Alcott Acre's Home, Room 5

Well, 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 almost 36 years. We have 6 children, 4 of whom are my stepchildren and 2 of whom are ours together. We also have 8 grandchildren. 2023 was a tough year for our family as we lost my father and stepdaughter, Nichole, within days of each other back in February.

I love to read and it has been a huge solace to me over the past year - I call it "burying myself in books." Since Kerry retired December 29th, it is going to be interesting to see how his retirement affects my reading! I am playing it safe and just shooting for 100 books read this year. I also suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (known to me familiarly as 'stupid CFS') and it seems like my bouts are becoming longer each time it springs up, so it affects my reading for the worse. CFS drives me crazy because I hate sleeping!

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

Excellent Reads from 2024 (in the order in which I read them):

5 Stars
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Cold Crematorium by Jozsef Debreczeni
King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi
Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson

4.5 Stars
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux
Heading North by Holly M. Wendt
Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
Derring-Do for Beginners by Victoria Goddard
Thirteen Doorways Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger
The Postcard by Anne Berest
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork by Etty Hillesum
Foster by Claire Keegan
Life Laid Bare by Jean Hatzfeld
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation by Drew D. Hansen
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by T. E. Carhart
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson
My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar
The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman

4.25 Stars
The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken
Freezing Order by Bill Browder
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
My Hair Is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez
Code Girls by Liza Mundy
Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May
Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb
The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush
The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl
English Creek by Ivan Doig
Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue by Christine Higdon
Eden Mine by S. M. Hulse
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
Promises in Death by J. D. Robb
At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Absolution by Alice McDermott
The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard
I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

For the past 2 years, I have concentrated on reading the works of one author in particular. In 2022, I read through all of Jane Austen’s works. In 2023, I read all of the volumes of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. For 2024, I have decided to do something a bit different and, using Classics for Pleasure by Michael Dirda as a guide, am going to go through each of the chapters of the book and select one work from each.

So for May we have:

Everyday Magic:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Classic Fairy Tales
Short Stories by E. T. A. Hoffman
Short Stories by Prosper Merimee
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Completed May 17, 2024
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Box of Delights by John Masefield
Memoirs of a Midget by Walter de la Mare

What would you have chosen? Why?

So for April we have:

Words from the Wise:
Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tse
Philosophical fragments by Heraclitus
On Duties, Discussions at Tusculum, The Dream of Scipio, and letters to Atticus by Cicero
The Praise of Folly by Erasmus - Completed April 7, 2024
The English Religious Tradition including the King James version of the Bible, The Book of Common Prayer, The Pilgrim's Progress, hymns of writers like Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley
Ethics and Theological-Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza
"The Vanity of Human Wishes", Rasselas, Essays from the Rambler and the Idler, and Lives of the Poets by Samuel Johnson

So for March we have:

Love's Mysteries:
Poems and Fragments by Sappho
Arthurian Romances: The Knight with the Lion by Chretien de Troyes, Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg, or Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach
The Princes of Cleves by Marie-Madeleine de la Fayette
Diary of a Seducer by Soren Kierkegaard
Modern Love by George Meredith
Collected Poems by C. P. Cavafy
The Grand Sophy, Venetia, Friday's Child, Cotillion, or A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer - My pick for the month is Cotillion - Completed March 29, 2024
Selected poetry by Anna Akhmatova
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

So for February we have:

Heroes of Their Time:
Beowulf
Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsi
Njal Saga, Laxdaela Saga, Grettir Saga, Egil Saga (The Icelandic Sagas)
Plays and Poems by Christopher Marlowe
Germinal and other novels by Emile Zola
Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger - Completed February 28, 2024
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee

So for January we have:

Playful Imaginations:
The True History; Lucius, or The Ass; Dialogues of the Dead by Lucian
Rameau’s Nephew by Denis Diderot
Crochet Castle by Thomas Love Peacock
Seven Men; A Christmas Garland; Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek
Brothers and Sisters; Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett
The Best of S.J. Perelman by S.J. Perelman - Completed January 9, 2024
Invisible Cities; The Castle of Crossed Destinies; If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
Amphigorey; Amphigorey Too; Amphigorey Also; Amphigorey Again by Edward Gorey

Shared reads:

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - Completed February 14, 2024
Derring-Do for Beginners by Victoria Goddard - Completed February 12, 2024
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - Completed February 18, 2024
An Interrupted Life by Etty Hillesum - Completed March 30, 2024
Martin Dressler by Steven Milhauser - Completed March 5, 2024
The Hand of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard - Completed March 25, 2024
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - Completed March 16, 2024
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki - Completed April 16, 2024
At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard - Completed April 21, 2024
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham - Completed May 8, 2024
The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard - Completed May 12, 2024
How Music Works by David Byrne - July with Kim
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason - August? with Mark, Ellen, and Linda P
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson - September with Mary (bell7)
Bound to Please by Michael Dirda - December with Ellen and Benita

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham - Not sure when

May's TIOLI Challenges:

Challenge #1: Read a book whose title, subtitle, or author's full name begins or ends in the letter "Y"
The Illustrious Dead by Stephen Talty - Completed May 10, 2024
Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley - Completed May 6, 2024
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - Completed May 25, 2024
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Completed May 26, 2024

Challenge #2: Read a book where a 4-legged animal is mentioned in the title
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo - Completed May 18, 2024

Challenge #3: Read a book with a girl's name in the title
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea - Completed May 21, 2024
My Friend, Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar - Completed May 30, 2024

Challenge #4: The "In Honor of My Mother" Challenge - My mother turns 85 in May and Mother’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. this month as well, so I present a rolling challenge to spell out MOTHER.
M - Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey - Completed May 2, 2024
M - Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt by Nina Burleigh - Completed May 31, 2024
O - One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson - Completed May 28, 2024
T - The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard - Completed May 12, 2024
H - The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland - Completed May 29, 2024
E - An Equal Music by Vikram Seth - Completed May 21, 2024
R - The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham - Completed May 8, 2024

Challenge #5: Read a book that you acquired in 2024
The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman - Completed May 31, 2024
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson - Completed May 23, 2024
Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters - Completed May 6, 2024
Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi - Completed May 1, 2024

Challenge #6: Read a book that poses a new question or answers a question already posed
The Heavenly Tenants by William Maxwell - Completed May 12, 2024
Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro - Completed May 8, 2024
The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt - Completed May 4, 2024
T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer by David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito - Completed May 30, 2024

Challenge #7: Read a book for the Zodiac challenge (Taurus)
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor - Completed May 21, 2024

Challenge #8: Read a book from the list that shows what other LT members have read so far in 2024
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - Completed May 11, 2024
Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles - Completed May 17, 2024

Challenge #9: Read a book whose title suggests something a person would like to achieve
Absolution by Alice McDermott - Completed May 7, 2024
Sacred Legacy by Edward S. Curtis - Completed May 19, 2024

Challenge #10: Read a book with first person narration or featuring first person singular pronouns in the title, eg me, mine
I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish - Completed May 16, 2024

Challenge #11: Read a book mentioned in one of the Five Books Lists (fivebooks.com)
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson - Completed May 23, 2024

Challenge #12: Read a collection of religious or spiritual texts
The Lost Books of the Bible by William Hone, editor - Completed May 15, 2024

Challenge #13: Read a paper book
Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb - Completed May 13, 2024
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard - Completed May 9, 2024
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Completed May 17, 2024

Black Studies Reading
Must reads for this year: King: A Life by Jonathan Eig and When We Ruled by Robin Walker
1. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho - Completed January 5, 2024
2. Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez - Completed February 2, 2024
3. Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome - Completed March 1, 2024
4. King: A Life by Jonathan Eig - Completed March 6, 2024
5. The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation by Drew Hansen - Completed April 29, 2024
6. T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer by David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito - Completed May 30, 2024

Jewish Studies Reading
Must reads for this year: The Instructions by Adam Levin and Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History by Joseph Telushkin
1. 28 Days by David Safier - Completed January 25, 2024
2. The Archive Thief by Lisa Moses Leff - Completed January 28, 2024
3. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi - Completed February 3, 2024
4. Cold Crematorium by József Debreczeni - Completed March 4, 2024
5. Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life the Diaries, 1941-1943 and Letters from Westerbork by Etty Hillesum - Completed March 30, 2024
6. Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure by Menachem Kaiser - Completed April 6, 2024
7. Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning - Completed April 25, 2024
8. My Friend, Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar - Completed May 30, 2024

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

The In Death series by J.D. Robb
Creation in Death - Completed January 3, 2024
Random in Death - Completed February 6, 2024
Strangers in Death - Completed February 22, 2024
Salvation in Death - Completed March 24, 2024
Promises in Death - Completed April 19, 2024
Kindred in Death - Completed May 13, 2024
Fantasy in Death -

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Completed January 18, 2024

The St. Mary’s books by Jodi Taylor
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - Completed February 29, 2024

The Decker/Lazarus series by Faye Kellerman
Grievous Sin - Completed January 31, 2024

The Three Pines series by Louise Penny
The Brutal Telling - Completed March 22, 2024

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear
An Incomplete Revenge

The Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson
One Good Turn - Completed May 28, 2024

The Shetland Series by Ann Cleeves
White Nights

The War Literature Challenge - I will be attempting to read at least 2 books toward each monthly challenge.

JANUARY - The Ancients (Greeks, Romans etc)
A War Like No Other by Victor Davis Hanson - Completed January 9, 2024
The Battle of Salamis by Barry Strauss - Completed January 31, 2024
Persian Fire by Tom Holland - Completed January 29, 2024

FEBRUARY - The American War of Independence
Killing England by Bill O’Reilly - Completed February 3, 2024
Unlikely Allies by Joel Richard Paul - Completed February 22, 2024

MARCH - WILDCARD - Pick your own fight!:
An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina - Completed March 10, 2024
Life Laid Bare by Jean Hatzfeld - Completed April 28, 2024

APRIL - Wars of Religion
The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy by Peter H. Wilson - Completed April 27, 2024

MAY - The Napoleonic Wars
The Illustrious Dead by Stephen Talty - Completed May 10, 2024
Mirage by Nina Burleigh - Completed May 21, 2024

JUNE - The English Civil War

JULY - Colonial Wars

AUGUST - World War Two

SEPTEMBER - The American Civil War

OCTOBER - American Follies (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Gulf Wars)

NOVEMBER - World War One

DECEMBER - The Spanish Civil War

The “Read More Sci-Fi” Challenge - using the Esquire list found here (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/) and the book Science Fiction, The 101 Best Novels, 1985-2010 by Damien Broderick and Paul di Filippo as guides
1. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - Completed January 22, 2024 (Esquire List #29)
2. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - Completed February 25, 2024 (Esquire List #18)
3. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut - Completed March 3, 2024 (From the book - 1985)
4. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - Completed March 16, 2024 (From the book - 1996)
5. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - Completed May 25, 2024 (Esquire List #3)

The “Indie List” Challenge with the list supplied by Berly
1. All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews - Completed January 29, 2024
2. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - Completed February 18, 2024
3. Eden Mine by S.M. Hulse - Completed March 31, 2024
4. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley - Completed May 6, 2024

The Around the World in 80 Novels Challenge inspired by the book of the same name. I want to try and expand my reading horizons to places I have rarely or never been. In addition to reading from the book that inspired this challenge, I will also be using Around the World in 80 Books as a reference.
1. The Missing File by D.A. Mishani - (Israel) Completed January 31, 2024
2. Bleak House by Charles Dickens - (England) Completed February 16, 2024
3. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier - (England) - Completed March 8, 2024
4. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck - (China) Completed April 4, 2024

The Monthly Nonfiction Challenge - I try to read at least 100 nonfiction books a year and this challenge is instrumental in helping me achieve that goal. Last year, I was just short with only 96 nonfiction reads in the year, so I am hoping to improve that number in 2024!
January The Archive Thief by Lisa Moses Leff - Completed January 28, 2024
February Code Girls by Liza Mundy - Completed February 12, 2024
February The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush - Completed February 24, 2024
March Written in Bones by Paul Bahn (editor) - Completed March 16, 2024
April Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook - Completed April 19, 2024
May Sacred Legacy by Edward S. Curtis - Completed May 19, 2024

The American Authors Challenge - This is one that I dip into and out of as the case may be
January The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain - Completed January 11, 2024
February Reborn: Journals & Notebooks 1947-1963 by Susan Sontag - Completed February 8, 2024
March A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote - Completed March 2, 2024
April Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure by Menachem Kaiser, Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation by Drew D. Hansen, The Town That Food Saved by Ben Hewitt, and The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by T. E. Carhart
May The Heavenly Tenants by William Maxwell - Completed May 12, 2024

The British Authors Challenge - I have never participated in this one before and I suspect that, like the American Authors Challenge, it will be one into which I dip only on occasion
January The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken - Completed January 4, 2024
February Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman - Completed February 16, 2024
April An Eye for an Eye by Anthony Trollope - Completed April 9, 2024
May The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman - Completed May 31, 2024

And now the Touchstone loading period begins. . .

Happy new thread Stasia!

>12 quondame: Thank you, Susan!

Happy new thread, Stasia. Had happy May!

Happy new thread Stasia. Fun to scroll through all your reading and reading plans.

Happy new one, Stasia!

Happy new thread, Stasia.

Happy New Thread, Stasia! 🧵

Happy new thread, Stasia!!

Happy New Thread, Stasia!

>14 Kristelh: >15 mdoris: >16 jessibud2: >17 katiekrug: >18 vancouverdeb: >19 curioussquared: >20 Owltherian: Thank you, Kristel, Mary, Shelley, Katie, Deborah, Natalie, and Lily!

>21 alcottacre: You're very welcome :)

Finished tonight:

116 - Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi - Graphic Novel; This is the second graphic novel that I have read this year that demonstrates just how powerful this medium can be (the other one was Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall). In this one, Satrapi shows how the murder of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing her veil correctly, has triggered a woman's movement in Iran. I love the fact that there are so many different stories, reflected in many different styles of artwork, in the book because although there is not a cohesive style, they all represent a cohesive ideal: that of a free Iran. Probably the chapter that broke my heart the most is "The Winter of Executions," which is pretty much as it sounds - an entire chapter about the execution of 4 young males, who died without trial or legal representation. One review that I read of this book said, "This collection pays homage to victims and celebrates the dreams of Iran’s determined activists" and it does that in spades; Highly Recommended (5 stars) Library Book

BTW - Satrapi's Persepolis is, if not the first graphic novel I ever read, certainly very close to being the first.

Happy new thread, Stasia!

>23 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, you got me with that one and adding it to by TBR pile. I read her first so many years ago, and like you maybe it was one of my first GN!. Hope all's well!

I'm getting in early. Happy New Thread, Stasia! I wish you may read a lot, game a lot, and generally have a break from horridness.

Happy new thread my dear Juana.

Happy new thread, Stasia!

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. Happy New Thread. You got me with Woman, Life, Freedom. I have 2 big GNs to get through and then I will request it.

>24 atozgrl: Thank you, Irene.

>25 mdoris: I hope you can get hold of it and enjoy it when you do, Mary.

>26 LizzieD: The horridness is ongoing at the moment, Peggy, but we are getting through it.

>27 PaulCranswick: I appreciate it, Juan!

>28 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita!

>29 msf59: Ha! I was just over on your thread posting about it, Mark, and urging you to give it a shot.

Good afternoon, Stasia. I always look for better news from you.

All I know is that I just got the first real haircut in 5 years or so and Karen is now having her surgery.

>31 LizzieD: Yay for the haircut and prayers going up that all goes well with Karen's surgery!

Thanks, Peggy.

Happy new one, Stasia!

>33 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

Finished tonight:

117 - Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey - Nonfiction; This book is a recommendation from Linda (Whisper) - thanks, lovey! When she was 19 years old, Trethewey's mother was murdered by her ex-stepfather, a man who had already spent time in jail for assaulting Trethewey's mother and who had promised to kill her. The book begins with a seemingly idyllic childhood. Trethewey lived in Mississippi and was extremely close to her grandmother, who basically cared for her when Trethewey's own mother was either at school or work. However, when she was about 6, her parents divorced and her mother opted to move to Georgia where she met and married Joel (Big Joe), the man who would ultimately murder her. I will say, kudos to Trethewey for tackling such a difficult subject - I am pretty sure I could not do it (and the fear that my dad would ultimately kill my mother was a very real one for me.) Trethewey, who is a former poet laureate of the U.S., certainly knows how to write, but to do so without being cloyingly sentimental or overly dramatic, especially given the subject matter, must be extremely difficult. There is a definite feeling of grief underpinning the book because you, as the reader, know what is coming; Recommended (4.25 stars) Library Book

"Perhaps that's the trick the mind plays in grappling to make meaning of events of the past, to find a narrative thread, to read - looking back - the signs we did not pay attention to in the moment."

Happy New Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360495

>36 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver!

>37 SilverWolf28: I am in!

I am currently reading Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, which is one of my 'must read' books for this year (see message 6, above). It is going to take a bit to finish this one since it is ~750 pages long, but I am finding it fascinating reading.

I was raised a Baptist and our text was always the King James Version of the Bible. What I am finding so interesting is finding out from Jewish Literacy is what the original Hebrew texts say as opposed to what the KJV says.

For example, the third commandment translated into English reads, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain." However, in the Hebrew it is "You shall not carry (God's name in vain.) According to Telushkin that means "don't use God as your justification in selfish causes."

He goes on to say, "When a person commits an evil act, he discredits himself. But when a religious person commits an evil act in the name of God (emphasis mine), he or she discredits God as well."

Now I can see why this commandment is on the level of "Thou shalt not kill" or "Thou shalt not bear false witness" rather than it just being for swearing. There are a lot of so-called religious people who need to heed the warning of the third commandment because, according to Telushkin, God considers this sin unpardonable.

>39 alcottacre: That's an interesting tidbit, Stasia. So much of what we learn about religion growing up is just surface-level stuff, and then we stop there. Sometimes meaning is lost in translation, no? I was also fascinated to learn that there were many writings way back when, only some of which were selected for what we now know as the New Testament. Among other things, this influenced the portrayal of women and subsequently the roles they were allowed to play in society.

>39 alcottacre: I find this whole subject fascinating as well. One of the lawyers I worked with for years could read Greek and a bit of Hebrew. He was always coming up with interesting examples of how later translations subtly (or not so subtly) changed the meaning of the biblical texts. The "word of God" has been subjected to man's self-serving interpretations over and over.

>40 lauralkeet: I am going to be doing reading beyond Jewish Literacy, Laura, because I am very curious about the stuff that is not in the Bible. One of the tidbits that I read today was about the judge, Deborah, and how highly esteemed she was.

>41 laytonwoman3rd: The "word of God" has been subjected to man's self-serving interpretations over and over. Boy, isn't that the truth?

Good morning, Stasia. You got me, as you knew you would if you thought about it, with Jewish Literacy. I can't read it now, but I expect that I just have to have it on standby. OK. I can wait for a cheaper copy or for a time when I haven't overspent on less worthwhile books.

Do you know Elaine Pagels? I've read only her Beyond Belief, but I loved that the Gospel of Thomas shows Jesus with a sense of humor.

Enjoy your Friday!!!

Where is my post????? Phooey. I don't have time to do it again.

I'll be getting Jewish Literacy down the road, and I thank you for the BB. Do you know Elaine Pagels? I've read only her Beyond Belief. I see that I gave it only 3 stars at the time, but I remember loving that Thomas's Jesus had a sense of humor.

Happy Friday!

>39 alcottacre: You got me with Jewish Literacy! Thank you for your thoughtful and well-stated “heads up”!

Karen O

P.s. Happy New Thread!

>45 klobrien2: I hope that you enjoy Jewish Literacy when you get to it, Karen!

Thanks!

>39 alcottacre: How interesting! This interpretation makes more sense than the usual interpretation Christians make re swearing. I'm glad you shared that.

Happy Friday, Stasia. I also thought Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir was excellent. How is The Razor's Edge in the early going?

Happy weekend, dear lady.

Just jumping in to say hi and wish you happy reading this weekend.

>47 atozgrl: You are most welcome, Irene. I really am finding the book fascinating.

>48 msf59: I have read the first chapter, Mark - all 50+ pages of it (in my edition of the book anyway). All of the characters are in place and we are getting to know the main character, Larry, pretty well. Of course, since the book was originally published in 1944 there are things that are dated - lots of both smoking and drinking.

>49 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul!

>50 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori, and the same to you!

Kerry is up and I have chores to get to, breakfast to eat, a game to play with my husband, and other stuff - including reading at some point, I hope. I hope to see you all later!

Have a super Saturday!

>39 alcottacre: Interesting Stasia. Definitely goes on the list. Translation is something that fascinates me.

>53 Caroline_McElwee: I do not want to give the wrong impression, Caroline - translation is only a small part of the book, intermixed with Telushkin's giving basic tenets of what Judaism is at its core and the teachings that underpin it.

A tidbit from today's reading in Jewish Literacy:

"As serious as are the sins committed by the ancient Israelites, one thing must be said to their credit: They canonized their critics. They took writings that other people would have burned and turned them into holy books to be studied by Jews throughout their history.

This is something that no other nation or religion did."

Finished tonight:

118 - The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt - This is the story of one Bob Comet, who is, an a word, boring. The most exciting thing about Bob is his last name. The problem with a character study of a person who is boring is that the book tends to be boring too - and this one is (at least to me) and goes on too long, to boot. The most interesting characters in the book are Bob's best friend, Ethan, and his ex-wife, Connie, who marries Ethan after she and Bob divorce. However, these two people only serve to emphasize how boring Bob is in the long run. There are incidents in Bob's life that are recounted including when he was 11-years-old and ran away from home, which seems to be the most exciting thing that ever happened to him. On top of all that, for a book that is about a "librarianist," there are few literary references in the book, which was another disappointment for me; Not Recommended (3.25 stars) Library Book

>56 alcottacre: Yeah, I DNF'd that one. Life's too short.

>57 ReneeMarie: I probably would have DNF'd it as well, but it is a shared read for one of the TIOLI challenges and really hate not to finish those.

Today is my traditional "day off" technology although I hope to be back after I finish a book later today.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

A day off technology is a good idea, Stasia! I don't think I'd survive, though, because I keep my to-do list on my phone, and I forget important things like my meds if I don't look at the list.

>60 The_Hibernator: Well, I am retired, Rachel, so my to-do list is basically 'get out of bed and maybe get stuff done.' Thank goodness I am not taking any meds.

>56 alcottacre: The most exciting thing about Bob is his last name. Oh dear... I may skip that one.

Happy new thread and hope the next book is better!

>61 alcottacre: my to-do list is basically 'get out of bed and maybe get stuff done.'
This made me laugh out loud, Stasia! I can so relate to this.

>62 bell7: The book may work better for you than it did for me, Mary. You never know. The next book was definitely better!

>63 lauralkeet: Yep, it is pretty much my game plan every day, Laura. Being retired is not nearly as bad as I thought it was at first.

Finished this morning:

119 - Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters - Audiobook; Although Peters' Amelia Peabody series is my favorite of her series, I enjoy the Vicky Bliss series too and this is probably my favorite book in the series, so thanks to Jeanne for putting this book on TIOLI for May as I got reacquainted with Vicky, John, and Schmidt (who I want to be when I grow up). Vicky gets recruited to try and figure out who is trying to rob the Cairo museum even though she is in no way an expert on Egyptian art, only to find John on the cruise for which she is going to be a substitute guest lecturer, so mystery solved as to who is going to rob the museum, right? Nope. Several twists and turns in this one keep the reader on their toes although there is no doubt that, in the end, all is going to be well. I listened to the audiobook of this one which once again reminded me of why Barbara Rosenblat is my all-time favorite narrator; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>61 alcottacre: - I can also relate to this: my to-do list is basically 'get out of bed and maybe get stuff done.' ! LOL. Welcome to my life

>66 jessibud2: It seems to be that is pretty much the game plan for us retirees, Shelley!

Finished tonight:

120 - Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley - This is another book from Kim's Indiespensible list and yet another that is a near miss for me. I had not read any of Hadley's books prior to this one but I had heard good things for the most part about them, so maybe this was a case of my expectations being too high? Anyway, this book is about Lydia and Christine, college friends, and Alex and Zachary, who are boyhood friends. Lydia is lusting after Alex despite the fact that he is married with a young son. Zach and Christine begin dating and eventually Alex's marriage ends in divorce. Surprisingly though, he ends up with Christine and Lydia and Zachary pair off. This part of the story is told in flashback and goes on too long, IMHO. The book actually begins with the death of Zach and the situation that it puts Alex, Christine, and Lydia in as they have to deal with their mutual grief, but their own personal grief too. The inevitable happens - yeah, I could read that handwriting on the wall - and Alex and Lydia get back together again, destroying his marriage and her friendship with Christine; Guardedly recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

>56 alcottacre: The Librarianist was a real disappointment for me too, Stasia. I DNF'd it at around page 225 or so. I only gave it 2.5 stars. I wanted more about his life in the old folks home and his life in the library, not all of the stuff about Connie and Ethan. I really enjoyed his book, The Sisters Brothers, so I had high hopes, but it was not to be.

>61 alcottacre: That sounds so much like so many of my days! I can truly relate. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one.

>69 vancouverdeb: I have not yet gotten to The Sisters Brothers which first put Patrick deWitt on my reading radar. Thanks for the reminder that I need to remedy that, Deborah! I agree completely about all the stuff about Ethan and Connie.

>70 atozgrl: Yeah, we should have some kind of club or something, Irene :)

Today is my day to meet up with Beth and Catey so I will be back later in the day, I hope. I am planning on finishing Absolution today if I can. We shall see how the time works out.

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Oh, forgot to mention: something that I learned from the Merriam Webster website when looking up the unfamiliar to me word conurbation -

'When Sir Patrick Geddes, a Scottish biologist turned sociologist, sat down in 1915 to write Cities in Evolution, a work on urban planning, he needed a word. How should he refer to thickly populated regions consisting of a sprawling range of cities clustered together? "Some name, then, for these city-regions, these town aggregates, is wanted…. What of 'conurbations'?" he asked rhetorically early on in his work. For his coinage, Geddes combined urbs (the Latin word for "city," already familiar in urban and suburb) with the Latin prefix con- ("together") and the English noun suffix -ation. It turned out that his word suited English speakers just fine-we've been using it ever since.'

I just thought it was interesting, this bit of word coinage.

My first DNF of the year is an extremely disappointing one - Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer. It is especially disappointing for me as it was a shared read with Kim, but I just could not go on for another 500+ pages when I got to the 50-page point. Ugh.

Finished this afternoon:

121 - Absolution by Alice McDermott - This is one of those books that I likely would not have ever picked up if not for LT. I think Joanne is the person who first recommended this one to me. It is set just before the Vietnam War for the most part as Tricia, a newlywed, is stationed there with her husband who works for Intelligence. There she meets Charlene, who has 3 children, one of whom Tricia is relating her story to in retrospect through letters. Charlene is a lady who does not let anything get in her way - she wants to 'do good' (her own definition of good anyway) and by God, she is going to do it. This book reads almost as a character study of Charlene through the eyes of Tricia and Charlene's daughter, Rainey. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the ending but throughout the book, I thought she did a wonderful job with her characters; Recommended (4.25 stars) Library Book

Finished this afternoon:

122 - The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham - This is a shared read with Mark and several others in the group and I was more than happy to reacquaint myself with a book that I first read almost 50 years ago now. In the book, we meet several interesting characters including Larry Darnell who is a central character though he rarely actually appears in the book. Larry fought in WWI even though he was underage and saw his best friend die. Now that the war is over he is trying to "find himself" - make sense of his life and his wartime experiences. He meets the author (Maugham as himself), who basically writes a 'biography' of Larry that is mainly told from the viewpoint of the other characters in the book: snobbish Eliot Templeton and his niece, Isabel, who was at one point engaged to Larry; Isabel's husband, Gray, and Sophie, a childhood friend of both Isabel and Larry, who becomes engaged to her later in life. I have a hard time describing this book because it almost defies description, at least to me. Larry's journey to find himself - and he goes all over the world to do so - is one that speaks to me on many levels as, even though I am over 60 years old, I am still struggling to find myself and my place. The best thing that the book does for me is make me think; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

This is the very first book that I remember finding after I watched the film version. That almost never happens!

Hi Stasia!

Women, Life, Freedom sounds wonderful. Onto the wish list it goes.

>39 alcottacre: Wow, That is fascinating. I went ahead and requested Jewish Literacy through my ILL, but at 700 pages I suspect I'll have to purchase a copy for myself, too as I am sure I will read it very slowly. I would definitely like to put that analysis on my FB page. I had never heard it before.

Your threads are always dangerous to my TBR pile.

>77 streamsong: Hey, Janet! I am glad that you got hit with a couple of BBs while here.

I cannot tell you how many nuggets you have enlightened me with through the years, so fair is fair! Lol

Finished this evening:

123 - Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro - Nonfiction; I have known for a good long while now that there is a controversy surrounding who wrote Shakespeare's attributed plays and poems, but really did not know the details. Well, now I do. Shapiro does a very good job of introducing the reader to the man himself as well as the contenders for who might actually have done the writing, if he did not. The major contenders, Francis Bacon and Edward de Vere (the 17th Earl of Oxford), get much attention and sections of their own in this book. Shapiro then gives his explanation of why he believes that Shakespeare did indeed write the plays and poems attributed to him. I enjoyed reading this 'literary mystery' and recommend it to those who are curious, no matter which side you are on; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

>79 alcottacre:- That looks like something I would enjoy, Stasia. Thanks for the review and putting it on my radar.

>76 alcottacre: Very good review Stasia. I appreciated the personal touches!

>73 alcottacre: oh that's interesting, Stasia. I looked up the word too with my Kindle dictionary and it didn't have the details of the origin.

Some good reading here, Stasia. Maugham is a favourite of mine still.

Happy Wednesday (what is left of it for you). xx

>74 alcottacre: Oh dear. I have that book sitting on my shelves, such a chunkster too. I liked his earlier work.

>80 jessibud2: I hope you do enjoy it if and when you get to it, Shelley. The book was published 14 years ago so some of the scholarship may be outdated. I do not know for sure, but wanted to make you aware.

>81 mdoris: Thank you, Mary!

>82 bell7: I thought it interesting too, Mary. Funny that both of us looked up the same word.

>83 PaulCranswick: Maugham is still one of my favorites too, Paul. What can I say? We have good taste.

>84 avatiakh: One of the reasons that Here I Am was so disappointing to me was because I liked Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close so very much, Kerry. You might enjoy Here I Am more than I did - there are certainly enough good reviews of it out there. I hope you do!

Hiya. Stasia.

Happy Kinda Sorta New Thread!

Kudos to you for taking on Jewish Literacy. I love your example with the third commandment - much more interesting and meaningful, IMO.

I read Razor’s Edge a few years ago because of its Buddhist leanings (and because my mother was a big Maugham fan). It’s great to see it tackled as a group read. It made me think, like it did you.

>86 jnwelch: Hey, Joe! Nice to see you here.

Speaking of Jewish Literacy - my tidbit for today:

"At about the same time (~1824), Isaac Disraeli converted his son Benjamin to the Church of Englad, an act that eventually enabled Benjamin to become the prime minister of England."

So now you know - and I do too :)

>69 vancouverdeb: I also read The Sisters Brothers & liked it, compared to The Librarianist where the cover was the best part... We read TSB for my historical fiction book group but 1 person did DNF it because of cruelty to an animal.

Finished tonight:

124 - The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard - Add me to the growing list of people here in the group who love this book - and in some cases, the entire Cazalet Chronicle series. This is a family saga in the best sense of the word. Howard does not neglect any of the characters in the 3 generations of the Cazalet family. I think what impressed me the most in her telling of the story is that everyone is given a unique voice including the women and children. The story seems to revolve around them more than it does any of the men in the family although the men are not given short shrift. The tale begins in the period between the world wars - an idyllic time - although there is a change on the horizon and some of the adults are beginning to plan for and dread it; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>86 jnwelch: My mother was also a Maugham fan and why I read his books. My strongest memory of the movie was Gene Tierney. When she was onscreen I don't think anything else registered.
Buddhism woo woo didn't stand a chance.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360644

Wow ! 124 book read already, Stasia! That's amazing.

>91 quondame: The reason I read The Razor's Edge when I was a teenager was because I had seen the film version with Tyrone Power - yum - and Gene Tierney.

>92 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver. I am in again!

>93 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deborah. If all goes well, I will be finishing 125 today. I am trying to get as many books in early this month as I will be heading to my mother's on the 24th and will not be back until the 31st.

Kerry and I are having our monthly gaming marathon today - early this month - because I will be out of town when we would normally hold it. The games are already picked out and stacked on the table, waiting for us to get to them.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday! I will be back later in the day, I am sure. . .

>90 alcottacre: Hurray! I'm so glad you enjoyed this as much as I did. I originally planned to read one book every other month so as not to get burned out, but I keep thinking about the Cazalets and wanting to know what happens. I requested Book 3 from the library and it should be my next read.

Have a great weekend with gaming and reading. Sounds about perfect. No Mother’s Day plans?

>94 alcottacre: Ooh, Tyrone Power! Razor's Edge is not one of his movies that I have seen. I love the Zorro movie with Tyrone Power.

Checking in, Stasia, and adding my bit to The Sisters Brothers love. I really enjoyed it!

I wrote my college entrance essay on Maugham (Of Human Bondage). I can't imagine that I understood anything at all in it at 16. Maybe somebody with a sense of humor thought I was writing satire.....?????

I know you're enjoying GAME DAY!

>96 lauralkeet: My local library does not have any of the Cazalet books, Laura, I just happened to pick The Light Years up at my daughter Catey's shop when I was in Longview a while back. I am not sure when I will be returning to the series at this point. I hope you continue to enjoy the series!

>97 Kristelh: Thanks, Kristel. As far as Mother's Day goes, no I have no immediate plans. Staying home and doing nothing but reading that day sounds good to me. . .

>98 atozgrl: I am pretty sure that I have never seen the Zorro movie, Irene. I will have to check it out!

>99 LizzieD: Cool beans, Peggy. I will have to see if I can find The Sisters Brothers at some point as it has been in the BlackHole far too long!

Game Day is over at this point. We had a great time except for the one co-op game that we played and failed miserably at, lol.

Glad to have you back safe and sound!

>56 alcottacre: Every book by DeWitt has been a great read for me, except for this one. I think I gave it a generous 3* rating here on LT and a 2 * rating in my personal book log.

Happy weekend!

Finished tonight:

125 - The Illustrious Dead by Stephan Talty - Nonfiction; I was disappointed in this one. Not because it is poorly written, because it isn't - it is good narrative nonfiction - but because the subtitle "The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army" is misleading. Much of the book deals with Napoleon's invasion of Russia and the different battles along the way to Moscow. However, because of the book's subtitle I was expecting less about warfare and more about disease. Some of the things Talty included in the book were completely unnecessary, such as how the Russian peasantry tortured French soldiers, information I would gladly have continued to live without - how does it have anything to do with typhus?; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Library

"Typhus brought the war home to thousands of villages and towns throughout Europe and traveled thousands of miles. It was, for the microbe, its greatest triumph in five centuries of conquest."

>101 figsfromthistle: Yeah, it does not appear to have been well received here in the group at all.

Have a wonderful weekend yourself, Anita!

(emerging from silence),
Hi Stasia, Hope you have a great weekend!

>100 alcottacre: You should check out the Zorro movie. I was fortunate in that my first viewing was in a movie theater. Years ago when I lived and worked in Chapel Hill, there was a movie theater that showed old classics during the day, and I got to see it there. That movie has a sophistication and wit to it that's lacking in most modern movies. I personally found it delightful. But now I need to find The Razor's Edge somewhere.

>100 alcottacre: Oh shoot Stasia, it's too bad The Cazalets aren't available at your library. Our county system has one and only one copy of each book! But that hasn't been a problem; I think most patrons are looking for more contemporary fiction. Their loss!

>104 mdoris: Thanks, Mary. I hope you have a great weekend too!

>105 atozgrl: I found the Zorro movie with Tyrone Power out on Hoopla and have 3 days to watch it. Thanks for recommending it, Irene!

>106 lauralkeet: Hoopla does have them, but all in one bundle, so I could get them that way; however, I do not particularly like reading on my Kindle and there is no way I can get all in one go. I guess I could check them out, read one, and then check them out the following month, read one, etc.

>102 alcottacre: I feel your pain! Although I haven't read this book, I've read several like them and thought something was going to be the subject of the book and then found out otherwise.

>108 Tess_W: I really hate when that happens. It feels like false advertising, doesn't it?

Finished tonight:

126 - Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is a time travel novel that is different from any I have read before. There is a cafe in Japan and, if you go there and sit in a certain seat (after the ghost who normally sits there gets up), you can time travel. There is a pretty good set of rules regarding this time traveling but probably the most important is that you must be back 'before the coffee gets cold,' hence the title of the book. Overall, I enjoyed the book but I think the author overdoes it on the sentimentality scale. I don't enjoy having my emotions jockeyed around like that; Recommended (3.75 stars) Hoopla - Kindle

>85 alcottacre: Stasia, I discovered that I own a copy of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I'even know which book case holds this gem. I'll find it and put it on the large pile of books I have near the chair where I sit and grab a book from the pile.

I hope your weekend is good. WOW! 126 books. As always, you are incredible.

>90 alcottacre:
This review reminded me that I had read the first book in the Dance to the Music of Time series by Anthony Powell. I started this 12 book series soon after the lockdown and intended to read one per month. However, we couldn't check things out from the library for a period of time, so I forgot about them. I have been trying to finish reading series that I have started and your review of the Cazalet Chronicle reminded me to get back into this series. So, I went to the library and got the second book in the Powell A Dance to the Music of Time series and have it ready to go as soon as I finish reading the Laurie Lee books. The Powell books are short. None of them is longer than 270 pages, so I should be able to get them read this summer.

>90 alcottacre: Haha. Enjoy the rest of the series Stasia. I finished the last, last night and will put a note up soon.

>111 Whisper1: I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did, lovey!

>112 benitastrnad: That is another series that I need to get to at some point, Benita. I hope you enjoy it!

>113 Caroline_McElwee: I will have to check out your review, Caroline. Congratulations on finishing the series.

Today is my traditional "day off" technology, but it is Mother's Day in the U.S. today, so I wanted to wish everyone

Happy Mother's Day, Stasia. I am back from my birding trip. I did not read a page so I need to get back to the books. I hope to read a big chunk of The Razor's Edge today. Glad to see you enjoyed your reread.

Happy Mother’s Day, Stasia, enjoy your day away from technology!

>56 alcottacre: Yup, The Librarianist was a dud for me, too, Stasia. I read it last December and gave it 3.2 stars, mostly for his volunteer time in the senior center. I did not engage with the details of his backstory at all. Did you read The Sisters Brothers by Dewitt? It was a fun one. Reading on I see that others agree about his earlier work. I think you would like Sisters Brothers.

Happy Mothers Day. We are tired after our trip to Kansas, so we are meeting up with our youngest son and family in Springfield’s version of Botanical Gardens. We can include the dogs and get some sunshine and exercise to make up for the frozen custard at the end of our walk. They might not ask me what I want to do next year. 🤣

>115 alcottacre: Sending you big Mother's Day wishes to you too Stasia. Hope you have had a wonderful day!

>116 msf59: I am glad to see you back safe and sound, Mark! I hope you enjoy The Razor's Edge - after you get some rest :) I hope Sue has a wonderful Mother's Day too!

>117 Kristelh: Thank you, Kristel! I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day!

>118 Donna828: I am glad to see that I am not the only one for which The Librarianist fell flat. I have not yet read The Sisters Brothers and it has been in the BlackHole for a long time, so I really need to get to it! Happy Mother's Day to you too, Donna. I am starting to get excited about Joplin already, lol.

>119 mdoris: Thanks, Mary. It has been a very nice day all around! Happy Mother's Day!

Finished this evening:

127 - The Heavenly Tenants by William Maxwell - Juvenile; I had never even heard of William Maxwell before this challenge and I am eager to read more of his writing after reading this children's book. I am not sure why it is rated so low here on LT as I quite enjoyed it. We meet the Marvell family - mother, father, 11 year-old Roger, 8 year-old Heather, and the 5-year old twins, Tim and Tom. The dad is something of an amateur astronomer and teaching the children about the zodiac signs in the night sky. The family runs a farm and they are heading to a visit with their grandmother. The man who is supposed to look after the farm while they are gone is hampered by a bad hip and is unable to do so. Bright lights light up the vacated farmhouse and soon all of the neighbors are showing up wanting to know what is going on at the Marvell house. . .

Granted there is not a lot of depth of characterization here, but it is a kid's book, after all. I thought Maxwell was inventive in the way he told the story, his take on the folk tales of sprites and spirits helping out mere mortals; Recommended (4 stars) Hoopla - Kindle

128 - The Return of Fitzroy Angursell by Victoria Goddard - This is a re-read for me (along with a shared read with Mary) of one of the first books in the Nine Worlds series. The Emperor, aka Fitzroy Angursell, is off in search of an heir so that he might retire. This is much more of a quest book than The Hands of the Emperor and At the Feet of the Sun are and so is more episodic in nature. We run across friends old and new in this volume as Fitzroy is still trying to figure out who he is - or who he wants to be - as the retired emperor, if he ever gets to that point; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

>121 alcottacre: I'm willing to debate whether At the Feet of the Sun is less of a quest story, or less episodic, than The Return of Fitzroy Angursell which are absolutely more so than The Hands of the Emperor. Which is so much fun.

>121 alcottacre:
I read Heavenly Tenants a few years ago. I knew nothing about William Maxwell until I read What There Is To Say We Have Said which is a book of selected letters between Eudora Welty and her editor - William Maxwell. Then I saw that Heavenly Tenants was listed as a Newbery Honor Book in 1947, so I requested the book through Inter-Library Loan and read it. I liked it. It is a children's fable and as such it is a good piece of storytelling. I think it would make a great storyteller story. A story to be told out-loud without reading. Children would love it.

>123 benitastrnad: I agree, Benita, which is why I do not understand why the book's rating here on LT is 2.8 stars.

>122 quondame: I think all the books are fun, Susan! I am having a great time with Goddard's work. As far as debating, thanks, but no thanks. Not my strong point, lol.

Finished last night - I was waiting for the wiki to come back up, but it is still not there:

129 - Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb - This entry in the series finds Eve investigating the murder of a fellow cops 16-year-old daughter. Eve was specially requested to take this case so the pressure is on, even more than it normally is. In the meantime, Eve has to take care of her duties as matron of honor for Louise - and of course, has no idea how to go about it; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Today is my meet up day with Beth and Catey. We had a great time last week after a couple of short meet ups the previous weeks so I am hoping that things go well today.

I am also hoping to get a lot more reading done over the next few days. I leave for Longview to visit my mother in 10 days and while I always hope I will get some reading in while I am there, normally I do not get enough done. We get lots of games in though!

Morning, Stasia. I am enjoying The Razor's Edge. I should be done with it on Thursday. I plan on hanging out with Jackson today. I have not seen him in a while. Enjoy your day.

Good morning, Stasia! It's always good to talk to you, and I appreciate your calls more than you can guess - A LOT!

I had started Blackcurrant Fool but put it down to read Richard's Saint Elspeth, which is gripping except for all the childish usage errors. me and him did it, between him and I, a body laying on the ground --- Give me a break! This man is supposed to be an ER physician, and I have no reason to disbelieve him. The book is well worth your time despite this.

Enjoy your girls! I'm on my way to book club soon.

>128 msf59: I hope you enjoy your time with Jackson, Mark! I just this minute got out of my meeting with Beth and Catey.

>129 LizzieD: Well, I always like talking to you too, Peggy!

I already have Saint Elspeth in the BlackHole thanks to Richard's recommendation, but my local library does not have a copy of it yet.

I did enjoy my time with the girls!

I found this typo in Jewish Literacy today and it struck me as particularly funny (what can I say, I have a weird sense of humor): "The Ethiopian Jews' ignorance of Talmudic Judaism caused many Orthodox rabbits to question their Jewishness."

Who knew that there are orthodox bunnies running around. . .

LOL! Nice one. : ) Hope you had fun with Beth and Catey!!

>131 alcottacre:, Funny one, Stasia. Even more funny because Rabbits are considered unclean.

>132 Berly: I did - but then, I always do. Glad you enjoyed the small joke.

>133 Kristelh: I did not realize that rabbits are considered unclean, Kristel. That does make it even more funny.

Normal day today - walking with Kerry, gaming with Kerry, cooking, laundry, all that kind of stuff, and maybe some reading squeezed in somewhere :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

>131 alcottacre: Ha. Love it.

Finished this afternoon:

130 - The Lost Books of the Bible by William Hone, editor - I grew up in a Baptist church and we used the King James Version of the Bible (and I still do to this day), which does not include The Apocrypha. This book is basically the New Testament Apocrypha (is there an Old Testament one? I am not sure!), the books that are not included in what is published as the New Testament. There was a brief paragraph before pretty much every book - unless there were multiple books by the same author in which case there was a single paragraph for all of them - explaining the translation, who was for the book's inclusion in published Scripture and who was not, as well as the reasoning behind both. There were a lot of footnotes in this book and frankly, some of them were nonsensical so I am not sure that the Kindle version that I read has all of them correct. Also the pictures in the Kindle edition often had random text, often one or two lines of whatever book they were in, at the bottom of the picture, which broke off the text in weird places and really did not belong on the page with the picture to begin with. As someone completely unfamiliar with the Apocrypha, I found this interesting reading but the Kindle edition has some problems; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Hoopla - Kindle

Stasia, I think it terrible that your local library does not have Brotherless Night and the entire Women's Shortlist in . I hope your copy of Brotherless Night arrives soon. I grew up in the Baptist church too, though I have switched to the Mennonite Church as an adult. I don't know a lot about the Apocrypha, but my son got married in the Catholic Church and they used a verse from the Apocrypha. That book of Tobit, I think it was. He and his wife and kids now go to the Alliance Church . Growing up , I was accustomed to the KJ Version, but now I use the NIV - I think most people use that now. New International Version. Though there are the NASV, and other translations.

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. I loved The Razor's Edge. I am glad we did a shared read of it and I decided to do The Painted Veil later in the year, if you are interested.

I went to sleep last night, listening to the neighborhood owl softly hooting. 😁🦉

The Painted Veil is very good, might be my favorite by the author.

Oops! I missed the jump to this thread! Hello!

>138 vancouverdeb: I still stick with the KJV because it was what I grew up with - and because I love the prose, especially in the Psalms.

As far as the Shortlist, I am not holding my breath. I mean, it is not like I have nothing to read in the meantime, right?

>139 msf59: I am so glad you loved The Razor's Edge, Mark!! The Painted Veil is close to hand since I pulled it when I was gathering up my Maugham books earlier in the year. Definitely interested!

>140 Kristelh: Nice to know, Kristel! I do not think I have ever read it.

>141 foggidawn: Hello, foggi!

Finished tonight:

131 - I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish - Nonfiction; Abuelaish, is a Palestinian doctor who treats patients on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian. The book gives his life story as a refugee, his struggle to become a doctor, and to further his education in public health so that he could help as many people as possible. In 2009, his house was bombed, killing 3 of his daughters and one of his nieces. Abuelaish is not a man calling for retribution, but rather one calling for education, for peace, for people to communicate with each other. This book was not easy for me to read - it made me confront some prejudices that I did not even realize that I had. Like Abuelaish, I pray for peace in the Middle East too; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

"A healthy society needs wise and educated women. An educated and healthy woman will raise an educated and healthy family. . .Removing the barriers that confront our women and girls could very well lead us to a peaceful coexistence."

>143 alcottacre: - I read this book a few years ago, maybe 4 years ago or so. Like you, I found it a difficult read, a heartbreaking read. Only after reading it did I learn that he relocated his family to Toronto. I have no idea if they are still here. I almost hope so because if they had gone back, who knows if they would still be alive. He is an amazing human being.

>144 jessibud2: I did a quick check on Wikipedia, Shelley, and it appears that the family is still living in Toronto. I agree - he is an amazing human being. I think if any of my daughters were killed I would be a raging inferno. The phone call that he made to his journalist friend that was broadcast live telling his friend of his daughters' deaths is on YouTube. I could not bear to watch it.

I also really liked I Shall Not Hate , which I read several years ago. A very touching story.

>79 alcottacre: I've had my eye on that one for a while. I'm glad to know you found it worthwhile!

>131 alcottacre: That's funny! It reminds me of a typo I spotted in the Sunday School magazine one December when I was in middle school or high school. I have forgotten the context, but not the mention of "Satan and his reindeer."

>137 alcottacre: Yes, there is an Old Testament apocrypha! I need to read it sometime since it's inspired so many works of art. It seems like every gallery I've visited has a painting of Judith and Holofernes.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360905

>146 vancouverdeb: I agree, Deborah.

>147 cbl_tn: I hope you like Contested Will when you get to it, Carrie!

Lol! Were Satan and his reindeer all kitted out for Christmas?

I thought there must be an Old Testament Apocrypha since there is a New Testament one. I need to read it sometime too.

>148 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver. I am in again.

Happy Friday, Stasia. I will add you to the shared list for The Painted Veil. I am enjoying the latest Towles, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. We are leaving for our next camping trip in a few hours, so won't get as much reading in. Sacrifices need to be made...

>150 msf59: Thanks, Mark. Speaking of the latest Towles. . .

Finished this afternoon:

132 - Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles - I have read and either liked or loved all of Towles' books to this point and this volume of 6 short stories and 1 novella is no exception. Towles has this way of getting down to the roots of human nature and sometimes being sneaky about it. Each of the stories are, in their own way, philosophical. The novella is almost film noir *air kiss* - I loved the further adventures of Eve (she is a character in Towles' novel Rules of Civility as well). I am not sure that I can say enough good stuff about this book!; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

Finished tonight:

133 - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Juvenile; I do not ever remember reading this book as a child, although I remember the Margaret O'Brien film version of it, and I distinctly remember reading it to Beth and Catey when they were young. I understand why the book is so highly thought of - it really does have its own special magic. Colin crying out in the night and Mary hearing him before knowing who he was reminded me of Jane Eyre. Mary, who came all the way from India, raised as a spoiled brat, pretty much like Colin, the master of the house in many ways. These two unusual children find each other and Dickon, the master of animals, and form a friendship based on their belief in magic - and in the secrets that the garden holds. For me, Dickon's dialect is a bit much - I tend not to like dialect in books at all - and I am not sure how it would work for a child, but other than that, this book is deservedly a children's classic; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

>153 alcottacre: I did read The Secret Garden as a 13-14 yr. old and loved it. I loved A Little Princess a bit more. It was Anne of Green Gables that I didn't find until I was an adult.

>152 alcottacre: I will start his later today, so looking forward to it Stasia.

>154 quondame: It is amazing to me some of the children's classics that I never read as a child but did not discover until I had children of my own. I have never read A Little Princess, so I am going to have to get to that one too.

>155 Caroline_McElwee: I really hope you enjoy it, Caroline!

Finished this evening:

134 - The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo - Both Deborah (VancouverDeb) and Mary (bell7) recommended this book so I knew that I had to get it read and luckily enough, my local library had a copy. I will say that if you cannot suspend your disbelief, this is not going to be a book for you, as the Chinese folklore of the fox features heavily in this book. There are two primary characters telling the tale: Snow, who is a fox in human form, and Bao, a detective. The story is told in alternating chapters by the two of them. Snow is hunting the murderer of her child. Bao is hired to find out the identity of a dead woman. Of course, eventually their paths cross. I very much enjoyed this one and hope that I can get a copy of Choo's earlier book, The Night Tiger, from my local library at some point; Recommended (4.25 stars) Library Book

>157 alcottacre:
She Yangsze Choo has an even earlier book titled Ghost Bride. The fox is also a major player/figure in Japanese folklore.

>157 alcottacre: I am glad you enjoyed The Fox Wife, Stasia! It's always a bit making recommendations to others lest they not like the book, but in the case you got it from the library and you did like it. I don't like a lot of " magical realism" but sometimes it works well for me. I got my copy of The Fox Wife from the library too, but I purchased Ghost Bride and it is my TBR piles. My library does have The Night Tiger , so maybe I'll get to that too.

I loved The Secret Garden as a ?? 11 - 13 year old, I'm glad you finally had a chance to read it.

>158 benitastrnad: Thanks for the mention, Benita. Unfortunately my local library does not have Ghost Bride.

>159 vancouverdeb: Yeah, I always worry when I recommend a book as to whether the other person is going to love it as much as I do!

Yep, I am glad I had a chance to read The Secret Garden for myself too.

Today is my traditional 'day off' technology, but I hope to be back with books read to report - well, at least one and it is shaping up to be a dandy!

I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday!

Happy reading Stasia!

Two copies of The Secret Garden are in the Judi Hylton library. It was one of her favorites from her childhood, but I don't know if she had her own copy. What she had was her maternal grandmother's copy, which is disintegrating and thus kept in a Ziplock bag. The copyright date in the book is 1911, but I don't know when Abby Whitebread got it. I can't remember when she was born or when she died. I have some genealogy on that branch, but darned if I can locate it at this moment.

After Judi and I married, my mother gave Judi her copy, which Mom was given for her 13th birthday in 1927.

I've never read it. Perhaps I should, since it was so significant to the ladies in my life. All are gone now.

I've heard of I shall Not Hate, perhaps I should out it on my nonfiction TBR

>162 Kristelh: Thanks, Kristel. I wish I had gotten more done!

>163 weird_O: I think it would be a wonderful way to honor your ladies, Bill.

>164 The_Hibernator: Definitely, Rachel!

Finished tonight:

135 - Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian - Nonfiction; I first learned of Curtis through Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan, an excellent book in its own right. Sacred Legacy showcases Curtis' photography, in between essays written about him and the Native American tribes he photographed. These photographs are wonderful! Curtis treats his subjects with dignity - he truly cared about the Native Americans that he photographed and it shows; Highly Recommended (5 stars) Mine

"Between 1906 and 1930, Curtis encountered every imaginable hardship and endured great personal risk in pursuit of his dream."

Kerry and I have been out this morning doing some shopping before our respective trips at the end of the week. I am off to my mother's and he is off to his daughter Felisha's and to a family reunion in Louisiana. I am debating on whether to get my hair cut before I go. My mother likes it longer, but it is getting in my eyes! Lol

Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!

>153 alcottacre: I read The Secret Garden many times as a child (and many more as an adult). It does have the trappings of a Gothic novel, with the strange old house with hidden passages and mysterious crying in the night, plus the titular garden, and all of the family history.

Monday *smooch*

I was fond of The Secret Garden movie as a child, but I don't think I read the book until I was older, maybe a young teen. A Little Princess, on the other hand, I read and reread. I still love it.

>168 foggidawn: I think that all the "Gothicness" of The Secret Garden goes right over the heads of kids, but as adults we sure can appreciate it! Good point, foggi.

>169 richardderus: Thanks, RD! It is much appreciated.

>170 curioussquared: I am definitely going to have to get to A Little Princess, Natalie. Thanks!

It is Tuesday, so meet up day with Beth and Catey. Kerry and I are also trying to get more gaming in before I leave, so what with that, walking, normal chores, and hopefully a bit of reading - I want to try and finish a couple of books, at the very least, before I leave - I have a pretty full day.

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Well, Kerry is sleeping in this morning it appears (oh, the joys of retirement!), so I was able to finish:

136 - An Equal Music by Vikram Seth - This was a re-read for me, but it has been so long since I originally read the book (it has to be about 15 years or so), that I really did not remember much of it. I think in reading this book it helps to be a music lover, not necessarily of classical music (although I am), but of music in general. We meet Michael, who plays the second violin in a string quartet. I do not care for Michael much at all, I will be honest. He meets up with his old lover, Julia, and they begin an affair despite the fact that she is married and has a young son. Julia, it turns out, is now deaf. She tries playing with Michael's string quartet and the experience just shows her that she now needs to play alone, not with any other instruments. Inevitably she breaks off the affair with Michael who, in despair at her rejection, decides to quit his own quartet and goes off to avail himself of the services of a prostitute. In the meantime, the woman who has let him borrow 'his' violin for all the years of his professional life has died and left the violin to him - and he is now no longer playing. Music is a strong theme throughout this book, especially "The Art of Fugue," and unfinished piece by Bach. It echoes Michael's feeling of incompleteness when it comes to Julia; Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

Another book where I was pulling up pieces of music to listen to on YouTube. . .

Another book where I was pulling up pieces of music to listen to on YouTube. One of the gifts technology has given us Stasia.

I've still to read this one, it's been on the shelf many years.

Hi, Stasia. We are back from camping and gearing up for another trip on Friday. I am glad you were very satisfied with Table For Two. I am too. I should start the last novella today. I think The Fox Wife would make an interesting diversion.

Have a good day gaming with the girls.

>174 Caroline_McElwee: Yes, Caroline. I love being able to listen to the pieces of music referenced in the text. I hope that, when you get to it, you enjoy An Equal Music.

>175 msf59: Glad you are back safe and sound, Mark!

Finished this afternoon:

137 - Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea - Urrea is another one of my LT finds and when Joe recommended this one, I could not pass it up. Set in WWII, this is the story of two women, Dorothy and Irene, who find themselves working for the Red Cross supplying coffee, donuts, and good cheer to the GIs over in Europe. They are transferred from place to place, just like the GIs were, and so there are a variety of experiences reported in the book, which is based on Urrea's mother's experiences during the war. I love good historical fiction and this one certainly fits the bill; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

"The only thing Irene knew for sure was that she was no longer the young dreamer who had boarded that train in New York City hoping to change her life. . .She could never apologize enough or give thanks enough for being the survivor."

>177 alcottacre:, I like this author, Stasia. Haven't read this one but it does sound good.

I didn't realize I put thew wrong link here.

>178 Kristelh: Hone is the editor only on The Lost Books of the Bible, Kristel. If you do get a chance to read it, I hope you enjoy it. Since I was not familiar with the Apocrypha at all, I found it an interesting read.

Finished this afternoon:

138 - How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor - Juvenile; This is one of those books written for kids that talks about real world problems in a way that they can understand. In this book, Georgina, her mother, and brother are homeless after Dad takes off and leaves them with nothing. They are having to live in their car while mom works 2 part-time jobs trying to get enough money so they can have a decent place to live. Seeing a poster for a missing dog with a mention of a $500 reward for its return, Georgina decides she is going to steal a dog whose owner would surely pay a large reward for it, and enlists her brother to help her out. Of course, things do not go according to plan - and Georgina has made an entire list of things to remember to do and not do - but, this being a kid's book, everything turns out in the end. Georgina and her brother, Toby, sound like real kids. Their mother sounds like a real woman nearly at the end of her rope trying to do the best she can for her kids.; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

Stasia, I meant msg177. But I would also like someday to explore the apocrypha but I also am a bit hesitant to do so.

>181 Kristelh: I wondered about that, Kristel. Anyway, the Urrea book is well worth the read.

As far as the Apocrypha goes, it makes for some interesting reading if nothing else. I did appreciate the fact that the edition I read explained why the book in question was not included in the Bible that was handed down to us.

Nothing much on the agenda today. Placing a grocery order for when Kerry is batching it while I am out of town, walking, game playing, reading. . .Normal stuff!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

I love the sound of your normal day, Stasia. ENJOY!!!!!

Like Caroline, I've had a copy of *Equal Music* on the shelf unread for a long time. I confess that I haven't ever finished *Suitable Boy* either although I was liking it when I was reading it. *sigh*
Just so you'll know, chamber music has been my favorite go-to for years now. I used to listen mainly to piano quartets, but now I'm addicted to anything with a cello, which means everything!!!!!

>184 LizzieD: I read A Suitable Boy back in 2022 and gave it 4 stars when I read it, the same as I did An Equal Music when I originally read it, although on this re-read I only gave it 3.75 stars.

I love chamber music and like you, also enjoy the cello. Kind of ironic as I am listening to Dimitri Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Opus 107 on YouTube at the moment. I am currently reading Symphony for the City of the Dead, so Shostakovich is appropriate :)

>185 alcottacre: Generalized *smooch*

How interesting that you are listening to Shostakovich! I don't know his cello concerto, but I'll hunt it on YouTube. I have a soft spot for him since my first adult recital piece was his "Marche Sarcastique," which I played as well as I could when I was in the fifth grade. My teacher taught me to call it "Marshay Sar-CAS-ti-kyoo." That's still how I think of it. She didn't know French, but she was the best pianist in our town, which sent students to Peabody and Oberlin
back in my day. I think I've said that my classmate married Isaac Stern.

>186 richardderus: Thanks, RD!

>187 LizzieD: I hope you enjoy the cello concerto if and when you listen to it, Peggy! I expect I will be listening to more Shostakovich today as I wrap up the book.

Today is all about getting ready to visit my mother today, which will take up a large portion of my day. I have to get games ready to go - the books are already packed - which means a selection to take to play with my mother and a different selection to take to play with Catey. Then there is getting the food ready to go. Because I am a vegan and they are not, I do all the cooking while I am there, so I pack food, recipes, etc. and consult them as to whether or not they will eat what I have planned and adjust as necessary.

Then there are the things that need to be done here before I go: laundry, my Saturday chores (which I will do tomorrow before we leave), and just normal daily stuff like walking, game playing, and I need to finish 2 books today before I head out tomorrow.

I am tired already. . .A reminder that the Internet at my mother's is terrible. I likely will not be on again past today into next Friday when I am home again other than possibly updating the TIOLI wiki as I can do that short and sweet - if I can get on the Internet at all.

>189 alcottacre: Grim to think of life without internet access. It's the only social life I have so I would go mad!

Enjoy your Mom-time. *smooch*

>189 alcottacre:
I also packed food and recipe books to bring along when I visited my mother. I eat so many more vegetables and so much less meat than anybody here does. My car as a whole stack of recipe books in it when I make my trip. Now that mom is gone I can leave these things here so I won't be taking as many back with me.

>185 alcottacre:
I loved Symphony for the City of the Dead and even though it is YA nonfiction I recommended it to my real life book club. We read it and most of us listened to the Leningrad Symphony after our book discussion was done. One of our members also found a play list for the book somewhere online. The book was a finalist for the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) excellence in nonfiction award and, in my opinion, deserved all the accolades.

One more spin through to wish you safe travel tomorrow and back next week with wonderful family time in between. We'll miss you, Stasia!

Finished tonight:

139 - The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson - Nonfiction; As I have mentioned previously, Erik Larson is one of my favorite nonfiction authors. This book shows why: he takes a set of difficult to understand circumstances with many people involved and boils it down to its core, making it easily understood and also makes it easy to keep the people and their involvement in the circumstances straight. In this case, we are looking at Fort Sumter just before the beginning of the hostilities that lead to the United States Civil War. Larson made me see a part of Civil War history that I knew nothing about - and the reasons that South Carolina was instrumental in the secession movement to establish the Confederacy. Mary Chesnut, who I was already familiar with, and her diary appear and reappear throughout the book as she is reporting what is going on around her. Major Robert Anderson, the commander of Fort Sumter who was a Southerner himself, shows how loyalties were torn asunder even before the war began - he was a Southern, but he was loyal to the Union. There is a lot going on in this book, far too much for me to encapsulate here. All I can tell you is that if you have any interest in the US Civil War at all, this is a great book to read; Highly Recommended (5 stars) Mine

"The secession of South Carolina, coupled with Major Anderson's move to Fort Sumter, energized the advocates of disunion throughout the Deep South. An indecision, any thought of pausing to give Lincoln a chance, was swept away by a surge of enthusiasm for independence from the hated North and an end to the sneering intrusion of Northern abolitionists."

Samuel Eliot Morison as quoted by Larson: "I wish that some of our evasive historians, our mufflers of great passionate issues, who are trying to persuade the American public that Negro slavery had nothing to do with the Civil War, would read the debates in this Peace Convention."

"Here lay the greatest of ironies: In thirty-four house of some of the fiercest bombardment the world had ever seen, no one was killed or even seriously injured, yet this bloodless attack would trigger a war that killed more Americans than any other conflict in the country's history."

>190 richardderus: Thanks, RD. The Internet is pretty much all of my social life too.

>193 benitastrnad: Yeah, I do not eat any meat at all, so I pretty much supply all my recipes and food when I am visiting. Sounds like you were in the same boat.

>194 benitastrnad: This is a re-read of the book for me and I agree, the book deserves all the accolades it has been awarded. I gave it 4.5 stars on my initial read of it some 7 or so years ago. Thus far, that rating has not changed for me although I still have about 100 pages to go.

>195 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy! I will try and stop by in the morning before I leave, but we will see how that goes.

Finished tonight:

140 - Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson - Nonfiction; A couple of outstanding nonfiction reads in a row for me! This one is for young adults and as Benita mentioned above "The book was a finalist for the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) excellence in nonfiction award," was also the Horn Book Award winner for The Boston Globe, was long-listed for the National Book Award, and was a Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year. There may be other accolades that it was given (I am sure there are!), but these are the one of which I am aware. Anderson uses composer Dmitri Shostakovich's biography to good effect as he uses it to take us through Russian history from Tsar Nicholas II, to Lenin, to Stalin, to post-WWII. He does not pussyfoot around as to how bad things got to be in Russia, especially under Stalin. Nor does he mince words as to how the invasion of Russia by their former German allies wrought starvation throughout the country and cannibalism was rampant. I cannot stress how good this book is not just for young adults, but adults of any age - it was just as good upon my re-reading it as when I first read the book 7 years ago; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

"Love and hate made a tactical and strategic difference."

"The performance of the Seventh Symphony in besieged Leningrad is remembered now as a turning point in the assault, but only because it changed the way people saw themselves and the war effort. It shaped memory. In fact, the siege went on for another year and a half - but people recognized that the worst was over."

Here's the Memorial Day readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361025

Have a good trip, Stasia. I'll be here when you get back. Not planning to go tootling anywhere.

>185 alcottacre: An other Shostakovich fan here, Stasia. Some of his symphonies can move me to tears.

>189 alcottacre: Have a good time with your mother!

>185 alcottacre: Taken a couple of BB's! Ordered An Equal Music and the CD created from works mentioned in the book.

Enjoy time with your mom. Mine passed at age 90+ and even though I had her for longer than most, the time was too short!

>199 SilverWolf28: Unfortunately I will not be able to make this one, Silver. I am heading out of town.

>200 weird_O: I am very glad to hear that you will be here when I get back, Bill.

>201 FAMeulstee: Boy, aren't they powerful pieces of music, Anita? I believe that they could move a person to tears - and I have not yet listened to all of them.

Thanks!

>202 Tess_W: I hope you enjoy An Equal Music, Tess! I have no doubt that you will enjoy the music.

I try and spend as much time as I can with my mother because I know that she is not going to be around forever. There is never enough time though.

Kerry and I are off! No idea if I will be able to check in while I am in Longview or not - I am there for my mother, not her Internet which is a good thing! - but I will if I can.

Take care of yourselves and each other! I love you all.

Have a good time, Stasia!

>204 alcottacre: Have a good visit! I am off to visit my mother soon, as well!

>204 alcottacre: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

enjoy you visit, Stasia

Have a good trip and time with your mom, Stasia!

Checking in early this morning before anyone else is up!

>205 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel!

>206 foggidawn: I hope you have a great time with your mother too, foggi!

>207 richardderus: ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

>208 Kristelh: >209 atozgrl: Thanks, Kristel and Irene!

Finished early this morning:

141 - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - Recommended (4 stars) Mine

>204 alcottacre: Have a lovely visit with your mom Stasia.

>211 alcottacre: I enjoyed that one too. A while since I read Bradbury. Time for a revisit soon.

>212 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline!

I have very much enjoyed Ray Bradbury through the years. My favorite of his will probably always be Dandelion Wine though.

Finished this morning:

142 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

>214 alcottacre: Unsurprisingly, a film's on the way for this book. I hope they do it right, though howinahell Rocky is gonna go on screen is beyond my teeny little brain's ability to process.

Hi Stasia, I'm taking advantage of the lull here while you are visiting your mother. I am so far behind on threads.

>153 alcottacre: I somehow missed reading The Secret Garden as a child, too, Stasia. I'm glad I rectified that a few years ago. And (like Susan) I didn't read Anne of Green Gables until my adulthood. Actually, it was last year so one might say I read it in my second childhood. ;-)

I am adding A Little Princess to my TBR list. Maybe I can interest Hope (age 10) in doing a read-along with me when she is here in July. We loved reading Anne of Green Gables together last summer.

>177 alcottacre: Great comments on Good Night, Irene. I didn't care for the sappy beginning, but I have great faith in the author...and he came through. I thought the war periods were amazing and was gratified that he honored his mother by telling her story. It made my top ten books last year.

Enjoy your time away visiting your mom. My internet is working, but my Iphone keeps detaching from the internet when I am away from home and it's driving me slightly crazy. I've tried resetting it to wifi quite a few times over the past couple of weeks, I think tomorrow I will try resetting all the phone, which means I will have to re -pair my phone with my fit bit watch, my Ipod ear buds, my little boombox and perhaps log into my apps again. I'm waiting until tomorrow when my mind feels fresh.

Hope you are staying safe, Stasia. I saw that Texas got walloped by tornadoes, with deaths, injuries, and property damage. I checked the maps and note that Sherman is not that far from Valley View. And you are traveling. I'm sure you won't put yourself in harm's way. We all are thinking of you.

>215 richardderus: I did not know about the film on the way, Richard, but like you I am unsurprised. My daughter Catey and I were talking about the character of Rocky and think that he will have to be a completely CGI character, kind of like they handled Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies.

>216 Donna828: Retirement as our second childhood! I like it.

I am glad that you enjoyed Good Night, Irene so much too, Donna!

>217 vancouverdeb: Wish I could help with the Iphone issues, Deborah, but I know nothing at all about them as I have never owned one. I hope you can get everything sorted!

>218 weird_O: We are going to get walloped again today, Bill, it looks like. I talked to Kerry yesterday about Sherman and although we got the thunderstorms and high winds in Sherman, all we had was some limbs from trees knocked down. Thank you so much for your concern!

>219 alcottacre: These are some superpowered storms! I hope they continue to miss inflicting serious damage on you and yours.

Glad to see you checking in, Stasia! May the storms give you and yours a wide miss!

Enjoy your visit!

>220 richardderus: Kerry lost power in Sherman yesterday for about 30 minutes, but that is the worst thing we have suffered thus far. The Tornado Sirens here in Longview went off yesterday morning, but as far as I know, no tornado was sighted. The weather was awful here though, up until about 3:30 in the afternoon.

>221 LizzieD: Trying a different tack this trip, Peggy, and checking in early in the morning before everyone is up to see if the Internet will cooperate. We lost it completely yesterday when the storm was so bad here - luckily it went down after my weekly meetup with Beth and Catey (who, of course, lives with my mother so I am seeing in the flesh at the moment, lol).

Finished yesterday:

143 - One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson - This is the second book in the Jackson Brodie series and I did not care for it as much as I liked the first one. For me, the problem is the beginning of the book - I found it confusing as to understanding what was going on. After that though, the book becomes more of character studies IMHO than a cohesive narrative, so definitely not the traditional 'detective' story; Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

On another note, I found when I read my copy of the book that 18 pages in the middle of the book - which I purchased new - were missing! I find that highly irritating, lol.

Happy Wednesday, Stasia. I am back and getting ready to leave for our third camping trip of the month. We shove off tomorrow and this one will involve Jack & Co.

Man, you been on a nice book roll. I plan to get to The Demon of Unrest in the coming months. Symphony for the City of the Dead sounds really good. On the list it goes. I will try both of those on audio. Hooray for Project Hail Mary!

>224 msf59: I hope you and Jack & Co. have a wonderful time on your camping trip, Mark!

One of the things I love about LT is that I get so many wonderful recommendations. I am sure it saves me from a ton of terrible reads, lol.

Finished yesterday:

144 - The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland - This book is based on the Richmond Fire in Virginia back in 1811, one of the first major disasters in American history. We meet the characters of Sally Henry Campbell, daughter of Patrick Henry; Cecily Patterson, a slave; Jack Gibson, an orphaned stagehand at the theatre which catches fire; and Gilbert Hunt, a slave who serves as a blacksmith and becomes a hero. Two of the characters in the book, Sally and Gilbert, are based on actual historical figures while the other two are fictional. We see the fire and its aftermath from each of their points-of-view. Overall, this was pretty good historical fiction about an event that I knew nothing about. My biggest complaint is that I felt like Beanland put too much emphasis on 'slavery is bad,' the white men in the book are almost all bad (at least their behavior is), and that women are thought of as second class people; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Finished this morning:

145 - T.R.M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights Pioneer by David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito - Nonfiction; This biography, which Carrie recommended to me several years ago, is a study of one of the lesser known Civil Rights pioneers. Most of his fight for civil rights was confined to work in Mississippi - and he did an awful lot of good work there - until the Emmett Till case, when he came to national prominence for a brief period of time. I was unaware of Howard before reading this volume despite having read extensively about the Civil Rights Movement over the past several years, so I am glad to have finally found out about him as I think he holds an important place in Civil Rights history. The book does not gloss over the foibles and failures of Howard's life nor does it build him up to be some unrealistic hero. He was a man who did his best for his race as he perceived the needs and the injustices towards African Americans. My main quibble with the book is that it gets to be repetitive at times. It is also not intended for the general audience or reader, I do not think; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I have another review to do, but every time I try to access LT from my laptop, which is how I normally access the site, I get an error message: Failed to get read connection to the database. I have never seen this before.

Any ideas?

I finally got it to work!

146 - My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar - Nonfiction; When Hannah was a child, she and her parents moved from Germany to Great Britain in an effort to get ahead of the Nazis. However, things did not work out for them in England and they moved to Amsterdam where her family soon became friends with the Frank family, who had also emigrated from Germany. Anne and Hannah were neighbors as well as in the same class in school and their friendship continued from there - until Anne and her family left for "Switzerland" - that is, they went into hiding (although Hannah did not know it at the time - she actually thought that they were in Switzerland.) Hannah's family, which now consisted of her little sister, father, and grandparents (her mother died as a result of childbirth) was eventually rounded up and headed first to Westerbork and from there to Bergen-Belsen, where she once again met up with Anne, albeit briefly. If this book was solely about the friendship between the two girls it would be short. Hannah, however, fills in the history - her personal history, the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, her time at the concentration camps during which she lost her father and both of her grandparents. She also continues past the concentration camps and how she and her sister survived after the war was over; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

BTW - this book was published here in the U.S. in 2023. Hannah Pick-Goslar died in 2022 at the age of 93, two weeks short of her 94th birthday.

>229 alcottacre:- I just purchased this book recently. Good to know you liked it, Stasia. I hope to get to it soon

>229 alcottacre: Very illuminating side-light on one of the best-known stories of the Holocaust's immense tragedy. I wish the idiot deniers would read these texts. Of course I doubt they could process them as anything other than didactic, tendentious fiction. Cults are insidious.

>227 alcottacre:
I knew Dr. Beito at UA. He was a professor of history there. I took classes in the history department but never took one under him. He is retired now, but still writes. I am happy to see that people here on LT are reading his books.

>153 alcottacre: The Secret Garden is an all-time favorite from childhood and the book I have most re-read in life. Glad you enjoyed it.

>177 alcottacre: Good Night, Irene sounds like a winner and I love Luis Alberto Urrea -- Book Bullet!!

And you have many other great reads in here, most of which I have already read. Phew!

>229 alcottacre: And then you hit me again. I just re-read The Diaries of Anne Frank and so I'll have to look into My Friend Anne Frank.

You are dangerous!! : )

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/361148

>230 jessibud2: I hope you enjoy the book too when you get to it, Shelley!

>231 richardderus: Yeah, the Holocaust deniers are people I will never understand despite reading Deborah Lipstadt's excellent book on the subject. Sometimes people are just idiots (myself included.)

>232 benitastrnad: That is cool, Benita!

>233 Berly: Hey, Kim! I am never dangerous, lol.

>234 SilverWolf28: Unfortunately I am going to miss this one too, Silver. I am still visiting my mother.

Since this is the last day of the month, I will be trying to get several more books in today. I am not traveling back to Sherman today as planned due to weather concerns. We got hit hard with rain again yesterday and it does not look much better for today. Sunday is "supposed" to be better, so that is when Kerry is coming to get me. I say "supposed" to be because we were not "supposed" to get any more rain yesterday until last night - and even then it was only a 44% chance of rain - and yet it rained pretty much all afternoon well into last night. We are keeping a close eye on the weather as flooding is a real issue. Luckily, I do not think my mother would kick me out and make me go home. . .

I don't think your mother will kick you out either, Stasia! Enjoy your extra couple of days.

>237 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy!

Finished this morning:

147 - The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman - This is the third book in Cogman's Invisible Library series and the best of the three IMHO. It was so much fun! Irene and Kai are, of course, getting into all kinds of trouble, not the least of which is her old enemy Alberich trying to track her down and destroy not only her but the Library itself. Old friends like Vale make an appearance, although he is not himself due to his morphine addiction. The Fae Silver and Zayanna also make appearances in this one and we get to see Kai revealed in his dragon form in all its glory for the first time; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>229 alcottacre: Adding this to the list Stasia.

>239 alcottacre: I absolutely adored that series. I wish some streamer or another would make it a show with Daniel Dae Kim as Kai.

Be safe, smoochling.

>240 Caroline_McElwee: I hope you enjoy it when you get to it, Caroline.

>241 richardderus: I am rather surprised that someone has not obtained the rights - at least not to my knowledge - to produce the books into a miniseries or movie or TV show, RD.

((Hugs)) and **smooches**

Finished this afternoon:

148 - Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt by Nina Burleigh - Nonfiction; I found this to be a disappointing read. Burleigh to often goes off on tangents that have nothing whatsoever to do with the scientific expedition or the scientists - why do I care that Napoleon had a mistress while he was in Egypt? It had nothing to do with the expedition! I also found the book to be poorly organized - she would entitle a chapter something like "The Naturalist," spend the next 3-4 pages discussing something else and in this case, talking about a different naturalist other than the one the chapter is supposed to be about (which was very confusing, especially as he was discussed in a later chapter) before finally talking about the right man. However, when she does discuss the scientists and their accomplishments, I found the information interesting. I just did not want to have to dig through all the other stuff to find the interesting tidbits.; Not Recommended (3 stars) Mine

We are home, no thanks to the weather. Half of the drive home was fine, the other half we were driving in terrible rain and the lightning was something else!

I will try and get a new thread up tomorrow at some point. For now, I am heading to bed!

Driving through weather can be exhausting. I'm glad you made it through safely.

>244 alcottacre: Welcome home, glad you're safe and sound.

Welcome back home. I hate driving in rain. Glad you are home safely. We had thunderstorms here last night into early Monday, too. So much rain.

>245 quondame: Thanks, Susan! I am glad we made it through too. It was very scary at times.

>246 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I am very happy to be safe and sound!

>247 Kristelh: I do not care overmuch for driving in the rain either, Kristel. The amount of rain we received here in April and May is just ridiculous - and we are expecting yet more today. Geez louise.