Familyhistorian’s Keeping Positive Thoughts for a Year of Change – Part 4

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

BLOG



My latest blog posts are inspired by one line on my family tree with links to Canada and the UK. You can see my latest blog posts at: A Genealogist’s Path to History

Little Free Library

Books culled in 2021

January - 0

February - 6

March - 6

April - 5

May - 3

Challenges

Reading Through Time

Quarterly

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

Monthly

January: Shakespeare's Children - The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey - DONE
February: Fashion - The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott - DONE
March: Arggh, Matey - Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton - DONE
April: The Sun Never Sets - The Palace Tiger by Barbara Clevery - DONE
May: Meet the Press
June: Rewriting the Past
July: Now We Are Free
August: Food
September: Time Travel/Prehistoric
October: Supernatural
November: Reader's Choice
December:

2021 Nonfiction Challenge

January: Prizewinners - Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson - DONE
February: Minority Lives Matter
March: Comfort Reading - The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards - DONE
April: The Ancient World - Blood of the Celts by Jean Manco - DONE
May: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
June: Discoveries
July: Cities
August: Transportation
September: Creativity
October: Heroes & Villains
November: Business, the Economy and Big Policy Questions
December: Go Anywhere

Books read in March 2021

The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World by Paul Morland
Why Kings Confess by C.S. Harris
Death Perception by Victoria Laurie
The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society by Dr Debra Soh
In the Teeth of the Evidence by Dorothy L. Sayers
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins
Death Comes to Kurland Hall by Catherine Lloyd
Rupture by Ragnar Jonassen
The Evolution Myth: or The Genes Cry Out Their Urgent Song, Mister Darwin Got It Wrong by Jiri A. Mejsnar
Final Account by Peter Robinson
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman
The Nature of Things: Essays of a Tapestry Weaver by Tommye McClure Scanlin
The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong
The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards

Books read in April 2021

Death Comes to the Fair by Catherine Lloyd

Books read in 2021

Books Acquired in 2021

Acquisitions for March 2021

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson
Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb
The Girl from the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat
A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
A Girl Called Justice by Elly Griffiths
The Missing Sapphire of Zangrabar by Steve Higgs
Death Finds a Way by Lorine McGinnis Schulze
A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly
Seduce Me with Sapphires by Jane Feather
An Unkindness of Ravens by Ruth Rendell

Welcome!

Happy new thread, Meg!

>11 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

Happy new one!

>13 drneutron: Thanks Jim, it seemed like time for a new one.

It's been a busy day so far (but when aren't they?). Did the early morning writing sprint this morning. Presently closing in on 40,000 on my first draft. Fingers crossed that it will be done soon. (That does seem counterproductive though. Hard to type with crossed fingers.)

The sun is shining, the mercury climbing - 18C at present. I'm off for my walk in a minute. Feeling better right now after my first jab this morning.

Happy new thread!

I hope you had a fine walk!

Happy new thread, Meg!

Beautiful cherry blossoms.

Happy new thread, Meg. Great topper!

Happy new thread, Meg. Your topper shows us a thread that continues to blossom!

Hi Meg.
Love the cherry blossoms (or are they plum?)

Happy new thread, Meg!

Happy new thread, Meg!

Happy new one!

>16 quondame: Thanks Susan! It was a fine walk, no jacket needed.

>17 karenmarie: Cherry blossom time is one of my favourite, Karen. Thanks for the new thread wishes.

>18 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, I couldn't resist that shot with the library truck showing readers on the side!

>19 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I wish my thread did continue to blossom. It seems harder and harder to get to.

>20 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy, I'm pretty sure they're cherry blossoms. It's that time here.

>21 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba!

>22 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

>23 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita, and thanks!

So on the way back from my walk I ran into the strata council member in charge of maintenance who was talking to the driver of the back hoe who had just dug and filled in a whole on our grounds. Apparently there was an anomaly found in the water table for our complex and there has been another extension granted. No word on whether the sale will go through still.

>24 Familyhistorian: - I was going to ask what the truck was as I couldn't quite make it out. It's been ages since I've seen a mobile library here though I know they do (did?) exist.

Happy new thread, Meg!

Happy new thread, Meg. I love the cherry blossoms.

>28 jessibud2: I didn't realize that it was in the shadows that much when I took the shot, Shelley. It was the poster of the kids reading on the side of the truck that made me take the photo.

>29 bell7: Thanks Mary!

>30 BLBera: Thanks Beth. Cherry blossom time is one of my favourite parts of the year.

Happy new thread Meg. Don't you love the spring gardens?

Hi Meg my dear, happy new thread.

Happy Wednesday, Meg! Happy New Thread! I hope you are having a good week.

47. In the Name of Truth by Viveca Sten



The eighth book in the Sandham Murder series, In the Name of Truth, picked up the pace a bit. There were clear story arcs for both Nora and Thomas in this one. With Nora prosecuting an embezzling partner in a small company and Thomas hunting for a boy who has gone missing, believed abducted. They both end up racing against time which upped the tension and their cases related to each other’s in a way that worked.

>33 mdoris: Spring is one of my favourite times of year because of the flowers, Mary.

>34 johnsimpson: Hi John, good to see you here.

>35 msf59: This week is going well, Mark, especially since yesterday I got my first vaccine shot.

Hapy new thread, Meg. Today was lovely I was almost too warm! Actually spent some time out on the terrace reading. Hooray for your first shot - sounds like it went well. Did they tell you when you would be getting the second shot?

>38 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, it was beautiful out today. I went for a long walk. The shot went well, just a sore muscle. The person who gave me the shot told me that I would be contacted in 4 months for my second shot.

Glad you got your first shot, Meg!

>40 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, it was easier than I thought. Now to wait 4 months for the second dose.

48. The Governess Game by Tessa Dare



The copy of The Governess Game I brought home from the library is a battered paperback. It has obviously been around for a while. I got this BB a while ago and had to wait for the hold to come in. It was surprising to see that I needed to read it right away because there were other holds waiting. And this on a well-worn paperback.

I did understand why the book was still so popular. Then I devoured it in short order. Now I know why. The author takes the romantic tropes and makes them her own in a light hearted manner. I found myself wanting to know the outcome of the romantic dance even though that is generally a foregone conclusion given the genre.

This week's assignment in the writing program is to research publishers and agents. Somehow this makes the writing thing so much more real. Although the research did take away from my writing time. I'll get to that in a few but first there's the blog post for this Saturday to get ready.

I do my best thinking on my feet. So my writing involves a lot of walking. Probably better than sitting in front of the computer screen all day.

>42 Familyhistorian: - I really enjoyed that one, too, Meg. And there are two others to look forward to :)

Seen on this morning's walk.

>44 katiekrug: I have a suspicion that it was your thread that got me with that BB, Katie. I'll have to check out her other books.

>45 Familyhistorian: WOW!!!

>47 mdoris: That was a pretty sight at 7:00 am, Mary!

49. Golden in Death by J.D. Robb



I tend to let the books in the “in death” series linger on my shelves for a while before I get to them. Usually until I have acquired a couple more books in the series so I can be sure I have more to look forward to.

In Golden in Death, Eve and the gang were on the trail of a killer or killers who were using designer poisons to kill one victim at a time. The poisons were airborne but were designed to dissipate after killing just one person. The question was, who would have the knowledge to make something so sophisticated and why were the victims picked. It was another solid entry in the series.

Hi Meg and Happy New Thread (although I missed most of your last one).

The cherry trees are lovely and I am looking forward to starting the "in death" series upon my retirement. :-)

Hi Meg!

>49 Familyhistorian: Good series. I stupidly expected the 50th book in the series to be … more… somehow. I panicked just now because I didn’t know how many are out and I wondered how far behind I was. I have and have read #51, don’t have #52, and #53 is due out in September. Only a tad behind.

>50 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, no worries about missing the last thread. I haven't been very good at keeping up with LT and it's been ages since I visited you.

The "in death" series books are quick reads. You might be able to fit one in before that magical retirement date. And believe me, retirement does not give you a whole lot of extra time.

>51 karenmarie: I saw your review of Golden in Death, Karen, and knew not to expect anything spectacular. Not that I did in the first place. It was nice that for a change the story wasn't set in mid winter in New York. So there was that. I have #51 and #52 waiting in the stacks but there's one or two other books that might claim my attention before I get to them.

>45 Familyhistorian: Quite beautiful!

Have a wonderful weekend

>36 Familyhistorian: I'm about 60% of the way through the Sten book. Will read some more in a bit, but I needed to take a break.

>54 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

>55 thornton37814: I enjoyed the Sten this time more than the last few, Lori. Probably part of that was the other books in the mix weren't really catching my imagination.

>45 Familyhistorian: Glorious!

Viveca Sten's books aren't as thrilling as some, but I do very much enjoy her Scandicozy tales of Thomas and Nora's intersecting family woes as well as professional entanglements.

Meg, can you believe this glorious weather? Like delicious summer.

>58 richardderus: I'm not much into thrilling these days, Richard. More into good solid (not stolid) mysteries.

>59 mdoris: It's like summer with cherry blossom, Mary. So strange. Yesterday I walked the trail along the Coquitlam River and the crowds of beach goers were out in force.

>57 Familyhistorian: I enjoyed it more this time too. I'm tiring of the relationship problems, but the mystery was more enjoyable.

>62 thornton37814: We all get tired of relationship problems, Lori, but that's one way to create tension to keep readers turning the pages.

50. Outlawed by Anna North



In Outlawed the author has reimagined the Wild West and the Hole in the Wall Gang in a way that spotlights how women who couldn’t have children were ostracized and vilified by society. Although it seemed the way that treatment of women was depicted drew from a much earlier time period. Still, it was an interesting mash up that provided fodder for a cracking yarn.

Because of our increasing numbers new health orders are coming into place on Friday. That means any travel is restricted to our own health region. The Vancouver library is in another health region to mine. I've put my holds on pause for now and will probably be reading more from my shelves for the next while.

>65 Familyhistorian: - Pity that BC is also experiencing such problems and increasing numbers. Bad enough that Ontario is a holy mess. Our borders to Quebec and Manitoba are currently closed to non-essential travel. Nothing here makes sense and our *esteemed* (NOT) premier Ford continues to dig in his heels and listens to no one who has any actual knowledge and expertise. Because *he* knows best, of course. Probably got his medical degree at the same trump university as trump himself did.....

Please excuse my sarcasm. It's all just wearing on everyone. Especially since it didn't have to be this way.

>66 jessibud2: We've been hearing about Ontario, Shelley. Your province is held up as an example as how bad it can get. Our premier is not in charge of the Covid 19 strategy. He has placed that in the hands of the Minster of Health and the Provincial Health Officer. A smart move on the part of the premier and, even if we don't like the restrictions, it is Dr Bonnie Henry who announces them so we can't say there is no medical knowledge behind them.

>67 Familyhistorian: - That's part of the problem here. Ford mouths words but they have no meaning. He says he takes his instruction from the scientists and doctors. Except he doesn't. I have lost count of how many scientists and doctors have gone public on all forms of media, with their concerns, pleas, and worries that contradict everything Ford is doing. They have come right out and said that his *advice* is simply wrong. That they are not being listened to. One of the top doctors heading up the covid task force nearly resigned last Friday because he was at his wit's end over the latest round of garbage (my words, not his) from Ford. Here is an interview he did on CBC radio:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5993254/this...

>68 jessibud2: I hope that numbers start to go down in Ontario soon in spite of your premier, Shelley. Are the numbers getting vaccinated going up quickly?

>69 Familyhistorian: - I am not really sure but they announced today that the age for Astra Zeneca is now lowered to 40+ so I think that is a good thing. Now, if only we can keep up with supply.

>70 jessibud2: We got the same announcement about the Astra Zeneca today too. At least that's something. The main problem with supply seems to be with Moderna.

51. Follow Me In by Katriona Chapman



Back in a time before everyone was plugged in to the world 24/7 people travelled. It just called for more planning and making do with the unexpected results. This was the world of Follow Me In, a story that was part travelogue part memoir.

The illustrations in this graphic novel brought the sights of Mexico to life as the author and her then boyfriend toured the country. Throughout the journey she regained her skill at drawing and re-evaluated her relationship with her boyfriend realizing she was not prepared to spend her life with an alcoholic. More power to her.

Well, that was frustrating. No access to Safari on my phone all the way downtown and back. There was an outage on Rogers Network on Monday but mine still wasn't back today. I think it's fixed now but there may be more issues for Rogers as a result of this. My Rogers account indicated my credit card had expired only it shouldn't have.

>73 Familyhistorian: Ah, there it is: The Fuckening. The Urban Dictionary tells us that this is "when your day is going too well and you don't trust it and some shenanigans finally goes down."

>73 Familyhistorian: - There were Rogers outages here too, in Ontario. I didn't even know Rogers was out on the west coast. I have Rogers for my landline, tv and internet yet none of those were interrupted for me, for some reason. I never have my cell phone with the same company as the rest of my technology for this very reason, and when I was still with Bell, it came in very handy every time Bell messed up. I left Bell years ago.

I hope you get your issues with them sorted out, Meg. It's very annoying, I know.

>74 richardderus: It wasn't going too well already, Richard. I couldn't access anything on my phone through Safari since Monday.

>75 jessibud2: Only my phone is with Rogers, Shelley. My WiFi etc is with Telus so it was only my phone that was affected. I believe the outage was across Canada.

Outlawed was a great story, wasn't it, Meg? I really enjoyed it as well.

Hi Meg!

>65 Familyhistorian: I’m so sorry that things have gotten to the point of new health orders. Reading off our shelves is gratifying, but not nearly as much fun as wanting something and getting it from the Library.

>72 Familyhistorian: I won’t read this because I lived it in 1975 – breaking up with my first and long-time boyfriend because I did not want to spend my life with an alcoholic. Sad and empowering memories.

Just dropping by to catch up. Reading sporadically (reviews on my thread) and also trying to catch up on donation paperwork. We have family archival (historically-relevant) material that I class as "paper ephemera".

The idea is to find a more institutional place for it all. So far UBC and USask have agreed to accept about 80% of the records but I'm finding it slow going due to all the WFH situations because we can't send the UBC material to anyone yet.

>78 BLBera: Outlawed was a very interesting look at history, Beth, and I probably picked up the BB from your thread.

>79 karenmarie: They clarified the travel restrictions so that its now okay for me to travel to the Vancouver library. They're looking at the Lower Mainland (Vancouver and its city suburbs) as one health region so I'll still be legal when I head out to the downtown library. I won't change all the pauses I've put on my holds though. It would be good to read off my shelves more.

I didn't realize that there was an alcoholic boyfriend in Follow Me In when I picked it up or I would have thought twice, Karen. I lived with an alcoholic for 32 years and didn't really need to be reminded.

>80 SandyAMcPherson: Good for you for trying to rehouse family ephemera so others can have access, Sandy. That is a big concern to the genealogy community in general as we aren't getting any younger.

Meg, here's an interesting article by CS Harris regarding her almost-twenty-year career of writing St Cyr novels: https://crimereads.com/how-do-you-keep-a-long-running-series-fresh-the-secret-is...

I like her as a person too after reading this.

>84 richardderus: I'm getting more and more likely to read that series. But what if.... I can be easily upset by historical novels that transgress my idiosyncratic HA sniffers.

Hi Meg, I am glad that the travel restrictions were clarified as we need to go out Langley next week to have the back-up camera in our car fixed. This travel shut-down means that I won't be able to go and see my Mom for her 100th birthday which is upsetting but hopefully before too long into the summer things will improve and I will be able to get on a ferry and head over to the Island.

>84 richardderus: Thanks for the link, Richard. I had no idea she'd been writing St. Cyr novels that long.

>85 quondame: It's a good series. But, I find that a lot of history is open to interpretation.

>86 DeltaQueen50: Sorry to hear about you missing your Mum's 100th, Judy. Hopefully, many of the restrictions are lifted after the May long weekend. That's what was hinted today.

>88 Familyhistorian: It's not the interpretation of the meaning of events or even whether certain events occurred as recorded, it's having characters with entirely modern sensibilities and often lack of sensibilities that turn it from a historical to alt-history fantasy. Also a duke bringing a plate from a buffet at his townhouse to a young guest.
I am appreciative of authors who have young women addressed by Miss and don't let their young folk automatically say "call me Clara". And I really like having people be aware of who their servants are while maintaining a believable distinction about them, maybe not the historically exact one, but one I can believe would be.

>90 quondame: Characters with modern sensibilities in historic situations are hard to take. Especially when it comes to manners and customs.

Sometimes it's also in the way that we interpret the actions of historic people. Giving them credit for feelings that we would applaud although they were uncommon at the time that they lived in when they may just have been out of step with their peers. We may credit them with virtues that they didn't actually possess.

52. Striding Folly by Dorothy L. Sayers



I was persuaded to finish up the Dorothy L. Sayers reads even though her last book Striding Folly was once again short stories. I’ve about had my fill of those in the last while. But there were only three stories in the last slim volume and all had Lord Peter in them so I was well rewarded. Thank you, Lori, for letting me know this was a worthwhile read.

53. A Darker Domain by Val McDermid



The second in the Karen Pirie series, A Darker Domain featured Detective Pirie from the beginning, unlike the first novel in the series. Her remit was cold cases but she was working a missing persons case which had just been reported, 22 years after the man went missing. That, of course, wouldn’t fly when something new came in on another cold case which involved the family of someone high up in Scottish industry. The second case was the one her boss wanted her to pursue. But she found a way to follow up on them both. A good move, because as the investigation went on it turned out that they were related. It was another page turner.

>92 Familyhistorian: It was far less painful than I'd anticipated--and it's short!

I thought I had read all of Sayers, but I'm not sure I've read this one, unless the stories are also collected elsewhere.

And now, Meg, I've caught up with you, at least for the moment.

Me too, I'm caught up as well!

>95 BLBera: These were not in the other anthologies.

54. Girl Town by Carolyn Nowak



Girl Town was a contemporary look at women exploring young adulthood. I probably would have like it better if I could relate but I didn’t feel a sense of universal truth behind the situations. No doubt a result of my own misspent youth.

Today I was going to get caught up on all my write ups for the end of the month, so of course LT acted up for hours.

55. Trapped by Scandal by Jane Feather



I prefer romances set in the Regency era but Trapped by Scandal made good use of the Reign of Terror to tell the tale of a young couple drawn to each other. They were also drawn to danger, more acceptable for the hero than for young Lady Hero Fanshawe. Lots of action in this romance and not all of it between the sheets.

>94 thornton37814: And, best of all, Lord Peter was in it.

>95 BLBera: As Lori said in >98 thornton37814: these stories weren't in any other short story collection, Beth.

>96 ffortsa: Hi Judy, thanks for dropping by.

>97 mdoris: Hi Mary, good to see you here. Now if only LT cooperates I'll be able to return the visit soon.

56. The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton



It was billed as a Scottish Bookshop Mystery which was probably what caused me to pick up The Cracked Spine in the first place. This was probably the first in the series as the heroine, who was from Kansas, first lands in Edinburgh after having accepted a job in a book shop in the city. There seemed to be hints of certain mystical elements to come but, for the most part the mystery was of the more earthly variety. It was okay but didn’t have me turning the pages without stop. I’m not sure that I will continue with the series.

>105 Familyhistorian: My mother-in-law read a few of those. I think my daughter gave them to her thinking they might be her sort of cosy. They were passed on to me, but I haven't been compelled to pick one up. MIL and I don't usually share reading tastes. I wouldn't give her a Val MacDermid, for instance. And I've just started A Darker Domain myself. I do enjoy the way she constructs her books.

>105 Familyhistorian: Oh dear, that sounds disappointing. I would buy that one based on the title alone, absent your lukewarm lack of condemnation and weak-kneed smile.

Hoping it will be a lovely weekend ahead full of better-than-that reads.

57. The Palace Tiger by Barbara Cleverly



As part of his remit as a Commander for Scotland Yard, Joe Sandilands had the difficult assignment of representing British interests while observing the problems with the handover of power in one of the states that made up India. It all came to a head in the hunt for a tiger who had taken to killing villagers, not its usual prey. It was a difficult case for Joe as he was there with no real power trying to read the truth behind events put in motion by different factions in The Palace Tiger.

>106 laytonwoman3rd: They are very definitely cozy, Linda. I prefer more complex mysteries like Val McDermids but sometime cozies can be fast reads for me. But maybe it was just me.

>107 richardderus: It could just be me, Richard. I found the out of place American that was the main protagonist hard to relate to but that may be because I am not American and have a better knowledge of Edinburgh than I do of somewhere like small town Kansas.

I hope your weekend is full of good reads too.

58. Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story by Jean Manco



I enjoy reading about history. This is particularly true now that new tools are being used to look into our past. It is interesting to see how the study of language and ancient DNA are able to open new understanding to ancient history. I enjoyed reading about this in Blood of the Celts which I have in my personal library because of my interest in history and also because of the Celtic background in my own family tree.

59. The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn



According to the author’s note, she played fast and loose with some of the timeline in The Serpent and the Pearl but most of the history on which the novel was based was true. If that’s the case, I now have more knowledge of the Borgias and the history of the period in Europe than I had before. Learning history through a good story was painless and enlightening.

>105 Familyhistorian: I read that first installment and noted lots of shortcomings. I read the 5th installment recently. I rated it lower than the first one--and the series should be in its prime by that point. I doubt I'll try any others in the series.

>108 Familyhistorian: I loved the Joe Sandilands series when I read it.

>113 thornton37814: Did you read the ones in between, Lori? I'm slowly making my way through the Joe Sandilands, saving them for a special treat when I need it or to meet a challenge like I did for the last one.

Sorry I haven't been visiting the threads as much as in the past. I'm happy to report that I now have over 50,000 words done in the first draft of the book I'm writing. I do a lot of composing while walking so, even if I have been rubbish at keeping up with LT, I'm still getting in my steps.

>114 Familyhistorian: I did not. I hate it didn't work out. I loved the idea of a Scottish bookshop.

>116 thornton37814: Try the Highland Bookshop Mystery Series. I remember liking Plaid and Plagiarism when I read it.

>115 Familyhistorian: Yay for word-count glory! There is nothing to fret yourself about, most ppl will come pay visits anyway.

>117 Familyhistorian: I tried that one and disliked it.

Hi Meg my dear, i am slowly catching up with the threads and wow, i have just seen that you are 50,000 words into writing your book, i am seriously impressed. Just how many words do you think it will top out at?

Apart from your writing i hope that all is well with you since i last posted apart from wishing you a happy new thread.

We are still waiting for Amy to give birth, her due date was yesterday but no sign as yet, oh well it will come when it is good and ready, lol.

We are both fine and very excited to welcome our second Grandchild, we both send love and hugs to you dear friend.

>118 richardderus: I will make the rounds slowly, Richard, just explaining why it is so slow.

>119 thornton37814: Oh, that's too bad Lori. Maybe we'll run across something else that's better.

>120 johnsimpson: Hi John, I'm aiming for 70,000 which will probably grow when I start editing because, unlike a lot of writers I write short and have to add rather than write scads and have to trim.

Best wishes to Amy. I hope the baby doesn't keep her waiting too long.

Hi Meg!

>92 Familyhistorian: Congrats on finishing up Sayers’ fiction!

>93 Familyhistorian: It’s a good series, isn’t it? I’ve now read the 3rd one, too, Skeleton Road, and have the 4th, Out of Bounds on my shelves just waiting for its turn.

>115 Familyhistorian: Wow. Congrats. I’d sacrifice visiting LT threads too if I could get so much done on a book.

Congrats on the progress on the books! Good on ye!

>124 karenmarie: I really enjoy the Karen Pirie series. I actually started with Skeleton Road and then went back to pick up the first two. I might check out another of Val McDermid's series as well, or maybe even read her Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime which I have on the shelves.

I'm enjoying writing the book but it's taking quite a while. I write slowly.

>125 magicians_nephew: Thanks Jim!

There is a very persistent robin who has been colliding with my deck door repeatedly over the last month and a half or so. I'm getting tired of getting up and shooing him/her away. I'm hoping this face will act as a deterrent.

>128 Familyhistorian: It interrupts the animal's reflection, so it should do the trick.

Love it and I bet it will work!

>129 richardderus: I put it right in the spot that he/she dives into too.

>130 RebaRelishesReading: I think it might have done the trick but I'm waiting to see if the bird comes back.

>128 Familyhistorian: How is the "Face" working out? We have to protect our zany robins!

60. Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill



Some authors are able to tell a story in a unique style but in such a way that the reader gets a real sense of the tale. Dept. of Speculation was such a book. It was hard to get into at first but this tale of a marriage was at once confusing and revealing. I guess it is somewhat like marriage in that respect.

>133 msf59: Hi Mark, the day that I put the "face" on the window he came and perch on the balcony railing as usual, glanced over at the window and looked at the "face", then flew away. He hasn't been back since. Unfortunately neither has the hummingbird that used to buzz around my balcony for a few seconds.

61. Because of You by Dawn French



It was not exactly the humourous novel I was expecting from Dawn French, but Because of You was a page turner of a story. This tale of parenthood in many different permutations was really well done. I love it when characters behave in ways that are unexpected even to themselves. I can see why this story made it to the longlist of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

62. Death Comes to the School by Catherine Lloyd



In the next installment of the Kurland St. Mary Mysteries, Lucy and Robert are the benefactors of the village school. A new school mistress had been installed in haste and repented in leisure, by all accounts she was horrid to the children. Lucy was determined to dismiss her but someone else got there before her with a more permanent solution. There was another murder to solve in Kurland St Mary in Death Comes to the School.

Great comments on Because of You, Meg. I look forward to that one. I also enjoyed Death Comes to the School recently.

>138 BLBera: Because of You was a surprise, Beth. I'm pretty sure that reading about Death Comes to the School on your thread was what prompted me to pick it up.

63. Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade



Books about writers and books are particularly dangerous for avid readers. After reading Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars I know a lot more about the writers associated with Bloomsbury although, of the five, I’ve only read Dorothy L. Sayers. The other four also led interesting lives. I was particularly interested in Eileen Power who wrote some of the earliest books about social history as opposed to history about great men. That's the history I'm interested in. I’ll search out her books.

Virginia Woolf was the last writer dealt with in the book. Her chapter dealt a lot with the beginning of WWII and the bombing of her home in Bloomsbury. That also made me want to read more but not Virginia Woolf’s works, but books about the history of WWII Britain and London in particular. So, in the end, it brought me back to wanting to read about history my family would have lived through.

It almost felt like Monday today. That's the day that I have a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 5 Zoom meetings. Today there were only 3 but as each was at least 90 minutes, except mercifully, the last. It was draining.

I signed up to be a part of the team that produces the annual anthology of student writing for The Writers Studio. Honestly, sometimes I think I'm my own worst enemy in filling my time. When can travel come back to save me from myself?

>140 Familyhistorian: I am IGNORING YOOOUUU

>141 Familyhistorian: You certainly are! Good gravy, that is the definition of an ever-expanding time-suck.

Such a good idea with the face picture. We had a very annoying robin last year who kept bashing himself against the window. So glad he did not return this year but if so I will create a little self portrait with an angry face!

>142 richardderus: That's an awfully big ignore, Richard. What was that saying about protesting too much?

Our volunteering time in the production is limited and I might learn something, so there is that.

>143 mdoris: I was upstairs when I heard him take 3 runs at the window. I had to do something and that was the easiest and fastest. I taped it on the spot where he would hit the window. He's been back a few times but the face has stopped him from taking another run at the window.

Hi Meg, putting up that picture to deflect the robin was very clever. We used to get birds crashing into our living room window but the worst part of that was the cats in the neighbourhood learned to hang out beneath the window and grab the fallen birds. On sunny days I often drew my curtains so they wouldn't try to fly through.

Hi Judy, in this case it wasn't a robin flying into the window by mistake and falling afterwards. He was deliberately taking repeated runs at the window and going back to the railing in between each run. Maybe he saw his reflection in the window and was attacking it.

Your neighbourhood cats sound very savvy.

Just having a discussion about this robin behaviour on the home front and the possiblity is that the bird thinks another bird (reflection) is vying for mating rights, so he attack his own image. We have dealt with this too!

Today I spent time catching up with some of those niggly things that tend to pile up, like finding out about the rebate for my furnace (apparently I now have to apply for it myself so more stuff I'll have to do) and going through the mail which I tend to pile up without opening it. Good thing I did it today because today was the deadline for our census info to be filled out. I got the long form and they ask all kinds of questions. I've never before had to think about how much I spend on electricity in a year. It just comes out of my account automatically - out of sight, out of mind and I like it that way. One of the questions asked was how much my home would sell for currently. Seriously, in this market where prices seem to be going up daily?

>148 mdoris: That was my take on the robin behaviour too, Mary. He kept coming back time after time. Seemed like a grudge match to me.

64. The Laird by Grace Burrowes



Many romances delve into social issues. In the case of The Laird a story set in Scotland just after the Napoleonic War the issue was child abuse. There was a pretty nasty abuser throwing his weight around in this one and getting between the just returned Laird and the wife he had left behind.

Hi Meg!

>126 Familyhistorian: I just finished the 4th in the Karen Pirie series, Out of Bounds, and, having no willpower, just ordered the 5th – Broken Ground. I’ve added Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime to my wish list.

>128 Familyhistorian: I love the face and hope it works. We have had cardinals attack a window on the back porch over the years. I always put up a brightly patterned table cloth and it works.

>152 karenmarie: the Forensics book sounds interesting.

The CSI TV shows makes it all look like black magic ; be interesting to get another take on this technology

I'm so glad you liked Square Haunting, Meg. It did swell my WL a bit.

>152 karenmarie: You're tempting me to continue on with the Karen Pirie series sooner rather than later, Karen, but I'm determined to read down some of my TBRs before I request anything more from the library.

Yes, the face seems to have worked!

>153 magicians_nephew: I'm sure it's not like it appears in the CSI shows, Jim. Hopefully the book presents forensics in a more realistic light.

>154 BLBera: It was hard on the WL but I got a lot out of Square Haunting not to mention it had the youngest photo I've ever seen of Dorothy L Sayers.

Dropping in to say hello! It's been a busy three or four weeks, but I hope it's beginning to slow down.

65. A Sorrowful Sanctuary by Iona Whishaw



I don’t know how I’ve stated away from the Lane Winslow mystery series for so long before settling into the next episode, which for me was A Sorrowful Sanctuary. In this story Lane Winslow discovered a man who was not yet dead, just close to it. Clues about the unidentified stranger soon led back to the war and an organization that grew out of the fear and suspicion still rife in the aftermath. Once again Lane helped Darling with his inquiries as the two became ever closer.

>158 thornton37814: Hi Lori, I'm glad to hear that things are starting to slow down for you. I think it's going to take a while before they do that for me.

I think my townhouse knows its days are probably numbered and it's trying to get in its last licks. A few days ago I heard running water only I wasn't using the water. The tap in the main floor washroom had decided not to start running all the time. So okay, I have 3 bathrooms I could probably live without that one for a while so I went to turn the shut off valve and nada. It did not budge.

As I was waiting for the plumber to show up, the battery in my thermostat decided to pack it in. Really! Thanks to YouTube I was able to figure that one out.

So now I have a working thermostat as well as a working washroom on the main floor as I got the plumber to replace the toilet in there that had quit a while back. But I'm thinking maybe I should pretend I'm staying here so that nothing else has to be replaced.

Great that you got things sorted Meg!

>162 mdoris: Fingers crossed that nothing else has to be sorted, Mary.

>161 Familyhistorian: I've had cars like that---the minute I decide it's time to start thinking about a new one, the one I'm driving sets out to fall apart.

>159 Familyhistorian: I've only read the first in that series, but it's somewhere on the list I made of next in series books (or first in series to try) books.

>161 Familyhistorian: Hope your new strategy works.

I need to get back to the Lane Winslow mysteries as well. I have to check to see which is next for me.

>63 Familyhistorian: Square Haunting sounds really interesting, but like you say, a bit dangerous. :) I've only read a bit of Sayers and Woolfe ... I added the book to my list of library holds and then suspended it for three months. I have soooooooo many at home right now.

Congrats on 50,000 words in your book! And also congrats on keeping up your steps.

The Conspiracy of Things strikes again! My Chromebook's cheap replacement cord...used to be only Apple computers needed a new cord every month...decided to die three days after the return window closed. The one before it, a different brand, lasted eleven days after the return window closed.

*sigh*

>164 laytonwoman3rd: Built in obsolescence in action. Although I thought that taps would last longer than 5 years.

>165 thornton37814: I think it is one of the better series around, Lori, and the books keep being good.

>166 BLBera: I was inspired to read on because I picked up a new one in the series a few days ago, Beth. Besides, my reading seems to have slowed down some.

>167 streamsong: Square Haunting is a good read, Janet. It didn't do too bad a number on my wish list.

Fortunately for me the steps and words go together. I usually think about where my writing is going next when I walk.

>168 richardderus: I've never had the chord go on me. (I better not type that too loud around here.) Other things definitely reach the ends of their lives too soon.

>171 Familyhistorian: I'm not as far in the series as you are, Meg. I think # 3 is the next one for me.

Renter mentality is so different from owner mentality.

>174 BLBera: The one I just read was #5 and I find that the series is still going strong so you have some good ones ahead of you.

>175 magicians_nephew: I was a renter for many years before I was an owner, Jim. I can agree with you on that.