. Duffy is tasked with solving the murder of a gay man at a time when homosexuality was not only looked down upon, but still illegal in Ireland. The twists and turns of the case lead him to suspect that another case, put down as a suicide, might intertwine with his; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I was hoping to start a new thread at the beginning of March, but it is looking like I had better do it sooner rather than later. . .

>287 RebaRelishesReading: My favorite word for this action is "flaneur." Although in trying to use the Internet to recall it from the tip of my tongue, I also discovered another very fun word: "boulevardier."

>297 alcottacre: I'm so sorry to hear that, Stasia. Please give Kerry a hug from me.

>297 alcottacre: Oh, I am so sorry to hear about Kerry's Aunt. : ( There just seems to be a lot going on right now and that is why I was saying I need to some light reading. Sorry.

>304 PaulCranswick: I will, Paul - tomorrow. He is already in bed now.

>305 Berly: Yeah, you are right there does seem to be a lot going on right now and it is just one more thing when we certainly do not need it. Thanks, Kim.

>297 alcottacre: Oh, Stasia, I'm so sorry to hear you've got more bad news. My last living aunt was also refusing to eat at the end. She was 98 I think. I'm starting to think that this is a thing. But this has to be really hard for your family, after everything else you've been through recently. Sending lots of (((((hugs))))).

>307 atozgrl: Hugs are very much appreciated, Irene!