Familyhistorian’s Keeping Positive Thoughts for a Year of Change – Part 7

Photo taken through my living room window

Hi my name is Meg. I’ve been a member of the mighty 75ers since 2013. In that time, I’ve been hit by many a Book Bullet (BB) so I can attest to the fact that this is a dangerous place. In 2020 I had trouble keeping up with the threads as we all moved more online. My hope to do better keeping up this year hasn’t been going that well. But as we know hope is a renewable resource as is the wish for positive change.

BLOG



In my blog, I’m currently doing a look back at WWII which had a lasting effect on my family. You can see my latest blog posts at: A Genealogist’s Path to History

Little Free Library

Books culled in 2021

January - 0

February - 6

March - 6

April - 5

May - 7

June - 7

July - 0

August - 4

September - 5

Challenges

Reading Through Time

Quarterly

January-March 2021 - Renaissance/16th Century - The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn - DONE
April-June 2021 - 17th Century
July-September 2021 - 18th Century
October-December 2021 - Napoleonic Era

Monthly

January: Shakespeare's Children - The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey - DONE
February: Fashion - The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott - DONE
March: Arggh, Matey - Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton - DONE
April: The Sun Never Sets - The Palace Tiger by Barbara Clevery - DONE
May: Meet the Press - The Ventriloquists by E. R. Ramzipoor - DONE
June: Rewriting the Past - The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - DONE
July: Now We Are Free - A Shadow on the Household: One Enslaved Family's Incredible Struggle for Freedom by Bryan Prince - DONE
August: Food - The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan - DONE
September: Time Travel/Prehistoric - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - DONE
October: Supernatural
November: Reader's Choice
December:

2021 Nonfiction Challenge

January: Prizewinners - Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson - DONE
February: Minority Lives Matter - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander - DONE
March: Comfort Reading - The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards - DONE
April: The Ancient World - Blood of the Celts by Jean Manco - DONE
May: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral - The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World by Larry Zuckerman - DONE
June: Discoveries - Longitude by Dava Sobel - DONE
July: Cities
August: Transportation - Sailing Seven Seas: A History of the Canadian Pacific Line by Peter Pigott - DONE
September: Creativity - Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven by Ross King DONE
October: Heroes & Villains
November: Business, the Economy and Big Policy Questions
December: Go Anywhere

Books read in July 2021

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Not Dead Yet by Peter James
The Left-handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Burma ’44: The Battle That Turned Britain’s War in the East by James Holland
First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn
Dotter of her Father’s Eyes by Mary M Talbot and Bryan Talbot
Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland
Satellite Love by Genki Ferguson
Two Trees Make a Forest: In Search of my Family’s Past Among Taiwan’s Mountains and Coasts by Jessica J. Lee
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
The Defense by Steve Cavanagh
The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity by Douglas Murray
Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare
The 1940s Home by Paul Evans and Peter Doyle
The Women’s Land Army 1939-1950 by Bob Powell

Books read in August 2021

The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle
Death Comes to Bath by Catherine Lloyd
The Café by the Sea by Jenny Colgan
Snap by Belinda Bauer

Books read in 2021

Books Acquired in 2021

Acquisitions for July 2021

The Secret Life of Ceecee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
The Radio Operator by Ulla Lenze
The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-communist Blacklist by Carol. A Stabile
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The Cartoon Guide to Genetics by Larry Gonick and Mark Wheelis
The Passion of Anne Hutchinson by Marilyn J. Westerkamp

Welcome!

Hey, Meg, jumping in here to say hi and Happy New Thread, since I am so far behind on your last thread!

>12 ronincats: Good strategy, Roni. Great to see you here!

Happy new thread!

>1 Familyhistorian: Now that's a bird!

>14 quondame: Thanks Susan. It was kind of shock to see it sitting in the tree outside my window.

Happy new thread, Meg. Wow, to your topper! Is it a heron or an egret? For a birder, I am ridiculously mental-blocked and always confuse those two. Did it actually have a nest there or was he just stopping for rest? So close to your house, amazing!

>1 Familyhistorian: What a lovely Great Blue Heron capture! We see them often in the nearby "swamp", but can't watch them from our house. They are so elegant when they take off.

Wonderful topper Meg and happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Meg.

Happy new one, Meg!

Happy new thread!

>16 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, that's a heron. There was no nest there and I don't think he was resting, more like hunting as there is a creek right below where he's perched.

>17 laytonwoman3rd: I couldn't believe that he stayed still long enough for me to catch him, Linda. I think that he honoured me with his presence because it's been so parched here and there was actually water below where he was perched in that tree.

>18 mdoris: Thanks re the topper and the new thread, Mary!

>19 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

>20 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul!

>21 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita!

Great heron photo, Meg. In fact a GBH, yes?
Hope the next heat wave isn't too intense in your parts. A selfish wish as I'll be in New West next week. Ha ha.

Happy new thread, Meg!

>1 Familyhistorian: Nice picture.
One time, years ago, I saw a blue heron as close. It was on the roof of the next house, it didn't stay long enough to take a picture.

Happy new thread! May it be filled with good books.

Sweet Thursday, Meg. Happy New Thread! You know I LOVE the Great Blue up there. A perfect topper.

Hi Meg, and happy new thread!

That is a marvelous photo.

>3 Familyhistorian: Your blog is always wonderful. I love the bureau, even if your mother called it cheap War stuff. It’s wonderful to have family things. And I go through the same thoughts - why didn’t we ask about our parents lives while they were still alive? And, finally, it sucks that they wouldn’t recognize Land Army women who had died.

Happy new one, Meg! Love the topper - very cool. I still need to catch up with your previous threads, but I am snagging a spot here first.

Seems odd to see a heron in a tree. I've only ever seen them along the banks of bodies of water.

108. Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.



In Women Who Run with the Wolves, the author teaches about the creative forces inherent in women, many of which are tamped down by our culture. But there are stories which have been passed down to help women break free and find their true natures. These ancient stories were told then examined in light of what they are meant to convey to us.

It was a book designed to be read slowly and studied for meaning, hard when it was a library hold with many other waiting for it. I’m glad I read it and will try to bear in mind some of what it taught me.

>25 SandyAMcPherson: Yes, a GBH, Sandy. The heat wave should be over by the time you visit New West next week.

>26 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

I've seen blue herons close a few times around here and they've also stayed still long enough for me to get their picture a few times. You have to be quick though. Too bad you weren't able to get a shot of the one you saw on the roof.

The closest I got to a heron was the one that flew over my head so close that I could hear and feel the flapping of its wings.

>27 thornton37814: Thanks Lori! Books are a given, how good they are not so much.

>28 msf59: Thanks Mark! I must admit that I thought about you when I put that photo in place as the thread topper.

>30 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie and thanks! I hear you about being behind on the threads. I'm way, way behind!

>31 RebaRelishesReading: I'd never seen a heron in a tree before, Reba. As you say, most of my sightings have been with them in or around the water. The branch was above the water of a creek so I guess it semi-qualifies.

Happy new one!

Hi Meg my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

Hi Meg, Have you ever seen the heron rookery in Stanley Park near the English Bay exit? It sure is loud and smelly and quite the spectacle. At least it ways years ago when I saw it.

https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/heron-cam.aspx#watch

The link says one-third of great blue herons worldwide live around the Salish Sea. There is a live cam as part of this link too. Maybe some good viewing!

p.s. Hot enough for ya? It's a scorcher.

>37 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

>38 johnsimpson: Thank you John!

>39 mdoris: Hi Mary, I've never seen or heard of the heron rookery in Stanley Park. Thanks for the link. There is a heron nesting site on the trail to Old Orchard Park in Port Moody too although I haven't sited herons there. The nests are high up in the trees.

Decidedly warm I'd say. It got to 37 C here today. Hope it was a bit cooler for you.

109. Tempt Me with Diamonds by Jane Feather



In Tempt Me with Diamonds, the diamonds in this case reference the diamond interests that the two main characters share because of their links to South Africa. It was a place they had both recently been, the male lead, Rupert, having fought against the Boers for British interests. Since they had both been out of the country and had been engaged when they left for South Africa, when they both end up inheriting part of the London townhouse from her family’s estate, they make a pretense of having married while they were out of the country. Misunderstandings and friction ensue.

This book was the first of a trilogy. It was okay but not deliciously so. I hope the books to follow are more to my taste.

>42 Familyhistorian: Sorry that one was a bit off.

Love your heron photo, Meg, and happy new-to-me thread.

Sad about that latest read, though.

>43 thornton37814: Thanks Lori, I'm hoping for better from the other ones in the trilogy.

>44 richardderus: Thanks Richard. Oh well, at least the last one I reviewed was a fast read unlike the nonfiction tomes that make up most of my reading diet lately.

>110 Familyhistorian: A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn



A much better read than my last, A Treacherous Curse was the third in the Veronica Speedwell mystery series. These books are set in the late 1800s and the attraction between Veronica and her associate, Stoker, has been doing a slow burn throughout the series. In this episode, Stoker’s former wife was part of the mystery as her latest husband (and Stokers’ former business associate) disappeared along with a priceless artifact.

But all was not as it seemed, much like the attraction Stoker still felt for his wife. It was a good mystery which added another layer to the relationship between the two main characters.

>29 karenmarie: OMG Karen, how did I miss you up there? You posted such wonderful things about my blog too. And, yes, I thought it was a shame that after dragging their heels for decades the British Government only gave recognition to the Land Girls who were still alive.

We're in the midst of another heat wave but it isn't as hot as it could be because smoke is blocking some of the sun.



I took this photo of people in the river beating the heat last week.



Today there are still people in the river but it's much smokier.

Really smoky here too with an orange sun.

>50 mdoris: I didn't actually see the sun today, Mary, so couldn't say if it was orange or not. The sunbeams were golden though, so it probably was.

Hi, Meg! I do love your thread-topping photo. The photo showing the smoke, though, is concerning.

I am far from any of the major wildfires, but still some smoke has slightly affected our area at times. I can't imagine being closer to one, let alone close enough that the smoke blocks the sun. My heart breaks for the people who have lost homes and businesses, and especially where there have been lives lost.

Empathizing. Today is the first day where our air quality index is back in the good range. One more day of high heat and then back in the 80s. Can Not Wait!

Hi Terri, we're actually pretty far from the active fires and have seen relatively little of the smoke this wildfire season. That smoke drifted in from the Central Interior and Washington State. It has drifted out again now. There have been more structures lost this time and more people who have had to evacuate.

Thanks re the topper!

>53 Berly: Hi Kim, our air is good today too and we have a similar prediction for cooler weather and maybe even a bit of rain. Enjoy your cooler weather!

111. J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography by Rick Geary



J. Edgar Hoover, was a well-known name when I was growing up even though I didn’t live in the country where he worked and wielded his power. J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography told the story of his rise to power and showed the people and events he was involved with. There were many more of both than I realized because he was the power behind the Investigation Bureau even before it added Federal to its moniker.

The times in his story covered a great swath of American history and he had his fingers in many more pies than were commonly known at the time (at least to me.) It was an entertaining and enlightening read.

I'm currently enjoying the Edinburgh Book Festival online. I didn't sign up for quite as many events as last year but that's probably good because there are so many other things that I'm trying to keep up with.

Hi Meg, I am enjoying this rainy, cool day - exactly what this Westcoaster needed! We have been very lucky in that although we've had a touch of smoke in the air, it hasn't totally smothered us. I hope this rain we are getting today stretches into the Interior and helps them with the fires.

>58 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, I just read your message today and was trying to remember if there was rain on Friday. That was because I drove from where I live to Mission that day. It was raining when I left but I got to about the middle of Maple Ridge and the rain stopped. I'm glad you got some relief where you were.

I'm behind in my reviews (again) and in following the threads for the usual reasons (writing and deadlines) and also because I finally got to go away and see somewhere different! I'm home now and trying to remember what I should be doing which isn't a bad way to be.

112. We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper



It started with a tale of murder surrounded in rumour. That was first caught the author’s attention. No doubt she could relate to a young woman university student finding her way in the world as she was one herself. The tale of the death was a kind of warning post. Maybe investigating the death would show where the dead woman had gone wrong, perhaps be a warning to others. So began the writer’s investigation of the unsolved murder of Jane Britton, a graduate student in Havard’s Anthropology department.

The narrative in We Keep the Dead Close, was as much about the investigator as it was about trying to resolve the mystery. Many years passed and different theories were floated in that time. In the end, the perpetrator was identified but it wasn’t really the resolution looked for.

It had been a long time coming but I finally got away for a trip. On Saturday a friend and I went to Victoria. Our hotel was downtown and close to the things we wanted to see in our short time there. (Well, most of them anyway.)

After check in it was a short stroll to check out the Royal BC Museum.



After a few hours there we were off to Hermann's Jazz Club where there was a buffet before an evening of Alabama Blues with David Vest and his band.

113. The Loneliness of the Long-distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine



Somewhere along the way I watched an interview with Adrian Tomine, a writer/graphic artist. The Loneliness of the Long-distance Cartoonist was about his early years trying to get noticed as a cartoonist. Not an easy task, it would seem from the GN which tells the tale in a series of short vignettes through the years.

It was a good thing we were travelling by car. We hit a few bookshops while in Victoria. I also got to do some in person genealogy (that's where the walking came in.) My mother lived and worked in Victoria for a short time in the '40s. Our hike took us to where she lived.

The trek was long enough to walk off breakfast so we were all set for tea at the Empress.



We walked off tea strolling around to see more sights and a few bars after that.

Sounds like a lovely getaway, Meg!

Hi Meg!

>61 Familyhistorian: Mark kindly sent me his ARC of this book and I read it in February. Good summary without spoiling the book for folks.

>62 Familyhistorian:, >64 Familyhistorian: Nice that you could get away with your friend. Museums, food, bars, books, genealogy… hard to beat.

I'm glad you found some time for a little getaway, Meg! It really helps.

>64 Familyhistorian: Sounds lovely, Meg. I've been thinking lately about how (relatively) close we are to Canada now and how much I would like to visit. Maybe when this spike is over.

Sweet Thursday, Meg. J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography sounds good. I will have to request it. I also liked the Tomine GN. Have you read the new Bechdel yet? If not, it is my favorite GN of the year...so far.

>65 Crazymamie: It was a lovely getaway and way past time, Mamie.

>66 karenmarie: It was tricky to write about We Keep the Dead Close without revealing overmuch, Karen. The vacation felt like just a taste and reminded me of what I have been missing.

>67 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, not traveling has been hard. It was good to get a little bit in for a change.

>68 RebaRelishesReading: Our borders are opening for fully vaccinated people to come in, Reba, although places to visit are limited by the fires. That and the increasing numbers are a good reason to wait.

>69 msf59: Hi Mark, I have a small collection of GNs by Rick Geary which, history buff that I am, I really enjoy. I haven't read all of the Gearys on my shelves and have yet to actually read any of the Bechdels although I have pulled the first two from the shelves. I have the latest one on hold at the library but I keep on pausing my holds because too many of them keep coming in at once. I'm scrambling to keep up.

114. Reunion: A Search for Ancestors by Ryan Littrell



I like to read books about other people’s search for their ancestors which is probably why I picked up Reunion: A Search for Ancestors. The author is from the US but some of my ancestors seem to come from the same general area of Scotland as his did. He was on the track of McDonalds in the Highlands and Western Isles. I was able to picture where he was, as I’ve gone to many of the same places, like the Clan Donald Centre on Skye. He was also able to trace his ancestry back to Glencoe and, while I’ve not done that, I remember my visit to Glencoe very well.

He chose an interesting way of narrating his story, alternating chapters about his genealogical search with chapters about the history of the different lines of the McDonald clan and the genocide that altered the people of Glencoe forever.

I'm adding my coos of pleasure at your late visit to Victoria, Meg!

>72 Familyhistorian: The image of the head is disturbing-looking to me for some reason....

Have a lovely weekend ahead's reads!

>71 Familyhistorian: The opening was on the news a few days ago but I'm trying to limit my exposure somewhat during the spike. I'd been feeling pretty comfortable with restaurants and stores but I'm trying to do that as little as possible for now. I do hope some day I'll feel free to travel just for the fun of it though.

>73 richardderus: The Victoria visit was a welcome change of scenery, Richard. I see what you mean about the head on that cover. When the cover is small it almost looks like scales.

>74 RebaRelishesReading: I'm not sure how many are taking advantage of the open borders now, probably many who have been unable to see family that live on the other side of the border. People from the US can come in, the US is not yet letting people from Canada go into the US through the land borders. I hope to be able to get back to traveling further than my own province someday soon too, Reba.

Sounds like you had a great getaway, Meg.

115. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander



The US War on Drugs always seemed surreal to me. As scenes depicting arrests and militaristic operations used to bring down drug “kingpins” played out in the media, I wondered how, in a country so close to my own, there was such a worse problem with drugs that they had to throw the book at it. That the drug de jour was crack was even stranger when I looked at Vancouver’s Downtown East Side where the scourge at that time (before Fentanyl entered the mix) was heroin.

The New Jim Crow opened my eyes to what was behind the so call war and the people that were affected by it. It was a powerful indictment of the US system of mass incarceration.

>77 BLBera: Just being able to get away was great, Beth. The fact that the weather cooperated and we had a great time was icing on the cake.

116. The Survivors by Jane Harper



In The Survivors, much had gone on before Kieran and his wife, Mia, and their tiny daughter returned to the small seaside town he came from. A survivor of a storm in which his brother, Finn, was lost, Kieran carried around an enormous amount of guilt. When a waitress was killed, one that the couple had recently met, the investigation into her death also delved into the deaths caused by the storm which had taken Kieran’s brother, his brother’s diving and business partner and a young teenage girl who went missing in the same storm.

It was a convoluted, psychological mystery set against in the unforgiving Australian coast and a small town that had yet finished crumbling from the losses of the past.

Hi Meg, sounds you had a great get-away to Victoria. When I was over there earlier in the month we didn't get out and about much mostly just stayed at my Mom's or over at my sisters. Both my hubby and I would love a road trip right about now, but the Covid numbers are not encouraging us to travel.

I also thought The New Jim Crow was excellent. One of my top reads of 2020.

>80 Familyhistorian: Hers is a voice I've got to get more of, and her storytelling chops are seriously good.

>81 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, I'm glad we went to Victoria when we did as the weather was good, if a bit cool and it somehow felt freer before the new mask mandate came in. After not having seen your Mom for so long its no wonder you didn't want to venture far afield when you finally got to visit.

>82 msf59: I thought The New Jim Crow was excellent, Mark. It opened my eyes to what was really going on. It's even harder to see the hidden consequences from here as we are at one remove from what is going on in the next country over.

>83 richardderus: I know what you mean, Richard. As soon as I saw that she had another book available I hit the library hold button right away.

Hi Meg!

>80 Familyhistorian: Still on my shelves, still waiting for the right time.

117. Sailing Seven Seas: A History of the Canadian Pacific Line



My copy of Sailing Seven Seas: A History of the Canadian Pacific Line has bookmarks poking out of it to mark all of the places which are relevant to my own family’s history. The book itself, was a very readable account of the CP shipping line which was integrated with the railway and, for a time, was also connected to CP Air.

I worked for CP Air for a short stint until Canada Post offered me a better paying position. But I wasn’t the only one in my family whose history was touched by the events detailed in the pages of this book which ranged from the times of mass immigration to the heyday of luxury liners which was punctuated by the ships’ service during both world wars. It was a very readable and interesting history which included pictures.

>87 karenmarie: It's worth the wait, Karen, but I admit that I do that with the books I own too. I hold off on reading them until the right time. That's probably why my bookcases are full and other surfaces have them stacked on top. I should probably find the right time for a bunch of them soon!

118. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel



I started to read Are You My Mother first but after reading it for a while realized I really needed to start with Bechdel’s first GN memoir, Fun Home. The first GN, tells the story of her father but it was so much more, bringing in growing up in a funeral home in a family that was, in many ways, estranged from each other even though they shared the same living space. It was a powerful portrait of her father as well as a coming-of-age story. All of the elements included added to the depth and overall affect of the story presented.

>90 Familyhistorian: I have that one in the stacks, Meg. I am currently reading her newest one The Secret to Superhuman Strength.

>91 Crazymamie: It's a good one, Mamie. I've had it for a while so I thought I might as well read it while I waited for my hold on The Secret to Superhuman Strength to come up at the library. I heard the exercise one is a good one too.

Hi, Meg. I enjoyed her new one , The Secret to Superhuman strength, even more than Fun Home. It occasionally refers to her father with the perspective of time passed.

>93 jnwelch: That's good to hear, Joe. I'm going to read Are You My Mother, I think, before I get to The Secret to Superhuman Strength. The latest one is a library book and I've taken to putting pauses on my library holds in an effort to not have them come in all at the same time. Somehow getting 7 in at the same time with other people waiting for them disrupts any reading plans I have and makes reading the library books feel more required than enjoyed.

Ah the pressure of library books. We can have 50 holds in our system and like you it sure is possible to get loaded with too many at once. I am looking forward to Bechdel's new book. Gorgeous day here today!

I've loved all of the Bechdel books, Meg. The Harper sounds good. I'm on the library waitlist.

The New Jim Crow is an important book. I was shocked when I read how many rights have been eroded.

I found The New Jim Crow book on Mark's thread. I added it to the tbr pile, but these posts remind me to obtain a copy.

>95 mdoris: Yesterday was indeed gorgeous, Mary, and it seems like it will be like that again today. I'm currently working on the library books so that I will have some to take back to the library when I pick up my next few holds.

>96 BLBera: I hope the Harper comes in soon for you, Beth. It's a good one.

I had no idea about the extent of the effects of incarceration in the US before I read The New Jim Crow. It isn't clear to someone outside the country how the laws are applied and our laws, especially around sentencing are so much different. We also have a very different take on illegal drugs tending towards harm reduction rather than criminal charges.

>97 Whisper1: It is an eye opening book, Linda. The copy I read had been updated with a new intro for the 10 year anniversary of publication.

119. The Searcher by Tana French



I have a few unread books by Tana French on my own shelves but the first of her books that I read was The Searcher which I borrowed from the library. It was an engaging view of life in a remote Irish village seen through the eyes of an outsider, Cal, a disillusioned ex-cop from the US, who was not quite sure what to make of the people or how to deal with the problem of a missing young man in his now unofficial capacity. He brought both new eyes to the village ways of categorizing people and ignorance of the underlying power systems buried under a seemingly benign village way of life. It was an engrossing read with an ending that I didn’t foresee.

>101 Familyhistorian: Adrian McKinty owes a lot to Tana French's lead. She blew the party open to Irish grit-lit!
***
Normally I am a person who Knows My Own Mind. Startling, I realize, for you to hear this...as I've always been such a soft-spoken crowd-goer-alonger.

Stop laughing.

Anyway. I need help. The wisdom of the crowd is sought to help be decide between two equally strong contenders for Read of the Month. I am simply incapable to unparalyzing myself from the FOMO I get thinking about this problem.

Please vote on the poll or you will be directly responsible for my re-admission to the Goofy Garage this birthmonth.

>102 richardderus: Well, I voted Richard. Tied things up for you again. Be careful what you wish for. You did make me laugh!

>101 Familyhistorian: I have not read that one yet. Glad you enjoyed it :)

Have a great weekend

>62 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg. I'm off to Victoria myself, in October.
Our fave place to stay is a guesthouse in the James' Bay area. Quiet, Edwardian and lovely old-fashioned rooms with private baths (I am not a fan of the shared facility arrangements). The breakfast is included in the rate and is scrumptious.

I was last at Hermann's Jazz Club in 2019. There was talk of moving the club off View St after Hermann passed away. I envy your seeing the Alabama Blues band.

>104 figsfromthistle: I think it's the latest one, Anita. Have a wonderful weekend!

>105 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy, your place to stay in Victoria sounds lovely. Enjoy your October stay there.

I had never heard of Hermann's Jazz Club. The friend I went with found it by Googling live music in Victoria. I was all for it since I love the blues. So good!

120. Miss Seeton Rules by Hamilton Crane



The Miss Seeton books are fun cozies, featuring the elderly Miss Seeton and a cast of police and other characters who solve crimes while getting her out of trouble. In Miss Seeton Rules she and a young royal ended up kidnapped on the eve of Guy Fawkes. Mayhem ensued but the bad guys were foiled in the end.

Ugh, I spent most of the morning buying tickets for the Vancouver Writers Festival. It was complicated by the fact that we'll need the vaccine passport to get in the venue. They were just made available yesterday so I needed to get that downloaded before buying tickets. Dealing with government and festival websites at the same time was frustrating!

121. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow



It took me a bit to get into The Once and Future Witches but once I got a handle on the rules of the world depicted, I wanted to know what happened to the three sisters and all the downtrodden women in the tale. It helped that there was a despicable antagonist, Gideon Hall, as the main head of the opposing faction.

Once again, Harrow played with the fantasy genre to come up with a tale of good and evil that was so good that it was fun to suspend disbelief while immersed in its pages.

Yesterday I attended a training session for working the federal election. Lots of changes due to the pandemic. Hopefully I'll be more awake at the start than I was for the last election I worked. For that election, I'd finally made it home from Salt Lake City after midnight the night before and the start time was 6:00 am. At least the polling station was in the school behind my home. This time its further away and the start is 5:30 am!

122. London's Burning by Constantine FitzGibbon



When the cover price on a book is $1.00, you know it’s old. London’s Burning was published in 1970, fairly close to the events of the Blitz that it covered. It was full of photos and line drawings of aircraft as well as write ups about various events that happened during the time of nightly raids, including the one raid that burned down most of the buildings around St. Pauls Cathedral. Another event written about was the bombing of the Café de Paris which was horrendous and an event that I don’t remember having read about elsewhere.

I don't know what to think about these Vaccine Passports, Meg. I checked out the site but I am out of printer ink so I can't print it right now. I guess a trip out for ink is required. I don't see why we just can't use the printed card we got when we were vaccinated.

>113 DeltaQueen50: You can download the Vaccine Passport to your phone too. But, I followed what my friend said she did, took a photo with my phone so I could access it in my photos and also print a copy so I'd get a hard copy too. I have no idea why the vaccination cards can't be used, maybe too much personal info on them?

Happy Friday, Meg. Hooray for Fun Home! One of my very favorite GNs. Have a wonderful weekend.

>115 msf59: Happy Friday to you to, Mark. Have a wonderful weekend with the books and being a proud grandpa!

123. Moms by Yeong-shin Ma



The GN Moms followed the loves and travails of a group of women of a certain age. Finding themselves single or bored with their life partners they were led into relationships that often didn’t turn out well. That coupled with working for a janitorial company which treated them poorly pushed them to stand up for themselves with mixed results.

It was a social commentary in illustrated form about women of an age which are often disregarded by the societies that they are not only part of, but help to keep ticking.

I was looking out my living room window this evening when a few birds came flying into the area behind my townhouse. I got up to take a closer look and that's when I saw that they'd followed this guy into the small wooded area which is a few yards beyond my back deck.

>118 Familyhistorian: Oooh...a pretty black bear! We have one wander through once a year or so---usually we don't see it, we just see what it left behind, if you get my drift. Sometimes, however, it comes on the night before garbage pick-up, and has a smorgasbord from this can and that can, and then there's a BIG clean-up required. I still get excited to spot one from safely inside.

>119 laytonwoman3rd: We aren't allowed to put our garbage out the night before because we have so many bears. Just prior to this shot the bear had been on the other side of the creek and screened by a stand of trees from the walkers on the path right next to those trees. It was probably a good thing that it came my way instead of scaring the walkers.

If I saw a bear out of my window I'm not sure I was ever dare go outside again!

>119 laytonwoman3rd: We are one of the few homes in our semi-rural neighborhood who keep our garbage cans inside the garage. Most people have their "wheelie bins" somewhere outside all the time, so we're lucky we don't have more frequent visits from the bruins. Of course, aside from seasonal burning bans when it's very dry, we don't really have any rules here.

>118 Familyhistorian: Gulp!

>121 RebaRelishesReading: It was only a little bear, Reba. I've been much closer to a couple of bears when I was out in the open. They were also little bears, not like the big guy that swatted the Smithrite garbage container across our parking lot.

>122 laytonwoman3rd: You are lucky, Linda. Bears quickly become accustomed to easy food sources. We aren't even allowed to have bird feeders outside here and our organic garbage goes into special bear proof containers now. We'd get fined by the city if we attracted bears.

>118 Familyhistorian: It's only a little one, Mary.

Hi Meg. My brother lives in rural Vermont, with a forest behind his house. He sometimes sends me photos or video of his bear visitors. They can't put bird feeders out until winter. His 2 dogs (one big, one small) go nuts when they spot the bear (from inside the house, of course). I had a friend who lived in Alaska and she once sent me photo of a moose trying to break open her bird feeder!

>127 jessibud2: A moose! That's one thing we don't have around here. We do have cougars, though, which concern me a bit more than the bears but there are fewer cougar sightings than bear sightings. I'm not sure if that means there are fewer cougars or they're just better at keeping out of sight.

>118 Familyhistorian: A friend catches them on her security camera at her home all the time. (She lives in a wooded area.)

>118 Familyhistorian: Oh Wow! Right near your backyard. Great thing to view....from a distance ;)

Have a great weekend

>126 Familyhistorian: Looks like a cub... so watch out for momma bear!

Hi Meg!

>114 Familyhistorian: Here in the US there is a booming market in faked vaccination cards. I don’t know how easy it would be to fake a photo of the government Vaccine Passport or a printed copy of same.

>118 Familyhistorian: Well, hello black bear.

I'm with Reba. I would think twice about taking a walk if I saw a bear.

>129 thornton37814: It's interesting to see what happens in yards in the nighttime, Lori.

>130 figsfromthistle: Hope you're having a wonderful weekend, Anita.

>131 SandyAMcPherson: A bit older than a cub, Sandy, looks like a juvenile out on his or her own. Well, sort of on his own, there were birds keeping their eyes on him.

>132 karenmarie: There was a story on the news about family doctors being pressured by their patients to provide exemption letters so that they could get around the vaccination passport. I would imagine that there are fake passports around by now.

>133 BLBera: Well, I didn't go for a walk right then, Beth but seeing a bear didn't keep me in the next day.

>118 Familyhistorian: How exciting! I’ve never seen a bear in the wild.

Moons and moons ago, I watched a Netflix doc narrated by Sir David which featured night-cam shots from cities around the world (Night on Earth maybe?). Much wildlife actually shares our space because we are stunningly wasteful and they are hungry.

The one I remember thinking "Y.I.K.E.S.!!" about was the *prevalence* of leopards in Delhi.

Prevalence.

Many, many a pet, lots of drunks, and quite a bit of livestock that Delhi-ites keep all succumb to leopards bein' leopards in a city of tens of millions. That just...it's...I mean, whaaat?

edited/close itals (derp)

124. A Shadow on the Household: One Enslaved Family's Incredible Struggle for Freedom by Bryan Prince



It took me a while to get into A Shadow on the Household: One Enslaved Family’s Incredible Struggle for Freedom as I’ve become more used to reading such historical accounts as creative nonfiction. There was no dialogue or action scenes between the people involved. The story of the Weems family and how John Weems, a freeman, struggled to retain and regain his wife and children who were to be sold down south from their home near Washington, DC was written in straight prose.

It was a compelling story. There were many children in the family to try to find so that abolitionists could try to raise funds to buy them from their owners. Even thought that practice was controversial. It took many years as slavery was changing in America and some died before all the family was freed. It was an epic tale about a troubling time in history.

>139 SandDune: Unfortunately bears are not a rare sight here, Rhian, just noteworthy.

>140 richardderus: I wouldn't want to share space with leopards on the prowl. That's for sure. We have more than enough wildlife sharing our space around here.

>140 richardderus: >143 Familyhistorian: Once, back in the 1990s, we went on a safari to Zimababwe. One of our guides mentioned that there were no stray dogs in the local town of Kariba because of the leopards.

125. Call for the Dead by John le Carré



I, of course, had heard of John le Carré’s books. I even watched an interview with him a while back. It was high time that I read one of his books. Call for the Dead appeared to be the first, so I started there. It was fast and intriguing. I enjoyed the characters and the setting took me back to a time and place I once knew. The length of the book was also reminiscent of that time before books gained weight. I look forward to reading more of le Carré’s works.

>144 SandDune: I would have been looking over my shoulder if a guide had told me that, Rhian. Not a nice feeling to know that large cats are on the prowl.

126. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi



This book, Transcendent Kingdom, was a hard read for me. Every time I put it down, I was reluctant to pick it up again. It was a difficult story, not just because Gifty and her family were the outsiders, the only black people in their church and local community. Chances were that wouldn’t go well and that may have been part of the reason I was having a hard time reading further.

It was the descriptions of living with someone addicted to drugs and the research that tied into this that took the narrative that step further into a seemingly hopeless situation. I prefer to retain my optimism and not be reminded of how addiction can blight the lives of addicts and those around them. That put me off about this read although I finally finished it.

Happy Wednesday, Meg. Nice bear sighting. I have never seen a bear in the wild, other than from a cruise ship in Alaska, which hardly counts. I also had problems with Transcendent Kingdom, although I absolutely adored her debut.

>145 Familyhistorian: I read a lot of Le Carre when he first started. I even picked one of his books as the diversion to take with me into the labor room when my son was born. But then I went back to work and pretty much stopped reading for pleasure for several years and didn't pick him up again when I retired -- You make me think I should put him back on the wish list.

>148 msf59: We see many bears in the wild around here, Mark. I usually only go on the trails by my house when I know lots of people are around because they tend to steer clear when there are a lot of people making noise and other people will warn you if there have been bear sightings in the direction you are heading.

I like her first book much better too.

>149 RebaRelishesReading: I'm new to le Carre and really enjoyed the read, short and full of action. Might be time to try one again, Reba.

127. Getting Out of Hope by James Cadelli



I enjoyed Getting Out of Hope more than I thought at first glance. It was well drawn GN that captured some character types who were easily recognizable; from the guys in the beat-up RV to the caretaker of the building with its resident spaced out drug dealer, they were all familiar types of people who went through their paces in this fun BC tale. Almost everyone lived through it.

>152 Familyhistorian: I was jogging along without much interest until I got to: "Almost everyone lived through it." Ha! Now I want to read it.

>147 Familyhistorian: It is a difficult topic, but one I felt so deeply affected by that I simply got sucked right in and came out the other end shook, but impressed.

I really don't have much to say about it apart from that so I never wrote a review. Might go back and Burgoine it, though....

>153 richardderus: Sometimes I just have to put that stinger in the tail, Richard.

It is a difficult topic but hard to dwell on for those who have been affected .

128. Amber & Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz





The book Amber & Clay told a story through an interesting mix of prose and poetry. Much of the inspiration for the tale came from the artifacts which were pictured in its pages, often beginning a section. It was difficult to get into at the beginning, but once I had its rhythm down and the story started to follow certain characters, I found it involving. I also found it interesting to learn more about the society of early Greece.

We have a heavy rainfall warning today. Looks like our summer is over early, it's cold and the rivers and streams are rushing with all the new water coming in. Good thing that it wasn't like that at the beginning of the week. That's when I visited Whistler for the first time.

Hi Meg, The rain volume yesterday from the torrential rains was crazy and yes summer is "so over!". I can imagine that the local streams and rivers would be swollen and tumbling. But it was so needed. Plants can now start to perk up.

Lovely pictures in >156 Familyhistorian:!

We're having rain today too (probably the same system I think but haven't checked weather maps) and I would love it if fall was here early. Our poor trees (I mean the forests not my yard) are so thirsty I'm frightened for them. Besides, fall is my favorite season so it's always welcome early :)

>157 mdoris: At times the sound of the rain on my deck was so loud it drowned out the volume of the TV. The rain yesterday made up for the previous lack of moisture in a big way. My sneakers were still wet from the walk I took yesterday when I went to put them on this morning.

That was my first visit to Whistler. I was happy to be in such a photogenic spot, Mary.

>158 RebaRelishesReading: Fall seems to be a favourite for many LT posters, Reba. I prefer spring and summer. Fall is okay on sunny days but those are few and far between here. It's generally just soggy.

I hope the rain yesterday did the trees in the forests some good. There seemed to be a lot of leaves and branches down on the trails when I went for a walk this morning.

129. Seduce Me with Sapphires by Jane Feather



I fit in another romance between the various library tomes I’ve been struggling to complete before they are due. I’m not sure why they all come in bunches. Seduce Me with Sapphires was the second book in the London Jewels Trilogy which I liked better than the first. I’m not sure if that was because the writing was growing on me or because it was a lightning fast read among all the other more involved narratives that I’m working through.

>156 Familyhistorian: Nice photos, Meg.

Amber and Clay sounds interesting.

>161 Familyhistorian: I must say, that'd work on me, too.

>156 Familyhistorian: How lovely!

It's such a beautiful, sunny day here that I feel a tad churlish complaining about the 28C heat.

>162 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. Amber & Clay was an interesting mix of ways of telling a story.

>163 richardderus: It helps to have something quick to read at times. 28C doesn't sound bad at all to me, Richard. I like the heat except when it flirts with 40C.

>156 Familyhistorian: Love the local photos--even if that creek is a little high. I think our weather is supposed to mostly be a high in the 70s this week. I can't remember if one day is supposed to break 80 or not, but if so, it is just barely there. I'm definitely ready for cooler temps.

Happy Sunday, Meg. Getting Out of Hope sounds like a GN I would like.

>166 thornton37814: Thanks re the photos, Lori, although I don't know how local I'd call them as Whistler is a 2 hour drive away. I'm glad you like the cooler weather on the way, I find this time of year sad as summer is over. I like the heat. (Within reason, of course, 40C and above are a little warm!)

>167 msf59: I think you would like Getting Out of Hope, Mark. Hope your Sunday was a good one. I need to get on LT more. I seem to neglecting even my own thread these days!

I take it you survived Monday, Meg. Looong day!

>168 Familyhistorian: Yes. 104 would be hot. I always have to look up the conversion to Fahrenheit. Back in elementary or middle school we had some sort of conversion formula, but I've long since forgotten it. I think I'd prefer it to stay under 27C. ;-)

>170 jessibud2: Very very looong day, Shelley! 5:30 am to 8:30 pm. The hardest part was wearing a mask all that time. My ears were buzzing by the end of it.

>171 thornton37814: When I started out all the temperatures were in Fahrenheit, Lori. Then they changed to Celsius. Now I'm not really sure what temperatures mean all the time. Sometimes I have to go outside to figure it out especially when the temperatures are in the teens. As far as heat goes I'm good to about 31 - 32C. I like it warm.

130. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz



I picked up The Plot due to the LT buzz about it. I like books about writers and the premise of this one, about a failed writer who appropriates a plot from one of his students after the student’s death, sounded a bit like an ethical dilemma tied into a character study.

It was a hard read for me. Somehow it just telegraphed a twisted ending which made me reluctant to pick it up once I’d put it down. It was a library hold though so it had to be read in a few weeks. It’s done and dusted now and, while I could admire the writing, I was not so fond of the story.

Hi Meg, glad it's your side of Vancouver that has to deal with bears - we just get racoons, coyotes and the odd skunk passing by. I used my Vaccine passport for the first time today as we decided to go out to lunch. I actually felt good knowing that everyone in the restaurant had had two shots of the vaccine.

>175 DeltaQueen50: We didn't used to have to deal with bears until we started building higher up in the mountains. Now they are a fact of life.

Having a vaccine passport is a good feeling in some ways. Nice to know that it made you feel better about your restaurant experience, Judy.

Yesterday was a bright sunny day, the best of fall. Today is the opposite, rain and wind. I can't say that I'm a fan of this season.

Weren't the last 2 days glorious though! Got lots done outside that needed doing and a wonderful walk in the woods.

>178 mdoris: They were indeed glorious, Mary. I enjoyed both of them and so did many other people. The skytrain was surprisingly crowded in the middle of the day when I went downtown on Friday. I think that was because everyone wanted to take advantage of the good weather while it lasted.

131. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle



Based on the love for the book expressed by many LTers, I picked up A Wrinkle in Time a while back. It was an interesting story but not one I’d come across in my childhood. Perhaps that is why its charms were lost on me.

It's Sunday evening here and I'm attending the Fall Book Club put on by the Vancouver Writers' Fest. The book is Harlem Shuffle and I'm watching an interview with Colson Whitehead. So interesting and, as part of the cost of the book club, I received a copy of the book. I really want to read it after listening.

>181 Familyhistorian: Oh neat! Enjoy the read.

Hello, Meg! Lovely photos here. And the bear!! Yowza.

>145 Familyhistorian: So glad you enjoyed this! He is one of my favorite authors, and I love those George Smiley books - I need to get back to that series.

>181 Familyhistorian: I have this one on my WL.

>181 Familyhistorian: I loved Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys -- I'll have to check out Harlem Shuffle.

>156 Familyhistorian: Great photos!

>182 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita, it sounds like a good one and a different genre from the other books I've read by Colson Whitehead.

>183 Crazymamie: We live close to nature here, Mamie. I'm looking forward to reading more le Carre, books. I hope you enjoy the Whitehead, I'm anticipating a good read.

>184 RebaRelishesReading: From what he was saying in the interview, Colson Whitehead has other books that came out prior to The Underground Railroad. I think I should check some of them out after I read Harlem Shuffle, Reba.

>185 kidzdoc: I hadn't been to Whistler before, Darryl. It is a very beautiful place.

>188 Familyhistorian: Yup. Zone One was a really good zombie story that was so much more. And Nickel Boys was just wow!

>190 drneutron: Hi Jim, The Nickel Boys was a good one. He also mentioned another one, The Intuitionist. Have you read that one?

>180 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg, I never read any Madeleine L'Engle until my younger one was given this title (A Wrinkle in Time ).

It was just 'okay' for me and I decidedly didn't enjoy the other two by this author. I agree that the stories held no charm for me likely because of reading them as an adult. My daughter, however enjoyed these novels and kept them on her bookshelf through several moves. I'll perhaps ask if she re-read them and then decided the stories were less than re-readable.

>191 Familyhistorian: Not yet, but it's on my list.

>192 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy, I have a feeling that A Wrinkle in Time was a childhood classic for many children in the US, not here though. At least not back when i was growing up. I saw it displayed in the Chapters children's section when I was there today.

>193 drneutron: It's on my list at the library too, Jim. Hope we both enjoy it.

132. Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies by Marc Aronson



After reading the GN about J. Edgar Hoover I wanted to know more. Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies was available at the library and it looked like it fit the bill. It was an interesting history about the man who became the head of the FBI and stayed in power because of the information he had on others. I lived through some of the history mentioned and they were different times.

My library had this in the section for younger readers. It did remind me a bit of less nuanced texts written for non-adults and, as such, I did have some issues with the opinions written about some of the events. I did learn more about J. Edgar, which is what I set out to do.

>194 Familyhistorian: It wasn't a much covered "classic" in the UK either. Reading it in adulthood didn't propel me to read the other books in the series.

>194 Familyhistorian: The childhood classics I was exposed to were UK ones as we had just immigranted from there, Paul. I had never heard of A Wrinkle in Time prior to joining LT. I wasn't greatly exposed to much of American literature when I got older either.

133. The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell



I don’t remember which thread hit me with the BB for The Stranger Times but thank you. It was a strange and fun romp through the weird and wonderful with a sense of humour. Action packed too. I was routing for the odd crew of the Stranger Times all the way through and half the time I had no idea what was going to happen next. Looks like there will be a sequel coming out next year too.

Hello, Meg! A Wrinkle in Time is one of Birdy's favorite books - she read it for the first time many years ago, and it has remained a sentimental favorite of hers. Not so much for me. We both loved When You Reach Me, which is an homage to Wrinkle - YA but very good.

>199 Familyhistorian: I have this one on my list!

Hi, Meg. Yes, I think the analysis of AWiT as better for childhood nostalgia is a good one. I hadn't read it as a child either, and Jim (magicians_nephew) encouraged me to read it; not to my liking. He's much more receptive to books written for children than I am. But it was worth the try.

134. Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh



I’m slowly reading through a door stopper of a read so fit it another romance just to prove to myself that I can still read quickly. This time it was Someone to Honor a story in was billed as the Westcott series. It looks like I’ve missed most of the background stories so, at the start of the book I was a bit at sea because a plethora of names and relationships were dropped, but soon the narrative settled down to the romance between the two main characters. It was a good one but probably would have been better if I had read other books in the series first.

>200 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, I could see A Wrinkle in Time being a childhood favourite. I think you'll enjoy The Stranger Times, its a fun and strange adventure.

>201 ffortsa: That's it, Judy. Worth the try for to see why it was so beloved but I don't think we were the prime audience for that one.

135. Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven by Ross King



I have a small collection of books about Tom Thomson on my shelves. His story was an interesting one and sometimes includes clues I can use for my family history. Among those books is Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven. I knew that Thomson wasn’t included in the group as he died before it was formed but I hoped he was mentioned in the pages.

I needn’t have worried. Tom Thomson’s story was included as well as the histories of the artists in the group. Even better the narrative showed the artists interacting. They influenced each other and were in turn influenced by their ideals and by the times they lived through. It was a very well written history and the artists themselves lived interesting lives.

>205 Familyhistorian: That sounds like a terrific book! I'm putting it on my List right now.

I hope you have a happy weekend's reads ahead, Meg.

>206 richardderus: It was a really good read. I hope you enjoy it. All the best of the weekend to you, Richard.

>205 Familyhistorian: - Ooo, I haven't read that one! I knew the Group of Seven was formed after he died but he always seems to be included when the Group is spoken of. I never understood why it wasn't just called the Group of Eight and be done with it!

>208 jessibud2: It's very readable, Shelley. I think you'd enjoy that history of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson.