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rosalita ROOTs around in 2021 - page 5

1rosalita
Editado: Jul 3, 2021, 7:33 pm



My name’s Julia, and I have too many books. Well, that’s not really possible but it’s fair to say I have too many books I haven’t read yet. Last year was my first year in the ROOTs group, and my goal was to read 36 books off my own shelves. I ended up reading 52, so that’s a win. I’ve upped my goal to 48 books this year, just 4 per month. We’ll see how that goes.

One of the problems with reading my own books is that I forget what I have. I hope the graphic at the top of this thread will help to guide my reading each month, although I’m not committing to following it exactly.

That’s enough of the blather — on to the books!

2rosalita
Editado: Ago 31, 2021, 10:35 am

ROOTs read in 2021

January
1. Blue Heaven by C. J. Box.
2. The Silent Pool by Patricia Wentworth
3. Banker by Dick Francis.
4. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
5. The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites.
6. The Secret of Terror Castle by Robert Arthur
7. *Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball by Scott Simon.

February
8. *This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf.
9. Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter.
10. Whisper Me This by Kerry Anne King.
11. Echoes by Maeve Binchy.
12. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.
13. Passing by Nella Larsen.

March
14. *The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline.
15. A Fatal Lie by Charles Todd.
16. *Long Bright River by Liz Moore.
17. The Father Hunt by Rex Stout.
18. The Benevent Treasure by Patricia Wentworth.
19. Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout.
20. Odds Against by Dick Francis.
21. Quentins by Maeve Binchy.
22. The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot by Robert Arthur.

April
23. *Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne.
24. *Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey. DNF.
25. *The Cactus League by Emily Nemens
26. A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
27. The Cost of These Dreams by Wright Thompson.
28. Poison in the Pen by Patricia Wentworth.

May
29. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths.
30. The Survivors by Jane Harper.
31. *The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue.
32. Bonecrack by Dick Francis.
33. Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson.
34. *The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis.
35. *Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach.
36. *The Duke & I by Julia Quinn.
37. *A Keeper by Graham Norton.
38. A Perfect Storm, Christmas Past, The Battersea Barricades (three short stories) by Jodi Taylor.

June
39. The Chessmen by Peter May.
40. Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson.
41. *While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams.
42. Brighton by Michael Harvey. DNF.
43. Death of an Art Collector by Robert Goldsborough.
44. Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough.
45. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

July
46. The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy by Robert Arthur.
47. The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths.
48. *The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi.
49. *Wanderers by Chuck Wendig.
50. *The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman.
51. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths.
52. Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy.
53. *The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly.

August
54. The Listening Eye by Patricia Wentworth.
55. *The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis.
56. The Second Confession by Rex Stout.
57. *The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn.
58. *The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie.



*Denotes books not from my shelves; usually library books but occasionally borrowed from a friend.



3rosalita
Editado: Ago 28, 2021, 4:46 pm

New acquisitions in 2021

January
1. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge (free ebook/Amazon Prime First Reads)
2. The Shadow Box by Luanne Rice (free ebook/Amazon Prime First Reads)
3. Fear of Food: A history of Why We Worry About What we Eat by Harvey Levenstein (free ebook/University of Chicago Press)
✔︎ 4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (free audiobook/Libro.fm)
5. Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne ($2.99 ebook/Kobo)
6. They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45 by Milton Mayer (free ebook/University of Chicago Press)
✔︎ 7. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton (public domain ebook/Project Gutenberg)
✔︎ 8. Passing by Nella Larsen ($3.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 9. The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business by Wright Thompson ($4.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 10. Echoes by Maeve Binchy ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
11. Zone One by Colson Whitehead ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
12. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (paperback gift from Beth)

February
13. Afterthoughts 2.0 by Lawrence Block ($2.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 14. A Fatal Lie by Charles Todd. ($14.99 ebook/Kobo)
15. Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
16. Designated Daughters by Margaret Maron ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)

March
17. The Safe House by Christophe Boltanski (free ebook/University of Chicago Press)
✔︎ 18. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths ($12.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 19. The Lost Man by Jane Harper ($2.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 20. Spring by Ali Smith ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 21. Quentins by Maeve Binchy ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)

April
22. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 23. Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 24. The Chessmen by Peter May ($6.99 ebook/Kobo)
25. There There by Tommy Orange ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
26. The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 27. Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson ($3.20 ebook/Kobo)
28. Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells ($1.06 ebook/Kobo)

May
29. How to Speak Midwestern by Edward McClelland ($2.99 ebook/Belt Publishing)
30. Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology by Martha Bayne ($2.99 ebook/Belt Publishing)
31. Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook by Martha Bayne ($8.01 paperback/Belt Publishing)
32. Red State Blues: Stories from Midwestern Life on the Left by Martha Bayne ($3.00 ebook/Belt Publishing)
✔︎ 33. Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
34. Overlander: Bikepacking Coast to Coast Across the Heart of the Highlands by Alan Brown (free/redeemed VIP points/Kobo)
35. Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)

June
✔︎ 36. Death of an Art Collector by Robert Goldsborough ($2.69 ebook/Kobo)
37. The Dragon's Teeth by Ellery Queen ($1.79 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 38. The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen ($2.69 ebook/Kobo)
39. A Writer Prepares by Lawrence Block ($6.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 40. Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 41. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths ($14.99 ebook/Kobo)

July
42. Belfast Noir edited by Adrian McKinty ($2.69 ebook/Kobo)
43. Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester ($7.12 ebook/Kobo)
44. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman ($2.99 ebook/Kobo)
45. The Neapolitan Novels Boxed Set by Elena Ferrante ($3.59 ebook/Kobo)
46. A Big Storm Knocked It Over by Laurie Colwin. ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
✔︎ 47. The Second Confession by Rex Stout. ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)

July
✔︎ 48. A False Mirror by Charles Todd. ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)
49. The Crime Beat Episode 1: New York by A.C. Fuller. (free ebook/Kobo)

Note: ✔︎ indicates books that I have read, either this year or previously.

4rosalita
Editado: Ago 21, 2021, 4:28 pm

Tentative July reading plans

2021 Read Your Bookshelf Challenge
(July=Your newest unread book on the shelf)
I guess that would be the one I bought this morning, Belfast Noir, a short story collection edited by Adrian McKinty and Stuart Neville.

Shared reads
✔︎ The Listening Eye by Patricia Wentworth (with Liz)
✔︎ The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy by Robert Arthur (also Liz)

Library books
✔︎ Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
An explanation is probably in order here: A friend asked if I had recommended a book called Wanderers to her, as she found it on her wishlist but no note of who the author was or who told her about it. While I was trying to figure out if I had, I stumbled across both of these books in the library catalog, and they both sounded like something I would have recommended, so I borrowed them. It turns out someone else recommended the Wendig book to Ana, but now that I’ve checked them both out I might as well read them.

Started in in a previous month
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (American history)
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (thanks, Beth!)
Word Play: What Happens When People Talk by Peter Farb (books about language/linguistics)
✔︎ The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi (mystery)

Other possibilities
✔︎ The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (thanks, Katie!)
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

That’s … way more books than I will actually read, and I’m sure I’ll end up reading books that aren’t on this list. Isn’t that half the fun?

5rosalita
Editado: Jul 18, 2021, 2:52 pm

Currently Reading (7/4/2021)

        

Nonfiction
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (ebook)
Word Play: What Happens When People Talk by Peter Farb (ebook)

Science Fiction
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (paperback)

Fiction
The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi (ebook)
The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy by Robert Arthur (ebook/shared read with Liz)

6rosalita
Editado: Jul 5, 2021, 9:27 am



34. The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis.

I heard the buzz last year surrounding the Netflix original series The Queen’s Gambit, and I was tempted by the notion of a story set in the world of competitive chess (I don’t play chess but I enjoyed the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer was my general reasoning). But before I got around to clicking the Play button, I discovered the series is based on a 1983 book by Walter Tevis, and I thought I’d read the source material first and watch the dramatization afterward. It took a while to work my way to the top of the library holds list (all that Netflix buzz wasn’t only affecting me, apparently) but eventually I got my hands on it.

A quick synopsis: The main character, Beth, grows up in an orphanage where she is deprived of any love or affection but is fed daily tranquilizers (along with all the other orphans) to keep them quiet and compliant. The only avenue of individual expression she finds is in the basement, watching the custodian play one-sided games of chess. He is gruff and dismissive of the little girl, but she is undaunted and continues hanging out as often as possible. Eventually, she makes comments that lead the custodian to realize she is teaching herself to understand how to play chess just by watching him, and he begins to actively teach her. She turns out to be a prodigy, and her talent leads her to the heights of competitive chess even as her warped upbringing has planted the seeds of her own potential destruction within her.

Tevis’ writing is strong and I found the storyline engaging from the start. Beth is not an entirely likable character, but she was easy for me to root for. As I mentioned, I do not play chess myself, but I found the play-by-play of the chess tournaments pretty riveting despite that lack. I never felt lost in jargon or minutiae during those scenes.

With such a positive experience reading the book, I was looking forward to finally watching the Netflix series. I did watch the first episode and it was fine, but I haven’t felt drawn to watch anymore. Tevis created such a strong combination of character, place and plot that seeing it depicted visually seemed superfluous, particularly the scenes that tried to depict Beth’s mental working out of chess moves during a game. In this particular case, I’m content with my own mental movie.

7BLBera
Jul 3, 2021, 7:59 pm

Happy new thread, Julia. You have some big plans. Good luck.

8rosalita
Jul 3, 2021, 8:14 pm

>7 BLBera: The plans are just for show, Beth. I make them at the start of every month, and abandon them by the end of the month. :-D

9rabbitprincess
Jul 3, 2021, 8:15 pm

>6 rosalita: I do not play chess myself, but I found the play-by-play of the chess tournaments pretty riveting despite that lack. I never felt lost in jargon or minutiae during those scenes.

Totally agree! I just started watching the miniseries today with my other half, who hasn't read the book. The book provides such a strong framework for the miniseries that it really seems to have adapted itself, at least from the vantage point of the first two episodes.

10rosalita
Editado: Jul 3, 2021, 8:18 pm

>9 rabbitprincess: The book provides such a strong framework for the miniseries that it really seems to have adapted itself

That's an excellent way to put it! I think that's why I didn't feel compelled to finish the series right away; it didn't seem like it was adding much value to what I'd already gotten from the book. But that doesn't mean it's bad, just that watching it right after reading the book seemed pointless for me. But I could see myself going back to it in a year or so when the memory of the book isn't as fresh.

11weird_O
Jul 4, 2021, 12:20 pm

>2 rosalita: "ROOTS read in 2021" implies that all 45 books on the list are ROOTs. But the ticker reports you've read 35 ROOTs. Do the asterisks designate books that aren't ROOTs. Just an inquiring mind wanting to know.

>1 rosalita: That there 2021 Reading Challenge is nifty. I can cope with that, even though the year's half over. I may have already read some of the challenges.

12BLBera
Jul 4, 2021, 1:05 pm

>8 rosalita: That's why I don't make plans. :)

13katiekrug
Jul 4, 2021, 1:44 pm

Happy new one, Julia! And I hope you like The Bookish Life of Nina Hill - if you get to it :)

14rosalita
Jul 4, 2021, 1:44 pm

>11 weird_O: Yep, that's exactly what the asterisks mean, Bill. I thought I had a footnote to that effect but I must have forgotten. I'll add that now.

The challenge helps me focus each month, even if I don't actually read a book that fits. Some months I read more than one, so I figure it all evens out. :-)

15rosalita
Jul 4, 2021, 1:45 pm

>12 BLBera: I love making plans, Beth. I just don't like following them. :-)

16rosalita
Jul 4, 2021, 1:46 pm

>13 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. It's a library book so I better get to it! Where did all these library books come from?!

17katiekrug
Jul 4, 2021, 1:46 pm

>16 rosalita: - Um, the library?

18lyzard
Jul 4, 2021, 6:12 pm

>16 rosalita:, >17 katiekrug:

Some of us can only dream of having a lot of library books... :(

19rosalita
Jul 4, 2021, 8:09 pm

>17 katiekrug: Oh, that explains a lot! Thanks, Katie. :-)

20rosalita
Jul 4, 2021, 8:12 pm

>18 lyzard: if it makes you feel better (probably not) they are all ebooks borrowed from the comfort of home.

How much longer is your lockdown?

21MissWatson
Jul 5, 2021, 3:53 am

Happy new thread, Julia. So many fascinating titles there...

22connie53
Jul 5, 2021, 6:49 am

Happy New Thread, Julia!

23karenmarie
Jul 5, 2021, 8:37 am

Hi Julia, and happy new thread!

>6 rosalita: Excellent review. I watched the TV series and liked it so much I bought the book. It’s languishing on my shelves, but you just may have nudged me.

24rosalita
Jul 5, 2021, 9:24 am

>21 MissWatson: Thanks for visiting, Birgit!

25rosalita
Jul 5, 2021, 9:24 am

>22 connie53: Thanks for stopping by, Connie!

26rosalita
Jul 5, 2021, 9:25 am

>23 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. I think I'll enjoy the Netflix series if I wait a while to watch it. You're going the other way, but I wonder if it will be the same for you?

27Jackie_K
Jul 5, 2021, 9:30 am

Our library recently moved their ebook service from RBDigital (super-clunky) to Libby, which is more user-friendly and is related to OverDrive somehow, BUT, for some reason, although my Adobe Digital Editions has my kobo authorised, and my kobo is very clear in the settings that it is authorised for ADE, every time I download a book from Libby and transfer it to my kobo from ADE I get a message saying the book can't be opened unless I reauthorise it. I've done that so many times with it making no difference that I have given up, and am now only getting short ebooks out that I can read on ADE on my laptop. Otherwise I'm going to have to start making appointments to actually go to the library (ours has recently introduced 15 minute browsing appointments). It's very frustrating!

28rosalita
Jul 5, 2021, 9:38 am

>27 Jackie_K: Oh, that sounds so frustrating, Jackie! The newer Kobo models will download your Overdrive/Libby library books directly onto the device, and it's so nice not to have to deal with ADE and connecting to the computer to transfer. And once the library book has downloaded to the newer Kobo (a Forma in my case but all of the newer models have it, even the cheapest model, the Nia), it will sync onto my older GloHD. Just a (somewhat more expensive) solution to consider, especially if you were thinking of getting a new ereader soon.

29Jackie_K
Jul 5, 2021, 9:41 am

>28 rosalita: Ooh, I'll have to give that a try, as I have a Forma (can you tell I'm a bit of a Luddite, haha). Does this mean I have to get an Overdrive account?

30rosalita
Jul 5, 2021, 9:51 am

>29 Jackie_K: For some reason they don't seem to really advertise the Overdrive integration widely, but maybe it's because that's not available in all the places where they sell Kobo? Here in the States I was able to sign in with my usual library credentials — my recollection is that I had to search for the name of my library first, and then sign in.

Good luck! Keep me posted on whether it works for you.

31Jackie_K
Jul 5, 2021, 11:24 am

Thank you so much - it seems quite a fiddly process, but I got there in the end! I can't find the full library catalogue, I have to search for a book and then see if both the library and kobo have it, but I got there in the end! I think (if I can remember how to do it next time!) that this will be a less frustrating way of reading!

32rosalita
Jul 5, 2021, 1:43 pm

>31 Jackie_K: Hooray! I generally search the library catalog and borrow books (or place them on hold) on my desktop computer, and then if I initiate a sync on my Forma it will download the borrowed books. I just find it easier and faster to search on the computer because the browser on the Forma is so slow.

33rosalita
Jul 7, 2021, 3:50 pm


The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really
a large matter — it's the difference between the lightning bug and the
lightning. — Mark Twain


What I’m Reading Outside of Books

In the world of words:
  • Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2021 Shortlist Announced! — I’m a bit late with this news, but the shortlist for the Scottish Crime Debut of 2021 has been announced. As if I needed more books to add to my TBR. Have you read any of these? Tell me everything! (via Bloody Scotland)

  • Liking Books Is Not a Personality
    Do you remember the phenomenon of Marie Kondo and her KonMari method of de-cluttering your home? For a while there, it seemed like every person I knew was in a frenzy to apply her rules about only keeping possessions that “spark joy” to their own lives. Of course, this is the Age of Social Media Outrage when any harmless thing can become a focus of outrage for some aggrieved group or another, and it didn’t take long for people who called themselves book lovers to lash out. The point of books, readers raged, was not joy as Hannah McGregor puts it in this article that also examines the racial overtones of the criticism directed at Kondo. I have not KonMari’d my possessions but I am steadily downsizing my collection of physical books (let’s not talk about ebooks right now) and managing to do it without working myself into a lather. What sparks joy for me, it seems, is what’s actually inside the books, not the objects themselves. (via Electric Lit)

And in the real world:
  • Good Omens Is Going Beyond the Book? That’s Not a Bad Sign — I never got around to watching the first season of the BBC/Amazon adaptation of one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, and now word comes that there’s a second season on the way. The good news is that the general storyline hews closely to one that Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett talked about years ago, when they thought they might write a sequel. (via The Guardian)

  • Illuminating the Secret Language of Lightning Bugs — I can’t remember the first time I learned that fireflies/lightning bugs don’t exist everywhere. For me, they were a ubiquitous marker of childhood summers, first on the East Coast and then the Midwest. I had no idea there were so many species, though, and how different their love lights are from each other. (via Smithsonian Magazine)

  • The 100 Best, Worst, and Strangest Sherlock Holmes Portrayals of All-Time, Ranked — The first takeaway from this article is that there have been 100 cinematic/television portrayals of Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective. And some of them go back to the earliest years of the 20th century, amazingly. This list has all the usual suspects—Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, Benadryl Cabbagepatch Benedict Cumberbatch—but there are many more I’ve never heard of that sound interesting and horrifying in varying measures. The only thing missing is some indication of where these are available for modern viewers, whether streaming or DVD. That information would seem to be, ahem, elementary. (via Crime Reads)

34LovingLit
Jul 8, 2021, 6:02 am

>5 rosalita: ooh, your current reads are so interesting, and varied :)

35rosalita
Editado: Jul 8, 2021, 8:22 am

>34 LovingLit: Thanks for indulging my non-book content, Megan. Since I don't have anyone to talk to about this stuff in real life, I inflict it all on the rest of you. :-)

36scaifea
Jul 8, 2021, 9:05 am

Morning, Julia!

I am *so* excited for more Good Omens, especially since it's Gaiman approved, he will be as involved as he was the first time around, and he and Pratchett had already mapped out a sequel long ago.

37rosalita
Jul 8, 2021, 9:07 am

>36 scaifea: Yes, I like the idea that it will build on what Gaiman and Pratchett had already talked about.

38rosalita
Jul 8, 2021, 3:37 pm



35. Bonk by Mary Roach.

Mary Roach has a knack for distilling complicated scientific topics into prose that the general reader can understand. She does it with her own sense of curiosity and humor, which makes the learning fun. Previously, I’ve chortled my way through books that examined the afterlife for human cadavers (2003’s Stiff), and human spirits (2005’s Spooks), space exploration (2010’s Packing for Mars), the digestive system (2013’s Gulp), and the military (2016’s Grunt). Somehow I had missed reading her second book, Bonk (2008), although not from a sense of squeamishness about the subject. Or at least, not my squeamishness; for a long time it was the only Mary Roach book my local library did not have on the shelves.

Happily, that was no longer the case when I checked the ebook catalog earlier this year, and I was quick to add myself to the holds list. I can report that the expected mix of knowledge and good humor were present in the usual abundance for a Roach production, even as the subject once again would not seem to lend itself to jocularity. Sure, people take death and war seriously, but sex occupies a particularly fraught place, at least in modern American culture. For proof, you’ve only to look at the fact that a movie is much more likely to receive an R rating for showing a woman’s bare breasts than for showing crowds of people getting mown down with an automatic rifle.

The idea of studying sex as a scientific topic, in a lab with experiments involving real people, seems particularly fascinating. Roach provides a good overview of the difficulty in quantitatively measuring something whose most notable effects seem psychological rather than physiological. And that’s not even to get into the aversion of funders in providing money to study such a ticklish subject (no pun intended). Roach’s interest was piqued years ago when she stumbled on a medical journal article about a 1980s UCLA study that measured human sexual response. One group of men were asked to manipulate “the more usual suspect” during the experiment, while the control group was asked to rub their kneecaps at measured intervals:

Requesting that a study subject twiddle his knees is not immoral or indecent, but it is very hard to explain. And even harder to fund. Who sponsors these studies, I wondered. Who volunteers for them?

One of my favorite features of Roach’s work is how she cheerfully submits herself to observing and sometimes participating in the scientific research, the better to understand and explain it to her readers. And Bonk is no exception, although I’ll leave it to you to discover exactly how she accomplishes it. (All I’ll say here is her husband Ed must be a singularly good-natured and accommodating spouse.)

I can’t say Bonk is my favorite Mary Roach book (that’s a tie between Gulp and Stiff), but it was an enjoyable romp through the laboratories of sexuality.

39BLBera
Jul 10, 2021, 9:40 am

I agree that Roach has a very accommodating husband, Julia! My favorite bit was the polyester pants on rats.

I thought the Amazon adaptation of Good Omens was hilarious. David Tennant and Michael Sheen were excellent.

40rosalita
Jul 10, 2021, 10:30 am

Hi Beth! Yes, the rat pants section was great. I'm really looking forward to her new one, which comes out in September.

I adore Good Omens the book. I'm sorry I didn't get around to watching the Amazon adaptation while I still had Prime, but maybe when the second season is out I'll pay for a month and watch them both.

41rosalita
Editado: Jul 18, 2021, 2:58 pm

Currently Reading (as of 7/10/2021)

Smallish update. I finished two of my previous current reads, but I'm still plugging away on the first three, though if I'm being honest I haven't picked up Cat's Cradle or Empire of the Summer Moon for a while. And now I've got a library book to polish off before it's due back ...

      

Nonfiction
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (ebook)
Word Play: What Happens When People Talk by Peter Farb (ebook)

Science Fiction
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (paperback)

Fiction
✔︎ Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (library ebook)

42rosalita
Editado: Jul 13, 2021, 10:22 am



37. A Keeper by Graham Norton.

The dead don't vanish, they leave a negative of themselves stamped on the world.

Elizabeth Keane has been living in New York City for the past 20 years. Six months after her mother’s death, she is back in her Irish hometown of Buncarragh for perhaps the final time, tying up the final threads of her late mother’s estate. She’s already exhausted just thinking of all she has to do when she is distracted by discovering a trove of letters hidden away in her mother’s closet. The letters are from Edward Foley, the father Elizabeth never knew. On impulse, Elizabeth decides to travel to the West Cork address Foley wrote on his letters and try to learn more about the time of her life that her mother Patricia refused to talk about. The narrative alternates between the present and the past, as we slowly learn the story of Patricia and Edward’s courtship and how everything goes pear-shaped.

For all that it starts as a conventional family saga, A Keeper (2018) by Graham Norton takes a turn toward what I can only term Irish Gothic in its recounting of what really happened 40 years ago that ended with Patricia raising Elizabeth as a single parent. There are so many parallels among the generational stories: Patricia raising Elizabeth as a single mother; Elizabeth marrying and divorcing, leaving her to raise her own son, Zach, in a single-parent home; Zach’s own complicated romantic entanglements. Norton deftly juggles all three storylines without losing sight of the narrative’s focus. The answers may lie in the past with Patricia and Edward, but it is Elizabeth’s present and to a lesser extent Zach’s future that form the heart of the novel.

Norton is a skillful storyteller. I was immediately engrossed in Elizabeth’s life and shared her curiosity about what her mother had been hiding all those years. And I felt equally sympathetic and interested in Patricia’s story, such that the impatience I often feel when a novel switches from one timeline to another never materialized. The ending, while just a bit on the nose in its dénouement, was nonetheless satisfying. A keeper, indeed.

43katiekrug
Jul 13, 2021, 12:21 pm

>42 rosalita: - I think I have this one saved on audio. Glad to hear it was a good one.

44BLBera
Jul 13, 2021, 12:30 pm

>42 rosalita: This one does sound good, Julia.

45rosalita
Jul 13, 2021, 12:47 pm

>43 katiekrug: I went into it with fairly low expectations because (as you probably know) Norton is a British television presenter. But I read an article in The Guardian a while back about his new book, Home Stretch. I hadn't realized he was an author but the article was interesting. My library didn't have the new book but it did have this one. I'd like to get hold of the new book sometime because I enjoyed his writing quite a bit.

46rosalita
Jul 13, 2021, 12:47 pm

>44 BLBera: I think you'd like it, Beth!

47rosalita
Jul 13, 2021, 2:07 pm


The circulating collection’s atrium in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Library (SNFL), seen from the third floor.


What I’m Reading Outside of Books

I’ve read so many great literary-adjacent articles in the past couple of weeks that I’m offering up a books-only linkfest this week:

  • When Women’s Literary Tastes Are Deemed Less Worthy — If you want to argue that people in and out of publishing are sexist, you won’t get much of an argument from me. (As this recent article in The Guardian points out, only 19% of the readers of the Top 10 bestselling women authors are men.) But I’m not sure this article makes its case effectively. Rather, it does more to confirm the idea that, as the author puts it, “the authors who sell don’t get taken seriously and the authors who get taken seriously don’t sell.” Which is also a sad state of affairs. (via The Atlantic)

  • What Mystery to Read Based on Your Favorite Clue Character — I played countless games of Clue as a kid, and my favorite character was Miss Scarlet. But this article draws on the characters from the 1985 movie adaptation, so there are some names that don’t show up in the board game (like Yvette the maid). I’ve never seen the movie so I don’t know who my favorite character in that context would be, but frankly, my dear, all the books sound like ones I’d like. (via Murder & Mayhem)

  • A Glowing Shrine to the Printed Word — The main circulating branch of the New York Public Library (meaning the one that actually checks books out to patrons rather than housing books and documents for on-site research) has gotten a facelift and despite what this snooty architecture critic says, I think it looks smashing. “The airy daylight-filled ground floor is appealing but focuses too much on the checkout desk, where those who have chosen their books online “grab and go. Wouldn’t (the architect) want patrons to linger?” is a sentence written by a man who has never had to dash in to grab his reserved books and then run to catch a bus or subway train, if you ask me. (via The New York Times)

  • How Marginalized Authors Are Transforming Gothic Fiction — This article caught my eye because I read Mexican Gothic earlier this year, and I’ve also enjoyed what I’ve read from Octavia Butler. I’ve also enjoyed some of the classics like Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray but I like the idea of the genre being expanded by a range of diverse voices. Of course, I could say that for just about any genre you could name. (via Tor.com)

  • Why Are There So Many Holocaust Books for Kids? — The headline on this article startled me, because surely we can all agree that it’s important for the most consequential historical events to be passed down to new generations? But reading the article, I can see the author’s point that the near-exclusive focus on the Holocaust denies young readers a richer understanding of all aspects of Jewish religion, and culture. Her caustic comments about The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, in particular, were eye-opening. I don’t think she’s arguing that no books about the Holocaust should be written for younger audiences, but rather in favor of a balance between what all too often is either completely ahistorical or uncomfortably akin to torture porn and books that celebrate Jewish life in full. (via The New York Times)

48Copperskye
Jul 17, 2021, 4:34 pm

>33 rosalita: Last summer, driving through central Illinois just past dusk and into the evening, the roadsides were filled with lightning bugs. It was truly magical - like twinkling fairy lights making a path for me. We have lightning bugs in NJ where I grew up (but not in CO) but I had never seen such an awe inspiring display!

49rosalita
Jul 18, 2021, 9:37 am

>48 Copperskye: I didn't realize there were no fireflies in Colorado, Joanne. I grew up in west-central Illinois and you're so right — the fireflies there are amazingly abundant!

50BLBera
Jul 18, 2021, 10:59 am

The Clue thing is fun, Julia. Yes, sexism is alive and well in publishing.

Happy Sunday.

51rosalita
Jul 18, 2021, 11:19 am

>50 BLBera: Hi, Beth. Hope your weekend is going well.

52rocketjk
Jul 19, 2021, 11:32 am

>48 Copperskye: I, too, grew up in New Jersey. I live in northern California, now (Mendocino County), which I love, but I definitely miss the lightning bugs this time of year.

53rosalita
Jul 20, 2021, 2:39 pm

    

38. A Perfect Storm, Christmas Past, Battersea Barricades by Jodi Taylor

Catching up on three short stories from the St. Mary's universe in preparation for reading Book 9, An Argumentation of Historians. The short stories are not nearly as good as the full-length novels, but they have their moments. Ultimately, they just don't give enough breathing room for the madcap antics of Max and friends for me.

54rosalita
Editado: Jul 20, 2021, 2:43 pm



39. The Chessmen by Peter May.

I read The Blackhouse (2009), the first book in Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy a few years ago, and I thought it was a solid police procedural whose main attraction was the setting: The beautiful but desolate Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The detective, Fin Macleod, is currently stationed in Edinburgh, but the return to his hometown is complicated by tragedies both past and present. I made a mental note to check back in with the trilogy at some point.

Last year, I read the second novel (2012’s The Lewis Man) which finds Fin having quit the Edinburgh police force and moved back to the Isle of Lewis to fix up his parents’ old home and try to come to terms with his past and present troubles. He winds up assisting with an investigation into the discovery of a bog body that turns out to be not as ancient as first thought (an Elvis tattoo being as effective as carbon dating) and also to have been a murder victim. The mystery mummy turns out to be connected to the family of Fin’s childhood sweetheart Marsaili, and solving the mystery could put Fin and everyone he cares about in danger. I liked this one a bit more than the first, more than enough to look forward to finishing off the series with the final book, which I did earlier this year.

The Chessmen (2014) brings some closure to Fin’s story, while leaving the reader enough hints to project into the future for the people on the Isle of Lewis. May once again pulls past mysteries together with the present to create a web of memory and danger that doesn’t seem to care who it ensnares. In this case, Fin takes a job investigating a privately owned hunting estate’s poaching problem. His task is complicated when he learns that a childhood friend may be the responsible party, and another childhood friend, long missing, turns up quite definitely dead and murdered to boot. I found the by-now-familiar melding of past and present storylines to be well-paced, though there’s a bit more jumping back and forth in time than is my usual taste.

Ultimately, I finished The Chessmen feeling satisfied with the story that May had told across all three books. They fit together beautifully, managing to advance the storyline without too much rehashing previous events. The only unanswered question I was left with was when I’ll be able to make my own visit to what sounds like a beautiful part of the world.

55BLBera
Jul 20, 2021, 7:05 pm

This trilogy sounds great, Julia. I am definitely going to try to get to this soon.

I've been neglecting Taylor as well. I'll have to check to see which one is next for me.

56FAMeulstee
Jul 21, 2021, 4:32 am

>54 rosalita: I loved those books too, Julia. I even read the 2nd and 3rd in English, as they didn't come in Dutch translation. And I rarely read in English.

57rosalita
Jul 21, 2021, 7:23 am

>55 BLBera: I do think you'd like it, Beth.

58rosalita
Jul 21, 2021, 7:24 am

>56 FAMeulstee: Wow, that's a real testament to how much you liked them, Anita. It's rare for a series to get better with each book for me — and in this time of endless series, I do appreciate a good "three and done" policy!

59Charon07
Jul 23, 2021, 9:34 am

>47 rosalita: I just wanted to pop in and say I’m enjoying these “reading outside of books” articles. I find myself surfing the web a lot (when I should be working on my ROOTS), and it’s nice to find recommended articles that are more nutritious than reddit.

60rosalita
Jul 23, 2021, 10:11 am

>59 Charon07: Thank you — I'm so glad to hear that! It makes me feel better about all the time I spend on the internet instead of reading books. :-)

61BLBera
Jul 23, 2021, 10:51 am

>58 rosalita: Yes, Julia! I think series with limits would be great! So many seem to outlive the author's interest, even.

62connie53
Jul 23, 2021, 12:41 pm

Hi Julia, thanks for visiting my thread and leaving those kind words.

63karenmarie
Jul 27, 2021, 8:47 am

Hi Julia!

>54 rosalita: I read the first two of the trilogy back to back in 2017 and somehow never read The Chessmen. Your review inspires me to at least tag it ‘2021 read’!

64rosalita
Jul 27, 2021, 9:04 am

>63 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I did the same thing between the first and the second books, so I can relate. I'll look forward to your thoughts on The Chessmen if when you get to it.

65rosalita
Editado: Jul 27, 2021, 12:06 pm



41. While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams.

It’s not as far out of left field as you might think for Stacey Abrams — who lost a close election for Georgia governor in 2016 and who has since kept herself busy more or less saving democracy in the state since — to write a legal thriller. Abrams has written several nonfiction books about politics, most recently Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America. And she has long had a not-so-secret secondary career as a writer of romances under the pen name Selena Montgomery. But While Justice Sleeps (2021) is her first attempt at combining the two genres, crafting a political thriller centered on the Supreme Court and cutting-edge medical research.

Avery Keene is a baby lawyer, serving as clerk to Supreme Court Justice Howard Wynn, a populist whose longstanding feud with conservative President Brandon Stokes has recently boiled over in a public confrontation at a university graduation. So when Justice Wynn falls into a coma just before the Supreme Court will rule on the merger of two U.S. and Indian biotechnology firms — a case that the president has a personal stake in — tensions are high all over Washington, D.C. And when it’s revealed that Wynn secretly named Avery as his legal guardian before falling ill, shadowy forces are determined to make sure she’s unable to fulfill the justice’s final wishes.

As thrillers go, While Justice Sleeps is pretty well paced. I can’t speak to the plausibility of the biotech aspect, but the idea of a coverup becoming worse than the original crime is a familiar one. I also can’t speak to the authenticity of the way that Wynn leaves clues for Avery disguised as chess commentary, but it didn’t seem outlandish. The main weakness for me was the writing. It’s certainly not unreadable, but the pedestrian and sometimes clunky prose and dialogue were not on a par with the brisk plotting or deft characterization.

I also appreciated the graceful way that Abrams populated her story with a diverse set of characters who inhabited their roles without calling undue attention to the specifics of their identity. It’s a fine example of the adage “Show, don’t tell.”

One of the best scenes in the book is a flashback to a conversation between Justice Wynn and his clerk, which in retrospect is laying the foundations for Avery to be able to follow the clues he will leave her to uncover the scandal surrounding the merger case. Once again, chess is the language through which Wynn communicates:
"That’s when the queen became the most powerful piece, but still in service to a king. What do you think of that?”
“Of what, sir?”
“Of the queen being responsible for saving the king, but that only his life is sacred. Should offend your feminist sensibilities, no?”
Avery grinned. “My feminist sensibilities are not offended. In a game of strategy, the king is a figurehead, unable to save his own life without the aid of others. The queen is powerful and dynamic. She will protect the king, but not because of weakness. It’s because that’s what she’s supposed to do.” She added, “It was in the tenth century that the queen replaced the vizier on the chessboard. Vizier meant leader, and in the next five hundred years, she became the most powerful piece on the board. A nice evolution.”

Political thrillers these days have a tough row to hoe. The outlandish plots that normally capture the imagination of the reading public can seem like small beer in the face of our extreme contemporary politics. I’m not convinced that Abrams has succeeded in overcoming that reality, but if nothing else, it is certainly a relief to read about a horrifying situation that isn’t true.

66katiekrug
Jul 27, 2021, 10:47 am

" it is certainly a relief to read about a horrifying situation that isn’t true."

Snork. Sad, but true.

67rosalita
Jul 27, 2021, 12:08 pm

>66 katiekrug: Right?

Also, I can never write that phrase "row to hoe" without remembering sitting in the newsroom next to a reporter conducting an interview on the phone who more than once referenced having a "tough road to hoe." Even if it's a gravel road, that definitely would be tough!

68rosalita
Jul 28, 2021, 5:50 pm


Jackie Collins (right) and friends

What I’m Reading Outside of Books

First, some booky stuff:

And in the real world:

  • How to Wash Your Jeans — I’m far from the Happy Homemaker (there’s a reason I pay someone to house-clean for me) but I thought this article was the perfect combination of interesting and informative. Apparently I wash my jeans way too much. Who knew? (via Wirecutter)

  • It’s Time to Abolish Nursing Home — I don’t want to be morbid, but when you’re a middle-aged single person with chronic health conditions and without family or close friends, you start to think about who’s going to take care of you at the end of your life. I have heard and seen so many horror stories about terrible nursing homes that it’s become my No. 1 fear about growing old. This article gave some useful history on how institutionalizing our elderly became the norm in the United States, and some concrete suggestions for alternatives and why they aren’t yet an option that’s available to all who need them. (via The Nation)

  • The 14 Best Songs About Fall to Add to Your Autumn Playlist — Autumn, fall, whatever you call it, it’s my favorite season of the year. And this playlist is just the thing to get me in the mood as the temperature tops 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33C) for the fifth day in a row. (via PureWow)


69scaifea
Jul 28, 2021, 5:59 pm

Two months?! And I thought I was radical by only washing my jeans once a week! Wow.

I kind of love the HipTip from the QE boys about de-stinking jeans without washing them: stick them in the freezer for a couple of hours. I haven't tried it, but it sounds interesting.

70rosalita
Jul 28, 2021, 6:03 pm

>69 scaifea: Yeah, two months was an eye-opener. And I am curious — purely for scientific purposes — whether that "freeze the stinky clothes" thing actually works.

71scaifea
Jul 29, 2021, 7:03 am

>70 rosalita: Right? I also kind of don't want to put dirty jeans in the freezer with my food, though...

72rosalita
Editado: Jul 29, 2021, 8:48 am

>71 scaifea: Exactly! And I just have the little freezer at the top of my apartment-size fridge. There's barely enough room for my ice trays and frozen pizzas. :-)

73Jackie_K
Jul 29, 2021, 9:03 am

>68 rosalita: My maiden name was 2 syllables ending in '-ins'. I once received a job rejection letter addressed to 'Jackie Collins', and it is still one of the funniest things I've ever got through the post. My flatmates thought it was hilarious, it took a while to live it down.

74katiekrug
Jul 29, 2021, 9:05 am

>68 rosalita: - Lots of good reading, Julia - thanks!

75rosalita
Jul 29, 2021, 9:08 am

>73 Jackie_K: That's a great story (or as great as a story about being rejected for a job can be). And I'm a bit worried I will forever think of you as Jackie Collins now ...

76rosalita
Jul 29, 2021, 9:08 am

>74 katiekrug: You're very welcome, Katie!

77rosalita
Jul 29, 2021, 9:37 am

    

42. Brighton by Michael Harvey. DNF (Did Not Finish)
43. Death of an Art Collector by Robert Goldsborough.
44. Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough.

I bailed on Brighton pretty quickly; I was just completely unable to get into the story. I'm sure the problem was more between my ears than between the book covers, and I'm open to trying it again sometime.

The other two are entries in Goldsborough's continuation of the Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mystery series. They are nowhere near as good as the originals, and I read them anyway because I love the characters so much. But they aren't worth wasting reviews on, so here they are.

78rosalita
Jul 29, 2021, 9:41 am



45. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

I’m a fan of Stephen King, both his flat-out horror (IT and The Shining come to mind) and his “the real world is scary enough” sort of books (Misery and The Stand). It’s hard for me to think of many other writers who have such a conversational style that draws me immediately into the narrative, as if we were sitting around a campfire together.

I read ’Salem’s Lot (1975) many years ago and remembered being thoroughly creeped out. So when I came across it as I was rearranging my bookshelves, I decided to take it for another spin and see if my reaction has changed over the decades.

Um, no. Still thoroughly creeped out, still pleasurably horrified by this tale of a small Maine town colonized by a vampire. This was only King’s second published novel, but many of the touches that would later become hallmarks of his work were present: Ordinary people behaving in extraordinary ways, the reader having just enough of an edge to get scared before the people in the book do, and of course, the heroics of a child. It seems clear that King sees children as the real heroes in this world, as in this passage:

Before drifting away entirely, he found himself reflecting—not for the first time—on the peculiarity of adults. They took laxatives, liquor, or sleeping pills to drive away their terrors so that sleep would come, and their terrors were so tame and domestic: the job, the money, what the teacher will think if I can get Jennie nicer clothes, does my wife still love me, who are my friends. They were pallid compared to the fears every child lies cheek and jowl with in his dark bed, with no one to confess to in hope of perfect understanding but another child. … The same lonely battle must be fought night after night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the imaginary faculties, and this is called adulthood.

If reading about vampires and the terrible things people do under pressure isn’t your bag, that’s totally understandable, and you should give this one a pass. But if you’re nostalgic for some good old-fashioned horror, you could do much worse than make a visit to ‘Salem’s Lot, Maine. Just make sure you leave before the sun goes down.

79scaifea
Jul 29, 2021, 9:42 am

*sigh* I loved 'Salem's Lot, too.

80karenmarie
Editado: Jul 29, 2021, 9:46 am

Hi Julia!

>68 rosalita: Thanks for some BBs. I normally wash my jeans about once a month or so, and throw them in the dryer with a dryer sheet between washings. I'll start turning them inside out, but have never dried them in the dryer - I always hang them up to dry.

And when you really think about it, why does Philip Roth get to be considered a serious author for writing about his own penis but a woman who writes unabashedly sex-driven characters is trash? Hmph, I say. 👍

edited to add:

>77 rosalita: I just read Archie Meets Nero Wolfe by Goldsborough and will probably read the rest of them, simply because like you, I love the characters so much.

81katiekrug
Jul 29, 2021, 10:35 am

And now you've made me want to give Salem's Lot a try!

82rosalita
Jul 29, 2021, 10:40 am

>79 scaifea: Yay! I was so happy that it lived up to re-reading as a woman of a certain age whose imaginary faculties have long since ossified into adulthood. Maybe Stephen King is the anti-ossification treatment we all need?

83rosalita
Editado: Jul 29, 2021, 10:43 am

>80 karenmarie: I like the idea of popping jeans into the dryer with a fabric softener sheet to freshen them up, Karen. That's smart thinking!

I just can't quite Archie and friends. The more recent Goldsborough books have been set back in the "golden age" circa 1950 (although it's a peeve of mine that he never really tells us when we are) and I think they do work a bit better. Nero Wolfe was just not made for the modern world, and the books set in the computer age are jarring in an unpleasant way.

84rosalita
Jul 29, 2021, 10:43 am

>81 katiekrug: Oh, you've never read it? I hope you do give it a go, Katie.

85Jackie_K
Editado: Jul 29, 2021, 1:23 pm

>75 rosalita: I had someone else on LT ask me if I was Jackie Kay - I think overall I much prefer her to Jackie Collins if I was going to choose a literary name-doppelganger. Sadly I don't have Jackie Kay's poetic talent though.

86BLBera
Jul 29, 2021, 10:19 pm

Great comments on Salem's Lot, but sorry, no vampires for me.

I liked the article about mystery writers; I liked seeing the pictures of the authors.

87rosalita
Jul 30, 2021, 7:55 am

>86 BLBera: Are you sure you don't want to read 'Salem's Lot, Beth? It's a story you could really sink your teeth into.

(sorrynotsorry)

88BLBera
Jul 31, 2021, 1:16 pm

>87 rosalita: Good one.

89rosalita
Jul 31, 2021, 1:26 pm

90rosalita
Ago 3, 2021, 9:50 am

  

46. The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy by Robert Arthur.
47. The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths.

I'm continuing to enjoy my return to junior high with the Three Investigators series. The boys investigate an Egyptian mummy that appears to talk and a curse that dooms anyone who comes into contact with the mummy. And Pete has to use all his ingenuity when he and a friend get kidnapped in the course of the investigation. All that, and a purloined cat to boot.

Then I re-read last year's Ruth Galloway mystery in preparation for reading the newest, The Night Hawks. I think I liked it even more this time around.

91rosalita
Ago 3, 2021, 10:02 am



48. The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi.

Reading The Eighth Detective (2020) by Alex Pavesi was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. It started promisingly, then got to the point where I thought I hated it, then became intriguing again, and ended with me contemplating re-reading the whole thing in light of knowing the ending. I didn’t do that, but I’m left feeling unsure how to characterize it.

The book is structured as a series of short mystery stories, purportedly written many years ago by a mathematician to prove his thesis that mysteries have a finite structure and can be reduced to just seven variations. Each of the seven stories in the collection are meant to illustrate one of the ways that the essential character types — victim(s), suspects, detective(s), and murderer(s) — can be mixed and matched. As the mathematician explains to Julia, the publisher who wants to sell a new edition of the stories:

“We mustn’t forget that the central purpose of a murder mystery is to give its readers a handful of suspects and the promise that in about a hundred pages one or more of them will be revealed as the murderers. That’s the beauty of the genre.”

Pavesi intersperses the seven short mysteries with chapters that recount conversations between Grant and Julia. She reads each story aloud to Grant and then they discuss it, with Julia pressing for explanations of inconsistencies she has noticed, and Grant playing coy about whether they are mistakes or deliberate. Those chapters also serve up another mystery: Why did this successful mathematician retreat to a Mediterranean island and become a virtual hermit? Why doesn’t he want to talk about his previous life?

I found the individual mysteries themselves mediocre at best, and for all I know that’s intentional on Pavesi’s part. After all, they are meant to have been written by a mathematician, not an experienced author. The more interesting bits are the dialogues between Grant and Julia as they discuss each of the stories within the framework of the seven possible permutations Grant originally devised. The mystery of Grant’s origins is probably what kept me reading to the end, just to find out why he was being so secretive. And the surprise twist-within-a-twist ending was clever, but I finished the book feeling a bit unfulfilled, like eating a rice cake when what you really want is a big bowl of ice cream.

But I know a fair number of people who enjoy thinking about how mystery writers structure their stories and would be intrigued by the idea that all mysteries can be reduced to a finite set of variations. Those folks might want to read samples of each supposed type along with an overarching mystery that promises a surprise. If that’s you, The Eighth Detective may be just what you were looking for.

92rosalita
Ago 5, 2021, 1:30 pm



49. Wanderers by Chuck Wendig.

I can’t say I necessarily had any reservations about reading Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers (2020) right now, as our current global pandemic is ramping itself back up into nightmare territory. I figured the story of a group of people who out of nowhere turn into unresponsive sleepwalkers who leave their homes and form an ever-increasing crowd on the road to … somewhere … wouldn’t ring many bells with the reality of Covid-19 and its maddening variants.

And that was mostly true, although there are enough similarities to be disturbing. On the other hand, disturbing readers is kind of what the horror genre is all about, so caveat lector and all that. And putting aside whether it’s a little too on the nose right now, I found Wanderers to be a compelling read.

The parade of sleepwalkers begins with a single teenager, who is unresponsive to attempts to talk or interact with her, relentlessly putting one foot in front of the other and refusing to deviate from her route. When her sister tries to intervene and stop her march, the wanderer undergoes alarming physical changes that quickly discourage any further attempts to divert her. People come out of their houses as she passes by, in the same catatonic state, and join her. No one knows why it’s happening, how people are “infected” by the sleepwalking illness (if that’s what it is) or how to stop it. As the walkers continue on their way, some of their loved ones form a support group that travels with them to make sure they are safe. Other people, without any family or friends among the afflicted, become hostile to something they don’t understand. Conspiracy theories abound as to the cause and the ultimate outcome, none of which have any effect on the wanderers themselves, who seem to have a definite destination in mind but are unable to communicate in any way with the unafflicted.

It took a while for the narrative to reach its full velocity, but it does get there eventually and once it does, I was helpless to stop reading. There may have been a few too many subplots, which led to spending more time with secondary characters than I would have liked, but that’s a minor quibble. I wasn’t surprised to find that the parts of this science fiction novel I enjoyed the least were the parts that hit a little too close to current events — the demagogue presidential candidate, the white supremacist militias, and so on. I prefer my horror to be a little less grounded in reality, thanks.

Nevertheless, I appreciated the plot twists that I at least did not see coming. I was less appreciative when the story ended on a semi-cliffhanger that made it clear there will be another book to truly finish off the plot. Having said that, I’m pretty sure when the next installment is published, I’ll be ready to revisit the Wanderers universe once again.

93katiekrug
Ago 5, 2021, 1:48 pm

>92 rosalita: - That sounds intriguing.

94Jackie_K
Ago 5, 2021, 1:58 pm

>92 rosalita: My husband just got that book - it sounds much more up his street than mine, I must say, but I'm glad to see you thought it was good. It's such a huge book, I'd hate to think of him (and you) spending all that time reading to not enjoy it!

95scaifea
Ago 5, 2021, 2:06 pm

Aha! Nice Latin, lady. And an excellent review!

96rosalita
Ago 5, 2021, 3:10 pm

>93 katiekrug: It was pretty good, although it could have benefited from some judicious editing. The length is probably my main complaint.

97rosalita
Ago 5, 2021, 3:11 pm

>94 Jackie_K: I hope Mr. Jackie_K likes it — it is *so* long! It could have been cut down to a more manageable length and not lost any of the impact, I think. But it's still good.

98rosalita
Editado: Ago 5, 2021, 3:11 pm

>95 scaifea: Ha! Now you know why I was asking. Thanks for the assist. :-)

99BLBera
Ago 5, 2021, 5:36 pm

Great comments on The Eighth Detective, Julia. I liked it a little more than you did, I think. And great comments on the Wendig. Not sure I'm up to it right now...

I really liked the new Ruth. I thought it was the best mystery in a while.

I keep meaning (and then forgetting) to look for the three investigator books.

100LovingLit
Ago 5, 2021, 6:33 pm

>92 rosalita: I appreciated the plot twists that I at least did not see coming...
I love things in books that I don't see coming! That is why I don't read reviews of books I want to read, and why I won't read books that my RL bookclubbers have given me an extended plot summary of at bookclub :)

101rosalita
Ago 5, 2021, 6:48 pm

>99 BLBera: I'm not sure what I was expecting from The Eighth Detective but for some reason it just fell a little flat for me. Hey, it happens. And the Wendig is so long that I think you'd have to really want to read it to get through the whole thing. If it hadn't been recommended by a friend at work, I might have chucked it during one of the slower bits.

Scout might really like The Three Investigators, so I hope you can find them. I don't even know if they are still in print anymore. I hope so.

102rosalita
Ago 5, 2021, 6:49 pm

>100 LovingLit: I guard against all possible spoilers so hard that sometimes I start reading a book that's been recommended to me, only to realize that I had completely wrong assumptions about what it was about! Fortunately, I do usually end up still liking them, once I've adjusted my mental map. :-)

103rosalita
Ago 6, 2021, 3:49 pm


’Reading Boy’ by Eastman Johnson, 1863

What I’m Reading Outside of Books

First the booky stuff:
And in the real world:

104Jackie_K
Ago 6, 2021, 3:59 pm

There's No Wrong Way to Read a Book - totally agree! I'm not a big audiobook person, but I don't think that people who are into them aren't reading, they're taking in the exact same story in a way that is meaningful and works for them. I do often see the 'ebooks aren't real books' arguments, including from some friends, but bah humbug to them :)

105rosalita
Ago 6, 2021, 4:05 pm

>104 Jackie_K: You've got it, Jackie. Bah humbug to the whole snooty lot of 'em.

106katiekrug
Ago 6, 2021, 4:11 pm

>103 rosalita: - Julia! So many good reads AGAIN! I tweeted the chicken tenders article at The Wayne, as they are his favorite (and I actually had chicken fingers and fries off the kids menu of a local pizzeria for dinner last night :-P). And I love the No Wrong Way to Read a Book article - I posted it to a couple of reader groups I belong to on FB. And, like you, the only one of those British authors I've even heard of is Patricia Wentworth. Looks like you had better get reading...

107rosalita
Ago 6, 2021, 4:22 pm

>106 katiekrug: I do love me a good chicken tender. In fact, I've got a bag of them in the freezer right now ... :-)

I am drowning in interesting articles over here, so I'm glad you found the ones I posted worthwhile. I'm thinking about splitting into separate "book-related non-book reads" and "non-book-related non-book reads" posts on different days just so I can fit them all in. I feel like if I post more than three in each category in a single post people's eyes will just glaze over.

108katiekrug
Ago 6, 2021, 4:41 pm

I'd love to see more of the articles you find interesting!

109rosalita
Ago 6, 2021, 5:14 pm

>108 katiekrug: OK, but don't say I didn't warn you! :-D

110BLBera
Ago 6, 2021, 7:49 pm

I second what Katie said. I was happy to hear that there is no wrong way to read a book.

Of the nine mysteries, I'd only heard of two of the authors!

111rosalita
Ago 7, 2021, 10:39 am

>110 BLBera: well, Beth, you're one ahead of me, at least!

112scaifea
Ago 7, 2021, 11:37 am

Oooh, thanks for the mystery list - those sound like they need to be investigated and I've added them all to my own list.

Also, *praise hands* for the chicken tenders article, because YES. Charlie and I had some pretty delicious ones for lunch during our shopping spree this week, and we both fully agree that no dipping sauce is necessary. Controversial Statement: Outback Steakhouse has some of the very best chicken tenders I've ever had.

113rosalita
Editado: Ago 7, 2021, 3:33 pm

>112 scaifea: oh, I hope you can read some of the mysteries and report back, Amber! I'm having a hard time finding them at my library.

And yes for more chicken tender-ness. :-)

114Charon07
Ago 7, 2021, 6:05 pm

>107 rosalita: More articles, please! I no longer have to hide the shame of my love for chicken tenders or audiobooks!

115lyzard
Ago 7, 2021, 7:09 pm

>90 rosalita:

Nice!

>103 rosalita:

I read Run! last month; just sayin'. :D

The others are too recent for me, which perhaps isn't the reason most people "haven't heard of them", but there you go...

116connie53
Ago 8, 2021, 4:30 am

Hi Julia,

Love the picture in >103 rosalita:.

117karenmarie
Ago 8, 2021, 4:56 pm

Hi Julia!

>91 rosalita: And onto the wish list it goes!

>103 rosalita: I’ve only heard of Patricia Wentworth and haven’t read anything by her yet. I enjoyed “There’s No Wrong Way to Read a Book”. It tallies with what I've experienced in the 75ers group - everybody has the absolute right to determine what, when, and how they read.

118rosalita
Ago 9, 2021, 8:37 am

>114 Charon07: Duly noted. I am officially declaring this thread to be a No Shame Zone!

119rosalita
Ago 9, 2021, 8:38 am

>115 lyzard: Of course you've read Run!, Liz. :-) I'm holding off on delving into Wentworth's non-Miss Silver work until after we finish with Maudie.

120rosalita
Ago 9, 2021, 8:39 am

>116 connie53: Isn't it lovely, Connie?

121rosalita
Ago 9, 2021, 8:40 am

>117 karenmarie: I think you'll like the Pavesi book, Karen. And I've only read Wentworth's Miss Silver series, but I do enjoy it. I need to check out some of the other books on that list.

122lyzard
Ago 9, 2021, 5:37 pm

>119 rosalita:

No, no, pure coincidence! - that was one of the reads I substituted in my sweep, when I got cut off from my library books. :)

123rosalita
Ago 9, 2021, 7:50 pm

>122 lyzard: Oh, that makes sense. You can always count on Wentworth to pull you through ... :-)

124rosalita
Editado: Ago 11, 2021, 7:12 pm


C’mon, you knew I was going to use a picture of Bruce, right?

What I’m Reading Outside of Books

I didn't intend there to be so many articles from The New York Times, but they've really been killing it with their books coverage lately.

  • The Mystery of My Obsession with Agatha Christie — I found myself relating to this article. Last year when the pandemic closed in, I found myself unable to settle into any reading that required too much mental effort. I wanted to be taken away from gritty reality for a while and read something that had a definite ending — sure somebody gets killed, but the murderer gets caught and all is once again right with the world (well, except for the dead person). (via The New York Times Magazine)

  • Obama and Springsteen to Publish Book Based on Their Spotify Series — I highly recommend the podcast (of course I do), and the book looks like the sort of fan candy that’s right up my alley. But if you aren’t interested in the book, the podcast is still worth your time. It’s free on Spotify. (via The New York Times)

  • Who You’re Reading When You Read Haruki Murakami — I’ve only read one Murakami (1Q84) and I remember it being bafflingly delightful. That book isn’t mentioned in this article, but the discussion of how Murakami’s English translators made drastic changes in the original Japanese works to supposedly make them more appealing to an American audience was very interesting. It looks like my version of 1Q84 was at least not translated by the translator who comes in for the most criticism here, but it makes you wonder. (via The Atlantic)

  • Fifty Shades of White: The Long Fight Against Racism in Romance Novels — I have been following the ongoing attempts to diversify the romance genre only casually over the past few years, but it’s depressing that people are still putting up such a fuss about the notion that people of color fall in love and have hot, steamy sex just as often as white people. And I really don’t get the notion that white women don’t want to read about diverse heroes and heroines; that’s certainly not my experience. (via The Guardian)

  • Erik Larson Has a Scary Story He’d Like You to Hear — Larson is one of my most favorite writers of narrative nonfiction. I’ve read all his books, including the most recent The Splendid and the Vile. Now he’s written a historical fiction novella that is only going to be released only as an audiobook. It sounds exactly like something I’d like, so I’ll probably have to make it one of my rare book listens. (via The New York Times)

125BLBera
Ago 11, 2021, 7:04 pm

I loved the article about translation and Murakami.

And, of course, The Boss and Obama. 💜

126rosalita
Ago 12, 2021, 7:17 am

>125 BLBera: I thought the Murakami article was fascinating in highlighting how much editorial judgment goes into translation work. I'm glad you liked it, Beth.

127BLBera
Ago 12, 2021, 9:17 am

Speaking a second language has made me realize how tricky translation can be. It sounds like some of the translators have taken a LOT of liberties. I've only read Kafka on the Shore but would like to read more Murakami.

128rosalita
Ago 12, 2021, 9:33 am

>127 BLBera: Yes, I think I was already aware that translation involves a lot of tricky decisions that are quite nuanced. But I didn't realize that it could involve just cutting tens of thousands of words and entire storylines in the process. That seems to go beyond what I think of as the subtleties of translation and straight into creating an entirely different book. I'd be open to anyone with experience in the field who can explain why those sorts of changes are okay, or even desirable.

I would also like to read Murakami.

129FAMeulstee
Ago 13, 2021, 2:51 am

>128 rosalita: I think the first translators felt they were also editors, as they had to prepare the book for the American market. In the same way editors might work for a starting American author, which could involve cutting complete story lines.
Although working your own name into a translation is in any case way over the line IMHO.

I have read one Murakami Norwegian Wood, in Dutch translation. It didn't make me run for his other books, but I have a few on my "maybe one day"-list.

130rosalita
Ago 13, 2021, 7:26 am

>129 FAMeulstee: Thanks for those thoughts, Anita. Do you think similar things happen with Dutch translations? I think one of the reasons this has been bothering me since I learned about it is that it seems to reinforce a stereotype that American readers are too self-centered or unsophisticated to understand or appreciate the entirety of a foreign work, and I'm insulted on behalf of myself and my fellow smarty-pants countrypersons. :-)

131FAMeulstee
Ago 13, 2021, 7:58 am

>130 rosalita: Similair things were accepted practice in the past, as far as I know these practices are not done anymore. Classics in a more recent translation might differ a lot from older "translations". I think (not sure) that the first Murakami books were not directly translated from Japanese, but from the English translation. I know for sure this happened more, earlier this year I did read The gardener's year by Karel Čapek. My edition was a translation from French, while the original work was in Czech.

Especially childrens books were changed a lot, to make the book more "Dutch": other names, other cities, abridged (without mention). My recent read of Heidi made me realise that the books I read in my youth were altered.

132rosalita
Ago 13, 2021, 8:41 am

>131 FAMeulstee: Interesting! Thanks, Anita.

133karenmarie
Ago 13, 2021, 9:04 am

Hi Julia!

>124 rosalita: I’ve been toying with the idea of re-reading either Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple in publication order for a while now, and this is just another nudge to do so.

I’ve read Murukami’s 1Q84, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, and Kafka on the Shore and feel proud to have done so but finished each book with a “What the hell did I just read?” I have his short story collection After the Quake just waiting for the time that I feel like finishing another book and saying “What the hell did I just read?”

Even though the books weren’t written that way, I was absolutely charmed with the way Bridgerton made Georgian England integrated at all levels.

134rosalita
Ago 13, 2021, 9:16 am

>133 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! I finished Marple a while ago, but I am still trying to work through Poirot in order. Then I want to tackle her stand-alone books, most of which I have never read.

I had that same WTF reaction to Murakami. I think I liked it but it wasn't like anything I'd ever read before.

And yes, the diversity in Bridgerton was lovely, especially how it wasn't really referred to much. It just ... was.

135Charon07
Ago 14, 2021, 6:00 pm

>124 rosalita: Another excellent batch of thought-provoking articles.

I’ll add my WTF reaction to Murakami novels; that article makes me even less inclined to read more, though I have 1Q84 among my ROOTs. I don’t want to read a “phenomenon,” much less one that’s been manufactured for an American audience.

No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson has been added to my TBR. I’ve read only The Devil in the White City of his books, but I really enjoyed it, to my great surprise, since history is one of my least favorite things to read, so he’s clearly got a great talent for telling a good story.

The romance article was particularly thought-provoking for me. It makes me ponder how escapism from politics really is a privilege for those, including me, for whom politics and racism don’t impact so much of their lives.

136lyzard
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 6:38 pm

>134 rosalita:

I have been wondering where you and Hercule were up to. :)

Not a romance reader so that particular issue isn't one I've thought much about, but I was recently made aware of how disgracefully long it took for mystery series to have protagonists of colour---and women of colour, twenty years longer than men. The implications of that just get worse the more you think about them.

This awareness makes me appreciate how really radical Arthur Upfield's Bony books were, and reminds me to be understanding of that series' inevitable flinch-worthy moments.

137rosalita
Editado: Ago 15, 2021, 10:25 am

>135 Charon07: You might enjoy Isaac's Storm if you're looking for another Larson to tackle. It's about the 1900 hurricane in Galveston. I found the history of weather forecasting and the founding of the National Weather Service fascinating. We (at least I) take the modern ability to know what weather to expect very much for granted, and often forget such abilities are quite recent in historical terms.

138rosalita
Ago 15, 2021, 10:27 am

>136 lyzard: I have fallen off the Poirot wagon but I'm determined to climb back on and finish the ride. Checking my catalog, it appears that The Labors of Hercules is next up for me. I hope I can remember that and get to it this month.

139Charon07
Ago 15, 2021, 7:04 pm

>137 rosalita: I should tell my husband about this one—I think he’d love to learn about the history of meteorology.

140rosalita
Ago 15, 2021, 7:05 pm

>139 Charon07: You'll have to let me know what he thinks if he reads it!

141rosalita
Ago 16, 2021, 3:59 pm

Book Sale Alert

University of Chicago Press is having a massive sale on their entire list of ebooks, with all titles listed for 75% off through August 23.They publish a wide range of nonfiction subjects, so if reality is your jam, this sale is for you.

142Jackie_K
Ago 16, 2021, 5:15 pm

>141 rosalita: I got the email from them about this sale but so far have resisted having a look. Must.Not.Buy.All.The.Books.

143rosalita
Ago 16, 2021, 5:25 pm

>142 Jackie_K: I'm hoping that telling the rest of you about it will quench my own Buy All the Books thirst!

144rosalita
Ago 17, 2021, 12:27 pm



50. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman.

In general, she wasn't the kind of woman who turned casual heads; her looks were an acquired taste, and her resting expression suggested you weren't going to be given much chance to acquire it.

Nina Hill loves her life. She loves her studio apartment in a quiet neighborhood of Los Angeles, and she loves her cat, Phil, who shares it with her. She loves making lists and planning her days down to the hour. She loves her job at a nearby independent bookstore, and she loves the book clubs she leads at the bookstore, especially the one for kids. When she isn’t leading a book club in the evening, she loves spending time with friends at weekly movie nights and pub trivia games. She doesn’t have a boyfriend, but frankly, she doesn’t have time for one, anyway.

At least, that’s what she thinks at the start of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (2019) by Abbi Waxman. There is that cute guy on the trivia team that is the fiercest rival for Nina and her friends, but c’mon. He mostly answers the science questions and never the literature questions, so clearly they have nothing in common — no matter what her friends and his friends think. Or do they? She also doesn’t have time for the extended family she suddenly discovers she has, when the father she never knew dies and names her in his will. Trying to incorporate complicated family relationships into a life that is already planned down to the hour was very much not in her plans.
Oh my God, she thought, it's hard to be human sometimes, with the pressure to be civilized lying only very thinly over the brain of a nervous little mammal.

I enjoyed this novel for what it is, a light-hearted romance with appealing characters and just enough conflict to keep it from being boring. Nina is described early on as someone who was diagnosed with ADD as a child, and the only person who could calm her down was the school librarian, who “simply clicked her tongue and told her she was imaginative and creative and couldn’t be expected to wait for everyone else to catch up.” The librarian let Nina check out extra books above her grade level, instilling a love of reading and the belief that books are “medication and sanctuary and the source of all good things. Nothing had yet proven her wrong.”
Being surrounded by books was the closest she'd ever gotten to feeling like the member of a gang. The books had her back, and the nonfiction, at least, was ready to fight if necessary.

The only fault to pick with the book is the way the narrative too often veers off into long digressive mental soliloquies or dialogues that do little to advance the story or provide further insight into Nina’s character. On the other hand, the inventive team names for the various pub quiz contestants were a delight, from Menace to Sobriety to You’re a Quizzard, Harry to Olivia Neutron Bomb and Spanish In-quiz-ition. Any veteran of pub quiz nights knows having the right name is the key to having a winning team.

Thanks to Katie for putting this one on my radar. I’m encouraged to seek out other books by Waxman.
Coming out of a book was always painful. She was surprised to see things had remained in place while she herself had been roaming other towns, other times.

145katiekrug
Ago 17, 2021, 12:57 pm

>144 rosalita: - I'm glad you liked it. I rated it more highly, but I think it was a case of the right book at the right time, where it just hit me as pitch-perfect for whatever reason.

And yes! to the importance of trivia team names. The Wayne and I are back to doing pub trivia, and the coming up with a name is the most stressful part. Last week, the quiz master said we had the best names the last two weeks :) And when we can't think of a fun one, we fall back on Old Reliable - Pinky and the Brain.

146rosalita
Editado: Ago 17, 2021, 1:13 pm

>145 katiekrug: A few years ago a group of friends and I were regulars at a local trivia night (I don't feel like I can call it a pub quiz because it was held in the restaurant attached to the local Hy-Vee grocery store, although they did sell booze). We always sat in the same booth and had the same waiter, who was a grad student in the College of Public Health at Iowa. He was delightful, which led to our regular team name: Nick's Favorite Table.

Having said that, if I had thought of Menace to Sobriety we would have ridden that horse as far as it would go.

147BLBera
Ago 17, 2021, 7:05 pm

>144 rosalita: Great comments, Julia. I enjoyed this one as well. Great light read.

148rosalita
Ago 18, 2021, 7:24 am

>147 BLBera: It was a lot of fun, Beth.

149rosalita
Editado: Ago 19, 2021, 10:16 am


The barn in Mississippi where Emmett Till was killed.

What I’m Reading Outside of Books
First the booky stuff:

And in the real world:
  • His Name Was Emmett Till — Full disclosure: This is a tough, long read. But I find the ways that white people willfully refuse to acknowledge past harms, up to and including murder, against black people to be fascinating and horrifying. The lengths to which people in Mississippi — even those who had nothing to do with the murder — have gone to pretend Emmett Till’s death never happened will never not be shocking to me. (via The Atlantic)

  • He Saved a Horse and Made Him a Legend — I wish I’d seen this obituary of Harry deLeyer while the Olympics were still happening, because it’s an amazing story about a Dutch immigrant and the plow horse he turned into a champion show jumper. (And yes, I did watch the show-jumping during the Olympics, and yes, Jessica Springsteen was part of the USA team that won the silver medal. Forget Born to Run, she was clearly Born to Jump.) (via The New York Times)

  • The Best Way to Respond to Text Messages — I will confess to making liberal use of the Tapback feature on my iPhone. The only problem with it is that anyone using an Android phone can’t see them, which is annoying for both them and me. Apple, please fix this! (via The New York Times Magazine)

  • The Best Cord-Cutting Comparison Site — If you’re wanting to drop your cable TV subscription in favor of all streaming, all the time, the website Suppose lets you select the channels you consider must-haves and shows you which live streaming services are your best best. I dropped cable long ago, but I was glad to see this site agrees with the service I chose to replace it. It’s free, and you don’t have to give up any personal information at all to use it. (via Six Colors)

  • I Am Also Powerless Over Diet Coke, and It Rules — I’m more of a Diet Pepsi girl, myself. (via Slate)

150BLBera
Ago 18, 2021, 5:49 pm

Diet Coke for me, Julia.

The Goodreads article was depressing.

I might look at the cord-cutting site as well.

151rosalita
Ago 18, 2021, 6:04 pm

>150 BLBera: You're in good company, Beth — there seem to be many more Diet Coke fans than Diet Pepsi. Which just means more for me. :-)

The streaming hasn't turned out to be quite the panacea I had hoped initially, since you still get stuck with a bunch of channels you'll never watch and the prices seem to be creeping up and up until they are almost as expensive as cable. But on the other hand, the cable TV company around here (Mediacom) is a dumpster fire for customer service, and at least I don't have to deal with that or their stupid endless fees anymore.

152BLBera
Ago 18, 2021, 7:13 pm

I hate to change companies -- no one seems better than the other! I have Metronet and so far have been happy with it.

153LovingLit
Ago 19, 2021, 4:09 am

>103 rosalita: As it happens, the kids had chicken tenders this evening, diced and wrapped in wraps, with mayo, grated carrot and shredded lettuce (as well as home-made chunky fried potatoes on the side).

>149 rosalita: ...pretend Emmett Till’s death never happened...
We learned about American civil rights in history class when I was 15 and I shudder to think that compared to the US, NZ students would have potentially got the better education about US history!

154rosalita
Editado: Ago 19, 2021, 6:02 am

>152 BLBera: Yeah, every one is the worst, except for all the others!

155rosalita
Ago 19, 2021, 6:05 am

>153 LovingLit: I suspect you did (get a more thorough education about civil rights) than certain states in the U.S. Actually most states, since for complicated reasons whatever Texas chooses to include or omit from their history textbooks gets perpetrated across the country. Intentional ignorance may be our biggest challenge going forward, as evidenced by the ridiculous attitudes toward the COVID vaccines.

156scaifea
Ago 19, 2021, 7:33 am

Morning, Julia!

I'm a Cherry Coke Zero gal myself, but my brother is a huge Diet Caffeine-Free Pepsi guy and he's constantly frustrated that it's so hard to find.

157karenmarie
Ago 19, 2021, 9:29 am

Hi Julia!

I’ve finished Hot Money, and rated it 4.5 stars. Out of the 18 that I’ve so far read for the 3 years of Dick Francis SHARED Reads that you started, it’s the best, I think. You started something really good 3 years ago.

>136 lyzard: A ricochet BB! I just bought The Barrakee Mystery for my Kindle. I’ve never heard of Arthur Upfield before, so thanks, Liz.

>141 rosalita: I just bought many paper books from their recent paper book sale and will try to resist this sale. Try being the operative word. They did send an email to me yesterday and I was trying to ignore it…

>149 rosalita: Thank goodness I’m an LT fan and don’t bother with Goodreads.

Alas, in order to have high speed internet with our Spectrum 50-household neighborhood in the rural wilderness, we have to have their Platinum Cable Package, but that cost for both is only $109/month, guaranteed for the next 9 years. That, along with Amazon Prime and daughter’s Netflix give us more than enough viewing options.

I have a friend who is addicted to Cherry Pepsi and calls it Cherry Heroin.

158rosalita
Ago 19, 2021, 9:40 am

>156 scaifea: Yes, Big Coca-Cola seems to do a lot with signing exclusive contracts with various businesses and organizations (like the University of Iowa) to only sell their products on the premises. I guess they know they wouldn't fare well in a free market. :-)

I've never had Cherry Coke (gasp!). Really, I drink so little soda now that I'm not going out to eat that I hardly remember what any of it tastes like.

159rosalita
Editado: Ago 19, 2021, 10:00 am

>157 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'm looking forward to re-reading Hot Money soon, but I do remember liking it a lot. Talk about Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous! I enjoyed your review on the shared read page.

That's a decent price for cable/internet combined. If it wasn't for live sports, I would just drop all live streaming and stick with the on-demand services like Netflix, Acorn and Apple TV+.

As I said to Amber, I've never had Cherry Coke, and I've never had Cherry Pepsi, either. I guess I like my soda the way I like my whiskey — straight and on the rocks!

160katiekrug
Ago 19, 2021, 9:49 am

>149 rosalita: - I recently read The Blood of Emmett Till which was very good. I've bookmarked The Atlantic article to read later.

I have a Goodreads account and I log the books I read there, but don't use it for reviews, chat, or anything else. I do like the annual challenge 'Around the Year in 52 Books' as it usually has fun prompts. So I copy the list at the start of the year but don't participate in the discussion threads.

That streaming service comparison site is great. We will definitely make use of it, as we got rid of cables ages ago and over the years, the number of services we subscribe to has creeped up. It's crazy.

In the Coke vs Pepsi wars, I am a Coke girl. Well, Diet Coke. But I drink very little soda now, and when I do, my preference is for Diet Dr. Pepper :)

161rosalita
Ago 19, 2021, 10:02 am

>160 katiekrug: I've got The Blood of Emmett Till on my TBR, Katie — glad to hear it's good. I enjoyed another book by that author, Blood Done Sign My Name about a racial murder in the North Carolina of his childhood. It was featured in UI's "One Community, One Book" program a while back, and he gave a spectacular reading/talk about it.

162rosalita
Editado: Ago 21, 2021, 10:36 am



51. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths.

This is the latest entry in Elly Griffiths’ series about forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway. (If you’re new to the series, there’s no better place to start than at the beginning with The Crossing Places.) It's hard to believe this is already the 13th outing for Ruth & Company, and it's one of my favorites for the deft combination of interesting plotting and appealing, believable characters. Griffiths deserves praise for maintaining a generally high quality through the series, continuing to advance her characters’ lives without resorting to cliché or outlandishness.

As The Night Hawks opens, Ruth has returned to Norfolk from a stint at Cambridge. Her return isn’t entirely like putting on a comfortable old pair of shoes: she has a new job with a new colleague and is still working through the personal decisions she made at the end of The Lantern Men (2020). But when some amateur archaeologists using metal detectors (or treasure hunters as I would call them here in the U.S.) unearth some Bronze Age artifacts, they also find a decidedly non-Bronze Age body. This brings Ruth back into the orbit of DCI Harry Nelson, her frequent colleague through the series and, incidentally, the father of her daughter, Katie. But after all that’s happened between them, personally and professionally, can they really fall back into old habits so easily?

I always enjoy the archaeology scenes, and this time there’s a spooky subplot involving a Norfolk legend about the ghostly Black Shuck, a giant dog whose appearance spells doom for anyone who sees him. This time around, he’s seen in and around the location of an apparent murder-suicide. Nelson is suspicious that some of the same amateur metal detectorists who found the body at the Bronze Age site were also witnesses of a sort to these deaths as well. Of course, his police colleague Judy and her husband, the druid Cathbad, once again add their individual expertise to the situation.

I like the way Griffiths handles the complex personal relationships that result from Ruth and Harry’s entanglement, which encompasses not only Katie but Harry’s wife and two grown daughters and baby son. I know some readers get impatient with the incremental progress in this plot line from book to book, but for me, it seems appropriate given that such situations are seldom tidily resolved in real life. Still, by the end of The Night Hawks, we get hints of more monumental changes on the horizon.

But that will be for next year’s Book 14 to reveal. Until then, we can only speculate about where everyone will end up when the merry-go-round takes its final turn.

163lyzard
Editado: Ago 19, 2021, 6:23 pm

>138 rosalita:

That should work to ease you back in. Those stories are mostly fun and I love the meta-joke involving Augustus. :D

>157 karenmarie:

Whoo! I hardly ever BB anyone. :D

I hope you enjoy it, Karen, though be aware that as with many series, the first book is somewhat different from what followed: it would be worth you giving another couple a go before making up your mind about them.

164Jackie_K
Ago 20, 2021, 5:17 pm

>143 rosalita: I am feeling quite proud of myself that I have come away with just 2 books. A few years ago I really would have bought the lot.

165rosalita
Ago 20, 2021, 5:30 pm

>164 Jackie_K: Only two? That is commendable restraint, Jackie!

166Jackie_K
Ago 21, 2021, 4:00 am

>165 rosalita: *shines halo*

167rosalita
Ago 21, 2021, 8:44 am

168BLBera
Ago 21, 2021, 9:08 am

I also thought The Night Hawks was a good one, Julia! Great comments. I wonder what will happen next?

169rosalita
Ago 21, 2021, 11:41 am

>168 BLBera: Thanks, Beth! Griffiths has really mastered the art of the relationship cliffhanger in this series, hasn't she? I think. I think Nelson will retire, at least temporarily, but I don't know what will happen in the triangle between him, Ruth and Michelle. It will be interesting to see if the relationship between Ruth and Michelle changes after what happened at the end of Night Hawks.

What do you think?

170karenmarie
Ago 21, 2021, 1:10 pm

Hi Julia!

>162 rosalita: Excellent review.

>163 lyzard: Thanks for the warning, Liz. I do abandon series after one unfortunate experience, but I’ve got a feeling this one will ‘click’.

171BLBera
Ago 21, 2021, 2:06 pm

Hi Julia - I think Griffiths is hinting that Nelson will leave Michelle, but I don't really see Nelson and Ruth ever living together? In a way, I think with this relationship, Griffiths has painted herself into a corner. I don't see a way that it can resolve while continuing with the series. But I could be wrong.

172rosalita
Ago 21, 2021, 3:42 pm

>170 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen!

173rosalita
Ago 21, 2021, 3:45 pm

>171 BLBera: It could happen that way, for sure. At least for me, the genius of Griffiths' handling of the relationship is that the reader doesn't know what outcome to root for. All three are incredibly sympathetic characters and it's hard to see any resolution that won't end up hurting someone deeply. But for now I'm willing to continue trusting Griffiths to figure it out. We'll see.

174rosalita
Ago 21, 2021, 4:19 pm



52. Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy.

The problem with putting books away after you've read them is then you spot other books on the same shelf and think, "Oh, I haven't read that one in a while" and before you know it you're re-reading a book you never planned on re-reading. Sigh. Anyway, this is a fine, humor-filled example of Binchy's more modern Irish stories, which focus on Dublin and weave together the lives and POVs of a multitude of characters.

175BLBera
Ago 21, 2021, 6:14 pm

>173 rosalita: Yes, I guess I shouldn't lose any sleep over this. And I have you to thank for a book purchase yesterday. I saw Lions of Fifth Avenue on a display in the bookstore, and I was weak. The irony is I would probably read it sooner if I checked it out of the library!

176rosalita
Ago 21, 2021, 6:22 pm

>175 BLBera: Yes, it's amazing what having a deadline (due date) can do for prioritizing our reading, isn't it? I hope you like it whenever you get to it. :-)

177lyzard
Ago 21, 2021, 9:20 pm

>174 rosalita:

I think that's another of the ones I rescued from a roadside dump, along with Tara Road. I'll have to look out for TIOLI excuse. :)

178rosalita
Ago 22, 2021, 9:07 am

>177 lyzard: Binchy's late-life novels were all set in contemporary Dublin and the same characters would pop up over and over — the main characters in one book, a peripheral role in another — which I really like but it makes it a little disconcerting to read them out of order. I need figure out the publishing timeline and try reading them as they were written. Someday...

179scaifea
Ago 22, 2021, 9:41 am

>174 rosalita: Oh, I loved that one when I read it...well, years ago at this point. Maybe I should do a reread, too...

180rosalita
Ago 22, 2021, 9:43 am

>179 scaifea: Yes, yes you should. :-) The more the merrier.

181lyzard
Ago 22, 2021, 6:10 pm

BTW have you made a start on The Gazebo?

What were we saying about people who really need killing...? :D

182charl08
Ago 23, 2021, 2:16 am

Mostly just waving, Julia. Way back there I really liked the link you shared about different types of reading. It's good to get a reminder that most of these rules are (in my case st least) pretty much self imposed!

183rosalita
Ago 23, 2021, 7:28 am

>181 lyzard: I have not yet started The Gazebo but that's an intriguing teaser! Looking forward to finding out what that's all about. :-D

184rosalita
Ago 23, 2021, 7:29 am

>182 charl08: Glad to have you visit, Charlotte. I'm constantly having to remind myself that all the "rules" I try to impose on myself are just that — self-imposed!

185rosalita
Ago 24, 2021, 2:09 pm



53. The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly.

How do you find someone who might not exist? That’s the task set before cop-turned-private-detective Harry Bosch by a dying billionaire businessman in The Wrong Side of Goodbye (2016). Whitney Vance has been haunted his whole life by the Mexican girl whom he got pregnant as a teenager, only to have his father send her away. All these decades later, Vance wants Harry to find the woman if he can, and especially the child (and heir) she may have borne him.

Other people in Vance’s life would prefer that not to happen, since as things stand all those lovely billions of dollars will go to them if no heir is found. That leads to some menacing action as Vance’s associates try to find out what Harry knows and stop him from revealing all and eliminating their financial windfall.

That would seem to be enough to be going on with, but Harry is simultaneously working pro bono for the San Fernando Police Department to solve their coldest cases, including a particularly grim serial rapist. There’s nothing wrong with the plotting of this secondary case, but it feels like it’s only there to facilitate Harry’s continued access to police resources (which is, of course, against those pesky rules that Harry never follows if he doesn’t feel like it). Real-life events over the past year or so have altered my attitude toward rule-breaking cops. As much as I’ve always enjoyed Harry as a character, it didn’t feel good this time around to be rooting for someone whose personal motto seems to be “The end always justifies the means.”

Connelly excels at detailing the sometimes-plodding work that is necessary to solve criminal cases, and I’m a total nerd for that kind of logistical stuff. It was also nice to read a mystery where technology or science doesn’t swoop in to save the day. After 19 books in this series, I’m impressed with Connelly’s ability to keep coming up with clever and intricate plot lines. It’s a minor pity that his writing has never risen above the somewhat plodding prose of a newspaper police beat reporter (which I believe he used to be many years ago). I’m by no means ready to throw in the towel on this series, however, even though it’s not one I’m likely to binge-read. Spacing them out is the best approach, at least for me.

186Caramellunacy
Ago 25, 2021, 5:46 am

>185 rosalita:
I get where you're coming from in terms of feeling uncomfortable with cops skirting/breaking the rules - I read one of Connelly's Mickey Haller books a while back and a few Grishams recently and felt like I wanted to file multiple ethics complaints against the lot of them...

187rosalita
Ago 25, 2021, 8:46 am

>186 Caramellunacy: Indeed! I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way. I still enjoyed the book because Bosch is far from the worst literary offender in this regard, but the issue seems to be always on my mind when I read police procedural these days.

188Copperskye
Ago 25, 2021, 12:15 pm

>187 rosalita: You're definitely not alone in feeling that way, Julia. In both the Haller and Bosch books I find I have to concentrate on them just being characters/heroes in the fiction world and not think about real life. Although I often tell them they really shouldn't be doing this or that and maybe the end doesn't justify the means but they never listen...

189rosalita
Ago 25, 2021, 12:59 pm

>188 Copperskye: Thanks, Joanne — why won't they just listen to you?! We'd all be better off if people would just do what we tell them to do, don't you think? ;-)

I'm hoping now that Harry is (mostly) a private eye, there won't be as many jarring incidents of disregarding police regulations moving forward with the series.

190rosalita
Ago 25, 2021, 5:07 pm


Stephanie Foo volunteers in Forest Park, Queens.

What I’m Reading Outside of Books

First the booky stuff:
  • Advance Copies of Sally Rooney’s Unpublished Book Sold for Hundreds of Dollars — During my reporting and editing career I was sent scads of Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) by publishers hoping to get a review in the newspaper. Being the book hoarder that I am, I never tried to sell them, and only begrudgingly gave them away to friends or, on one occasion, to be sold at an in-house book sale to raise money for charity). So this story about ARCs being sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay and elsewhere online is astonishing. You can hardly blame publishers for resorting more and more to e-galleys with time-limited access, even though as a reviewer I find that super annoying. (via The Guardian)

  • We Asked, You Answered: Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade — So, so many books here! I don’t read a huge amount of sci-fi/fantasy but some of my favorites among what I have read are listed here, including Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. (via NPR)

  • When to Delete ‘That’ — Hint: Not nearly as often as you’ve been told. This one’s for my fellow grammar nerds. The Chicago Manual of Style can help you get a handle on this helper word that so many editors like to reflexively remove every time they see it. (via CMOS Shop Talk)


And in the real world:
  • I Tackled My Climate Anxiety by Becoming a Parks Department Super Stewart — I loved this article for the way the author shows how even individual action can have a positive effect on the environment. And her story of how focusing on her volunteer work in New York City parks helped alleviate her struggles with mental illness is inspiring. (via New York)

  • The March of the Karens — With apologies to our very own beloved karenmarie, lately the name Karen has come to refer to belligerent white women who feel comfortable demanding that authorities intervene when they are inconvenienced, usually by people of color. I really appreciated the historical perspective (previous generations of this type were known as “Miss Ann” among PoC) and the reminder that white men have been acting similarly and worse without being reduced to a sexist stereotype. As the story says, it’s easier to mock individual expressions of white supremacy than to address the systemic racism that led all those Karens to think they deserved more than PoC. (via The New York Times Style Magazine)

  • My Five Summer Yard Hacks — You can’t really call yourself a homeowner in Iowa (and many other places, I’m sure) until you’ve had a chance to complain about the deer and rabbits eating your garden. The cool thing about this article’s advice is that it is focused on learning to live with the wildlife who share your outdoor living spaces (emphasis from me on outdoors, since any critter that makes its way into my apartment is a dead critter walking). And his tips don’t involve expensive or dangerous chemicals or other grisly solutions. (via Orion Magazine)

191Charon07
Ago 25, 2021, 8:36 pm

>190 rosalita: Omitting “that” when it’s needed or helpful is a pet peeve of mine. Back when I was a copyeditor, I added “that” far more often than I deleted it. And other people deleting my “thats” infuriates me!

192rosalita
Ago 26, 2021, 5:31 am

>191 Charon07: I couldn't agree more! I spent a lot of time arguing with copyeditors who weren't as smart as you about putting "that" back in my articles. I didn't always win, but if I'd had something like this article to point them toward, it would have helped!

193katiekrug
Ago 26, 2021, 8:03 am

Put behind a spoiler, so Karen can skip over :)

There is a "Karen" bit in Falling, which made me snort. I read it to The Wayne who chuckled.

I though "Chad" was the male equivalent - I've seen it a few places, though not nearly as much as "Karen."

194rosalita
Ago 26, 2021, 8:23 am

>193 katiekrug: You're very considerate of our Karen, which I appreciate!

According to dictionary.com, Chad is "usually disparaging internet slang term used for a popular, confident, sexually active young white male. Its female counterpart is Stacy".

It figures that even a disparaging term for men manages to be complementary to their sexual power, eh?

195karenmarie
Ago 26, 2021, 9:05 am

Hi Julia!

>185 rosalita: Referring to Connelly as a reporter, I have, but haven’t yet read, Crime Beat: A Decade of Covering Cops and Killers. I forget, do you like true crime books?

Speaking of police procedurals, Bill and I are rewatching Major Crimes, and we loving it all over again.

>190 rosalita: We get ARCs from a local Indie for our Friends book sales. Of course we’ve now cancelled 2 years worth of book sales and aren’t accepting donations. Think of all the ARCs we’re missing.

I like being beloved… am still deeply upset that my name has come to refer to belligerent white women who feel comfortable demanding that authorities intervene when they are inconvenienced, usually by people of color.

I am permanently boycotting M&Ms for their Superbowl 2020 ad. I even wrote to them, but of course it went into the black hole of unanswered complaints.

>193 katiekrug: Thank you, Katie! And >194 rosalita: Julia. I appreciate the consideration. Gotta keep the blood pressure down!

196rosalita
Editado: Ago 26, 2021, 9:55 am

>195 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! I don't blame you for being annoyed by The Karen-ing of bad behavior. Hopefully, this too shall pass. In the meantime, this is a safe space for all well-behaved Karens to gather. :-)

I used to read quite a bit of true crime in my younger days. I was obsessed for a long time with Fatal Vision and still have a macabre interest whenever the case re-surfaces in the news. But over time I kind of drifted away from reading true crime in favor of the made-up versions. I would definitely be interested in Connelly book, being more about the job of covering crime rather than focusing on a specific lurid case. So I'll look for that at the library — thanks for mentioning it!

Edited to add: As a matter of fact, my library has Crime Beat as an ebook so I've grabbed it. Hurrah!

197BLBera
Ago 26, 2021, 10:01 am

>190 rosalita: As usual, great articles, Julia. I get what you are saying about ethically challenged cops. I don't read many police procedural books, so I hadn't really thought about it. I don't think I've read any of the Connolly books.

Regarding "that," I'm just happy if my students have a subject and a verb and capitalize the first word of a sentence. :)

198rosalita
Ago 26, 2021, 10:10 am

>197 BLBera: There is a time and a place to fight the "that" battle, and I think you've made a wise choice! Baby steps are best for reluctant writers lest they get completely turned off by the whole thing.

How are classes going so far? I think you started this past Monday, as we did?

199BLBera
Ago 26, 2021, 3:08 pm

Yup - just finished my first week. It went well. It's hard to tell because students are on their best behavior the first week.

200lyzard
Ago 26, 2021, 7:02 pm

>174 rosalita:, >177 lyzard:

Ha!

I don't know if this is exactly "ask and ye shall receive" but the timing is a bit eerie.

Check out challenge #4 in this month's TIOLI: I suppose I'm obliged now, aren't I? :D

201rosalita
Ago 26, 2021, 9:00 pm

>200 lyzard: It's fate, I tell ya!

202rosalita
Editado: Ago 27, 2021, 3:26 pm


Members of the Dorothy Parker Society with the new gravestone in Woodlawn Cemetery.

BONUS What I'm Reading Outside of Books

No link for this one, as it was entirely contained within the Washington Post's Book Club newsletter (to subscribe, click here) but it's too good not to share. Without further ado, written by WaPo book critic Ron Charles:

Dorothy Parker once quipped that her tombstone should read, “Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.” This week, more than 50 years after she died, the legendary wit finally got a tombstone at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. But her family and admirers chose a different epitaph from her work:

Leave for her a red young rose,
Go your way, and save your pity;
She is happy, for she knows
That her dust is very pretty.


The strange story of Parker’s cremated remains sounds like something her friend James Thurber might have written. When she died in 1967 at the age of 73, Parker had failed to specify where she wished to be interred. Her executor, the playwright Lillian Hellman, never resolved that question, so over the years, Parker’s ashes were moved from one fresh hell to another — including a lawyer’s filing cabinet.

Eventually, gossip columnist Liz Smith wrote about this bizarre situation, which, naturally, led to a party at the Algonquin Hotel, which attracted even more attention. The Washington Post published a macabre bit of doggerel that begins:

Your wit may dazzle all New York,
Your songs with passion burn,
But, like the dullest nerds in town,
You're headed for an urn.

If you don’t make, while time permits,
Provisions for yourself,
Your case -- indeed, your urn -- may end
Upon a lawyer’s shelf.


In the late 1980s, Parker’s ashes were placed in a memorial garden at the headquarters of the NAACP, which owns her literary estate. But for the last 15 years, Kevin Fitzpatrick, founder of the Dorothy Parker Society, has been working with Parker’s surviving relatives to have her brought to the family plot in the Bronx. Last year, that plan came to fruition, and her very pretty dust was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, not too far from fellow New York writers Herman Melville and E.L. Doctorow.

The only thing missing was a gravestone, but before the family could decide on one, Parker fans offered to contribute. The Al Hirschfeld Foundation and the New York Distilling Company, which makes Dorothy Parker gin, helped raise about $10,000 for a large stone.

The memorial service at Woodlawn Cemetery on Monday was everything Parker fans could hope for. A five-piece band played jazz. Performers read Parker’s poetry and sang her lyrics. Afterwards, the mourners — celebrants, really — walked out to see the new gravestone.

In 1928, Parker published an essay for McCall’s magazine about her hometown: “In New York,” she wrote, “there is always the feeling of ‘Something’s going to happen.’ It isn’t peace. But, you know, you do get used to peace, and so quickly. And you never get used to New York.”

Rest in anticipation, Dorothy.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and nobody ends up on a lawyer's shelf!

203katiekrug
Ago 27, 2021, 3:18 pm

Great story, Julia! Thanks for sharing it here.

204rosalita
Ago 27, 2021, 3:26 pm

>203 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

205BLBera
Ago 27, 2021, 4:12 pm

Great story about Parker, Julia. Thanks.

206rosalita
Ago 27, 2021, 4:47 pm

>205 BLBera: You're welcome, Beth!

207charl08
Ago 28, 2021, 6:56 am

>202 rosalita: How did I not know that Dorothy Parker left her estate to MLK and then the NAACP? Great post.

208rosalita
Ago 28, 2021, 9:05 am

>207 charl08: Isn't that a great detail, Charlotte? I really need to read more Dorothy Parker — she was my kind of gal.

209connie53
Ago 29, 2021, 3:53 am

Hi Julia. Trying to get back on track with threads!

210rosalita
Ago 29, 2021, 7:43 am

>209 connie53: Hi, Connie! I was just visiting your thread. :-)

211connie53
Ago 29, 2021, 8:11 am

>210 rosalita: That's a fine coincidence, Julia.

212LovingLit
Editado: Ago 29, 2021, 11:39 pm

>202 rosalita: that guy's expression in the front...he's like "may I *help* you"?

eta- totally off topic, I know. Maybe I should stop articulating my observations....

213rosalita
Ago 30, 2021, 7:13 am

>212 LovingLit: Nothing's off topic on this thread, Megan! I noticed that guy's facial expression, too, but then I saw how they have him awkwardly crouching and I think his expression is more like, "Would you please just take the damn photo before I fall over?!"

214rosalita
Set 1, 2021, 9:39 am

My last thread of 2021 is now open for business. You know what to do with the link below.
Este tópico foi continuado por rosalita ROOTs around in 2021 - page 6.