|||| Bookshelf of LovingLit ||||

Castle Hill Village, Autumn 2020.

Welcome to the book party!

2022 Books
January
1. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan D. Culler
2. Gotta get Theroux This by Louis Theroux audio
3. Still being Punished by Rachael Selby
4. The Gathering by Anne Enright audio (fiction)
5. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (fiction)

February
6. On Earth we are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong audio
7. Exit West by Mohshin Hamid (fiction)
8. Tainted Love: Take a Trip Through the Dark Underbelly of the 60's by Stewart Home
9. A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston
10. Theroux the Keyhole by Louis Theroux audio

March
11. Apple, Tree: Writers on Their Parents edited by Lise Funderburg audio
12. ❤️ My Father's Island by Adam Dudding
13. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
14. The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
15. The Sellout by Paul Beatty (DNF) audio (fiction)
16. ❤️ The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst audio (fiction)

April
17. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson audio
18. Untamed by Glennon Doyle audio
19. Forty Autumns by Nina Willner audio
20. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (fiction)

May
21. French Braid by Anne Tyler (fiction)
22. The Great Questions of Tomorrow by David Rothkoph
23. Last Orders by Graham Swift audio (fiction)
24. ❤️ In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (fiction)
25. A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin by Mark Galeotti audio

June
26. ❤️ Lampedusa by Steven Price audio (fiction)
27. After the Earthquake by Margaret Hall (fiction)

July
28. We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (fiction)
29. Ordinary People by Diana Evans audio (fiction)
30. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel audio (fiction)
31. After the Tampa by Abbas Nazari

August
32. ❤️ Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry audio (fiction)
33. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout audio (fiction)
34. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters audio (fiction)
35. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (fiction)

September
36. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier audio (fiction)
37. An Island by Karen Jennings audio (fiction)
38. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje audio (fiction)
39. The Plague Letters by V. L. Valentine audio (fiction)
40. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray audio (fiction)

October
41. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak audio (fiction)
42. Tomorrow's People: The Future of Humanity in Ten Numbers by Paul Morland audio
43. Wellbeing Economics by Paul Dalziel and Caroline Saunders
44. ❤️ Eventide by Kent Haruf audio (fiction)

November
45. Benediction by Kent Haruf audio (fiction)
46. Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong audio
47. Fat Like Me by Tania Roxborough
48. The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart audio
49. Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon by Malcolm Gladwell audio
50. ❤️ The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen audio

December
51. Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham audio
51.5 Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister by Jung Chang (DNF) audio
52. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin audio (reread)
53. In my Room by Jim Lucey audio
54. Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver audio
55. ❤️ Everybody by Olivia Laing audio
56. The Unusual Suspect by Ben Machell audio

Currently reading

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, and, a few stragglers, including Among the Russians by Colin Thubron, and When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant (so close, nearly there).

Also, I just recently bought these two second hand, in perfect condition (read once?), for $5 each!


Shuggie Bain and Hamnet!

Happy new thread, Megan!

>4 LovingLit: Great finds!

>5 FAMeulstee: thanks!
And just now *this* arrived in the post, and I had forgotten that I even ordered it! (yuss)

No one Belongs Here More Than You (short stories) by Miranda July.

Happy new thread!

>6 LovingLit: Oh WOW!

>4 LovingLit: You're on a ROLL!

Happy new thread, Megan, and a happy Autumnal wandering season. *smooch*

Happy new one Megan

Happy new thread. I loved Hamnet! And isn't the cover lovely?

HAppy new one :)

Happy happy new thread!! Love your new books -- I have Shuggie Bain on my shelves as well, and loved Hamnet. Have fun!

Happy new thread. Been marking quite a few of the books you've read this year to my TBR list.

Happy New Thread, Megan! I wish I could be a faithful visitor. I always enjoy hearing what you think of what you read, not to mention the exploits of your intrepid boys!

>7 drneutron: Thanks Dr! >9 PaulCranswick: Thannks PC! >11 figsfromthistle: Thanks Figs!

>8 richardderus: It raineth books! I am overwhelmed.

>10 BLBera: yes, I love that cover. I have a thing for text, calligraphy, the art of letters.

>12 Berly: Maybe we could read Shuggie Bain together now that I have spanner-in-the-worksed the Joan Didion plan??

>13 WhiteRaven.17: Ooh, I am happy to hear that! I must come visit you and see what you have been reading.

>14 LizzieD: You are a faithful visitor! A regular returnee :) My intrepid boys have been mooching lately; it's school holidays and they have been revelling in the quiet times, sleep ins and chill time. They both have sport practices still though, so we are hanging the week on all that (and our work, of course).

How come no one's been wowed by that topper? >1 LovingLit:. Gorgeous.

Oh. And you've read some books.

>16 weird_O: now that I look again at it, I realise it is Autumn 2020 not 2021 (oops!). It is spectacular isn't it. We have been back to that spot since, and the last time we went we did an epic 4-hour walk which took us through lots of yellow tussock land and bush, and hilly craggy rocky bits as well. It was awesome!

>1 LovingLit: That photo really is gorgeous. What a place!

Yes, wow. That photo. What a view.

It raineth books What could be better? Happy new thread. Lovely photo up top!

>18 ursula: It's a great spot as although it's a winter spot, it is amazing all year round.

>19 ctpress: It's pretty huh? That reminds me, I need to get out more!

>20 AMQS: I love it when it raineth books :) I was really pleased with my buying in >4 LovingLit:...they were listed in FB marketplace and I originally missed out on Hamnet as it was being held for someone else...but then it was re-listed and I jumped on it :)

Hi Megan my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

>22 johnsimpson: thanks JS!

I just started Forty Autumns by Nina Willner, which is (according to its subtitle, "A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall".

So far so good.

>23 LovingLit: Oooh that looks an interesting read, Megan.

>24 PaulCranswick: I am really enjoying it, Paul. I wasn't sure until quite a way in if it was fiction or non fiction! I would call it narrative non fiction now I think.

School Holidays log: Day 13 (still surviving)

Today I will walk to the library with Lenny to collect French Braid (Anne Tyler) for book club, and In the Distance (Hernan Diaz)- recently recommended by Mark. (I may have to return The Sun also Rises- or read it quick smart in order to start my next two!)

I have bread dough in the bread maker, and will soon make that into muffin-tin-sized bread rolls (left to rise while I walk to the library). The resultant bread rolls...4 hours in the making...will no doubt be inhaled in about 20 minutes by boys and their friends. This is preferable to them remaining uneaten though. I have mince in the fridge to make into meatballs for dinner (with spaghetti and tomato sauce for the grown ups and probably with mini roast potatoes and broccoli for the younger members of the family).

I have handed in the report that I started in January.
*sigh*
That thing had a long tail...I am hoping for little by way of suggested changes given that there was little by way of direction throughout the whole process, and lots by way of delays and issues with other people's sections having to be rewritten (by me).

I may yet make it through the remaining 4 days of the school holidays! Wish me luck!

>26 LovingLit: Here's to you making it through to the other side of these challenges without so much as a single felony assault charge on your record!

(Ditch the Hemingway. It will wait for you.)

>27 richardderus: well, seeing as I also accidentally picked up a third book at the library (Drown by Junot Diaz) I will have to get reading. I may have overestimated my ability to read all these books. Such is life.

BOOK 19
Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner (on audio))

Searching for an audiobook one day, I put a hold on this one based on the title and subtitle alone. It did not disappoint. In essence it's a family memoir, but is much more than that. It hits the target as a social and political history of East Germany from post WWII until the fall of the Berlin Wall in later 1989 (and slightly beyond).

The story follows one family with 6 children; the eldest child escapes to the West at aged 20 against her parents wishes. They struggle to remain in contact throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s throughout the totalitarian regime, and we get a full picture of life behind the Iron Curtain, and the life of an exile.

*highly recommended*

BOOK 20
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy (Booker shortlist 2016)

Atmospheric, moody, and alluding to things that were not quite made clear, this book addresses a mother-daughter relationship from the perspective of the adult daughter. Together they have travelled from the UK to Spain for the mother to get alternative treatment for an ailment that means daughter, Sofia, is essentially her carer. Mother is revealed to be demanding (to say the least) and possibly suffering a mental rather than physical illness, but Sofia persists patiently, and along the way is figuring herself out.

I wanted more detail about Sofia's thoughts, which although described, were very nebulous and imprecise. Bordering on poetic actually. She seemed to drift and had too little gumption for me. (Am I getting cantankerous in my old age!!??) Still, it was overall and enjoyable read.

*recommended but not wholeheartedly*

Happy new thread, Megan!

>1 LovingLit: Excellent photo, beautiful countryside, nice pic of two humans. *smile*

>4 LovingLit: Congrats on snagging a copy of Hamnet. I still need to read my copy.

>26 LovingLit: Here’s hoping that you’ve successfully made it through the school holidays.

>29 LovingLit: Sounds good, I'll have a look for a copy. So many fascinating stories that I guess couldn’t easily be told for a long time. I really enjoyed the podcast Tunnel 29, which has been turned into a book too, I think.

Flying visit .....

Nice snagging an almost new copy of Hamnet😎

Not sure how much the graphic means to people, but here's my Quordle today :)

Daily Quordle 98
7️⃣8️⃣
6️⃣5️⃣

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜
🟨⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

>31 karenmarie: Holidays over. Back to school and work routines. But not without another spot of fishing yesterday afternoon. The kids took a friend each and both wanted their friend to reel in a fish first. It was very nice to see evidence of humanity in them ;)
We caught 4 baby sharks (and released them).

>32 charl08: Slight spoiler alert so...When the woman who defected's son met his grandparents for the first time it was very very similar to me meeting my Grandfather for the first time! For that reason alone, it was a special book for me, and all the more poignant that it seems so damn recent.

>33 roundballnz: I look at it gleefully, anticipating reading it.

One week and one day after submitting the draft report to the writing team (>26 LovingLit:) I have yet to hear so much as a "thanks, I'll have a look".
Do I email it again to check that it went through? Do I just chill and wait for my next move?

>35 LovingLit: Seems strange not to get any response at all. I would like to say chill but I would be itching to know!

>36 PaulCranswick: I am losing heart for the project tbh Paul. I mean, I'll do the remaining hours I have on it, but the lack of enthusiasm from the 'team' is contagious!

>37 LovingLit: That is a real downer, Megan. I hope that the next time you switch on your computer you have a message from them.

>30 LovingLit: I think I liked Hot Milk a bit more than you did, but I did find "lack of gumption" in the daughter annoying as well.

>38 PaulCranswick: We have feedback! From 2 people...I await the third, (the fourth is away) and then I will amend, tweak the formatting, and submit! And hopefully have another publication up my sleeve!

>39 BLBera: It was a sweet story, wth a lot of promise. And I guess the meandering plot mirrored the summer holiday vibe. Maybe?

Hi, Megan! Just checking in after a long hiatus. I love, love that Castle Hill topper. Wow! So have you started In the Distance?

>40 LovingLit: At long, long last. I'm crossing things that haven't seen each other in years that it will eventuate soonest and bestest.

Eurgh- we have COVID in the house. Little Lenny (10) is down with the virus so we are isolating together at home for 7 days. He's suffering the poor lad, vomiting, feeling dizzy, headache, and tiredness. Luckily we had stocked up on groceries (his friends had been testing positive earlier in the week) so we are sorted for necessities.
Me and my lovely other have some light symptoms - and are seriously hoping they don't develop into much more than that!

>41 msf59: I haven't started it yet...am working on French Braid this week and will get to that one next.

>42 richardderus: Yes- long hard slow progress is still progress, right?

>43 LovingLit: Oh no!! SOOOOO sorry. Hope all the symptoms clear up quickly with no long-term issues. Sigh.

>26 LovingLit: Congrats on handing in the report and finally getting some feedback!

>15 LovingLit: I'd be up for Shuggie Bain! Douglas Stuart is speaking tonight at Powell's and Literary Arts is recording it, so I hope I get to hear the interview later on. I am already booked with an intimate Zoom meeting with author Keesha Arose Fisher tonight(!!) so I can't make it in person. Let me know when you are feeling up to it. Happy to start mid-month or later. Yay! : )

>44 Berly: oh la la, Shuggie Bain it is!!! I am pumped. Mid-month sounds great, just lemme know. I am going to try finish 2 library books in the meantime. Which I should, seeing as I am home for 6 more days :)
Poor Lenny had another vomit session this morning, and feeling so dizzy and disoriented. I just sat with him to make sure he didn't deteriorate, but I had the Healthline number close at hand in case!!! He was so miserable and uncharacteristically still.

BOOK 21
French Braid by Anne Tyler

My bookclub decided that for once we would all red the same book, and this month, this was it. I have had patchy success with Anne Typer, having loved one (The Accidental Tourist) and abandoned one (Spool of Blue Thread), so was pleasantly surprised to find out early that I was liking this one.

The story begins with the chance meeting of two people who are related, with the partner of one of the relatives expressing surprise that they didn't really recognise each other, let alone even seem to know each other. The response was that - well, he's David's son, so.... (not really wrapping that idea up). The story then goes on to describe David and his two sisters' upbringing in the 1950s and 60s. Their distinct personalities often clash, but they muddle on through their minor dramas, as families do, and we hear all about their lives, as well as those of their parents.

It really is a kitchen sink drama- the stuff of life, of relationships, minor hurts and misunderstandings, and comings together and love. It made a lot of sense to me, and I loved reading it.
*highly recommended*

I have it! The lovely other has it! Little Lenny has it! Big bro is holding out...sensibly self- sequestered in his room where his gaming is and where he has his big bed to lie on.

>47 LovingLit: Oh no. Hope you all get well soon.

>43 LovingLit: I’m so sorry that Covid has arrived at your house. Poor little Lenny having such bad symptoms. I hope they abate soon, and I’m sorry that you and your lovely other both have symptoms, too.

>47 LovingLit: I’m glad that so far Big bro is holding out.

>46 LovingLit: Your review sound just like Tyler. I've had exactly the same experience with Anne Tyler. Enjoyed The Accidental Tourist but abandoned another one - think it was Breathing Lessons. Maybe another try would be good. Found this quote from The Accidental Tourist and just use it as a thought for today :)

“I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.”

Oh...sorry to hear about covid. I really hope you don't get severe symptoms and that Lenny will recover quickly. Yes, poor lad.

>47 LovingLit: I hope the storm passes quickly. *smooch*

>48 charl08: Thanks! I hope it should pass soon, as we are all vaccinated.

>50 karenmarie: He has woken up this morning feeling much better than perviously, so that is a great sign. Me and the lovely other, however, had a long night: he fever, me dealing with late-night-Larry in the next room (Mr. no COVID was up late gaming) and generally not sleeping much due to the feverous lovely other!

>51 ctpress: I am sure I should love her more and should work through the back catalogue. But, you can only do what you can do, right? I will probably try one more of her more recent ones and see how I feel then.

>52 ctpress: Paracetamol seems to be doing the trick so far, so I feel positive about it (as much as one can).

>53 richardderus: I have high hopes for rapid recovery.

>40 LovingLit: Glad you finally got feedback, Megan!

>43 LovingLit: Sorry COVID struck at your place, Poor Lenny :-(

>54 LovingLit: Ah, Lenny feels better already!

>55 FAMeulstee: things move quickly in 10-year-old land! He had 2 rough days and is now physically fine but a little....crabby. Not unlike me! I have been on my bed pretty much all day doing resting, reading, Netflix watching and texting. When up I have been doing meals, dishes, and stacking firewood (perhaps not an ideal task for the convalescent, but hey, needs must).
Tomorrow I hope for less coughing and a little more energy, but really, we are coping fine seeing as three out of the four of us are COVID+.

BOOK 23
Last Orders by Graham Swift, Booker Prize winner 1996, (on audio)

Well. I finished it, but I can't say I enjoyed it all that much. Again, the audio format may have affected that a tad. I just felt like the characters rambled, and I couldn't get inside any of them. The story is of a group of old mates, who gather together to scatter the ashes of one of their group. The text is dialogue-heavy, reminiscent, and just didn't gel with me.

*recommended if you like that sort of thing*

>57 LovingLit: You said *recommended if you like that sort of thing*

I read *recommended to tedious windbags seeking same*

>58 richardderus: You successfully translated my recommendation! Haha. I am enjoying In the Distance much, MUCH more. I am loving it, in fact. (big ups to Marky Mark for the recommendation!!)

Oh dear. I'm sorrier than I can say that the three of you have been infected. I hope that every day sees everybody feeling better and Big W. holding out. I wish there were some way for you not to have to do the daily tasks.
Take very good care of yourself!

>58 richardderus: & >59 LovingLit: Yikes I must be erring towards tedious windbagium as I remember quite enjoying Swift's uncomplicated update on Faulkner.

>60 LizzieD: well actually, W tested positive too! But weirdly, has virtually no symptoms. We have all have different sets of symptoms - the four of us.
Me: headache, dry cough
Lovely other: fever, fever, fever and body aches
Lenny: Vomiting and dizziness
W: very mild cold-like symptoms

>61 PaulCranswick: haha! I wonder (as usual) if I had have read the words rather than listening to them, if the effects would have been different on me. Also, it was lost on me that the novel is an update on Faulkner (As I Lay Dying, I presume?)...I must have missed several somethings.

>57 LovingLit: Tedious windbag here reporting for duty! I loved Swift, but have only really read Mothering Sunday in the last decade, I think. Not sure, from some of the LT comments, how he'd stand up to a reread.
Apparently this one was written as a kind of tribute to As I Lay Dying? https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/1996

ETA as you & Paul had already noted in the posts above. Sorry!

Hi Megan.

>62 LovingLit: I’m sorry W is now Covid positive, strange that you all have different systems. I hope you all recover quickly.

>63 charl08: I read Mothering Sunday in March of 2020 and 4 stars loved it, but haven’t been inclined to look for any more by him.

>47 LovingLit: This resonates with me with both me and my wife catching COVID. I hope everyone recovers quickly without complications.

Sorry about all of you getting the dreaded C, and with such varied symptoms! But, since you are exhausted and just lounging around in bed, if you want to start Shuggie Bain, I am ready. : )

All four, oh no! I'm sorry to learn no one's escaped. Your Lovely Other's fever is the one I'd be worried about. Neither kid is likely to get more than cranky-with-manthrax ill.

Swift recovery to all!

Tediously windbaggishly,

Hope the family all feel better soon Megan.

>63 charl08: haha- so there's love for Swifty! My only other experience with Swift was Tomorrow, and I rated that one measley star!

>64 karenmarie: We are all on the up- slower for the lovely other than for us, but we march on!

>65 Oberon: Thanks! Our main issue is boredom/cabin fever- so if that's all, then we are doing well.

>66 Berly: Ooh, Shuggie Bain! Can you give me a few days to get my scrappy book ends tidied up? I am at the tail end of a couple, and then am good to go!!!

>67 richardderus: We fell like dominoes....just like that time when we all got rotovirus (ew- that was a bad time!).

>68 charl08: Thanks - we are all much improved, and Little Lenny is back at school tomorrow. First to fall, first recovered. Us parents are out of isolation the next day, and W is 3 days after us.
The rules at the moment are that we all have to isolate for 7 days from the date of the first person's first symptom, and then each other person who gets COVID has to do their 7 days from the date of their first symptom (which is actually day zero...so it it always at least 7 days for each infected person).

Hi, Megan. Sorry to hear about the Covid issues. I am glad you are all okay and trying to get back to normal. Good review of French Braid.

Oh yeah- Shuggie Bain was excellent. Just sayin'...

Sorry to hear about the COVID, Megan. I hope you all feel better soon with no long-term effects.

I also loved French Braid. Tyler is brilliant with family stuff.

I am sorry to hear that you are all infected, Megan. I know how rough it can be as Kerry and I had it back in January/February. I hope you all recover soonest!

>69 LovingLit: Perfect! Starting Shuggie this weekend! Be well. You and yours. : )

>70 msf59: Thanks Mark- I am officially on my last day of quarantine today, but as I tested negative and my dad needed me, I boosted it to the coast (5 hours drive) to sit with him while he has it. As he has a heart condition, and compromised lung functioning, I wanted to be here in case he needed medical attention called for.
Good news is, the health system stepped up, and before I even arrived, he had been delivered a box of medications, a pulse Oximeter, sets of instructions, and even tissues and had already had a 2 hour phone consult with a medical professional! Go the NZ Health system!
I'll stay for a few nights until his partner can get back.

>71 BLBera: I am seriously at the tail end of it now and just have a croaky voice and residual tiredness.

>72 alcottacre: It was a long haul - mainly the all staying at home together like we all just had for the school holidays! We have a small house.

>73 Berly: Yay! I will finish In the Distance tonight and then start Shuggie Bain! Excited! (although- I hear Shuggie can test one's resolve...).

Oh no! Sorry to hear that the family has covid ( except for your bro). Hopefully it is mild and passes quickly ( like bad gas lol).

>75 figsfromthistle: oh, yes, it's a COVID-fest around here! My province is at peak COVID now....about 2-3 months behind the countries peak, which was actually the largest cities peak....if you catch my drift. Probably half the people in my larger friend group have had it.

Me and Berly are reading Shuggie Bain together, and we have started a thread to talk about it on...it's over here if you want to join in.

And, because I only can for a limited time now, I present to you, the view from my reading chair. I am at my father's place helping him through COVID, and this photo was taken from the chair.... I reached to the table for my phone, took the photo, and then kept reading. So good! I can't get enough of this view. (I am also cooking, running meds and fluids, encouraging rest, and cleaning/tidying, oh, and doing a few hours work remotely as well!).

>77 LovingLit: Ooooooooooooooooo

Beautyfull

Shuggie was a 5-star weepie for me. I've got to say that Young Mungo was as good, in a different way, so be on the lookout for a cheap copy.

>78 richardderus: You know, it's a rare thing for us to share a 5-star read, but I can see Shuggie being that for me! It's a momentous occasion.
And I didn't know there was a follow up from Douglas Stuart- all the better :) I am happiness filled.

ETA: also, I just love my dad's soon-to-be-old place. I miss it already. It's an oasis of luxury and nature and I feel so lucky to have had almost 20 years to hang there.

I listened to most of A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin by Mark Galeotti today, driving the 5 hours back home from my dad's. I got to (90% of the audio, which is a total of only 5 hours).

Due to its being a short history of *1000 years of Russia* it reads a little like a list of geopolitical events, and I am really only finding the final few chapters of much interest. That is, the last 200 years. Since my Dr Zhivago experience, I have taken an interest in Russian politics, so this is a good one for that.

>77 LovingLit: What a perfect view, Megan, I doubt if I would get any reading done there.

I also gave Shuggie Bain the full amount of stars. I hope you enjoy it as much.

>80 LovingLit: I found this think piece quite startling, speaking of Russian politics: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/russia-ukraine-war-updates-trickle-case-tr...

I can't see the US getting on board with this, what with our track record.

>81 FAMeulstee: It was nice to glance up and see that in between reading. Although, the time I was there I only read about 30 pages in total, so, yeh. Other things were happening.

>82 richardderus: I can see Putin being tried (in absentia!) for war crimes. He won't have a bar of it, of course.

I finished my Short History of Russia, and the Putin part is interesting. I definitely want to read more about him (the author has another book which is amusingly titled We Need to Talk about Putin). The impression was given from the book that Putin, desperate for influence within Europe, and for acceptance by Europe and the West of his and Russia's legitimacy, interprets every slight as an act of aggression. Classic big/fragile ego stuff.

>83 LovingLit: I think I have We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West gets him wrong from a Kindlesale sometime during COVID! I'll dredge it out.

Pretty much a Milosević situation, then. I can see that.

Hi Megan!
Sorry to see your family caught covid. Nate brought it home earlier this year and my sister and parents had it as well. Some how I have still avoided it. Weird.

>77 LovingLit: Nice view!

>84 richardderus: I thought I had downloaded the audio of We Need to Talk about Putin, but it turns out it was the e-Book...so, I will need to try again with that one (I am having teething problems with a new phone- change and me don't sit well together!!).

>85 ChelleBearss: Ick- COVID sucks, I have to say. I am feeling worse than I did 5 days ago! I guess the phlegm has to migrate...but, sheesh. Get outa here already! ;)

>86 BLBera: Oh yeah. I love me that view so much! I have had many lovely evenings with that view, often accompanied by a gin and tonic!

Love the view from your Dad's place .... that is a divine reading spot 😎

Covid is surging thru our communities again --- definitely increase up here & that is before depths of Winter .... take care of yourselves & rest ( the key to not getting long covid)

>74 LovingLit: Please wish your dad well, Megan, his wonderful book still has a pride of place in my reading area and is a prized possession.

>79 LovingLit: I agree on Shuggie Bain and I will look out for Young Mungo too which I have heard has two competing story lines and that one is more successful than the other. I have watched a few videos of Douglas Stuart talking about himself and the books that influenced him and I must say he seems to have a lovely, warm and engaging personality.

Popping in to say HI!! I am one of the few who did not care for poor Shuggie in the end. Just way too much sadness for me, although the writing was really good. And a sequel? I will have to wait and see if things get happier, LOL. Hope you enjoyed the book. Bottom line though, I enjoyed reading a book with you again! : )

Hi Megan, hoping y'all're all well.

*smooch*

Ommigosh- could this be the longest time I have ever gone with not posting to LT??? I think it might be :(

>88 roundballnz: Re resting up....that was a case of yeah nah. Yeah (I know I should have) but nah (I did not do that). Danggit. I have got better, but it took 5-6 weeks to get fully there!

>89 PaulCranswick: Dad has a new book out soon, called Deep South. It is a beautiful production, and I look forward to having a copy in my hands.

>90 Berly: I am stalled on h alf way through, even though I am really liking it! Sheesh, what a reading funk I am in. It's audio only for me these last many weeks. I prefer having the words soak into my head these days, had I had more days off lately, I would have used them for reading by the fire.

>91 richardderus: Thanks RD- yes, I am keeping well in spite of it being mid winter here; the cold, dark days are drawing on my reserves a little. But we have a couple of weekends away to look forward to soon.

Currently reading:


Shuggie Bain and We are all Completely Beside Ourselves

>93 LovingLit: Ooohhh, Shuggie! I'm so pleased you're working your way through his oeuvre.

I hope you're keeping warm and well, Megan.

>92 LovingLit: Tip me the wink when it is released, Megan and I will find a way of ordering a copy.
Lovely to see you posting - you were getting me worried!

>94 richardderus: I was so pleased to have got the book (almost brand new) for $5. And I think it's a wonderful story, well told.

>94 richardderus: I was worried about myself there too for a minute! Imagine abandoning LT for so long :(
I simply haven't been reading (see >1 LovingLit: for the extent of my June reads...it's pretty dire!!)

BOOK 26
Lampedusa by Steven Price (on audio)

This book is about the author of famed Italian novel, The Leopard, which I read a few year ago. It tickled me that this book is about the life of an author of another book which was itself a semi-autobiographical account of the author's life. It's all just so circular!

But never mind the plot, it's the themes which resonate with me (as always) and this one is about dying and all the reminiscences, regrets, and feelings that must come with knowing the end is near. Essentially the main character of the book is diagnosed with emphysema and comes to terms with this by creating the legacy for himself and his family name that he never could by way of progeny - he writes his magnum opus (does it still count as a magnum opus if it was his only work??).

Anyway, I actually like the Publisher's Weekly review posted here on LT, so I have included that below:

Price (By Gaslight) illuminates in fine fictionalized fashion the last years of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa as he struggles to write one of the glories of Italian literature, his only novel, The Leopard. In January 1955, Lampedusa is diagnosed with advanced emphysema. His marriage childless, Lampedusa wants to leave something behind after his death and comes up with the idea of a novel that takes place during Garibaldi’s invasion of Sicily in 1860. The result is The Leopard, an intimate epic of the dying social order in 19th-century Sicily, mirrored by Lampedusa’s observations about his own dying social order in the 20th. While writing, Lampedusa visits the remains of the family estate in Palma, considers adopting a young friend in order to pass on his title of duke, and reminisces about fighting on the Italian Front during WWI and meeting his wife, Alessandra, in London in 1925. Though light on plot, Price vividly recreates an Italy transitioning from postwar austerity to the beginnings of La Dolce Vita, juxtaposing crumbling palazzos with sleek, supercharged sports cars. Price makes Lampedusa as compelling a figure as Lampedusa’s hero, Prince Don Fabrizio Salina. Readers will savor this rich look at Italian history.
added by VivienneR | Publisher's Weekly (Jun 19, 2020)

>97 LovingLit: That sounds wonderful! Lampedusa was a fascinating person, wasn't he.

>96 LovingLit: Well, not every month is a good month. I'm sending hugs and smooches for a better cold season to come.

>98 richardderus: oh oh oh, you benefitted from my accidental double RD post :) Although we really know that all posts are for all people anyway, right?

Today I had my first day off (while the kids were at school) in about 6 weeks. I got so much done, including an hour of scheduled reading by the fire. Joy!!! (also made focaccia bread, 4x pizzas from scratch, had a work meeting, and did a wee bit o'shopping for groceries)

>99 LovingLit: It's just so lovely to be alone, isn't it? Even tasks, since they have beginnings, middles, and ends, are so much more satisfying that work, which is eternal.

Glad it was a good day!

Now I read back over my "day off" post (>99 LovingLit:), I realise that all I actually got that wasn't work (domestic included) was an hour by the fire reading....and an hour to themselves is probably what every person who works full time gets (or is entitled to) every workday! (That was close, I was almost subsumed into the patriarchy!! lol)

I do feel ripped off sometimes being the mother in this house. All work and no resting by the fire makes mother a grouchy lady.

(Still, I did really enjoy it!!)

>100 richardderus: Solitude is my happy place. Of course, I can only say that as it is rare for me to get it. Were I living alone, I would not think the same!

>101 LovingLit: Sounds like time for another 'day' off to me, Megan (easier said than done, I realise).

>101 LovingLit: L & W are old enough now to have "mom's days." Scrounge in the fridge. You keep it stocked, you know what the options are, and are okay with them so get them used to getting for themselves AND THEN CLEANING IT UP as a precondition for the privilege of taking some control. The Lovely Other is a big grown up boy, he can decide what to do for himself.

The house-cleaning, sadly, is all on you. It won't get done if you're asking a man to clean.

>102 charl08: too right, right?! lol

>103 richardderus: Yep- it's all about scheduling. The lovely other is well aware that I prioritise me time over (needless*) cleaning. My neighbour marvels at my ability to read rather than fold washing; I believe it is my superpower. It helps, of course, that I find cleaning/tidying very boring.

*by needless, I mean anything other than urgent cleaning which is really just radioactive spills or anything with blood.

BOOOK 27
After the Earthquake by Margaret Hall

A short but punchy YA book about a family stranded in the wilderness in South Westland (New Zealand) after an earthquake. It having been 11 years since the big earthquakes here in Christchurch, I am suitably distant from my own experiences of the earth moving, and found the descriptions of both the act of the earth moving and people's reactions to it really on point. Some lovely observations about the NZ bush, and some very familiar places mentioned made this book a fun read for me.

*highly recommended*

>104 LovingLit: I love you description of needless cleaning, Megan!
I would add a few other things that can come out of a body... ;-)

I have rare flares of need to clean the house. Once in a while it pops up, so I make good use of it.

>104 LovingLit: Anything that came out of a living body is urgent, all-hands, who sees it deals with it cleaning. All else is as-convenient.

>106 FAMeulstee: >107 richardderus: ew ew ew cleaning talk is too close to actually cleaning :)

---/---/---/---

Today we fly, in a plane. To the metropolis of Auckland! Two quick nights away to take the kids to see the Warriors, their favourite rugby league team. The All Blacks (who play rugby union, mostly just called rugby) are playing the day before, so the city will be filled with sports fans. It's going to be a blast!

Hello Megan! I'm sorry your family was sick with Covid. Glad it's behind you. Your dad has a lovely view!

eta: your review made me add Forty Autumns to my wishlist.

Hi Megan - Yes, a mother's work is never done. I've added both Lampedusa and After the Earthquake to my WL.

>92 LovingLit: awesome to hear you have come right, have athlete friends who have taken 3 months - so reckon 5-6 weeks is good run ( saying that i know it sounds weird, we now accept being unwell, not right for so long)

my pandemic book funk is finally waning, actually reading physical books again, need to try your trick of ignoring housework .... not so good at that, gives me time to think 🙃

All the luck there is for a huge homecoming victory!

>109 AMQS: All manner of low-key sicknesses just seem to be there under the surface, waiting to pop up every 10 days! I guess it's just low immunity since COVID and winter and all.

>110 BLBera: I really enjoyed After the Earthquake. It's a sweet but exciting book.

>111 roundballnz: Like I said above, there's the whole feeling of feeing neither sick nor well all the time now. But to cap it off, I am actually sick now. Sore throat and raspy voice, so sick day it is for me.

>112 richardderus: RD, I am recent convert to sports fandom (it was a case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em in this house!!), so I appreciated that sport means little to many. I appreciate your good vibes.
The first home game in 1000+ days for the Warriors was an absolute doozy (that means good for you too, right?). I shall post below, with a pic or two for you RD, as the boys are a lovely looking team ;)

Our mini break to Auckland to see the kids favourite rugby league team's homecoming game was so much fun! It was the New Zealand team's first home game in 1000+ days since they relocated to Australia just before COVID to be able to continue to participate in the Australian NRL competition. Lots of the team members had never played a home game before, and heaps of them had left family behind during COVID, so it was an emotional, and huge game for them. It was sold out and the crowds were very vey vocal and supportive :)

Highlights include us happening upon the team bus arriving, and seeing them all get off; Lenny getting some signatures after the game, and some photos with team members; and me being on the telly!!! Here's pics...

First thing's first, me on TV!


Second thing's second, here are my favourite player Bunty Afoa (it was his 100th game, so he was everyone's favourite on the day) and Lenny's favourite player Shaun Johnson.


And here was our view from the very top row of the stadium! Wow, I almost got a nose bleed ;)


Oh yeah, and our team won! We played the West Sydney Tigers, and won 22-2. I think it was because every time one of our players touched the ball the whole stadium erupted in cheering :) :) :)

Currently reading:


Ordinary People by Diana Evans, Shuggie Bain, and We are all Completely Beside Ourselves
(Don't the covers match beautifully?)

>114 LovingLit: Oh, that was a great event indeed! Bunty's right cute, but my, um, heart belongs to Jazz Tevaga. Yum.

I'm impressed with your tasteful cover-coordinating scheme. Mine tend all to be red when I'm not paying attention as that's my favorite color.

>114 LovingLit: Wow! That was quite a packed stadium!

Congrats on being on TV :)

>116 richardderus: yeah, well, Reece Walsh is probably a little young for you (and me) at aged only 19. But he is the talk of the town. My kids accused me of thinking his is "a hottie" and for some reason there's nothing I can say to convince them I am not in love with him. I man, he is obviously lovely, but we all have our 'types'.

>117 figsfromthistle: I received word through several people from the kids league club that I had been spotted! Someone had the foresight to rewind 10 seconds and grab a pic for me :) I feel a bit special. Lenny was in a shot too, but was in the background and out of focus, so I didn't include that.

>114 LovingLit: Glad to see you had fun watching the game, Megan!

>114 LovingLit: Rugby League is an extremely popular sport in the West Yorkshire I grew up in - my father was on the books of Wakefield Trinity as a young man and I also played scrum-half although I upset him by playing the toffs game of Rugby Union instead at District Level.

Looks like a great event.

Hi Megan.

No specific comments except below, but happy that you're all recovered from Covid, yay for the NZ health system for your dad, and impressive that you've read a short history of Russia.

>104 LovingLit: The lovely other is well aware that I prioritise me time over (needless*) cleaning. My neighbour marvels at my ability to read rather than fold washing; I believe it is my superpower. I smiled at this one. I only do my laundry, Bill does his. Until I run out of unmentionables, I am perfectly happy to let my laundry accumulate. And folding and putting away is the worst part of it all for me, too.

>120 FAMeulstee: A successful trip away is something to cherish, I think. And for me, successful usually means that the kids were happy and didn't scrap with each other. We actually had a 5 hour delay leaving (using the cheap airline has its downfalls!!), but as we were travelling with another two families, the kids had other kids to play with and they happily entertained each other.

>121 PaulCranswick: Yes- the north of England is pretty much the birthplace of rugby league isn't it! All those hardy miners refusing to represent their province without compensation for their time. The history of the sport is so interesting. It is so funny that rugby union is a toffs sport there, and here that code is your basic 'bread and butter' sport.

>122 karenmarie: I guess everyone's health systems are under strain, worldwide. It being mid-winter here, the flu is taxing the time of health professionals, whose nerves are already frayed from the previous year's pressures. It's tough! But fundamentally, what we have is a lot better than the alternatives.

My Quordling is going well! (In spite of wrecking my run due to not taking my laptop away on our mini break.)

>97 LovingLit: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Megan!

>105 LovingLit: I remember those earthquakes down your way! Too bad I have no hope at all of my local library having a copy of that one.

>124 LovingLit: I have no idea what Quordling is and I have a feeling I do not want to know, lol.

>125 alcottacre: the Earthquake book was written in the early 1990s and Im not even sure it is available here. I will have picked it up second hand somewhere, some time ago, thinking the kids might be interested. (They are not. Neither of them read at all sadly.)
Quordle is 4 Wordles at once! It is a mind bender, but once you get your game plan going, it is usually relatively easy.

Hi Megan, I am caught up with this thread and very glad to hear that Covid is behind you. I, too, had lingering tiredness and general malaise after having it around the same time you did in May. The difference is, I don't have two young men in my house with the constant need to feed them and keep them in clean clothes, etc. Those days are behind me, but you know what? I sometimes miss the mayhem. Your escape to Auckland for rugby sounds like a fun escape from the norm.

Shuggie Bain made my Favorites list last year. I will probably read Stuart's latest book when I am strong enough to stand more unremitting grimness. Haha.

>114 LovingLit: and 115 Congrats with the win. Rugby is not so hot here in Denmark. Sometimes I watch some of it just to see how tough and strong they all are. Fascinating.

..and hey, Megan those covers do match up :)

>124 LovingLit: I'm very impressed. I tried Quordle once and realized it was a lot of work for me. Lazy critter that I am, it remains one of the things I'll be impressed about from the sidelines.

Happy incoming Sunday.

>127 Donna828: I get inklings of empty nest syndrome sometimes. The relentlessness of kids life is such that in their absence, I barely know how to be proactive any more!

I have another cold now, this one has been going a whole week, and, as I am not sleeping well either, I can't seem to get better. But at least its not COVID.

>128 ctpress: It is a very strange game, really. So much of it rests on brute force and power. Once that prerequisite is there, all the other skills come into play. I guess it's the same with basketball and height.

>129 richardderus: It's all about having a game plan. My first few tries were abominable. Now I use the first three tries to use the most possible letters up (like SCHWA//GHOST//DINER), and use the next tries to go for each individual word.
But you know, no one is forcing anyone to Quordle ;)

Another mini break! I fell ill, so missed out on this walk that they all did. Even the 3 (nearly 4) year old got to the top! It was a 3 hours round trip through beech forest, and to the top of the tree line.

ETA: these are our neighbours in this pic, the family that we went away with have a 3 (nearly 4) year old, and a 7 year old. The kids all got on fine, with ours (nearly 11 and 13) helping the littlies :)

Hi Megan.

>130 LovingLit: I’m sorry your sick, glad it’s not Covid.

>131 LovingLit: Ah, I'd love for it to be winter. Summer here in NC is my most hated season - unreasonably hot with dreadful humidity. Snow! Cold air! Having to wear jackets!

>132 karenmarie: it is very fresh, that's for sure!

Here's my Wordle :) ADIEU/SCHWA/GRANT/BLAND

Wordle 389
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Hi, Megan. Just checking in with my pal. I hope you are enjoying both Shuggie Bain & We are all Completely Beside Ourselves. I loved both of them.

>133 LovingLit: It was a 4 day chez moi, too.

Happy week's-end slide into the weekend.

Sorry you are sick, too. I am hoping to see an end to my current COVID case. Argh! Glad the books are working out for you again. And who wouldn't pick pages over folding? LOL. Be strong and be you. : )

>115 LovingLit: Did you choose those covers on purpose? Very artistic blending of colors there I must say.

>134 msf59: I finished We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and while I enjoyed the reading of it, I can't say it will stay with me into perpetuity! Shuggie Bain is on the back burner for no particular reason.

>135 richardderus: The end slide went swimmingly; Lenny's 11th birthday took place and we had a goodly day celebrating it. He was happy with his present (a UV resistant fishing shirt from a YouTube adventure guy's merch shop), and a run around at a place called Inflatable World (where it's like a bouncy castle paradise).

>136 Berly: Day 12 of my cold. My not sleeping well is not helping. I can't seem to get my sleep habits sorted, and it's a pain. I have improved enough to do my 50 minute walk circuit though, so that is something. I just have to remember to take a hanky to blow my nose a dozen times or so!

>136 Berly: Oh, and, no, I didn't intentionally match the covers!

At present I am reading Rohinton Mistry's Family Matters- on audio. But as I am listening to it primarily as a sleep aid, I have virtually no idea what is happening! If I wake up at, 2, or 3, or 4am I pop on my headphones and set the auto-off-switch to 30 minutes and use it to fall off to sleep again. It works quite well (sorry Rohinton).

>138 LovingLit: Agatha (Christie) is my friend for this same purpose. I usually recycle them so often I get to the reveal eventually...

A bouncy castle paradise sounds like perfect kid party territory.

I do that a lot with my audio books, use them to go to sleep. I usually choose either 20 min or end of Chapter so I don't have to rewind too far if I miss something. I actually have one story I listen to over and over again, so it doesn't matter if I doze off in the middle. The Tea Shoppe by Josie Adams and read by Nicola Barber (love her accent).

...I am NOT weird for falling asleep when I try to ear-read! All y'all just admitted what I've taken yards of stick for saying all along: 20min of someone reading to me and *bang* out go the lights.

Hmf to all those whose "oh I just LUUUV audiobooks" is now punctured.

>139 charl08: I just saw Murder on the Nile the other day...the classic Agatha Christie storyline strikes again. So clever.

>140 Berly: If it's a nice, even voice, with a lovely lilt, all the better! A friend of mine listened to Sleep Stories narrated by Stephen Fry, a phone app specifically for falling asleep to. It's the same thing, I guess!

>141 richardderus: Lol- RD. You can love listening to audiobooks for falling asleep to and love audiobooks for the story. I love them twice as much now that I use them to fall asleep to.

I listen to audio books for the stories AND for sleep. I stand a better chance of staying awake when I listen to them on my walks! LOL

Yes!
Wordle 398 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
My path went as follows....ADIEU / WORST / TRYST

New books!

Trust by Hernan Diaz and Mortal Beings by Carl Lombard

The first I won from my local independent bookshop (Scorpio Books) on a fb competition they ran (yay!!), and the second I bought second had today, for $2. What a couple of finds!!!

>144 LovingLit: Not sure I would have gotten that one!! And yay for winning a book!

>146 Berly: I was pretty pleased....and that I loved Hernan Diaz's first book was an absolute bonus.

Dropping in to say hello. Glad you are feeling better.

>126 LovingLit: Well, since I do not even play Wordle, I am not going to be playing Quordle any time soon!

Thanks for the info on the Earthquake book. Sorry to hear about your non-readers, but they might surprise you. Beth, who never read at all as a child, now reads extensively - she started doing so a few years back.

>131 LovingLit: Sorry to hear that you missed the mini break. I hope you are feeling better now.

>145 LovingLit: Nice!

>145 LovingLit: Nice haul. I've heard good things about Trust.

>145 LovingLit: I hope they both exceed your expectations.

*smooch*

>145 LovingLit: I've not heard of either, Megan: look forward to hearing more though.

>148 figsfromthistle: Thanks! A 2-week cold-like virus....it seemed to be never ending, until it...ended. lol

>149 alcottacre: The first ever non-Wordler I've met! That's quite an achievement :)
I am feeling better now, and am sleeping better too, which is probably also helping my immune system. I usually get pretty 'over' winter by mid-July, and this winter is no different.

>150 BLBera: I hadn't known he'd had a new one out, so was very excited to a) learnt that and b) be given the book!

>151 richardderus: I think Mortal Beings is a little known one, but I liked the size and format of the book, and something about it just appealed. So, we will see how my instincts turn out!

>152 charl08: Oops, I almost forgot you there! Thanks for stopping by :)

--//----//----//--

Today's doings involved - in reverse order - a lovely half hour walk in the dark, 5 hours of work (overtime), being here to accept a delivery of firewood (4.5 cubic meters of cut and dried pine...$450 thanks very much, which is not too bad a price considering it was bone dry and it's the middle of winter), and a sleep in!

Yikes, that was close!
Wordle 401 6/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

>99 LovingLit: Oh! Good God! The thermometer at the front door (in the shade, mind you) is reading 99°F at 4 p.m. (and that's not a mythical "dry heat" at all). And here's a blaze just to melt things entirely. Thanks a lot, Megan, a whole lot! Your season will come.

Does the summer in NZ really cook?

ETA: On the bright side, a few more days of the heat will surely cook me down to a better weight.

>156 weird_O: haha! Sorry! Maybe you need to take a look at >131 LovingLit: to cool off?
We don't cook here in summer, it would be a rare day to get to 99F/37degC here (we can get to low to mid 30s once or twice a summer, for a few days at a time). The northern climes would get more humidity, and warmer nights, but us southern folk have clearly defines seasons with warmth in summer and coolness in winter and half/half in the shoulder seasons :)

Very pleased to see that one I am currently reading, and one that I have lined up are part of the Booker longlist!

Oh William by Elizabeth Strout and Trust by Hernan Diaz. Go Hernan! I can't wait to read his, as In the Distance was a *wonderful* reading experience.

Ooh a sleep in sounds lovely! Does it get dark early there in winter?

>159 AMQS: It's almost getting light at 730am. And, right now, it's getting dark before 6. In mid winter it's pretty much dark at 5pm, depressingly so.

BOOK 32
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (on audio)

Well. This book was initially used as a sleep aid...but when I started to get hooked by the story (that I had only taken in very intermittently) I had to go back and start again. Hence why it took me damn near all of July to get through it. (The unabridged audio is 17 hours.)

I just loved the character development of the main guy, the father, husband, employee, son-in-law and brother in law to the other main characters. Initially he was happy go lucky, hopeful, and throughout the story become ...different. I have not read any reviews of this book, so am really just picking up on what I took from it, but I feel like his story is significant in that his developing and then regimented adherence to a religious order is what the story hangs on (or at least, it reflects other aspects of the story).

Anyway, I listened to this over many evenings and early mornings when I wasn't sleeping well and came to look forward to an hour or two of this masterpiece. It really gets you inside the loves of others and is delivered so naturally and expertly.

*highly recommended*

Currently reading:


Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - recent Booker winner, and Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout- recently announced on the Booker longlist.

>162 LovingLit: Well, the contrast will be instructive, I reckon.

>161 LovingLit: A Fine Balance is, to date, my only Mistry. You make me wish to re-evaluate that....

>163 richardderus: yes, very different topics, and approaches, that's for sure! I am still living in Rohinton Mistry's Family Matters land actually! The occupation of one's brain is a good indicator that the book was a good'un!

BOOK 33
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout (on audio) Longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize

I did like it, but I wasn't carried away by it. The story is the third in the Lucy Barton trio (each book stands alone as well as the three complementing/building on each other). Lucy is older, with grown children and two husbands in her past...the first of which is the William of the title. William seems to - maybe not require - but benefit from Lucy's calmly offered wisdom and emotional support, and for this I half admire Lucy and half wonder why she is this person in William's life. This person whose own needs seem to be forgotten in the relationship she has with her ex-husband.
Anyhoo, it was a fun journey to read/listen to this one, but its themes won't stay in my head, and for that reason, I will be surprised (and angry) if it makes the Booker shortlist.
*half-heartedly recommended*

Great comments on Oh William!, Megan. I was not carried away either. In fact, I was hoping Strout was done with Lucy and would move on to something else, but she has another Lucy book coming out this fall.

>165 LovingLit: I'm just generally annoyed that US writers are considered for the Booker now. That Lincoln as Buddha thing didn't deserve the prize AT ALL and, well...it's a slot that isn't given to Nigerian or Singaporean or Sri Lankan authors who write in English. *grump*

That book in particular seems to me to be praised well beyond its just deserts. Whatever...the world was ever thus...so have a lovely week, Madam.

>166 BLBera: >167 richardderus: Oooh, I do love to feel validated :) I hadn't actually read any reviews, or really heard about anyones opinions, of this one, so I will be paying attention now!

A lot of people are moving away from the Booker for that very reason, I think, RD. And, my week has got off to a great start actually, a days work, and a Wordle in 2!
Wordle 415 2/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

>165 LovingLit: Hi Megan. Thanks for that lukewarm review of Oh William. Haha. I’ve been on the fence for that one. I’m more interested in her new book, Lucy By the Sea, coming out soon. I much prefer her Olive Kitteridge character but I do like her writing. I think I will take a chance on William. If I don’t like it, I can use it as a sleep aide, right? That was a funny story about reading the Mistry book. I tend to fall asleep when I listen to anything at night.

>169 Donna828: If it's lukewarm, it's lukewarm, what can I say? ;) (cest la vie?)
If it's any consolation, I am reading a white hot book at the moment; The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. I am *loving* it. Her writing is so on point :)

Ommigosh- busy and fun weekend.

Aside from Wordling/Quordling (haha- of course), I watched my elder son play rugby (union- which is different from what he played last year and the previous 6...that was rugby league), went for a lovely walk (listening to the audiobook The Night Watch), went out ON A DATE with my lovely other to see some bands (image to come), worked this morning for a few hours, and then took the kids fishing with a friend and her son. SO GOOD.



1. The last band of the night setting up (in the art gallery foyer) //
2. Little L supporting his brother at rugby (he is wearing supporters gear for three four different rugby league teams in this pic- Warriors hat, Panthers scarf, Roosters socks, and his own club the Hornets for the hooodie...he's quite the fan) //
3. The gig last night (again) - with crowd members standing on the floating pathway that joins two parts of the second floor of the art gallery. I still have residual earthquake fears so don't linger on that bridge!!!

Ommigosh- another busy and fun weekend!
:)
Mainly the kids both being given sports awards, but also brunch with my dad, helping W chop firewood for pocket money, finishing two long-ago-started books, helping my brother clean out his flooded garage (OK, that part wasn't all that fun, but it was nice to be able to help), reading in the bath, and quiet nights in by the fire.
*sigh of contentment*

Ommigosh x3. The weekend just gone was even more busy and even more fun. How can it be? haha.

We attended a kids junior rugby league festival where the kids played 6 games over the 2 days. We had a tent with snacks and drinks and comfy chairs, we had a 'buddy' team who we hung out with, and we had 5 wins and only 1 loss. Lenny won some prizes, including a ball for being team captain, and was awarded 'back of the tournament' for our team :)

Hi, Megan. You always have some good books going. I hope to get to Trust in the coming weeks. I also had Family Matters on my radar but had forgotten about it. A Fine Balance is one of my favorite novels of the past decade.

Hi Megan!

Sounds like lots of fun is being had and lots of good books are being read. Happy days in NZ.

BOOK 34
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (on audio) Shortlisted for the 2006 Booker Prize

I love Sarah Waters' tone and her gifted storytelling. I couldn't relay the plot to you but the journey of reading this one was super enjoyable for the words alone.
*recommended*


BOOK 35
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart Winner of the 2020 Booker Prize

I *finally* finished this one, after starting it in May. And I really was actually enjoying it, so I cannot account for why it took me so long to read it (other than that reading it usually only took place in the bath, as night time reading for me is often limited to audio on account of my glasses not being amenable to lying-on-my-side reading).

Shuggie is an unlucky boy, born to a father who is - let's face it - an ass, and a well-meaning mother who just can't seem to escape her demons. Nineteen-eighties Glasgow certainly seems to be a bit grim, I have to say. And the family endures a lot that is a result of poverty, class, circumstance, and unhealthy relationships and habits. Shuggie copes using the only ways he knows how to, and he truly wants to help his poor ole mam who has a fondness for the drink. It's a realistic view of a dysfunctional family.
*highly recommended*

>174 msf59: For some reason I have been great at reading Booker nominees this year...this is after years of intending to read Booker winners....I guess the reading mojo comes and goes as it pleases!

>175 karenmarie: And Spring has sprung! Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, but today was a lovely warm day and I managed to both work, fit in a walk, and catch up with a friend for a drink.

Currently reading:



Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier.
I hadn't realised til just now that this was published in 1938! I have been wanting to read this for ages, so am glad to have finally got to it. It am listening to it on audio....at 17 hours, it is a chunkster.

>176 LovingLit: Glad to see you loved Shuggie, Megan, so did I.
I have his next book from the library now, to read in September.

>178 LovingLit: Hope you like this one! I keep meaning to watch the Alfred Hitchcock movie version, oops.

>178 LovingLit: 17 hours! Wow, that's commitment. It's on my 'maybe one day' list.

>179 FAMeulstee: Yes, Shuggie and me spent a fair few months in each others company :) I am very fond of him.

>180 ursula: There's an Alfred Hitchcock version!? That tells me a lot about how this might end! I am loving it so far. It took me a little bit to get into it, but I am enamoured with it now.

>181 charl08: I listen every night for 30 minutes, and most mornings if I wake up early...and on my commute (which it 25 mins each way). I usually have to renew once, so have 4 weeks to listen.

Hi Megan! Repaying your visit to my thread :)

What did you think of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous? I've heard very good things, but I've also heard that there's a very off-putting scene with animal torture that has made me very hesitant to pick it up.

Whereabouts in NZ are you, if you don't mind me asking? My husband and I toured the country for about 3 weeks in 2019 and we absolutely loved it.

>183 curioussquared: Great- lovely to see you :)
You know, I actually don't recall a scene of that nature in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous...and although my memory isn't great I usually recall the most depraved things....

I am in the biggest city in the South Island...Christchurch. Which at the moment is lovely with Spring time springing. And- quite bizarrely, we had snow last night!!! It was still on the ground this morning which was exciting.

>184 LovingLit: That's good to hear about On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, honestly!

Very nice! We only briefly got to visit Christchurch as it was the final stop on our trip, but we honestly loved our whole NZ experience.

>185 curioussquared: Although....now that my memory has been jogged. I do remember the scene. It's not pleasant.

>186 LovingLit: ...and makes the book glow like Chernobyl to me.

Anyway, good-times weekend events are to be celebrated always! *smooch*

BOOK 36
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (on audio)

It was a long time coming, me reading this book. I was surprised to see it was published all the way back in 1938!
I loved the old fashioned, formal language, and although the plot was somewhat meandering, I enjoyed that too. There were a few inconsistencies with the main character (not Rebecca)...I couldn't see her acting some of the ways she did, given her timidity that was so painstakingly outlined in the first 1/4 of the book.... but hey, who really cars about that when the rest of it was so good?
*highly recommended*


BOOK 37
An Island by Karen Jennings (on audio) (Booker longlist 2021)

A quick audio to see me to sleep at nights....this is another one that I listened to at night and then had to backtrack in the morning to get the story straight! A lighthouse keeper (who does precious little with the lighthouse, it has to be said) is surprised when a dead body washes up on shore of his island. He is used to his solitude, and likes it that way and doesn't want any refugees (alive ones) washing up too. Anyways, needless to say he ends up with a 'friend' on the island, and has to navigate the uncomfortable relationship.

It didn't grab me, to be honest. Again, I was perplexed by some of what the main character did/thought/said, and the switches between present time and his past were not marked well (on audio) so it was difficult sometimes to figure out when we were in the story. Even so, it was a nice reading journey.
*half-heartedly recommended*

>158 LovingLit: I wish my local library had some of Diaz's books!

>161 LovingLit: I will have to get to that one by Mistry. I very much enjoyed his A Fine Balance.

>162 LovingLit: Shuggie Bain was one of my top reads for last year, Megan. It is also another book that I do not ever want to read again, lol.

>165 LovingLit: Already in the BlackHole. I will get to it one of these days.

>171 LovingLit: Looks like a good time was had by all!

>176 LovingLit: Already read that one, so I get to dodge that BB.

>178 LovingLit: I just re-read that one recently. It is still very good!

Have a great day, Megan!

>189 alcottacre: So thorough! I was so pleased to get to Rebecca, I had heard such good things about it and it lived up to my expectations (which is always nice).
I really must get to the Diaz book that was nominated for the Booker....Pity I just started one, and am already reading two! (oops) (they are Warlight by Michael Ondaatje; Broken by Karin Fossum, and one that I keep misplacing and can't remember the name of!!).

I am in a slight reading funk with neither The Plague Letters nor Warlight wowing me at present.
Argh!
Maybe I will have to abandon.

>188 LovingLit: Thank goodness I've already read and re-read Rebecca. And thank you x10000000 for sparing me the time I might've wasted on the massively ~meh~ Jennings book.

*smooch*

Hopelessly behind but hoping to keep up from here. : )

>192 richardderus: I would probably re-read Rebecca! The language was so intricate and precise.

>193 Berly: Aren't we all? lol

FYI- dear readers, my daily Quordle is stalling at getting it in 8 tries. I can't seem to get in any fewer tries, aside from the odd lucky 7. Still, it is fun :)
Daily Quordle 234
5️⃣7️⃣
4️⃣8️⃣
quordle.com
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

And todays Wordle nearly got me!!!
Wordle 454 6/6

🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Squeak, squeak...!

>196 Berly: Watch out for mouse traps! lol

Todays Wordle was a funny one for my guesses...

Wordle 456 3/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

>197 LovingLit: I got #456 in 3, too! Happy week-ahead's reads. *smooch*

>198 richardderus: I am persisting with The Plague Letters and Warlight....and, I am also reading Broken- by Karin Fossum - a cheesy easy read for the bath. (I usually buy a cheap paperback from the op shop so that I can read it in the bath and then it won't matter if the steam damages it.)

While my elder baby (now aged 14!!!) had his braces taken off this afternoon, I took the opportunity to visit some second hand stores and came away from 2 pieces of jewellery, and three lovely books!

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (for a whopping $10, but it is a whopping 730 pages)
The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (much cheaper and still a whopping 470 pages not including references or index)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (cheaper again, and a Pulitzer-winer at that!)

The Ayn Rand one I have always wanted to read (what self-respecting left-leaning politico wouldn't want to??!), and I fully intend to one day in about 8 years when my youngest leaves home lol

>200 LovingLit: Interesting trio of books, Megan, and three which also grace my own shelves.

I'm not sure how helpful Rand's objectivist to those who are left leaning (which includes me too!). I am attracted to the upholding of individual liberties which is propounds whilst it often seems to me to be a fundamentally selfish view of the world and our place within it. Surely our place on the earth is more than about the pursuit of personal glory and happiness.

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." (Atlas Shrugged).

>201 PaulCranswick: oh yes...I am absolutely interested in her work as (I hear) it proposes a polar opposite world view to mine. I have been interested in her since reading about the woman, so thought I'd better get some real life (albeit fictional) experience.

>202 LovingLit: For that very same reason I have Atlas Shrugged on the shelves, Megan. Haven't gotten to it yet.

>202 LovingLit: She did a great job in door stoppers, Megan. I haven't attempted either Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead but did do some reading on her philosophical beliefs. It is interesting but - IMHO - a bit shallow. Sort of a gateway to right wing theory but there are elements of it with the personal freedoms stuff that I can get behind. As I have gotten older my socialist views have slightly evolved to a sort of libertarian socialism that even I have difficulty articulating properly! Ayn Rand it isn't though, for sure.

Hi Megan.

Just a quick romp through your thread - I need to re-read Rebecca one of these years. I read it as a teenager and realize that I probably missed about 50% of it.

>203 FAMeulstee: I doubt I will get to mine any time soon, but I love the actual book. It is a reprint with lovely deckled edges and cover flaps. But at 730 pages is a chunkster for sure!

>204 PaulCranswick: The Ayn Rand Institute appears to be active in promoting her philosophy! The website states "To expand awareness of Ayn Rand’s works and ideas in and outside of the classroom, we provide a variety of resources for high school and college students, teachers and professors" ~ yikes.
It's not my cuppa either, from what I can tell.

>205 karenmarie: It's one I would read again, for the the language alone.

>206 LovingLit: I bought a fresh copy of The Fountainhead last night, Megan, having had my memory of her writing piqued by you having done the same.

I am shocked, shocked! to see PC blaming you for the scourge his battening of Aynholish profits will unleash! *You* bought a used copy...no Aynhole will profit from it.

But you are in for a rough ride when it comes to the read, Megan. At your age it could prove unhealthy if done in doses larger than the minimum. (At mine, just seeing the cover is risky.)

I have to admit that I have never read The Fountainhead or anything by Rand. My philosophy friends always discouraged it and jokingly claimed they would "disown" me if they find out. I know nothing about her philosophy so I look forward to reading your review once you manage to get through that door stopper of a book.

>208 richardderus: Hahaha you got me with that one, RD, but it was discounted if that is a small comfort.

Oscar Wao is one of my all-time favorite books. Enjoy.

Wordle 461 3/6 - spoiler alert at work here as anyone who knows my first word will then have a mega clue as to how to solve the wordle :)
V. pleased with myself on this one.

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

>207 PaulCranswick: nice one! My influence spreads wide and far...maybe I should get a job for the Ayn Rand Institute (JUST JOKING).

>208 richardderus: I better get started on it then before my birthday next week!! (when my already advancing age will take a large step forward :)
My $10 paid for the copy benefitted the Salvation Army, so I feel pleased. I also feel pleased with the $6 necklace I got on the same day.

>209 figsfromthistle: I would have thought a self-respecting philosopher would read anything and everything! Although I intend to read it, I can't say it will happen any time soon. It is so imposing!

>210 PaulCranswick: Hopefully the bulk of the funds paid go to the publisher, the book seller and the paper maker?

>211 BLBera: The cover is so odd- but I am drawn to it. Also, it is on David Bowie's 100-books list, so I am double drawn.

Book acquisitions!



Funny Weather by Olivia Laing (from what I can tell, an arty/academicky book- a birthday present); and three from the book sale last weekend on our wee holiday to Hanmer Springs: The Boy in the Book by Nathan Penlington; Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Poems selected by James Fenton; and Harlem is Nowhere by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts.

I know your birthday came and went, so I hope it was a very happy one! And happy spring to you. After a pretty hot and long summer it is finally feeling a bit like fall today and I am here for it:)

I have two on the shelf by Laing to read. Half inertia, half wanting to read them on a holiday when I can sit down and enjoy them uninterrupted. Harlem is Nowhere sounds fascinating.

>214 AMQS: My birthday did come and go! I was very brave and hosted a small party :) It turned out to be really fun...which I attributed to me only inviting the people that I really wanted to invite. Free from obligations, I was able to surround myself with the best!

>215 charl08: Reading uninterrupted is so amazing, isn't it!? I look forward to a time when that might happen.
On my recent 3 nights away (with 2x 14 year olds, and 1x 11 year old and my lovely other) I didn't read a word of my print book, and only managed to listen to 40 minutes of my audio. Too busy, too tired! haha.

Oh boy, the Quordle today was super tough.

Fancy putting these words in at all, let alone all together! SLUNK, GOLEM, DIZZY
And then there was the easy one, PAPER.

Harsh.

We have just had a few nights away, at my dad's soon to be sold house on the West Coast. Pic one is my brother's car that I got to drive over there (felt like a celebrity as we usually drive a 1996 Nissan!), and pic two is the kids (my two and one of their friends) whitebaiting on the incoming tide.
The net from the first pic is what they are holding in the water, when the tide surges in the whitebait hopefully swim right in! It was pretty cold, but they were dead keen. I was on edge while supervising, as a rogue surge can sweep people out (hence the lifejackets). We ended up getting nearly 100 grams of whitebait which, when mixed with egg and fried, made one large and delicious whitebait pattie!

Currently reading:


10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak ...wow. Just wow. And Broken by Karin Fossum (which is only OK).

>217 LovingLit: Lovely spot, and how great to have a last chance to get away there.

Happy summertime adventures ahead!

>219 richardderus: Tis indeed bliss, RD. Little Lenny has cried on occasion when we depart that place. It's where grandad takes them fishing, hunting, BBQing and bonfiring on the beach, and general adventuring.

>217 LovingLit: Such a lovely place, Megan. It will be missed when it is sold. Was this your last visit, or will there be a next chance to go there?

>221 FAMeulstee: We have had many last visits, and I think will get at least one more which will be a moving/tidying up session. Sadly, there was a stressful and costly need to do some engineering work to shore up the stability of the building. This has really drawn out the sale of it, and stressed dad out. So I am glad that at least is completed, and now it can be sold.

New second hand books!


This House of Grief by Helen Garner ($8), The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham ($7), Sea Shall Embrace Them: The Tragic Story of the Steamship Arctic by David W. Shaw ($2.50), Fat Like Me by Tania Roxborough ($10), and Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ($2.50).

Happy days!

ETA: Is is just me, or do the colour schemes match again!?!

>223 LovingLit: Tania and John were certainly colour coordinated anyway, Megan.

Some good stuff there too Roxborogh and Shaw's are two books I haven't got or read but I have read Night Flight and The Midwich Cuckoos plus I have This House of Grief on the shelves.

Have a great weekend.

By the way what a shame your dad is selling his West Coast home.

>224 PaulCranswick: I had a great op-shopping experience yesterday with a $6 pair of NEW black/grey jeans as well :)
I love me a bargain.

>223 LovingLit: Night Flight! That book inspired my mother's favorite perfume, Vol de Nuit. Wow. I can smell it right this second and it's been thirty years since I last inhaled some.

>223 LovingLit: Love the color coordination! I've read Night Flight and enjoyed it. And I really want to read The Midwich Cuckoos but it hasn't turned up at the online libraries so far.

>226 richardderus: I must read it asap then! It does appeal....and as I am giving it to my dad for Christmas, I reckon I can have a wee look at it first :)

>227 ursula: It must be something with me...when I look back at other 'lots' I have bought together, they do seem to match (>213 LovingLit:...just the last three, which I bought together, as the first one was a gift, and >200 LovingLit:).

Three new books! Bought with my birthday gift voucher :)

>229 LovingLit: Fairly serious looking reading there, Megan?!

Have a lovely Sunday.

>230 PaulCranswick: yes, and although they are conceptual they are written for a general audience, so are quite accessible. Also, they are conveniently concise so not at all imposing :)

>229 LovingLit: From the cover subtitle, that's a kind of economics approach I'd be keen to hear more about! Hope you've had a good weekend.

>232 charl08: one of my friends helped one of the authors compile some information for another project he was doing, so we had been talking about wellbeing economics a fair bit back then. This one interested me because of that.
I just finished it, and it is very interesting.

>229 LovingLit: The Piketty Phenomenon interests me quite a lot...hoping you'll like it, Megan.

*smooch*

I fell way behind on your thread, Megan. The discussion of Ayn Rand was fun to read. I recall seeing part of the film of The Fountainhead, with Gary Cooper as Howard Roark. I loved his rigid refusal to compromise, his refusal to allow anyone to alter a single line of his blueprints. Then cut to Mrs. Blandings describing the colors she wants for the various rooms in her new house to the construction foreman and the painter. When she finishes and leaves, the foreman asks the painter, "You got that?" And the painter says, "Yeah. Blue, green, yellow." Roark (and through him Rand) should grapple with all the instances of "the workman's aesthetic" creeping into theUbermensch's Grand Plan.

Tobias Wolff skewered Rand in his novel Old School. It is delicious. I read the book earlier this year, and just now reread the Rand passages. In the story, Rand is invited to spend a couple of days as a visiting writer at an exclusive New England prep school, primarily because the chair of the Trustees, a wealthy alum and generous donor, loves her novels. She sets him straight!

Hi, Megan. Just checking in after a long hiatus. I am so glad you loved Shuggie Bain. An excellent novel. I also loved The Night Watch. I think it was my first Waters. I have Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World on my list.

>234 richardderus: I finished Wellbeing Economics already, so will start on the Piketty one soon, I think. I know precious little about Piketty, as it happens!!!

>235 weird_O: I have long held an interest in the phenomenon that is Rand. And now, not only do I have her work to read, but a complementary read! Thanks for the heads up :)

>236 msf59: Looks like we have similar taste in books! You are one of my reading heros, so that's convenient :)

*sigh*
I just finished Eventide by Kent Haruf. Wow. I am affected.

Although I probably should take a break, I am going to have to go straight on to Benediction as the audiobook was available and I couldn't resist :)

>238 LovingLit: *yawn*

Haruf's appeal, she eludeth me.

>237 LovingLit: Le Piketty, he appeals to me most bigly.

Happy Halloween! Hope your spring is being lovely.

BOOK 44
Eventide by Kent Haruf (on audio)

Youth, poverty, rural living, and relationship issues are all present in this powerful story of lives in Holt, Colorado.
*highly recommended*


BOOK 45
Benediction by Kent Haruf (on audio)

Do not read this if you are grieving the death of a loved one. You will cry. Even though the story centres on "Dad", who from page one is advised he won't have long to live, the book takes in the lives of those around this flawed but oh so lovely man. We have neighbours, employees, children, friends, preachers and their respective families and lives to deal with. I admit to getting a little confused with the unfamiliar names: Willa and Berta for example, and between Alene and Lorraine....but that's on me :)
*highly recommended but I liked Eventide more*

Hi Megan!

>218 LovingLit: Your response to 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World was about the same as mine.

>223 LovingLit: Fat Like Me is a book I should read, but I have been slowly losing weight since my heart attack a year ago. Nothing like almost dying to motivate one, eh? I, too, started having a weight problem in my teens, as the author of this book did. My weight’s consistently been the most stressful theme/problem of my entire life.

BOOK 46
Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong (on audio, essays)

A collection of personal stories about experience of disability. I read this one as half applied for a job working on a research project about the relationships between disabled people and their disability support workers. It provided a broad scope of lived experience of people with a range of different disabilities, and covered discrimination, rights, intersectionality, ableism, racism, mobility, mental health and more.
*recommended*


BOOK 47
Fat Like Me by Tania Roxborough

A quick and easy read about a woman's journey through life and her body/body image. I was surprised when I began the story to see it was a New Zealander, and that my own city was one of the places she had lived. Tania takes a pragmatic view of things and clearly articulates what the issues are/were, including that she just. could. not. lose. weight. Hence the medical assistance and a journey to a lighter body with which she could better live her life.
*recommended*

New books today! $12 each but in good nick, and a pleasure to browse and find.


The New Prophets of Capital by Nicole Aschoff and New York by Lily Brett

>241 karenmarie: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World seems so long ago now! But I still remember the characters fondly :) Fat Like Me was quite an enlightening read for me actually; I have often thought overweight people should just eat less....without even really realising that some people eat the same amount as others and just stack it on more.

>240 LovingLit: You really cannot go wrong with Haruf. I loved every thing he ever did.

Hi Megan. x

>242 LovingLit: Both of those books sound really good. Oh, and Hi!! : )

>245 PaulCranswick: Haruf is pretty good, huh. Reminds me of Cormac McCarthy. That whole laconic, quiet observation thing.

>246 Berly: I love searching the library audiobook stocks and just grabbing what I feel like at the time. I am currently reading The Authority Gap on audio and am *loving* it....also, I grabbed the Paul Simon/Malcolm Gladwell audiobook, titled 'Conversations with Paul Simon' or something similar. That too is so good that I cannot listen to it at bedtime as I get too emotionally invested!

I just saw your topper picture again - it looks like a painting. Beautiful mountains.

I am hoping my library might have the Paul Simon book on audio now. Does it have music too?
I've never heard of Lily Brett though - look forward to coming back and hearing more.

>243 LovingLit: Oh, excellent finds indeed, Megan. I hope they fascinate as well as elucidate.

>242 LovingLit: #47 is a very important book. As obesity becomes an actual medical crisis, understanding how and why people become obese is very, very important. As decent human beings, learning when to say nothing is equally important.

Does The Authority Gap actually give any useful/successful recommendations on how to fix this gender inequality? Otherwise it is just going to piss me off.

>248 charl08: It does have music too! Paul Simon sings some of his stuff while being interviewed. It's all very pod-casty, actually. I have found Malcolm Gladwells' audiobooks are more like a podcast actually.

>249 richardderus: I like where you went with the obesity comments. The book does discuss some of the reasons she put on weight, and interestingly, why she couldn't lose it. Her and a friend did an experiment and ate the same food for a whole month ....one of them gained and one of them lost over the course of that month! That was fascinating to me.

>250 Berly: haha. Yes, it does indeed have an entire chapter devoted to what to do. It reads like a to-do list, but that is OK by me, as it is very clear. The book is very enlightening as to the array of factors that contribute to this phenomenon. Please read it!

>251 LovingLit: Requested from the library. : )

>252 Berly: I say jump and you jump! I feel so powerful -- and authoritative ;)

>253 LovingLit: You did say please. :)

>254 Berly: I guess I am a benevolent dictator.

>255 LovingLit: I believe I shall consult the teens in your care about that before accepting it as Revealed Truth.

*smooch*

>256 richardderus: haha. We all know the t/weens have their very own, unique perspective on everything!

I still love the quordle, with todays offering presenting a challenge. The words were (clockwise from top left): WHOOP / CELLO / BULKY / FIEND.

Hi Megan!

I hope you are having a good day. I'm busy with US Thanksgiving Day prep and will try to find some time to do some reading today too.

>258 karenmarie: Happy Thanksgiving to you and all my US friends! I hope you have a lovely holiday.

❤️ I reached 50 books! ❤️

#50 was The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen (on audio). And I loved it. It was a barrage of big-brain words so beautifully strung together. *sigh*

Congratulations on 50 books, Megan.
I've not read any Gladwell, but the Paul Simon one does sound tempting.

Hi Megan my dear, congratulations on reaching 50 books read for the year so far.

>259 LovingLit: BRAVA! I'm delighted for you!

Hi, Megan. Congrats on hitting #50. Yah!! I am so glad to see you reading and loving the "Holt" novels by the late Mr. Haruf. As you know, I am a huge fan of his work. I revisited Plainsong and plan on re-reading the others. I wish we could have had a few more books out of him.

>260 charl08:, >261 johnsimpson:, >262 richardderus:, >263 msf59:
Thank you!
>260 charl08: I haven't read much Gladwell. Two of his audiobooks are enough for me. Even though I loved the Paul Simon one, there's something about Gladwell that irritates me. Something to do with me being a repressed New Zealander I think.

>263 msf59: I guess I should read the first one again since I read Plainsong and Benediction recently. I see you are about to start Hernan Diaz's Trust...that's a little gem I have on my bedside table just waiting for the right moment to begin reading!

The comparison between McCarthy and Haruf is interesting and I guess I can see that in the spare, taught prose style but rarely do the characters in Holt, Colorado lose their tempers never mind blow someone's head clean off! The visceral nature of some of the wonderful McCarthy is not really there in Haruf.

Midweek *smooch*

>265 PaulCranswick: oh yeah....McCarthy books don't hold back on the 'action', even if it is described laconically. Actually, I would almost put Willy Vlautin in the spare prose category like these other two we are discussing. I love him too :)

>266 richardderus: Cheers ears! I am off on a road trip. It's about time I shot through from this domestic drudgery. Mama needs a holiday!

Two new (second hand) books!



The Hunter by Julia Leigh, and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

>267 LovingLit: You and your road trips - I am so jealous!

Have a good weekend, despite those itchy feet, Megan!

>269 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul - I am in sunny Nelson and this morning we went out on the little motor boat and I caught a large snapper (almost half a meter long!!!pics to come). We shall eat it for dinner tonight I hope.

>270 LovingLit: Get a picture of the before not the after, Megan!

Didn't get to Nelson last time out but maybe next time around.

This could be my best ever catch! I was the first to catch one, and although we all went on to catch at least 2 each, this was the largest. We are having it for dinner tonight (I have driven home today, and wanted to share the spoils with the kids.)


One large snapper, caught off the coast near Torrent Bay, in beautiful Abel Tasman National Park.

>273 LovingLit: I'll bet the snapper is/was delicious. Well done, Megan.

>273 LovingLit: Wow! You look very proud, and deseve to be so :-)

>274 PaulCranswick: It was delicious! And I was told the kids were very proud of me, although, they did not say that to me :)

>275 FAMeulstee: I was a tad happy, yes. That beautiful fish served up two meals for 3!

Oh, and I forgot to brag say; my dad has been on the airwaves recently talking about his photography on our national radio programme (ingeniously called Radio New Zealand National)



Here is the link to the audio of his interview with Kathryn Ryan (who I love, on account of the fact that she is so intelligent and articulate, although, she doesn't show that side of herself in interviewing dad).

>277 LovingLit: VERY cool! I'm so pleased he's getting renewed attention.

>273 LovingLit: Oooooooo

Lurvely! But why only meals for three?

>278 richardderus: fish meals for three on account of the lovely other not liking fish!

>279 LovingLit: OIC

Well, I'm unwillingly in his camp nowadays. Fish don't like me anymore. Just can not digest them.

Wow, your dad's taken some beautiful photos, Megan. I was a bit thrown as there is a comedian here with a very similar name as the interviewer. D'Oh.

...And to add, amazing family story. If I saw it in a film, I don't think I would believe it was possible. Mind boggling.

>280 richardderus: that's too bad. I like the fresh ones :)

>280 richardderus: >281 charl08: There's another radio presenter here called Jim Mora, and apparently this is also the name of a sports coach in the US. Funny.

I am racing towards Christmas here....and to escape the crazy busy am heading to the west coast with the kids - again to my dad's empty house, to camp out there with my brother and his kids. It should be good once we get there, but BOY am I managing a lot of to do lists in the mean time!

I have downloaded 3 books to read there so I will be OK with them and my one actual book :)

>284 LovingLit: ...only four...? But, but, but suppose On the Beach comes to pass and you're caught there for months awaiting the toxic clouds to lift and then you realize they never will and you have to cook and eat your niblings and you don't have a book on "how to butcher your family" nor any way to look the information up! I mean! It could happen!

Love the fish catch photo and congrats to your Dad! Looks like some beautiful photography. Hurry up on your Christmas race -- you gotta go soon! LOL. Wising you happy holidays.

Happy Christmas from my Christmas gnome!

Merry Christmas

Malaysia's branch of the 75er's wishes you and yours a happy holiday season, Megan.

Thanks for the Christmas messages everyone! We had a lovely relaxing day of pancakes with my brother and his fam, our mum, and a friend of mine over, then we went over to see my dad and his partner and three out of her four daughters plus their families. It was a lovely day weather and activity wise!

>285 richardderus: I survived the near horror that was taking 4 books for a 6 day trip !!! haha. Only an LTer could possibly think that I took too *few* books.

>286 Berly: I did my Christmas list! I nailed it! (phew)

We had an amazing time on the coast, with my brother and his outdoor toys (boat, waterskis, biscuit to tow behind boat, wetsuits, a rifle for target and deer shooting) plus the things that anyone can do such as bonfires on the beach and fishing from the wharf...we had a LOT on our plate to choose from. And, it was hot hot hot so once again we got lucky as here at home, things were damp and drab. Pics to come!

Recent reads: All non fiction, all on audio.

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister by Jung Chang (DNF)
Abandoned....was just too...patchy with storylines. I couldn't keep up with who was who and why or how they were significant.

In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
An oldie but a goodie. Reminiscences and observations on places and people in the south of South America.

In My Room by Jim Lucey
A psychiatrist's observations on the lives of his patients, and the things he and they learned over the course of his career in the head business.

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver
A set of essays deftly describing parts of the actor's life both prior to, and while being an actor. This one was a surprise great read for me; Driver's ability to express herself is really on show with this one.

Everybody: A Book about Freedom by Olivia Laing
Several chapters loosely hung on the concept of the body, but more about identity, freedom, politics and justice. Beautifully expressed, and some familiar sociological names and concepts in there.

Playing frisbee on the beach at about 9pm on the longest day...and me contemplating my navel an hour or so earlier (first pic is L-R, my nephew, me, my big boy W).

How fun! Love the photos. Looks t those clouds!

>294 Berly: It was so warm there, we were lying on the sand at 10pm waiting for it to get dark and/or cold. Luckily the kids occupied themselves by digging a massive hole.....transferring the fire into said hole, and then once it was time to go home, burying said fire. Kids huh!? They have to be *doing* something.

>293 LovingLit: What a sky that is!

Hi Megan. Congrats on 50 books and a gorgeous snapper!

It's line in the sand and onward to next year's threads, I'm afraid. One of my new year’s resolutions is to be a better LT friend.

>273 LovingLit: >293 LovingLit: Love the family pics. Great snapper! Man, the boys are getting so big. It has been fun to watch them grow up over here.

I hope you had a nice holiday, Megan and I hope you have a healthy New Year!

>295 LovingLit: Well, burying the fire was actually kinda helpful, so they get points for that particular *doing*!

Happy New Year, dear Megan.

I hope this year is filled with good moments, health, wealth, and plenty of books. xx

Happy New Year! See you then. And there.

Happy New Year

Happy New year ......

Thanks everybody for the new years wishes! We had a grand one....more new of which will be divulged on the new thread!

Farewell 2022!!!