Ellen reads more in 2024 - Book 3

Aloha! I'm Ellen, recently retired reader, beginner sketcher and watercolorist, hiker, camper, cat-lover, wine lover, and LT-er since 2011.

In December 2023 I retired after more than 30 years working in higher education. I currently live in eastern Washington state with Prudence (aka P), my wife of 28 years, and our beloved but sometimes troublesome ginger cat, Carson. We plan to move back to Oregon in the next year or two.

I have a "retirement reading" list but I'm following advice I've been given about the first six months of retirement living: no commitments. That said, I'll certainly participate in some group and shared reads as the year progresses.

Carson the Cute and Troublesome

I don't know why it's doing that gray-over thing. I've uploaded and deleted and uploaded the pic a couple times and it just keeps doing that. Grrr.

Here is another of him on my lap....

Chair in my sister's living room (pen and ink sketch by me)

COMPLETED IN JANUARY

1. North Woods by Daniel Mason 4.5 stars
2. How Can I Help You by Laura Sims 4 stars
3. I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell 5 stars
4. Loot by Tania James 3.5 stars
5. The Casuarina Tree by W. Somerset Maugham 3.5 stars
6. Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty 4 stars
7. Western Lane by Chetna Maroo 3.5 stars
8. Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín 4 stars
9. Chenneville by Paulette Jiles 5 stars
10. Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby 4 stars

COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY

11. Dead Lions by Mick Herron 4.5 stars
DNF The Paragon Hotel by Lindsay Faye
12. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 4 stars
13. Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger 4 stars
14. The Magic Fish: A Graphic Novel by Trung Le Nguyen 4.5 stars
15. So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan 4 stars
16. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan 3.5 stars
17. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall 4 stars

COMPLETED IN MARCH

18. Lone Women by Victor LaValle 4 stars
19. Qualification: A Graphic Memoir in Twelve Steps by David Heatley 3 stars
20. The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar 4 stars
21. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan 3 stars
22. Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer 4 stars
23. Held by Anne Michaels 4.5 stars

COMPLETED IN APRIL

24. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann 3.5 stars
25. The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez 4 stars
26. James by Percival Everett 4.5 stars
27. American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America from the Colonial Era to Today edited by Robyn Chapman 3.5 stars

This year's reading plans that involve friends:

January
✅ I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell - Real Life Book Group (RLBG - COMPLETED)
✅ The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff - w Beth & Kim (COMPLETED)

February
✅ The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - w Mark & others
✅ Chenneville by Paulette Jiles - w Kim & Beth (CURRENTLY READING)

March
❎ The Lost Journals of Sacajewea Debra Magpie Earling w Beth & Kim -- I enjoyed the conversation. ❤️

June
The Known World by Edward P. Jones - w Kim & Beth
Summer by Ali Smith - w Mark

August
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason - w Mark

December
Bound to Please by Michael Dirda - w Stasia

WELCOME

Happy new thread!

>7 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita!

Happy new thread, dear Ellen.

>3 EBT1002: I like that one, makes the chair appear very comfy and homely.

As some of you know, I've been visiting my sister in North Carolina. Her wife of 50 years is in a care home and we've been sitting with her through every lunch and dinner since I got here a week ago. It has been a really good visit. My sister is 17 years older than me so the connection is unlike most sibling relationships but super important to both of us. I'm here a couple more days and then off to Vegas to meet up with Prudence for the (last ever) Pac-12 Women's basketball tournament. Then home, which will be really nice. I miss Carson.

This visit has been emotionally draining so I've been less active on LT than I usually am when I've visited my sister. She is also a great reader, but caring for a spouse with dementia and diabetes is challenging. We've both been tired every evening.

I'm now reading Qualification by David Heatley, a graphic memoir about a few decades of involvement with various 12-step programs. So far it's just okay.

>9 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I was rather pleased with that little sketch. :-)

Happy new thread Ellen!

>3 EBT1002: Your sketch gives the impression of a comfy reading corner. It also makes me think of a crossword puzzle.

Happy new thread, Ellen. I think you should add a sketch to all of your threads. l love the drawing; that chair looks like a great reading chair.

Happy new thread! love the sketch and the pics of Carson

Happy new thread, Ellen. Always love the Carson pics. I don't know if there is something about ginger boys but *cute but troublesome* could also describe my Theo. I keep telling him he's lucky he's so cute...or else!

I agree with Beth, about adding sketches to your threads! Lovely!

Happy new thread! Love the chair sketch. Glad you’re there with your sister but sorry it’s such a tough time. Have fun at the tournament!!

LOVE the sketch. Add my vote to those requesting that we see lots more of those!

HI Ellen, so great that you are visiting your sister. Happy new thread! I loved the sketch too. What a great way of creating a memory.

The chair reminds me of a crossword puzzle.

Happy new thread, Ellen. You didn't leave much time between trips. I bet it will feel good to spend some time at home when you get there. Sorry to hear about your SIL. Great sketch of the chair. Have fun in Vegas!

>2 EBT1002: Odd about the photo Ellen.

>3 EBT1002: Love this. I love chairs.

>10 EBT1002: So hard for you all. Glad the visit has been good, despite emotionally draining.

Wordle 989 4/6*

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sauce, plane, blade, flame

I'm glad you've had a good visit Ellen, albeit a difficult one. Enjoy the rest of your time there.

I'd like to add my vote for regular sketch photos!

Happy new thread, Ellen.

It's nice to see one of your sketches.

I've also experienced weirdness with some of my photos uploading here - it's not just you!

Happy new thread, Ellen!

Happy new thread, Ellen!

>3 EBT1002: Very nice sketch.

>10 EBT1002: Dementia is hard for all involved. Glad you have a good time with your sister.

>12 quondame: I love that image of a crossword puzzle, Susan. The actual chair has more gradations of gray than I captured in my sketch but I like the dynamism of where I landed.

>13 BLBera: Thanks Beth. That is exactly what I was thinking -- that I would include a sketch in the opening posts of my threads moving forward. The chair is indeed a comfy one.

>14 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>15 jessibud2: Hi Shelley. Yes, I think your Theo and my Carson must be cousins. They seem to have the same style going. I also occasionally tell Carson he's lucky he's so cute!

Happy New Thread, Ellen. Glad we have more shared reads to look forward to.

>16 SuziQoregon: Hi Juli. Thanks for the kind words. Today was an especially tough day; Betty just seemed grumpy and more disoriented. It's hard on my sister.

I love that folks are enjoying my sketches. I will keep posting them and hope you all get to see my progress over the coming months. :-)

>17 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Linda. You got it!

>18 mdoris: Thanks Mary. You are spot on about creating memories. One reason I like the sketching (apart from just exercising the creative parts of my brain!) is that it does cement memories. I really want to get brave enough (and for the weather to be nice enough) to do some on-site sketching out in public spaces.

>19 dianeham: I can see the echo of a crossword puzzle in the chair sketch, too, Diane. The real chair has more gradations of gray than my sketch captures.

>20 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg. And yes, it has felt like I've hardly had any time at home since retiring. I'm super glad I'm here visiting and supporting my sister, and I know we'll have fun at the basketball tournament, but I'm looking forward to being home.

>21 Caroline_McElwee: Isn't that photo glitch weird, Caroline? I've decided to just leave it and next thread I'll try a new picture. There are always new pictures of Carson! lol

I'm glad you enjoyed the chair sketch. Chairs are generally a good practice subject because our brains hold such concrete images of chairs; sketching them is good practice in sketching what you see and not what you think a chair looks like.

>23 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. Your vote is duly counted. :-) Really, I'm enjoying the sketching so much and I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with you all.

>24 katiekrug: Well, I guess it's nice to know it's not just me with the weird photo glitch, Katie. I've decided to just let it be. We can think of it as art. Haha

>25 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

>26 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Yes, dementia is just a terrible brain disease. Betty has good days and not-so-good days. Today was a tougher one. She is also diabetic so that can contribute to her confusion if her blood sugar is super low or super high. Yesterday she was 68 in the morning and 487 in the afternoon! 100-225 is ideal. It was so evident that she wasn't feeling well.

>28 msf59: Hi Mark. I'm also glad we have some shared reads on the horizon!

Today I went to the River Arts District of Asheville to shop at Cheap Joe's Art Stuff. I had fun and came home with new tubes of watercolor, some new brushes, and a few other odds and ends.

Then I went to Malaprop's Bookstore in downtown. I bought three books.

I picked up My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and
Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, translated from the French by Jessica Moore. The second one is an Archipelago edition, such a delightful held object.

The third book has a story:
Malaprop's has a shelf of "mystery" books -- staff picks that they have covered in brown paper, and with a sticker on the front that gives some description. I could tell this was a paperback and the description was thus:
"Playful & strange, soulful, gorgeously constructed, story of extraordinary friendship, art & imagination, how to observe & how to be, a meditation on time."
I thought that sounded right up my alley. As I was checking out, the sales clerk explained that if, when I open the book I find it is one I've already read, I can return it for refund or trade-in. I told her I'm not local and she said, "well, it says on the receipt what it is, so you can just decide now."
It is Autumn by Ali Smith. I read this in 2017 but, as I explained to the clerk, one of my retirement reading plans has been to read the quartet (I've read the first two) within a short period of time. It was a really delightful conversation and it was fun to be adventurous and have it work out so well!

I loved My Monticello, a really good collection.

I finished Light in Gaza and will be sending it your way soon.

>33 EBT1002: That’s really cool about the mystery book. I saw that done at a bookstore in New Hope, PA.

I have a topic here in 75 now.

Happy New Thread, Ellen!

>3 EBT1002: Lovely sketch!

That's a great bookstore story, Ellen. My local library did a "blind date with a book" thing in February, with books packaged in a similar fashion. I'm glad they let you decide about the book right there and then. And I love love love that it played into your retirement reading plans.

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aster, bound, fungi, punch, munch, lunch — the solution was hunch

Aaargh!!! My streak of 215 has been busted. I rushed this but I’m not sure it would have mattered. My third guess was perhaps a poor one.

>38 EBT1002: Oh darn, I hate when that happens. I admit that Chris and I usually collaborate when one of us is threatened with an X. But we avoid giving the other person the answer with a sort of twenty questions thing, like "is there a ... ?"

So maybe you need to get P to do the Wordle too ... 😀

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>10 EBT1002: that does sound tough. I seem to know a lot of people lately who are caring for, or preparing to care for relatives.

>33 EBT1002: mystery books! Fun, but a big call to take the risk :) Glad it worked out for you.

Our library does the mystery book thing too. That's a great bookstore story, Ellen.

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Vegas is wild. Our Cougs lost badly — already — so now we can just enjoy the rest of the games, hope for some good competition.

I’m jet-lagged but that’ll pass.

I’m reading Absolution by Alice McDermott and it’s very good. Mildly disturbing in an odd way.

Enjoy Vegas, Ellen. We'll understand if you can't talk about it.;)

Wordle 993 2/6*

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Lucky first word! (Maybe I should gamble while in Vegas after all. Haha)

Ellen, I saw your new thread and realized that this may be the only time this year that I'm not so far behind that I can't catch up. As usual, I love the Carson pictures although that gray is peculiar. My orange boy Archie Sparks is a licker and my orange girl Lulu is a cutie.*
Hooray for sketching and sharing! Very good for you!
I'm glad you had the time with your sister. I remember when she was looking for extended care living for her partner. Precious time for the two of you!
You read so much good stuff! Retirement is a wonderful thing!

*Tabby Song --- (Sing to tune of "Wrap your Troubles in Dreams" or whatever the name of it is.)

When cats are tabby and gray,
It's likely that they'll stay that way.
So give your tabby some love;
Invite your tabby to play.

But when the tabby in hand
Is orange - that tabby is grand!
So give your tabby some love
And feed him more than you planned.

Wordle 994 3/6*

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Lucky guess. I had so many options, all using two E’s.

I'm currently taking a watercolour class and we are about to do urban landscapes. Are you still doing those, Ellen?

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I finished Absolution yesterday. It was an excellent, moving story about the wives of American businessmen and military officers posted in Vietnam in the early 1960s. Definitely recommended. I’d like to read more McDermott.

I started reading The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar. I have to say I was skeptical at first. The novel appears to be self-published(???) and the first chapter didn’t capture my enthusiasm. I decided to apply the Pearl Rule before abandoning it and I’m glad I did. The basic premise (old diary of Van Gogh’s sister-in-law discovered, etc., etc.) is questionable but I’m quite enjoying the setting and story.

Today is our last full day in Vegas. The final game of the PAC-12 women’s basketball tournament is this afternoon and we have reservations at an Italian restaurant for dinner.

I gambled for a couple hours yesterday: won $1.02 on a slot machine, lost $10 playing electronic Roulette, and won $2.50 playing electronic Blackjack. The House always wins but I don’t feel bad about my tally. And I learned that I’m not susceptible to compulsive gambling.

I’m ready to be home. I miss Carson. I miss peace and quiet. I want to sketch and paint and read.

I'm still # 9 for a copy of Absolution. I am so lucky I have other books to read.

>39 lauralkeet: lol, Laura. P says she doesn't want to play Wordle because we'd end up getting competitive with each other. She's probably correct.

>41 LovingLit: Hi Megan. Yes, caring for the older generation seems to be very common these days. I was pleased to see how well my sister is handling it.

Mystery books are fun! This is the first time I've taken the risk. I liked that they would let me trade it if it turned out I'd already read it.

>42 BLBera: Have you ever bought a mystery book, Beth?

>46 BLBera: Haha, Beth. Vegas is a trippy city, that is for sure!

>48 LizzieD: Peggy!!! So good to see you!

Thank you for the kind words. And for the poem! I love it!! Carson is definitely a food-focused little guy. I just love him.

>50 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg. I'll be so interested to hear about your class! I love Urban Sketching and it's definitely my inspiration but I'm still working up to it. Is your class in person? As much as I'm loving my online courses -- they have really opened up the sketching and painting universe for me -- I'd love an in person class.

>54 BLBera: I look forward to your reactions to Absolution when you get to it, Beth.

>55 EBT1002: Competitive Wordling? I can't imagine. 😜

Happy new(ish) 🧵! I love your pen and ink sketch! Thank you for sharing. What kind of pen do you use? I haven’t been doing any art lately, but I’d love to do more pen and ink and pen and wash work once I’ve recovered.

>52 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, i just finished Absolution today and was impressed as well! I haven't read any of her other books and must correct that.

Safe travels back home! You must be looking forward to lots of Carson time.

I haven't ever bought a mystery book. I would be afraid it's one I already own...

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Tough one.

Today is travel day. See y’all when I’m back home!!

Safe travels.

>65 EBT1002: Travel joy! Happy-as-possible visit, thank goodness, so permaybehaps y'all get the trifecta of travel.

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This seems an unlikely path.

I’m home. Not feeling great — probably just tired — so today will be a take-it-easy day. We do have to grocery shop.

I hope you aren't getting sick, Ellen. And I hope you find your copy of Sacajewea!

Hi Ellen! Haven't visited in a long time and am just going to continue from here.

Sorry you're not feeling well, hope you are just tired.

Welcome home Ellen. I hope a rest day is all you need to feel better.

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>58 EBT1002: My class is in person at the local community centre, walking distance from where I live. I started out taking a sketching class from the same instructor but then the woman I shared my table with signed up for the water colour class so I did too. She is much better than I am but I am determined to take using water colours further. I love the pen and ink with watercolour used in urban painting.

Sweet Thursday, Ellen. Welcome back. I hope you rebound quickly. Enjoying those current reads?

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I finished reading The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar this morning. It's not great literature but I really enjoyed it. It alternates between modern day with Emsley and the late 19th century with Johanna. Johanna is Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law, married to his brother Theo. Emsley is part-owner of an auction house who receives a small book, possibly one of Johanna's journals.

Molnar did her research and I learned about Van Gogh, his family, and how his art was posthumously saved for posterity. I did a bit of online reading to fill in some gaps.

The story has a sweet romantic flavor and lovely characters. Definitely worth reading.

>60 lauralkeet: LOL -- I'm sure you and Chris never compete, right? ;-)

>61 Storeetllr: Hi Mary. That sketch was done with a Pitt Artist's Brush pen but that was sort of a first for me. I typically use Pitt or other waterproof-ink-pens with 0.5 or 0.3 nibs. I own several fountain pens and I have purchased permanent ink for them. I need to sit down and learn how to load them (I know I can do this). The cartridges do not come with permanent ink and I want to use that so I can do watercolor with the pen and ink sketches. I hope you can start playing with pen and ink and wash soon; I'm truly a beginner but I am loving it so far..

>62 mdoris: Hi Mary. I'm home now and yes, enjoying the time with Carson. He is such a love bug.

I agree, I need to read more Alice McDermott. I feel like I read some of her works a long, long time ago but I don't really remember anything.

>63 BLBera: Hi Beth. The cool thing (well, one of the cool things) about the mystery book purchases is that, at least at Malaprop's in Asheville, they will let you return it if you have already read the book. I can't imagine other bookshops not allowing for that possibility. It was a fun purchase.

>66 BLBera: and >67 richardderus: Thanks Beth and Richard.

It turns out that both Prudence and I seem to have picked up a cold on our way home from Vegas. Luckily, mine is not terribly bad so far. I don't feel great, and I certainly don't feel like going outside for a walk in this cold weather, but I don't feel completely useless, either.

>70 BLBera: I do believe I have caught a mild cold, Beth. It is my third one since retiring!! Sheesh.

I still haven't found my copy of The Lost Journals of Sacajewea. I'm wondering if I sold them to the used bookstore in that fit of clearing out I did in my first days of retirement. I have to go to the drugstore today so I'll swing by the bookshop and buy it back from them if they still have it (or if they ever had it).

>71 karenmarie: Hi Karen. Thanks for swinging by. I do have a cold but it is a mild one so far. Luckily, I don't have to go to work and push through, nor do I have to call in sick! Yay!

>72 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura!

>74 Familyhistorian: Meg! We are on similar journeys with sketching and watercolor although my classes are all online (so such luck to have in-person classes nearby). It's tremendous fun, isn't it?

>75 msf59: Hi Mark! I've had a good run of good reads but that is usually the case. I don't know what I'm going to read next.... so many choices!

I know what you're going to read next -- Sacajewea!

Wordle 1,000 🎉 3/6*

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My cold got steadily worse yesterday. Ugh.

No luck finding my copy of The Lost Journals of Sacajewea. Sad face.

I started reading She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. I’ve had it on my shelves for a year or so. It has started out strong.

I started the online watercolor class with Liz Steele. So far it’s fun!

I was looking at the Women's Prize Longlist and realized I have a copy of Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie -- thank you, Beth!

I'm quite enjoying She Who Became the Sun but after that, I'll shoehorn in this nominee for the 2024 Women's Prize.

I just got over a terrible cold too. It lasted a full week!

>86 EBT1002: You are welcome. It is a good one.

>2 EBT1002: Your cats are lovely
>3 EBT1002: You are quite talented. Given the fact that I cannot draw a straight line with a ruler, I am most impressed.
>4 EBT1002: Congratulations on reading so many good books thus far this year!
>10 EBT1002: I think it is lovely that you are supporting your sister by helping visit and care for her partner.

>77 EBT1002: - Hi Ellen. I have not heard of this book you mention but I recently purchased Mrs. Van Gogh about Johanna. I wonder if this is a new trend....

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I love that I got this in three! WIT 😀

Hi TwinE!! Sorry to hear you have a cold, too. I have also been hit hard in 2024 so far. Enough already! : ) Love your sketch up top and, yes, please do post more of them! I have about 100 pages to go on The Lost Journals of Sacajewea -- not a fan of the writing style. Reserving final judgement until I finish it though. I am halfway through Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma and I am loving it! (Not the evils, but the moral discussion of enjoying their artwork.) Hope you get to enjoy some home time after all your travels, fun and needed as they were. Happy St. Patty's Day!

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heart, court, sport, snort

I was so confident I had a WIT — ha.

This cold has been a tough one. The past two days I’ve felt so bad I couldn’t even read much. I think I’ve turned the corner now, hope to make some progress in She Who Became the Sun today.

Hang in there. I'm off to the pharmacy to pick up a second, stronger antibiotic today. : P

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SOOO close to a two!!!!

>94 EBT1002: Lemon ginger tea. Cures the dreaded blahs of a cold like magic. In my case it makes me get better so I don't have to drink it anymore, but YMMV, as it always might.

>97 richardderus: I agree about the benefits of lemon ginger tea. It's good for the digestion too. And I actually kinda like it.

>98 laytonwoman3rd:
I love ginger in my tea and it is very good for digestion.

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haste, plane, abide

Feeling better but I’ll give the lemon ginger tea a try. Thanks Richard, Linda, and Benita!

I’m in a bit of a reading funk. Just not finding or making time for it — and I have so much more time! She Who Became the Sun is a good story but I’m finding myself more likely to paint, sketch, or look at things on the internet about same. Also, last night we started watching Season 2 of Vigil on Peacock. SO good!

We met with a realtor yesterday. So it’s also time to start thinking about filling boxes for storage or thrift store. Sigh. P really wants out of this town. I don’t want to live here forever but, because I was working for most of our time here, I have connections and a sense of connectedness here. She does not. That is a many-layered dynamic so I’m processing that, too.

Meanwhile, the weather is lovely. The up-side of climate change … spring comes early.

I am also dealing with boxes and a full scale switcharoo. I used my mother's full sized van and drove it back to Alabama where I loaded my bedside lamps, spare bed, mattress, and box springs into it. Then I packed up my dishes (left two plates, two small plates and my flatware) into those wonderful U-Haul dish pack boxes and brought the whole load back to Kansas. When I arrived I got the neighbors to help and we unloaded the bed, set it up, took down the bed that was in the bedroom, packed it into the pickup for my nephew to take back with him to northern Nebraska. I am now in the process of switching out the dishes in the Kansas house with those from Alabama. My nephew wants my mother's dishes. I will finish this job today so that he can leave for his home tomorrow and I will head back to Alabama on Friday.

This moving is exhausting. But I am thankful for U-Haul and those boxes. I am lucky that Tuscaloosa is a university city as that means that at this time of year U-Haul has plenty of their boxes for sale. And they are doing a great business right now in T-town because everybody is moving or getting ready to move. I suspect that Pullman, WA is the same way during the month of May.

hi

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is anyone on

>102 benitastrnad: hi

Good luck with the packing, etc. Have you definitely settled on where you plan to move?

I hope the cold is beginning to exit Ellen. My bro still hasn't shaken his after 3 weeks, still coughing.

Glad you are feeling better Ellen. Now, you need to snap out of this book funk.

So sorry about the cold, Ellen. Good luck with the house selling!

Wordle 1,005 2/6*

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tread, lingo

Well, that is one for the books!

Hiya Ellen

>111 EBT1002: NICE!

Hope you asre feeling better.

Wordle 1,006 3/6*

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tripe, lance, shade

Just eliminating letters….

I’m almost done with She Who Became the Sun, starting Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma. The Seattle Public Library lowered the limit on the number of books one can place on hold at any given time so I’m going to have to change my wishlist management scheme.

Meeting a former colleague for breakfast this morning. I do not miss getting up in the dark to an alarm.

Yesterday I went for a solo walk — a good, almost as satisfying as a run sort of walk, and did some stretching and core exercises. This did my mood some good. I need to keep this in my routine, both for the exercise and for the alone time.

The library’s explanation of the reason for limiting the number of holds on e-books makes tons of sense and I support it.

”Although the popularity of digital books was rising before 2020, the pandemic accelerated this trend. At The Seattle Public Library, annual checkouts of digital books almost tripled from 2015 to 2022, as did costs.

“The Library has increased investment in digital collections to meet patron interest. Unfortunately, because of the way digital books are priced for libraries, meeting increased demand has come at a cost that has become unsustainable.

“As a consumer, when you buy an e-book or e-audiobook, it costs about the same or sometimes even less than the print book version. But for libraries, the e-book or e-audiobook version of a title actually costs up to three times or more than the print version.

“This is because publishers use a licensing model for selling e-books to libraries. Each copy of a digital book title requires a purchase of a license. While there are many types of licenses, the most common license needs to be purchased and then re-purchased every year.

“This may seem surprising, but patron holds are the single biggest factor in rising costs. To maintain reasonable wait times, the Library buys additional licenses of a digital title when patrons place more holds on it. That means that when hundreds of patrons place holds on a single New York Times bestseller, the costs of ‘buying down the holds’ can quickly become astronomical.”

What was the old hold limit and what's the new, Ellen?

I belong to two systems, my local and the NYPL. My local system limit for Overdrive/Libby holds is 5 and the NYPL's is 3. And each allows the same number (5 and 3) of loans at one time. I wish it were more, but I understand the reasoning. And TBH, more holds would mean more books potentially coming in too close together for me to keep up with :)

>117 EBT1002: It does make sense and kudos to the library for explaining it.

Nice to see you. I think Monsters will be a good discussion book.

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/03/best-books-american-fiction/67...

I don’t know if this link will work (I’ll edit tomorrow) but I love this list from The Atlantic. I’ve read several. I would love to read the whole list.

>120 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, you (or others!) might be interested to know that there's an LT list of The Atlantic's books. This might be useful for tracking which ones you own and/or have read, and ranking your favorites.

https://www.librarything.com/list/45356/all/The-Atlantics-The-Great-American-Nov...

>99 benitastrnad: I must say that I am a lover of ginger.
Ginger tea, ginger beer, ginger in food, ginger biscuits, ginger ice cream.

Happy Friday, Ellen. I have read Spring, so I will be doing a shared read of Summer. I hope you can join us.
Any migrants passing through? I am spotting a new FOY bird, nearly every time I go out on the trails.

Wordle 1,007 4/6*

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scone, cheat, decal, decay

SO close to a WIT!

>117 EBT1002: Our CEO was just explaining this at the Scranton Public Library Board of Directors meeting yesterday. It's insane. We were encouraged to contact our state representatives to ask for increased funding for the acquisition of digital books. In PA libraries come under the Department of Education, which has its benefits and its drawbacks. Funding is separate, but because of being under the Education umbrella, even state reps often think they are supporting libraries by increasing funding in general for schools, and it doesn't work that way. Advocates are probably needed everywhere...I'd encourage you to look into how it all works where you live, and make some noise.

I was so pleased to finish the thread of yours that I had started, and then realized there was another one well underway! So I had the pleasure of reading both.

Sorry to hear about your sister. I'm the oldest of my siblings, and so far we are all OK, but of course we don't know if that will last. My sister lives alone in San Antonio, so I hope she remains compos mentis for a long time. My brother is married, and I have Jim, people who can appraise our situation if need be. And I have a lot of friends who are my age and older, and so far they are doing well, but I know there will be inevitable losses in the years to come.

I was the primary contact when my mother went into care because of dementia. It was very tough before, and equally tough during her placement. She adapted to the new environment and routines eventually, but none of us were close enough geographically to visit often. It was good of you to visit and spend time with your sister and her wife.

Wordle 1,008 3/6*

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rouse, riser, risen
Should’ve been a two. Concentrate, Ellen.

My goals today are to make some progress on my current jigsaw puzzle, finish She Who Became the Sun, and Catch. Up. On. LibraryThing.
The puzzle is super difficult and kicking my butt.
I only have about 25 pages to go but could not stay awake to finish last night.
It’s rainy and March Madness is on so I’ll “do” LT while I watch basketball.

>128 EBT1002: - Don't forget to root for Holy Cross as they play Iowa! I smell an upset..... LOL.

>102 benitastrnad: Moving is indeed exhausting, Benita! It feels good to have boxed up most of my puzzles and many of my books. It will be a lengthy process. We've rented a storage unit to which we'll have access Thursday or Friday; that will help.

>107 BLBera: We're Oregon-bound, Beth.

>108 Caroline_McElwee: My cold turned out to be fairly mild in terms of duration, Caroline. I'm sorry to hear your brother has been sick for so long!

>109 msf59: I agree, Mark. Book funks are not good!

>110 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>112 Owltherian: Hi Owl!

>113 lauralkeet: Thank Laura. It was fun to get all greens after all grays!!

>114 dianeham: Thanks Diane. I am now 100%, for which I am grateful.

>118 katiekrug: The former limit was 25 ebooks and the new limit is 10 ebooks, Katie. Like you, I'm actually going to be just fine with this new limit. It will help me manage the incoming books more effectively, I think. (We'll see.) And I understand and support their reasoning.

>119 BLBera: Hi Beth. I will start Monsters later this evening.

>131 EBT1002: How are you today?

>121 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura! I will tag that list. It will be a fun list to monitor and see how many I can read.

>122 PaulCranswick: I'm a lover of ginger, too, Paul! Triple Ginger Snaps. Ginger cats. :-) All things ginger.

>123 msf59: Hi Mark. I left a message on your thread about the Ali Smith quartet. I hope to join in for the June read of Summer, the only one I haven't yet read.

No migrants of late but we're enjoying the usuals: goldfinches, house finches, western chickadees, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers (my fave), flickers, juncos, etc.

>125 laytonwoman3rd: Interesting dynamic, Linda. I'm okay with the Seattle Public Library setting the new limit on ebooks (down to 10 from 25), especially since I don't even live in Seattle any longer. The town in Oregon to where we are planning to move has an excellent public library, as well, so I'm looking forward to that.

>126 ffortsa: Aging is tough, Judy, and dementia is really tough. I'm glad I could spend time with my sister and her wife -- and it was a longer visit since I didn't have to return for work! (yay!) We'll see how the move to Oregon shakes out but I hope I can go visit again soon-ish. My sister said my visits feel like Mary Poppins dropping in, making things better. *smile*

>129 katiekrug: LOL, Katie. I'm ambivalent about Caitlin Clark (she is undeniably amazing, one of the best players of all time, but she is also whiny and I don't like that) but I did my predoctoral internship at Iowa back in the early 1990s. At the time C. Vivian Stringer was the coach and they went to the tournament the year I was there. I will always be a Hawkeyes fan. Also, I like their current coach -- a woman who has been there for about 20 years. I expect South Carolina to win it all this year and I will always root for PAC-12 teams (well, I'll root for them this year, after which there will no longer be a PAC-12!), but I want to see Iowa go far.

I know. You did not need that much and that serious of a response. xo

>133 Owltherian: Hi Owl! I'm doing well. I spent most of the day working on a very difficult jigsaw puzzle and watching women's basketball. How are you?

>137 EBT1002: i would say i was pretty busy as well today, came home from my grandparents just to leave again for my aunts 30th bday party.

Happy Sunday, Ellen. I want to recommend my current read- Thunder Song: Essays. I had not heard of this PNW native author and she can really write too.

Hi Ellen!

>128 EBT1002: Catch. Up. On. LibraryThing. Sigh. Me, too. Unlikely for me.

>135 EBT1002: I missed most of the discussion about moving, and hope that your new town will be good for both of you.

Wordle 1,009 3/6*

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leapt, stole, towel
Whew - I guessed right from among my options.

>138 Owltherian: I hope it was a good day!

>139 msf59: Hi Mark. Thank you for the recommendation! It sounds right up my alley.

>140 karenmarie: Hi Karen. Yeah, “caught up on” LT is a relative thing. I feel like I should at least stay up to date on my own thread! lol. I did that and visited a few threads yesterday. I spent a lot of hours working on the jigsaw puzzle.

I did finish She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. It was a good story written by a nonbinary author — in this one the blurb about the author uses “she” but in the copy of the sequel I saw at the library they use “they.” It’s set in 14th century China, a sort of historical fantasy centering around warring factions, family loyalty and intrigue, ambition and revenge. I struggled to keep the different factions and alliances straight but reading it more steadily would have taken care of that. I liked the integrated gender bending and there are some interesting characters. My main quibble is the same greed and ambition we see in the world but with a gender-neutral hero. Lots of people die as collateral to the desire for power and fame. I guess I wanted something more radical.
3.5 stars

Started Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma last night. It’s a fun and thoughtful read so far.

Hi Ellen. Happy Sunday, now a day that can be enjoyed, right? I am enjoying the discussion in Monsters as well. I think we'll have a lot to talk about.

>144 EBT1002: Super relevant to the modern world, so I hope it ends up being a really good read. Happy week-aheads reads, Ellen.

>145 BLBera: Hi Beth and Happy Sunday! You're right -- no more Sunday afternoon blues for me. Of course, I still absolutely find things to worry about, but they aren't work! Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma is a fun read so far.

>146 richardderus: Hi Richard! Yes, it is relevant, and I like her approach. It is nuanced and respectful of nuance; acknowledging that no human is one-dimensional, and sorting through the human inability to un-know what we know about an artist as well as our inability to set aside what we know about an artist. Except when we can and do. All in straightforward, easy prose.

I have been away from my laptop and this LT doing lots of different thing. I love following your sketching and watercolor journey. I bought a gelli print and have been experimenting with printing and multimedia work. There are so many great online courses out there. I do enjoy getting together with a few others once a month to share our work as well as ideas.

Hope you are well! I have made it a retired-Monday rule to read in bed!

Wordle 1,010 4/6*

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scone, stair, sadly, Sally

Happy Monday!!

Wordle 1,011 3/6*

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react, arson, mayor

I could not sleep last night so I sat up quite a while in the wee hours reading Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma. I’m not sure that was a good thing because this book is so thought provoking. I read the chapter “about” Wagner, Willa Cather, and Virginia Woolfe. It’s really about our place in history, and our tendency to think about such artists (add Laura Ingalls Wilder to the list) as being “a product of their time,” not “knowing better” as we do today. Ha. She destructs that comfortable notion and she does it with wit and clarity.

I’m reading this as a library ebook and it’s a book I think I’ll want to purchase in traditional book form. SO good.

>151 EBT1002: I myownself am really quite fond of that comfy piece of denial. Even knowing that people are rotten-souled cads and bounders with more hateful stupidities than a cat got fleas, I still want to enjoy the creeps' art.

*ostriching away*

>151 EBT1002: This reminds me of that section of W.H. Auden's poem on the death of Yeats:

Time that with this strange excuse
Pardoned Kipling and his views,
And will pardon Paul Claudel,
Pardons him for writing well

Wordle 1,012 6/6*

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tread, shout, stump, stuck, stuff, stung

Whew.

6 for me today too Ellen. Ugh! I hate when that happens.

Tonight for dinner we made Crisp Gnocchi with Sausage and Peas from The New York Times. It was SOOOO good! We used hot Italian sausage and basil, used white wine in place of water. Five stars!

>148 witchyrichy: Hi Karen. It's so fun to explore creativity without having to squeeze it in mostly on the weekends. And I love retired-Monday read in bed day!! I'll be borrowing that.

>152 richardderus: What I love about this book, Richard -- one of the things I love about it -- is its permission giving. There are no prescriptions and Dederer is absolutely clear that she still loves the art produced by some monsters. TBH, the ubiquity of monsters becomes part of her point.

The chapter about Nabokov, who appears by all accounts not to have been a monster, was fascinating. She talks about our conflation of art and artist, but also about the distinction between having monstrous thoughts and acting on those thoughts. She also brings a remarkable set of questions to her critical analysis of Lolita, including why only Humbert Humbert gets to have any voice in the novel but it's titled Lolita. She believes Nabokov was completely aware and intentional in his depiction of a young girl erased by a monster. And she suggests that his persistent return to the theme of sexual abuse of young girls in his novels is actually less monstrous than the actions of geniuses who arrogantly act on their monstrous impulses. And yet, if there is an artist we think of when we think of monsters (in this specific use of that term), Nabokov would be pretty high on the list.

I'm blathering on. But you can see that I'm enjoying the book and certainly engaged with her ideas!

>153 ffortsa: Judy, that is spot on. Thank you for sharing! I'm finding myself fascinated with this whole area of thought and exploration. I'm certainly in agreement that we are living in a moment in history and our delusion that we in the 21st century have grown past monstrousness is just that, a delusion.

>155 lauralkeet: I related to one of the comments on today's Wordle, Laura. Something to the effect of:

Today was like:
- cool, I got a three.
- that's alright, a four is good.
- crap! What did I miss? Okay, fine, I'll take a five.
- aargh! And whew! for not having my streak busted!

>158 EBT1002: There is so much to discuss in this book. The chapter on mothers is pretty interesting as well.

>156 EBT1002: Your dinner sounds delicious, Ellen! It was a Wordle in 6 for me too today. I was glad I didn't get skunked.

>156 EBT1002: I saw that recipe yesterday Ellen, it was top of p age when I was doing my weekly menu planning. It sounds really good but Chris is decidedly lukewarm on gnocchi. Oh well, he has many other good qualities ha ha.

>159 EBT1002: I love it! That's exactly how I felt.

I have missed the entirety of this thread until now, Ellen, but hopefully I will keep up better from here on out. . .

I hope you have a great day!

I think a lot of us here on LT got wordle in 6 yesterday! I sure did and it was probably pure luck I didn't bomb.

Wordle 1,013 3/6*

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shale, steam, speak

This was another with so many possibilities and it was hard to eliminate them — steak, spear, swear….

>158 EBT1002: This is the sign of a really, really good read! Nabokov was, I suspect, a skeevy old guy. He wrote beautifully about troubling things. How hard to know what to make of that....

I Wordled one in 3 today too!! Can't wait to talk more about Monsters. I posted some of my favorite quotes from the book.

Wordle 1,014 3/6*

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tread, share, realm

>160 BLBera: I agree, Beth. The chapter on mothers was very interesting -- with its expanded range of "monstrousness" and the exploration of feeling like a monster (vs. being a monster).

>161 vancouverdeb: The dinner was magnificent, Deb! I'm glad neither of us had a skunk on Wednesday's Wordle.

>162 lauralkeet: Laura, in the comments on the recipe, someone said their husband (or kid? I don't remember, but it matters not) didn't like gnocchi so they made it "with pasta." I'm assuming she didn't brown the pasta (haha) but started with the sausage, followed the recipe, and served over cooked pasta. It would be excellent that way, as well. You do need to like peas (which I do).

>163 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

>164 jessibud2: Yep, Shelley, Wednesday's Wordle was a toughie!

>166 richardderus: Hi Richard. Yes, it is! It was fun to read something that got me thinking so much! And certainly Nabokov had something of an obsession with young girls, but (at least according to Dederer's research) he appears never to have acted on his impulses.

>167 Berly: I'll go look at your thread for the posts from Monsters, Kim. I know I highlighted a bunch of passages but I'm not sure I'll get 'em posted. I'm looking forward to discussing this book!

>170 EBT1002: - But I got today's in 2!! Rather a rarity for me (4 being my average)

I finished Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer last night. If you've visited my thread recently you know I quite enjoyed this philosophical exploration of the relationship between an artist's biography and their art itself. It is a complex, nuanced piece of writing that never gives in to the impulse to make proclamations or even to imply that there is a "correct" way to observe, enjoy, or consume art.

"Consuming a piece of art is two biographies meeting: the biography of the artist that might disrupt the viewing of the art; the biography of the audience member that might shape the viewing of the art. This occurs in every case."

"...genius informs our idea of who gets to do what. Who gets to have license. Who gets to give in to their impulses. Whom we choose to aid and abet when they do indulge in those impulses."

"Sometimes the Past seems incredibly far away, sometimes it seems to have ended last year or even last week; more difficult to accept is the idea that we are living in it right now -- if by the Past, we mean a moment in history when injustice and inhumanity reigned."

I was really taken by the chapter about Nabokov. As Dederer notes, the author of Lolita is perhaps the best known example of an artist and his biography becoming the same thing in the audience's mind. Lolita is both acknowledged as brilliant and reviled as horrific and absolutely unpalatable. Dederer questions this established collective opinion about the author and the novel. She quotes Roman Polanski from an interview in which he normalizes his own sexual behavior with young girls.

"Polanski, of all people, has given us a piece of wisdom here: the desire to rape children is not so unusual. Why should Nabokov tell the story of Humbert? Because, as Polanski tells us, it's an ordinary human story. It's terrible and unthinkable and appalling and it happens all the time. That makes it fit subject matter for a writer."

"Lolita has been defended from the time of its first publication, and the defense goes like this: Nabokov has found the humanity in a monster. This reading re-centers Humbert, and reifies Humbert's own self-concept as extraordinary. But Nobokov is clearly saying something different -- Humbert is, in reality, ordinary as dirt. He's the dirty old man who walks by you every day, disguised in this case by a fancy prose style."

In the chapter about mothers and motherhood, Dederer shares some of her own struggle as a mother who wants, who needs to write. "The truth is, art-making and parenthood act very efficiently as disincentives to one another, and people who say otherwise are deluded, or childless, or men." She notes that women can be monsters, too, although the vast majority of sexual abuse of youngsters, domestic abuse of partners, and murder of, well, of humans, is perpetrated by men. Still, as a society we do identify women monsters. "This is what female monstrousness looks like: abandoning the kids. Always." "If the male crime is rape, the female crime is the failure to nurture. The abandonment of children is the worst thing a woman can do." This is particularly relevant as Dederer's work is all about art and artists. And if parenthood and creating art are incompatible, then women, for whom childcare is still largely, massively, almost absolutely an expectation and assignment, will have trouble finding the time and energy and space in which to create art.

In the end Dederer offers no easy answers to the question of how we should, whether we should consume and enjoy and maybe even love the art of monstrous men. "The way you consume art doesn't make you a bad person, or a good one. You'll have to find some other way to do that."

I started reading Held by Anne Michaels this morning. It took a minute to get settled in but I think this is going to be another good one.

>173 EBT1002: I've been following your comments on this book with interest. I find that this subject comes up quite frequently on the threads, but I've never read a book about it. Does she talk at all about authors who were Nazis or Nazi sympathizers?

>171 EBT1002: If I had to guess why, it was down to the subject of Stacy Schiff's incredibly vividly painted Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)...she would not have put up with such shenanigans for a single instant.

>173 EBT1002: This has gone on the list. I've always had a problem with Lolita.

>174 EBT1002: I hope this hits the spot for you as much as it did me Ellen.

>169 EBT1002: Thanks for the cooking tip, Ellen. I'm a fan of peas, too. I really like another NYT recipe, Creamy Pasta with Smoked Bacon and Peas. We grow peas in our garden so I might try them in "your" recipe when the time comes.

Happy Saturday, Ellen. You got me with Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma. What a troubling and fascinating subject. I think about this in regard to Michael Jackson and Woody Allen, despite them never being charged with anything.

>173 EBT1002: I wonder what the definition of monsters is. Does J.K. Rowling qualify?

Wordle 1,015 3/6*

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raise, drone, force

>175 labfs39: Yes, she talks about Wagner, Lisa, and his essay damning the Jews. Very interesting chapter.

>176 richardderus: That looks like an interesting read, Richard. I will look for it. Honestly, I've never read Lolita for all the reasons associated with this discussion, but Dederer actually kind of made me want to read it. Dederer is a literary critic first and foremost and I really appreciated her perspective.

>177 Caroline_McElwee: I hope you enjoy Monsters, Caroline. I found myself reading passages out loud to Prudence, making notes, and wanting my very own copy of the book.

I read some more in Held last night and I am very much enjoying it. Her writing is spare and poignant.

>178 lauralkeet: We had the leftovers from the gnocchi, sausage, and peas recipe last night, Laura, and I still love it. The Creamy Pasta with Smoked Bacon and Peas sounds wonderful. Right up my alley. I will find it on the NYT Cooking app. Thanks!

>179 msf59: Hi Mark. Dederer talks about Woody Allen and Michael Jackson quite a bit. She describes this wonderful scene of herself, sitting in a coffee shop, and the Jackson 5 song "I Want You Back" comes on. She finds herself bopping along in her seat and asking herself questions. At that point in his life, MJ was more a victim than a perpetrator and she asks the questions of herself: can I love his early music? and so on. One of the greatest strengths of Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma is her insistence that our response to art is inexorably subjective. It is affected by knowing the biography of the artist -- and it can be affected in many directions -- but ultimately, we respond to art from a subjective emotional place (partly based on our own biography).

>180 elorin: Hi Robyn. I think J. K. Rowling would qualify as a monster although of a lesser degree than some. She may hold and express abominable opinions but, as far as we know, she hasn't assaulted anyone. I think Dederer would be most interested in exploring how knowing what we know about Rowling affects our response to her art. There are people who will no longer read her work. There are others who read and love her work but have a persistent uncomfortable feeling about it, who feel the work is stained by her biography. The concept of staining of work is one she returns to several times in the book. The art is stained by what we know about the artist, and like red wine spilled on a carpet, we can't stop the staining. We can't un-spill the wine and we can't un-know what we know. So, yes, I think Rowling would "qualify" as a monster, at least to those of us who abhor her perspective on trans and nonbinary humans.

>173 EBT1002: Nice comments.

>185 EBT1002: My daughter and I have discussed this issue re J. K. Rowling A LOT. She has removed her special editions of Harry Potter from prominent display in her home. It is unlikely I will revisit the Potter books simply because I've already read most of them at least twice. I think if I DID want to look at them again, I'd be able to enjoy them without constantly thinking of the person who wrote them. In this case, I don't think the work is "stained", because there isn't a hint of her "abominable opinions" (great way to put it) in them as far as I remember. I got very tired of the Cormoran Strike series a few books back, so I can't claim any credit for not buying the new ones. I would NOT, however, do anything that would put another penny in her pocket, and that includes borrowing her work from a public library, because circulation numbers are meaningful to their decisions about replacing worn out volumes and purchasing new works by the same author.

I have put Monsters on my active TBR (placed a library hold). I've thought about this a good deal, mostly in the context of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Orson Scott Card. The former was posthumously accused by her daughter of dreadful abuses, and the latter was publicly vocal in opposition to gay marriage.

I remember during her lifetime how much MZB's fiction formed a lifeline for some readers, how her depictions of a gay protagonist were treasured. I also understand something of madness and the devastation that can surround it, and what the clash of Neo-Victorian mid-century modern morality and the sexual revolution's enforced permissiveness churned up. When the abuser is the primary source of income, even if bat shit crazy, what options seem adequate? Or maybe MZB's fiction was utterly hypocritical and calculatedly manipulative. On repeated readings, it hasn't seemed so.

Card and Rowling, being still alive, present the other problem - should I support an author whose ethics and public stance are vastly different than my own? It's got to be individual and idiosyncratic. I'll read Card, but not buy more of his books. I won't even read more Rowling, just because her forum is so huge.

>187 laytonwoman3rd: - I would note that the HP books may not include Rowling's anti-trans bullshit, but they are full of other problematic tropes, stereotypes, and prejudices (the bankers, Cho Chang, the anti-Irish stuff, etc.). I don't think a lot of this was talked about until she jumped into the TERF debate; maybe people started (re-)reading them with a different eye?

Hi Ellen!

While I agree with all the issues raised by the Monsters book, and I am looking forward to reading it myself, I wonder what our literary lives would look like if we took out all the authors who were guilty of something at any point in their literary careers? The list gets incredibly long, incredibly quickly.

>189 katiekrug: "maybe people started (re-)reading them with a different eye?" Entirely possible. (Both my mother and my father-in-law were bankers, and I'm afraid they might have held similar views of the profession, though!)

>184 EBT1002: Ellen, I think all of the comments here are exactly what Dederer was addressing; our reactions to art are emotional and subjective. While some may continue to listen to, read, watch, etc. an artist who is monstrous, others may not. And that is OK.

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clone, roast, patio, taboo

Just guessed wrong on that third try.

>186 BLBera: Thanks Beth.

>187 laytonwoman3rd: That is a perfect example of Dederer's thesis, Linda. Each of us manages our reaction to an artist's biography in our own way -- and there will be individual differences in the degree to which our consumption of the art is impacted by any "stain" that bleeds into the work from the biography.

>188 quondame: I hope you enjoy the read, Susan. I can't remember the name of the gay Seattle musician she talked about (they were not familiar to me) who was beloved by the gay community, and later accused of sexual assault, but she talks about the particular feeling of betrayal this engendered in that community. She talks (briefly) about the feeling we (and I'm using "we" a lot here, and she has some things to say about that, too) have when we feel like we've discovered an artist or we have a particular resonance to something about them, how they feel like they are "ours" -- and how hard this can be when we learn they have monstrous qualities. All very interesting.

>189 katiekrug: Hi Katie. The whole JKR thing tends to go over my head. I have read the first HP book twice, both times intending to continue with the series and both times finding myself utterly uninterested in doing so.

>190 labfs39: I think Dederer would agree with you wholly, Lisa (and so do I, FWIW). I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it.

>191 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda!

>192 BLBera: Exactly, Beth!

I repeat Beth's comment here:

"I think all of the comments here are exactly what Dederer was addressing; our reactions to art are emotional and subjective. While some may continue to listen to, read, watch, etc. an artist who is monstrous, others may not. And that is OK."

I love that Dederer's book and my comments have initiated such a great discussion. Isn't it delightful when a book does that?

It's a lovely sunny day in eastern Washington. I'm not sure what I'll do with it. We have agreed to an asking price with the realtor we've selected so we have much work ahead of us in continuing to get the house ready to put on the market. P is really ready to leave this community and move back to western Oregon. I feel less urgency but I'm moving forward at her speed as I realize how unhappy she is here.

We've rented a storage unit and have already taken boxes of books and jigsaw puzzles there. We've started packing up some of our dishes, most of our cookbooks, etc., so we'll just keep plowing ahead. We're taking lots of stuff to the thrift store; I'm trying to be ruthless about what I do or don't keep.

An odd collection we have is of note cards and postcards. SO many of them!! Some are from our travels, picked up as either souvenirs or with the intention of, you know, sending them to someone. Others we (mostly I) have accumulated just because I liked them. I've gone through phases of sending post cards and, less often, note cards to family and friends, but it would take a lot of writing to use all of these! So, I need to decide which to keep and which to donate.

Our realtor gave us tickets to see the "Broadway Across America" production of "My Fair Lady" in Spokane next weekend. That will be fun!

I'm still reading Held by Anne Michaels and may finish that today. It's a pretty quick read and quite enjoyable so far.

>195 EBT1002: "We" is a weird one, isn't it. Ownership/membership/identification admixed with adversarial/judgmental/jealous feelings. "I am in THIS FANDOM and you are not so speak no words of criticism or I am entitled to shout at you." It troubles me more and more as fan toxicity gets more powerfully amplified. Can any level of this behavior work?

Dunno. But have not thought of it until Firefly/the Whedonverse blew up in the Aughts.

Ha. Prudence reminded me that we are going to power wash the front porch today. So that is one thing I'm doing with my lovely sunny day. (I actually kind of enjoy power washing.)

And Oregon State women play South Carolina today.

>197 EBT1002: I'm following your relo plans with interest, Ellen. As you know we moved from Philly to Northern VA three years ago. There were a number of factors that made us decide to leave Philly, but the most significant was Chris' degree of unhappiness. We both had our share of things that didn't quite work out the way we thought, but he was really really fed up. So I can relate to working at your spouse's pace on something like this.

We have friends who moved from the east coast to Bend, OR several years ago. They were originally from CA and ID and wanted to get back to that part of the country. They've been very happy in Bend. Is that anywhere near where you're looking to settle?

>37 lauralkeet: late to this, just finding your thread Our indie does that blind date with a book and Ive got some winners, along with the duds. My fav was during banned books month. The clue was 'language, disobedient children, inappropriat themes and cannabalism" it was that last that got me I had a feeling it was Shel Silverstien and was right. Here is the poem in question https://allpoetry.com/Ladies-First-

>116 EBT1002: How did you like she who became the sun?

>190 labfs39: agreed. All my life Ive tried to separate the artist from the work, but its darn hard Bill Cosby played a large role in my life growing up. Woody Allens movies gave me laughter, Marion zimmer Bradely gave me awe, Van Morrison gave me song. Cutting them off would take some piece away. I think I have to make my peace with my abhorance at montrous deeds, fight for justice, and still find myself moved by so much of the work.

' maybe people started (re-)reading them with a different eye?" I know that as I read books I loved decades ago I know my eyes indeed have changed. I loved Kim, but now see the issues behind it. Any books written during a certain time are going to change focus if looked at through the lense of today. I think trying to change them like some want is just silly. Its if we continue to behave and speak the same as before, thats a problem., thats what needs to change

" "The way you consume art doesn't make you a bad person, or a good one. You'll have to find some other way to do that."and

" our reactions to art are emotional and subjective. While some may continue to listen to, read, watch, etc. an artist who is monstrous, others may not. And that is OK."

yes to both

>197 EBT1002: Broadway Across America" production of "My Fair Lady"

my sis and I saw that this summer and it was delightful. Usually I dont care for massive changes of a love peice of art, but the changes here reall work. (i could have danced all night!)

>173 EBT1002: On a slightly different but associated topic Mr SandDune has decided that the next subject that he will present for his discussion club is to look at what criteria we should use to judge historical figures. He'll be looking at Cecil Rhodes as an example, as there's a local connection, and there's ongoing controversy as to whether his statue should be removed from a college in Oxford.

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>200 lauralkeet: Hi Laura. Thanks for sharing about your move from Philly to Northern VA. I didn't know some of those details about the move. I know your new (old) house is amazing!!! Bend is in central Oregon, about 2-3 hours east of Corvallis. It is in the dry, high desert part of the state, right in the shadow of the Three Sisters, three snow-capped mountains. It is lovely there and has become quite the destination over the past couple decades. It is great for golfers, people who fish or hunt, skiers, etc. It is too dry for those of us who want to garden. :-)

Corvallis is an interesting community. It has Oregon State University along with a few other primary employers (HP has a printer division there and CM2MHill, an engineering company, is headquartered there, I think). It is one hour from the Oregon coast and about 2 hours from the Cascade Mountains for hiking and camping. It's 90 minutes south of Portland and right in the heart of Oregon wine country. It is definitely in the rainy part of Oregon but I don't mind that. For some people, the rain is a no-go.

We did power wash the front porch and steps yesterday and they look much better. Prudence grilled a delicious pork loin and I made macaroni salad to go with it and we had a lovely bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir with our dinner. I got to play with my watercolor some and I finished reading Held by Anne Michaels last night. It is a lovely, lyrical novel, almost a collection of stories with a loose character thread holding them together. It explores themes of war, love, loss, and the longing to be held in all its metaphorical meanings. It's a really beautiful novel and I definitely recommend it.

>201 cindydavid4: cindy, that poem is delightful! Thank you for sharing!

>202 cindydavid4: I liked She Who Became the Sun. I had a couple minor quibbles but overall I thought it was an enjoyable and well-written story. My very brief comments are in >143 EBT1002:.

>203 cindydavid4: "I think I have to make my peace with my abhorance at montrous deeds, fight for justice, and still find myself moved by so much of the work." That is a stance with which Dederer would resonate. One thing she might say in response to your comments about Kim is to question whether we should be letting folks off the hook because of their time in history. She challenges the notion that "they didn't know any better" in their time in history, and points a very poignant finger at our own, current time. Racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, anti-queer sentiments and actions, various efforts at genocide -- all are alive and well and kicking hard.

>204 cindydavid4: Good to know, cindy. I don't usually like massive revisions of classics, either, but I will go to this with an open mind. I'm such a fan of Julie Andrews that it's hard to imagine this will live up to that. LOL.

>205 SandDune: Hi Rhian. I hope the discussion Mr. SandDune leads is a good one. As you know, there has been massive controversy over the removal -- or not -- of statues to Confederate "heroes" in the U.S. South.

March was a slow reading month for me. I only completed five books. Part of this was that She Who Became the Sun was a slow read for me and occupied more of my reading days than I would have liked. Also, March Madness and preparing to move. We'll see how April goes.

>209 EBT1002: hope it does! (tho honestly, who could? Still miffed she didnt get to play that character in the movie....)

Your spoiler in your review was exactly what I thought. Somehow I thought it would be a bit different; however this story was very much in its time and place, based on history, that I decided I could live with that

Just found this in a review of held and wanted to share it

“There are so many ways the dead show us they are with us. Sometimes they stay deliberately absent, in order to prove themselves by returning. Sometimes they stay close and then leave in order to prove they were with us. Sometimes they bring a stag to a graveyard, a cardinal to a fence, a song on the wireless as soon as you turn it on. Sometimes they bring a snowfall.”

I will add Held to my WL, Ellen. Sigh. At this rate, I am going to have to live forever.

>207 EBT1002: Thanks for that explanation, Ellen. I know very little about Oregon and its climate. Corvallis sounds nice!

>212 cindydavid4: Thanks for sharing the review, cindy. I really enjoyed Held. Is that from The Guardian? I read their review and this sounds like it might be same?

I'm glad we had a similar reaction to She Who Became the Sun. I really liked it; I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it, especially because we have so few gender neutral writers getting published and this was an entertaining read. Are you familiar with their new novel, He Who Drowned the World? It was on the New Books shelf at my local library and that is what motivated me to read SWBtS since I already had it on my own shelves.

>213 BLBera: Cracked me up, Beth. Living forever just to read all the books would be pretty sweet, wouldn't it?

>214 lauralkeet: We just need to get you out to Portland for a meet-up and a bit of touring around the state, Laura!!!! It's truly beautiful.

>215 EBT1002: yes the review was from the guardian and no I didnt know they had a new one! really would like to read it

the coast of Oregon is a must see, and Portland, well, Powells of course. Plan to spend a few days.....

Hm. Corvalis isn't exactly around the corner from Portland. However, if you are interested in a meetup, Jim and I will be in Portland 5/27 (late) to 6/3 (early). My cousin Bonnie is having another art show at the Portland Jewish Museum, and we are taking the opportunity to see her and Richard again. Even my sister is coming! There's a talk and concert at the museum on 5/29 and I'm hoping Kim and Reba can make it too. It would be a treat to see you.

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This was a fun one!

>216 cindydavid4: Oh yes, Powells. One of my favorite places on Earth.

>217 ffortsa: Judy, Corvallis IS right around the corner from Portland! It’s a straight shot 90 minutes up I-5. I don’t know that we’ll have moved yet but if you’re in Portland the end of May / beginning of June, then we should be thinking about a meetup.

>156 EBT1002: That sounds delicious!

>173 EBT1002: I will put this on my list. I always put books on a paper list so that when I happen to be in a bookstore or library I can glance at it. Otherwise I would forget all the great recommendations ;)

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I had three possible words left after my second guess and I guessed correctly!

I’ve been reading The Wager and it’s quite good!

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Woo hoo!!!!

>225 EBT1002: NICE.

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I actually said “Yes!” out loud when I got this one. Very pleased.

Packing and cleaning has kept me busy. I’m reading The Wager but not very quickly. It’s really good!

Tonight we’re going to see the Broadway Across America production of “My Fair Lady” in Spokane. Spending the night which will be a nice respite from the craziness of preparing to put the house on the market.

Watched the Women’s Basketball semifinals last night and my two teams won (that Iowa-UConn game was a squeaker!).

I finally made some time to do the next exercise in my online watercolor class yesterday. Both reading and watercolor have suffered from the packing and cleaning. Ugh. So much for lots of free time —haha.

>228 EBT1002: "Free time" in retirement presupposes not making major life changes like running away to new cities...so no, not much time, still less free time until y'all're settled in the new place.

Great Wordleing!

>228 EBT1002: How did you like My Fair Lady?

Good thing your art classes are online if you’re upping stakes, Ellen. Best of luck with all the packing.

Good luck with all the packing! I look forward to having you closer to Portland.

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I hesitated on this one but I didn’t like my other option.

“My Fair Lady” was fantastic!! Wonderful songs, beautiful set, fine acting, singing, and dancing. I used to listen to my Dad’s LP of the original Broadway cast so I knew most of the words. Very fun. And with a satisfying twist at the end!!

yes wasnt it tho! I hope it comes to my area again soon, would like to watch it again

>234 EBT1002: I played my mom's recording of that same My Fair Lady until it was nearly smooth.

>234 EBT1002: Isn't memory an amazing thing? I can't remember the plot of a book I read two months ago but I could sing the whole My Fair Lady album with no trouble. So great that you enjoyed the show. I saw it in NY a couple of years ago (not sure if it's the same production) and loved it.

I loooove My Fair Lady. Such great music! Ellen, I had to consult Google re: your spoiler comment. I see they changed the ending from the original and while I'm sure there are some who are opposed to that (including the author of a piece I read online), it makes sense to me.

>237 vivians: I played in the pit orchestra for our high school musicals and while we didn't perform My Fair Lady, the shows we did are permanently etched into my brain, especially The Music Man and Oklahoma. Old-style musical theater is the best.

>237 vivians: I still have all the soundtracks my parents had. my sis would play the music on the piano and wed both sing along

>238 lauralkeet: I agree with the critics that it takes away from the time period of the piece, but its not that much a change, and its time to chang

>234 EBT1002: >238 lauralkeet: Did the use the original ending of Shaw's Pygmalion or come up with yet another ending?

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This felt a bit like throwing spaghetti at a dart board. Haha.

Hi there!! Love your writeup of Monsters and all the discussion here. : )

Best of luck cleaning things up for selling. Although I think Portland is better than Corvalis. Just saying. ; )

Also, you should never throw spaghetti - it's very hard to clean up.

>229 richardderus: I know, right, Richard? I might have waited a year to do all this but P is ready, ready, ready to get out of this town!

>230 cindydavid4: "My Fair Lady" was delightful, cindy!

>231 Familyhistorian: Yeah, I'm really glad the classes are all on line at this point, Meg, although once we move I think I'd like to see if I can find an in-person class. I'd really like the direct instruction that would come with in-person interaction.

>232 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda. Whether we end up in Corvallis or Olympia (we keep waffling), we'll most certainly be closer to Portland and I'm excited about that!

>235 cindydavid4: The various songs are taking turns getting stuck in my head now. LOL

>236 quondame: Julie Andrews, right, Susan. Her voice is one of the best, ever.

>237 vivians: I do think this is the same production, Vivian, with a regional traveling cast. And yes, the thing about music and memory always amazes me. A song I haven't heard in 30 years will come on the radio and I can sing it without error. I started reading a book called This is Your Brain on Music several years ago, loaned it to my BIL, and never saw it again. I'd still like to obtain a copy and read it.

>238 lauralkeet: The revised ending caught the audience by surprise, I think, Laura. It took me a moment to process it and I loved it. Truly, 99.5% of the production was completely true to the original script, so I kept thinking "I thought there was something revisionist about this!" and then, at the very end -- I mean the very last 20 seconds of the show! -- the revision occurred.

The LPs I listened to as a pre-teen and teenager are likewise etched in my brain, Laura. The ones I listened to, sang along to, acted out in our living room the most include Oliver!, Camelot, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady. It all depended on my dad's taste. :-)

>239 cindydavid4: I love that we all have these memories of these old musicals.

>240 cindydavid4: For me, it was a fitting end.

>241 quondame: At the end, Eliza goes back to confront Henry and there is clearly strong feeling between them, but at the very last moment, she walks out instead of falling into his arms -- all this after he expresses his care for her but also continues in his conviction that he "created" her, etc.

>243 Berly: "...you should never throw spaghetti - it's very hard to clean up." LOL

>246 EBT1002: just so long that she doesnt marry Freddy, ewwww (tho'on the street where you live" is so wonderful)and yes those four were among our faves, along. I remember watching Oliver on screen and went back to play the album, it was different but I discovered both soundtracks work

I remember my HS enlish teacher played us "why cant the English learn to speak" and I started singing along...and I dont sing very well so that wasn't appreciated by the class. fav line : "In American I hear the language has entirely disappeared"

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tripe, scare, rogue, merge

I’m getting a massage this morning! The first one I’ve had since before the pandemic. Yay!

I made spaghetti sauce and played bartender last night — made us Sidecars, a new one for me. Yum. And we rewatched “Ocean’s Eight” which was perfect entertainment.

Jealous!! Next time give me a heads up and I'll drive up! LOL

Happy Wednesday, Ellen. I am finding Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma a fascinating read. She's a good writer. Lots to chew on here.

That revised ending of My Fair Lady is actually related to the play 'Pygmalion', the basis of the musical. In an afterword (Shaw loves afterwards!), she does indeed marry Freddy, open a flower shop, and come by now and then to pick out Higgins's ties.

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Cue the song from My Fair Lady: “with a little bit of luck…”

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This has been one of my occasional starter words!

Got today in 3 as well!

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haste, pinch, whiny

Today I’m going to Spokane with two friends. Bookstore shopping, food (duh), and they agreed to go to the art supplies store with me. I’m looking forward to it!

The past couple days, P and I have worked really hard on the house — more trips to the storage unit and the thrift store, lots of cleaning. Yesterday I power washed the back deck. The house is just about ready to go. And we’re both exhausted. This kind of thing was easier in our 40s. Or even our 50s! LOL

Last night we rewatched the original pilot for “Endeavor.” I love that show.

I’m reading The Vulnerables and it’s quite good.

>261 EBT1002: Have a great trip to Spokane, Ellen. Would love to join you guys as I have been known to enjoy the occasional book purchase!

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stain, stuck, strep, steel

I honestly wasn’t sure how to approach this one.

We had fun in Spokane. I bought

James by Percival Everett
The Details by Ia Genberg and
Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong

The latter two are shortlisted for the Booker International Prize.

>264 EBT1002: I requested James from the library but it will be a while. Chris is muttering about possibly buying it. We'll see. Either way it looks like a good one! I'm not familiar with the other two; will watch for your thoughts.

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plane, clump, blimp

Whew. I think most of the work is done. I’m so ready to have more time — and more leftover mental energy!! — for reading, painting, and LT. We meet with our realtor later this morning. We’ll see what’s next!

I admit I’m getting a bit nervous about putting the house up for sale before we have a place to go….

>264 EBT1002: Oooo! Mater 2-10, though a doorstopper, is calling my name...I hope you like it (and get to it before me, in case it's a bowser). *smooch*

>267 EBT1002: I'm sure the place looks great! Good luck with the realtor. Can't wait for you to move closer to me. : )

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haste, model, reign, equip

Awake since about 3am, I finally just got up and started the coffee. Nothing bad, just lots going on and the stress level is high. But I spoke out loud yesterday my feeling that we may want to delay our New Zealand trip by 6 months or a year. We just have too much going on. No decision yet but it felt good to raise the question.

I finished The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez today. I wasn't as blown away as I was by The Friend a few years ago but this was an interesting, contemplative novel. It subtly provides stories embedded within the main story, each about someone whose vulnerability sits squarely beside their strength and resilience. At times humorous, often poignant, I found myself caring about each of the stories and the narrator whose own vulnerability threads throughout. This is not one of those "hope emerging from the ashes of trauma and despair" novels. Nor is it the literary equivalent of doomscrolling. Ultimately, this is a story about humans and their humanity. Which means all of the above.

Windows washed, house cleaned. Now we're afraid to do anything in the house until after the photographs are done tomorrow. Ha.

We went out to lunch and I picked up The Trackers by Charles Frazier and The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater. Does anyone know anything about either of them?

I also made purchase requests for Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange and Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger.

Good luck with the house sale Ellen.

Good luck with the house sale, Ellen. I hope it goes fast.
>272 EBT1002: I had a similar reaction to The Vulnerables. The Friend is still my favorite.

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amend, chant, shank

>262 PaulCranswick: You have indeed been known to purchase a book or two, Paul.

>265 lauralkeet: I've only read the first chapter of James so far, Laura, but I think it's going to be a good one. Everett establishes very early the difference between the vernacular used by the enslaved people when the white folks are around and that used among themselves.

>268 richardderus: Mater 2-10 does look interesting, Richard. I'm happy to send it your way when I finish reading it but I'm not sure you want to wait that long. :-)

>269 Berly: We're in the final tidying before the photographer comes this morning, Kim. Yikes!!

>274 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline!

>275 BLBera: I was trying to remember who else had read The Vulnerables, Beth. I should've known it was you! It was a good read but The Friend was special.

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dealt, trope, thyme, tithe

I really wanted my third guess to be it.

Today is the first day in a long while that we don't have a million house-related chores to do. The photographer did her work yesterday and the realtors' open house is tomorrow morning. We have a couple errands to run but otherwise the day is open. It is sunny and cold. I plan to go for a nice long walk while P goes to her water exercise class. I also plan to spend some time with my watercolors and to make some progress in the excellent James.

>273 EBT1002:
57 Bus was a highly rated book. It as on the ALA's Best Books for Teens list. I never got a chance to read it because it disappeared off of the library shelves - more than once. Eventually we never got it back. It simply went to lost/missing. I would have liked to read it and kept watching for it to come into the library. Since it didn't, I never got it read. By-the-way, the local public library copy is missing as well. Usually when a book is lost/missing it is an indication that it is controversial and either people love it or they hate it.

why do people feel thats ok? dont get it, or this Vandals captured on camera smashing protected red rocks at national park vandals, all of them

>277 EBT1002: yeah, because I'm runnin' outta stuff to read...only 11,000 Kindlebooks to go...

If you remember, sure! I'd love to have it, but no rush whatsoever.

Good luck with the house, Ellen! And enjoy your day off. I read my first Everett last year and am looking forward to James.

Wordle 1,034 3/6*

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Fun for house-on-the-market day!!

Wordle 1,035 2/6*

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One of my morning Wordle buddies got it in one today!

I Wordled in 2 as well today, Ellen. *fist bump*
Happy Friday!

Wordle 1,036 4/6*

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Still busy. Two showings yesterday and another scheduled later this morning. It’s hard to relax when the house has to stay SO clean and tidy. But we’re glad there’s some interest… Fingers crossed!

>288 EBT1002: Wordlebot did NOT like my second guess. I see his point (Wordlebot must be male, mustn’t he?) but I rushed it this morning and didn’t think of the words ending in -ID, any of which would have been better.

>289 EBT1002: Good news about the showings. Hopefully, it will sell soon, so you can loosen up on the tidiness. :)

Reading about Trump trial, thinking about the upcoming election, shaking my head in wonder….
This line in James resonated for me this morning:
”Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.”

>281 benitastrnad: Thanks for the info about 57 Bus Benita.

>282 cindydavid4: It is astonishing, isn't it, cindy?

>283 richardderus: Haha Richard. 11,000 is a lot of books! I'll put a note in the book reminding me to send it your way when I finish.

>284 BLBera: Which book by Percival Everett did you read, Beth?

>287 lauralkeet: It seems a whole bunch of people got yesterday's Wordle in one, Laura. It was a relatively common starter word. I've used it myself now and then!

>291 BLBera: Fingers crossed, Beth! It's hard to stay super tidy when you're a reader! Apparently my MIL once said "it would be easier to keep a tidy house if one were illiterate."

Good luck with the house sale! That process seems so stressful to me. We've been in this house 30 years, so it will be a heavy lift when we decide to move.

we keep getting calls asking us if we want to sell our house. Are you kiddding me? If we did where would I find a place to live with the money we sold it for? and what in the world would we do with all of our stuff esp my books and DHs Legos Dont think we are moving any time soon!

It might be a bad thing if the house sells quickly and you aren't ready to move. Some friends of mine put their house on the market and asked a high price. It sold in less than a week. They thought it would take 45 days to sell. Now they are out on their tin ear living in a hotel until their retirement dates of May 1 and June 1 respectively. The buyer refused to let they stay in their house past April 1, one week after the closing date.
They are moving to Memphis into a house they have owned for a year, so they have a place to go once their jobs are over, but in the meantime Marriott is getting their money.

Best of luck with selling the house, Ellen . Personally, I think the faster it sells the better, because it so stressful to have it super clean for a long time. The first house house we sold took 3 months! and we had two young children , 4 and 9 at the time. Was it ever hard to keep it neat for so long . We had a lot of interest , and we had a deal collapse, but we did sell it. I was so glad when we sold our second place in two weeks. I find it very stressful.

Happy Sunday, Ellen. I want to also wish you luck on the house selling. Can't wait to get my greedy mitts on "James". I am really enjoying Clear: A Novel by Carys Davies. Keep this one in mind.

Good luck with the house selling, Ellen! So stressful...

When we sold our house in Dallas to move up here, it was mostly empty - I was basically camping out in the guest room at the time, and keeping that space and the kitchen and a bathroom neat and clean was bad enough. Thankfully, it sold in under a week :)

Wordle 1,037 5/6*

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clone, moral, lotus, holly, jolly

Whew. This could have gone on for a while.

We have an offer! Details to be learned later today.

This morning we’re going to Drag Brunch, a fund raiser for the LGBTQ center on campus.

>303 EBT1002: Great news! I hope it is a good one.

An offer already, that’s fantastic! Hope everything proceeds smoothly from here on out.

Great news about the offer. Time to hitch up the wagons and move west.

>303 EBT1002: Yay! I hope it's everything y'all hoped for.

An offer sounds promising! May it prove to be so. And the distraction of benefit brunch sounds perfect.

Great news about such a speedy offer Ellen. Fingers X'd.

Fingers crossed with that speedy offer, Ellen! I hope that works out.

Wordle 1,038 3/6*

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dealt, lance, laser

We accepted the offer!!!! And we have a plan for next year. More soon ….

>312 EBT1002: Woo hoo! That's great, Ellen. Your Wordle is pretty good, too ha ha.

>312 EBT1002: Congratulations! That's excellent news!

>312 EBT1002: Great news, Ellen!

>312 EBT1002: Huzzah! Plans are great for getting on with.

Wow, so fast! Congrats!!

mazel tov!

Wordle 1,039 6/6*

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share, tired, lower, cover, mover, rover

Whew!

Thanks for the hoorays, everyone. Here's some new scoop:

We're scheduled to close at the end of June which is great. We have two months to get ourselves organized and out of the house. In the midst of all this, we just have not found a house we want to buy. So, last week we started thinking more earnestly about renting and I rather blithely said "what if we rented a place in Camp Sherman for a year?" Well, we looked on line thinking "yeah, right, this won't happen," and there was a house, a perfect house for rent. We'll see it next week and we've talked to the owners and it just feels so right!! We can bring Carson (non-negotiable for us and they were totally fine with it). It's fully furnished so that presents some logistical challenges but we've been planning on getting rid of a lot of furniture anyway. They're flexible on start date anytime between June 1 and July 1. There's a cute little nook that can be my art space. We LOVE Camp Sherman! This feels like a little dream come true.

And ... not a done deal yet. Like I said, we've not yet committed and we get to see it next week. We planned months ago to spend a few days at CS. Serendipity? It feels like it!

Ooh that sounds amazing Ellen. Fingers crossed!

I finished James by Percival Everett last night. It's a hard book to "review" without spoilers. It's the first-person narrative of Jim, the enslaved man in Huckleberry Finn. One thing I can mention that emerges in the first chapter is the dynamic of speech and syntax. Jim speaks in "slave dialect" until he doesn't -- and he doesn't when he is with other slaves with no "massa" around. This theme of code switching threads throughout the novel and Everett uses it to poignantly and powerfully illuminate the resourcefulness, resilience, and self-respect of people held in bondage during the brutal years immediately preceding the U.S. Civil War. There are a couple surprises in the story, each handled brilliantly by the author.

I don't know how closely this story mirrors Twain's original story but I'm interested in rereading that novel now. Everett gives Twain a respectful and affectionate shout-out in the acknowledgments.

Definitely recommended with a caveat that the last quarter of the book has a couple particularly painful sections. It's a story about enslaved humans; how could it speak truth without speaking to pain?

Is Camp Sherman the name of a city? I am not familiar with that name.
So great when things fall into place!

Fingers crossed it all works out how you want it to!

Congratulations on getting your house sold so quickly and I hope Camp Sherman works out perfectly for you.

>320 EBT1002: What a delightful possibility! I hope it all comes together in this promising way!

Fingers crossed that Camp Sherman's 300-ish souls increase by three soon.

Yay for the successful offer and your plans for the year. Exciting Ellen.

Off to check out Camp Sherman.

ETA: Beautiful.

>320 EBT1002: HUGE congratulations on everything working out for you, Ellen!! I am still hoping for a meet up one of these days :)

>322 EBT1002: I read Everett's The Trees and thought it was excellent. It looks as though I will have to check out James too. Thanks for the recommendation, Ellen!

Wordle 1,040 3/6*

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trade, entry, overt

Congrats, Ellen! Some things are just meant to be.

Things are really moving for you. Congratulations!

Wordle 1,041 4/6*

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plant, tenor, north, intro

It took me forever to see it this morning!

>320 EBT1002: Wheeeeee! It all sounds excellent. Is Camp Sherman near where you'd like to settle eventually? I peeked, and it looks like a very very nice place to spend a year.

Wordle 1,042 4/6*

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least, manic, rapid, vapid

Just referring back to JKR talk from farther up...having not read Harry Potter or being invested in her as a fan at all, I was kind of indifferently interested in the process of her 'cancellation' and now in what seems to be her un-cancellation (if that's a thing?!).
I listened to an excellent podcast (that is a grand total of 2 podcasts I have ever listened to now) on the topic which I found pushed me to think outside of my safe-zone. I can highly recommend it...well, I would be if I could recall its name. Something to do with witch trials, I think?

My Wordles have been woefully low lately...a lot of 4s and 5s. I lost my 190 streak, so think I have possible disengaged a little bit.

>320 EBT1002: good luck with the house!!

Wordle 1,043 4/6*

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LADEN, SHALE, ALERT, GLEAM

I’m still reading American Cult, a graphic history of religious cults in the U.S. and it’s pretty good. Not all chapters are equal in art or storytelling but I’m enjoying it.

I also started Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange yesterday and I can tell it’s going to be a good read.

I am looking forward to the new Tommy Orange. I think I might reread There There first...

Thanks, everyone, for the congrats and Moseltovs -- things are indeed moving quickly!

To answer a couple questions, Camp Sherman is an incorporated little village(?) on the Metolius River in the Oregon Cascade Mountains. The very small community consists largely of summer cabins on the river, many of them 90-100 years old and generally passed along from one generation to the next. There are a few newer homes in small "neighborhoods" (the one we'll be renting was built in 1998). There are several campgrounds, a fish hatchery, and lots of trails nearby. It's about 20 minutes from Sisters, Oregon; this from the Sisters Chamber of Commerce website:

"The Sisters Country, including the charming town of Sisters, Oregon, quaint Camp Sherman, Suttle Lake, Black Butte Ranch, Aspen Lakes Golf Course and Hoodoo Ski Area, all where Central Oregon starts, is a destination like no other. The Sisters Country is an expanse of majestic and inspiring natural beauty reaching from the town of Sisters, Oregon, to the panoramic Pacific Crest Trail. Explore Central Oregon outdoor adventure and cultural experiences including the world renowned Sisters Rodeo, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Sisters Folk Festival, and the Sisters Harvest Faire.

On the edge of town, the Deschutes National Forest offers a 1.6 million-acre playground laced with miles and miles of trails, rivers, lakes, wilderness areas, scenic drives and vistas, clean air, and star filled nights. Choose from rustic cabins, simple campgrounds or world class resorts, all within minutes of downtown Sisters, Oregon. Come for a visit - we guarantee you will want to kick off your boots and stay a while."

The house we're going to rent (we see it Thursday and we're 95% sure we're doing this) is about 1,600 square feet and one of the bedrooms has a sweet little work space facing a window. Can you say Ellen's art space? :-) The house isn't right on the river but it's only about a 5-minute walk away.

Link to article in Bend Magazine

Bend is a town of just over 100K population that is about an hour's drive (38 slow miles) from Camp Sherman.

It is time for me to start a new thread!

>339 BLBera: I think rereading There There first is a good idea, Beth. I don't think it's necessary, however. I'll probably go back and reread it after I finish Wandering Stars.