2021*3: Lizzie Reads with New Hope

Having just read The Overstory, here are our two beautiful oaks before we lopped out the crowns to keep them from killing us in the next big hurricane. It had to be done, but it broke my heart.

READ in JULY
24. Bonecrack (reread)
25. Home Fires (reread)
26. The Overstory
27. Storm Track (reread)
28. The Galaxy and the Ground Within
29. Kesrith

Into the House in July
37. The Rise of Io - Kindle Daily Deal through BB
38. An Autobiography: Anthony Trollope - Kindle freebie
39. Walking to Samarkand - Kindle Deal through BB

READ IN AUGUST
30. Uncommon Clay (reread)
31. Pride and Prejudice (reread AGAIN)
32. Slow Dollar (reread)
33. Quarter Share (reread)
34. Half Share (reread)
35. Full Share (reread)
36. Behind Closed Doors

Into the House in August
40. Sniper's Eye - Kindle Deal through Richard
41. Hench - Kindle Deal through BB and Richard
42. The Plague of Doves - Thanks to Karen
43. Field Gray - More Thanks to Karen
44. A Master of Djinn - Kindle
45. The Night Gate - Kindle Deal through BookBub
46. In the Bleak Midwinter ✔ - AMP
47. Project Hail Mary - Kindle, pretty good deal
48. A Deadly Education - Kindle deal, long ignored; finally succumbed to

READ IN SEPTEMBER
37. Double Share (reread)
38. High Country Fall (reread)
39. Captain's Share) (reread)
40. Owner's Share (reread)
41. Rogue Protocol

Into the House in September
49. The Road from the Past - AMP
50. Piranesi - Kindle Deal through BookBub
51. A Fountain Filled with Blood ✔ - PBS
52. Brotherhood in Death - PBS (a freebie with the one I ordered)
53. Rosemary and Rue ✔ - PBS
54. Out of the Deep I Cry - PBS (plus a 2nd surprise one that I will immediately try to trade)
55. The Splendid and the Vile

READ IN OCTOBER
42. Rituals of the Season (reread)
43. In the Bleak Midwinter
44. Witness in Death

Into the House in October
56. The Darwath Series: The Time of the Dark, The Walls of Air, and The Armies of Daylight -Kindle daily deal
57. The Hands of the Emperor ✔ - Kindle
58. Gideon the Ninth - Tor freebie
59. Alliance Rising - Birthday Gift!!!
60. The Book Thief - Birthday Gift!!!
61. Great Circle - Stasia, generous soul
62. Death at Whitewater Church - Kindle deal
63. Paladin's Grace - Kindle

READ IN NOVEMBER
45. The Hands of the Emperor
46. Petty Treasons
47. Winter's Child (reread)
48. The Wizard's Butler (reread)
49. Edith Wharton: A Biography

Into the House in November
64. Virginia Woolf in Manhattan - AMP
65. The Land Breakers - Kindle Daily Deal
66. Petty Treasons ✔ - Kindle
67. The Return of Fitzroy Angursell - Kindle
68. Mr. Flood's Last Resort - Kindle deal through BookBub
69. Troubled Blood ✔

READ IN DECEMBER
50. Run with the Horsemen (reread and reread and reread and reread)
51. Troubled Blood
52. Hard Row (reread)
53. Rosemary and Rue

Into the House in December
70. Termination Shock - Christmas GC - THANK YOU!
71. Empires of the Plain - AMP - Christmas money, that I have not got yet.......
72. Peril - Kindle Daily Deal
73. The Lincoln Highway ✔ - Kindle - Christmas

*Review on Book Page

Open for December Reading



(Just because they're open doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to get to them this month - *sigh* - nor will I show here the quick little things I'm actually spending time in.)

BEST OF THE FIRST QUARTER - with best wishes to myself for reading more really good books for the rest of the year!!



BEST OF THE SECOND QUARTER



BEST OF THE THIRD QUARTER



BEST OF THE FOURTH QUARTER

Happy new thread!

Why thank you, Susan!!! I'm glad to see you.

Peggy, your thread is now short enough for me to read in its entirety! I've been terrible at making any rounds.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread. Look, 7 posts and I'm all caught up >;-)

Happy new thread, Peggy!

>1 LizzieD: I understand your feeling about the oaks. We had to remove some trees when we came to this house, as there were to many next to eachother. I remember the pear tree going down and the sound of many insects loosing their home :'(

Hi Peggy, lovely new thread you have here.

We're having tree work done in August. While some of it is in preparation for other landscaping work, a lot of it is dealing with tree health and overall safety issues. There will be much "crown cleaning". But we have one tree that could kill us while we sleep, given the right weather conditions. It looks lovely in the garden but it needs to go.

For what it's worth, like you I had trouble coming up with things to say about The Overstory. And some parts of the book worked better for me than others.

Hi Peggy, and happy new thread.

Taking trees down so they don't kill us in hurricanes was a new concept for me, being from SoCal, but we've done quite a bit of that, too, and recently took out a gorgeous pine for that reason. We had to take out our glorious River Burch because it was planted too close to the house and was threatening the foundation. Sigh.

Anyway, I hope you're having a good week and are reading some wonderful books.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Peggy. What lovely trees. Great comments about The Overstory. I loved much of it but thought it was too long and some of the stories seem more relevant to the thread running through the novel than others.

Happy new thread, dear Peggy.

I do love starting a new thread and having visits from friends whom I don't get to visit and from the faithful ones I drop in on occasionally! Thank you for coming, Paul, Beth, Jim, Karen, Laura, Anita (both for going to the old thread and coming here!), Helen, and Anne!!!!!

Trees! From the sixth floor of our hospital tower (our highest building!), we can see why we are designated a "tree city." It's a lovely sight to see such a cover of trees and know that it is true for 360°. In fact, that picture shows my beloved black walnut in the back, already losing leaves in early fall. The walnut had to go too; it was too close to house and cars and was diseased. How I miss it!

Ooohhh, that Perec...quite the experience to read, that was.

Lovely new tree-y thread, dearest, clearly Overstory didn't traumatize you. That's good.

Happy new thread!
We don't have any trees on our property anymore. The neighbors repeatedly drained their pool into our backyard and killed them.

Happy new thread, Peggy.
I appreciated your comments about Overstory. I enjoyed parts of it but some stories developed so slowly that I had a hard time staying with it.

Richard, every time I look at the Perec I want to read on, but I don't because I'm lazy and unfocused. I think that I didn't let *Overstory* traumatize me because I'm old. My last years will not be as comfortable as my first ones, but I'm ready for somebody else to pick up the challenge to preserve this beautiful earth. Thank you for your visit!!!!!

Jennifer, what an awful story! I'm sorry, sorry, sorry! Thank you for coming by.

Jan, it's lovely to see you here. I took forever to read *Os*, but that's typical of my reading these days. *sigh*

I'm having a bit of fun with the 18th century English social history, but her writing is pretentious. I hate to have to reread a sentence to pin down what the author is saying. I rebel against, "This chapter translates metaphysical abstractions like the public and the private into everyday rituals and physical objects, though revealing that these procedures were themselves freighted with conceptual meaning for the protagonists." Come on. It's not that deep a thought! I can just about abide, "The doorway was the archetypal liminal boundary, where servants loitered and respectable housewives took up post." Bah! On the other hand, I'm fascinated that landladies/lords locked their lodgers and servants in their rooms at night or that well into the century people buried talismans against witches at hearth or entrance, including in one case, '2 shoes, a candlestick, a goblet, 2 strangled chickens, and 2 live ones.' I'll keep reading.

STORM TRACK by Margaret Maron

Yet another good entry in the Deborah Knott series! Hurricane Fran maintains her strength and goes inland, doing damage in Colleton County. Before the storm Deborah is semi-involved with the murder of a local lawyer's wife (her cousin Reid is marginally a suspect) and with her new friend, Cyl DeGraffenried, who is in love with the wrong man. The two plot lines merge and make a fine mystery that sucked me in.
On to the next!

I also put a free copy of A. Trollope's autobiography on my Kindle, thanks to the 17th century book in progress.

Hmm have to go look for that free bio.

>17 mstrust: What an awful tale -- the neighbors wrecking your trees.

I saw your oaks before they were lopped, lucky me!

At this very moment some tree lopping dudes are taking down a very very dead white pine that is next to the barn . . . we kept hoping it would burst back into life, but nunh-unh. We have an ash also, that has died already, not probably of the ash-borer but something. Ironically we have a new oak and a new (sort of) American chestnut, carefully bred at the ag school at UVM and hardy coming along. I am guessing this will be the thing now, one group of trees are stressed and failing and then new ones are evolved, tougher (elms that will last more than 40 years are coming along in that same program) and then the cycle will go around and around. All the oaks are, for some reason, on the other side of the valley, facing east. We have ONE that we know of on our property and now our new one that we hope we have planted somewhere it will thrive. We face west and are mostly pine, beech, maple, poplar and the occasional something-else.

Oh, Lucy! A chestnut and elms!!!! Our two main streets are Chestnut and Elm, and not one of either survived in my lifetime. We do still have Walnuts - the third main street.

THE GALAXY AND THE GROUND WITHIN by Becky Chambers

I absolutely loved this book, a fitting end to her using this universe. I need to go back and read them all again. I am now feeling exactly the joy I felt when I finished The Enchanted April!!!! Five individuals from four species of aliens are marooned together for five days (with only the brief appearance of a human), and they are kind to each other. Because they are, they become involved with each other, honest with each other, and each one grows. I hope that this doesn't sound sappy. I loved it!

Loving the love for the final Wayfarers book! I just finished the 2nd one, A Closed and Common Orbit, and I can't wait to continue on. I liked the first one fine, but this second one really wowed me (and gave me all the feelings).

April, how good of you to visit and comment! I was most excited by the first two Wayfarers, I think, but each of them is different from the others and just plain good!

Hi Peggy! I came to be evil:

The publisher thought I'd like it (?!), but I suspect you might.
"For readers of Alice Munro, Elizabeth Strout, and Claire Lombardo, Chorus shepherds seven siblings through two life-altering events—their mother’s untimely death, and a shocking teenage pregnancy—that ultimately follow them through their lives as individuals and as a family.

The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turn back and forth over time, from the early twentieth century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother’s mysterious death and the circumstances leading up to and beyond one sister’s scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume various new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers to the next generation.

A family knot of entanglement, each sibling encounters divorce, drama, and death, while haunted by a mother who was never truly there. Through this lens, they all seek to not only understand how her death shaped their family, but also to illuminate the insoluble nature of the many familial experiences we all encounter—the concept of home, the tenacity that is a family’s love, and the unexpected ways through which healing can occur.

Chorus is a hopeful story of family, of loss and recovery, of complicated relationships forged between brothers and sisters as they move through life together, and the unlikely forces that first drive them away and then ultimately back home."
The book lives here.

Thank you for the kind thought, Richard. I'm not sure that you've hit me. I've never read Munro, Strout (but I do own one), or Lombardo. I'll keep an eye on it though!

Would I dare pick something that I think you'd like? We'll have to see -------

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, LT member Charles Boyd said he could never envision reading Slaughterhouse Five and I said I could never envision reading The Rapture of Canaan, so we had a personal challenge, which was wildly successful and which we both enjoyed immensely. After that I created a group called I'll Read Yours if You'll Read Mine. It includes a link to our original challenge thread and several folks set up their own challenges, although the group went dormant 10 years ago.

However, Peggy, your comment Would I dare pick something that I think you'd like? to Richard made me think of this group and what a fun activity it was.

Here's the group link: I'll-Read-Yours-if-Youll-Read-Mine

What a fun idea, Karen! Thanks for the link!

>27 karenmarie: ohhh, tempting. I need another book challenge like I need a hole in the head, mind.

>25 richardderus: hmmm, possible.

Hi, Helen! Oh, the need/want conundrum!!!!! I'm in the same place.

Here's a thing. Duke and Carolina Hospitals are requiring vaccinations for their employees at last! WHY has it taken so long??? The two docs interviewed that I've heard (one of them my doctor's partner) both said how thrilled and relieved they are and noted that "First, do no harm," mandates getting those shots before now.

>31 LizzieD: Great news, Peggy. I suspect more and more hospitals will go this way.

Hi Peggy!

I know, finally. It should have been months ago.

Hi, Beth and Karen. I am especially thrilled to hear this because our local hospital is an adjunct of UNC-CH. I've had a hard time thinking about their employees not being vaccinated. DH and I are still being as conservative as we can be. I have an appointment for another eye shot Wednesday and dread going (although it's like a vacation to be away with my boy for even an hour or two) and also having somebody in to stay with my mama.

Hi Pegy. Been awhile since I was 'on the threads'. Loved your tree theme happening in the topper and beyond.
I, like others, am appalled that those neighbours got away with draining their blankety blank pool wherevever they felt like it. Disrespectful and such dreadful consequences.

>31 LizzieD: It is a scndal isn't it, that healthcare workers weren't head of the line for vaccinations. So glad to hear this is rolling out in your area.

Welcome and thanks for being here, Sandy! (As you see, I am not getting to threads in any meaningful way at all.) The pool draining had to have been awful. I'm not sure but what my local friend's situation was not equally as bad. She couldn't get into her garden or pool for a whole summer because her neighbors refused to drain theirs, and the mosquitos in her yard came in clouds. She complained to the city counsel the whole summer, and they did nothing at all.

My reading time has changed my habits so that I fidget. I am currently reading only two books: Behind Closed Doors and Kesrith. They are both good, and I'd love to finish at least one of them this month!

Belated happy new thread Peggy and I'm sad to see that means I completely missed commenting on your last thread. So pleased you enjoyed the latest Becky Chambers!

I'm glad to see you on this one, Heather. I have less and less to say anywhere, but I love this place and delight to see visitors. Yep. B. Chambers is a keeper for rereading for sure!

Happy Thursday, Peggy! I hope you're still keeping well and safe, especially now that the delta variant is rearing its ugly head.

Thank you, Karen, and the same back to you. I begin to realize that I've probably missed my window for being bolder about going out. Otoh, our vaccination levels have been and remain miserably low, so it was never really "safe." *sigh*

Yes, I think the window is closing again. Personally, I don't like it but am resigned. I'm now very worried about our August 7th Children's and Audiovisual book sale and the planned end of September full sale. Headaches about how to try to hold safe book sales on top of worries about staying safe personally.

Yikes! I would be uneasy about the August sale for sure but hopeful for some definitive idea of what to do about the September one. That's probably just dreaming.

Be safe! (Yesterday at least with a barricade between us I watched a woman's nostrils peeking out of the mask she was sort of wearing as she checked me out of the eye clinic. I almost said something to her about it, but then I didn't. I can think of words for people like me.)

Time to stop watching CNN and MSNBC again.

I'm with you, Peggy. I can't watch any more Covid news. It is just too depressing. I have an unvaccinated niece in Missouri who thinks she won't get sick because God won't allow it. Such ignorance and arrogance is hard to bear in someone I was close to.
So more escaping in reading my mysteries! I think you would really like The Thursday Murder Club. It has good characters, good plotting, and lots of humor.
Stay safe.

Hi, Jan. I think that all my family are vaccinated although way too many of them buy the Trumpery package with their mental money. I'll add that the new minister of our town's largest church, Southern Baptist, is sick with COVID at the moment. The gossip is that he has a light case, but I think that what the medical community sees as light and what ordinary folks do is not the same thing. I hope that your niece changes her mind! Thanks for the further recommendation of *Thursday Club*. I'm a bit overwhelmed now, but I'll look into it!!!!!

KESRITH by C.J. Cherryh

This first of the *Faded Sun* trilogy is a testament to loss. It was not the thing that I needed to read right now. Otoh, it was so good that I'll have to keep going. Cherryh knows how to create an alien culture! It's so apparent in this book that the humans are the ones we know little of and feel for the least.

Hi Peggy, and happy Sunday to you!

We cancelled the August sale. The book sale team voted unanimously to do so.

way too many of them buy the Trumpery package with their mental money. Great way to put it. My brother-in-law is not vaccinated but my sister is. There's a woman who used to be on the Friends Board who got one dose but decided against the second. Here's what she sent to me the other day: I am sorry, but I am a firm believer the shots (not vaccines) can cause much more damage now and/or in the future to prevent Covid of which you have a 99% chance of surviving and with the correct treatment of Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin is amazingly enabling for survival and cost prohibitive.. She's drunk the Cool-aid. She also wrote that cancelling the August sale was unnecessary. You simply cannot reason with people like her.

I'm relieved that you have canceled the August sale, Karen. Yikes for your board member!!!! She has not only drunk the Cool-aid, she's mainlining it. I think that the only thing that might possibly convince such a person is somebody's story. Even so, unless it's somebody that she trusts, even that might not be enough. Meanwhile, I'll stay in and hope that the mysterious lessening of the delta-v may happen here sooner rather than later.

...Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug...COVID is a virus...gawd these people are stupid.

As to survivors, where are the forty people who used to live here in my building but now don't? (Live, that is.)

Hoping y'all stay safe and mask up every time you go inside a public place, Peggy. *smooch*

>45 karenmarie: >47 richardderus: What I have never understood is why folks who never took any education in virology or epidemiology suddenly think they know best. How does that happen? Is it because they believe somea politician's claims and their stance on vaccines somehow makes the politician suddenly a medical specialist?

I'm not trolling here, I just really do-not-understand.

Life's absurdities, Richard. It's a sad thing that they should be deadly, and especially that they should be deadly for other people. Certainly, if I were to go inside a public place, I would mask. As it is, doctor's offices are the only public places I'll risk.

Sandy, it's beyond me too. One incredible thing is that they can't understand why we don't see what they see.
Since we're moaning, I don't understand how they think that evil US politicians control the rest of the world. OR if the evil politicians (to get political) are so slick that they can throw a presidential election, why they were so stupid as not to throw an additional Senate race or 10 for a super majority. Never mind. It's late and I'm going to bed.

>48 SandyAMcPherson: & >49 LizzieD: etc I think it is clear to a statistician such as I that the vaccinations have been working steadily and successfully to reduce fatalities from COVID without necessarily providing perfect protection from contracting each and every strain or mutation. Virology not needed here the empirical evidence is overwhelming.

Misinformation on treatments and safety on all sides is dangerous and public and politician alike should be watched carefully. We had:

Chump's famous "disinfectant injections" suggestion which would have almost certainly killed people in their droves.

We also had Joe Biden's careless statement (CNN Cincinnati Town Hall) that once you have your vaccines you cannot catch COVID. Certainly not as bad as what Chump said but not exactly helpful or true either.

I sometimes wish they would all just shut up and stop playing politics with people's lives.

Have a good rest, Peggy.

Hi, Paul!

I sometimes wish they would all just shut up and stop playing politics with people's lives. Wouldn't that be something?????

>49 LizzieD: and >50 PaulCranswick: Loved these replies. And Paul has nailed a 'hit'.
Statistically, absolutely correct. The numbers of serious ICU cases and the hospitalizations have taken a significant dive. I know active cases are bulging again, but if there are the unvaxed folks out there ~ what a great propagation pool!

A past colleague in Med Research told me back in the late winter that in all her 30+ years of association with clinicians, she had never seen such a non-event for the flu season as last winter. Simply hand-washing, staying home when you are unwell and wearing a mask were moderately effective for those illnesses.

Unfortunately, those measure do not confer any immunity to Mr. Coronavirus infections, so can be regarded as good hygiene but not a substitute for vaccinations. That's the anti-vax attitude I've encountered.

Also agree that the politicians should be censored for making health-related comments. Stick to their script and no off-the-cuff chatter in a public forum.

Hi Peggy!

>49 LizzieD: I don't understand how they think that evil US politicians control the rest of the world. OR if the evil politicians (to get political) are so slick that they can throw a presidential election, why they were so stupid as not to throw an additional Senate race or 10 for a super majority. You know, I never thought about it that way.

On the upside, I hope you've got a good book or two going, that your ma is thriving, and that your DH is continuing to do well and stay safe.

Thank you for those good wishes, Karen! We're good on all counts except that the good books have to go very slowly. *sigh*

On the upside, I get to wish the same for you, Bill, and Jenna!

UNCOMMON CLAY by Margaret Maron

Deborah is in Seagrove. N.C., sitting in for a sick judge in a couple of divorce settlements. Lots about pottery and lots about divorces. I've never been to Seagrove , nor have I been to the NC zoo nearby. I'd love to do both!
This is really a pretty good mystery. I'm looking forward to the next one because I know that Deborah finds her true love in it. *sentimental!*

The only other thing I'm really reading is *P&P*. I haven't read it since I joined LT, and Ms. Austen's wit is a much a treat as ever!

You are tempting me with Maron! Re Kesrith, the humans are NOT the worst!

>56 sibylline: ??? I didn't mean to imply anything about the humans in *Kesrith*. At this point in the trilogy, we've met only two of them, and Sten Duncan seems to be quite a good fellow. We know a lot about the mri and the regul though. The lack of attention to humankind was all I was pointing out.

I'll keep trying to get you into Maron for sure, Lucy - and anybody else (Karen?) mystery-minded who hasn't read her.

Still giving my little reading time to *P&P* with brief forays into the Georgian book.

Ah. The regul really are . . . uh . . . something else. No worries! Yes, it is true that there wasn't much focus on the humans except Duncan.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen

What to say about my most-reread of all comfort reads? I have nothing new except that I just corrected *Pried and* and thought that might be a good start on the title of a parody if anybody dared.

JA is not Wodehouse (who, I understand, hung each page on the wall as he wrote and then took them down to edit until he had a laugh on every page), but there's at least a wry smile on every page. I don't think the woman could help it. I grin, for example, every time I read about Lady Catherine's company sitting with her while she decided what the weather would be for the next day.

You're welcome.

>59 LizzieD: A book that hasn't finished saying what it had to say after 200+ years is a joy and a pleasure, isn't it?

Amen to that, Richard!

How is everything Peggy? I got a friend request from you on FB and of course accepted it but there is no photos and just a couple of our FB friends there. Is it your only FB account?

Uh oh, Paul. Apparently my real account has been hacked again. I just went through it - changed my password, notified fb, warned current friends. Maybe I just need to get off the platform for a bit, but I do enjoy seeing other people's posts, including Hani's..... that is to say, "Hanni's."
Thanks for letting me know. Please delete that new account.
I'm not at home and don't know my new fb password, so I can't do anything there until later.
BOTHER!!!!!

>63 LizzieD: I should have realised, Peggy, as there was no photo for the page. I have deleted it already and it does underscore why I don't use FB that much.

>63 LizzieD: Perhaps this tip could help you with your FB woes, Peggy.

My kids are on FB and were shown by a smart geeky friend that "2FA" (two factor identification) stops the hacking because the person doesn't gain access. I use 2FA for all my banking and e-mail.

How it works is from your settings, you provide your mobile phone number and select "send text" then a text is sent for you to authenticate the log in (basically, you are confirming that yes, it was me that logged in).

The key thing is to not leave yourself logged in and if I understand FB policy, you are logged out automatically if the browser is closed or there is a period of no activity. Just like the banking website. (I never use my mobile phone for banking, though).

Maybe you know all this and I am offering unsolicited advice.

>65 SandyAMcPherson: Two factor authentication is a royal pain sometimes, but it does work. That said, I've seen a number of my friends hacked on FB lately. I always check to see if we are already friends on FB, as is often the case.

Thank you, Sandy. I'm not sure that I'm up to the hassle of 2FA, which I didn't really know about. I'll have to decide how eager I am to stay on the site. I'm afraid that I do stay logged in, which I see leaves me more vulnerable to hacking. I am willing to listen to all good advice, so keep it coming!
Judy, that's what I do too. But both times my account has been hacked, I've had at least a couple of people respond to the invitation. Grrr.

Considering what that scum Zuckerberg did/is doing to the country, the only thing preventing me from closing my account is the fact that it's been hacked and I can't get into it to close it!

>68 richardderus: Hi RD, I moseyed on over to your thread with some suggestions about that problem of closing a hacked account.

>68 richardderus: >69 SandyAMcPherson: Hmmm. I think I'll mosey over to Richard's thread to read those suggestions, Sandy. (You're right, Richard, but it's the way I keep up with my cousins, and I hate to lose the contact completely.)

>70 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. I decided to PM you, since you might find it easier to keep what I was suggesting in your 'wall' comments.

Thank you, thank you, Sandy! I appreciate your taking time to do that for me.

Meanwhile, my friend has lent me a copy of A Master of Djinn. I don't know why this one is calling me so insistently, but I'm ready to answer - and there goes my other reading for awhile.

>72 LizzieD: Can't wait to hear what you think of it!

Delurking...Hi!

>72 LizzieD: I've been eyeing that title myself. Lots of discussion in the 75-er group encourages me to try it out.

I just borrowed the acclaimed Afterparties: Stories (e-book) today. It will be going with me as my airplane/airport reading material.

P.S. >72 LizzieD: You are most welcome. Lots of people here (like Laura) likely could be more informative, but I thought this FB difficulty was something to which I could contribute some ideas.

Richard, and Kim, and Sandy! Thank you all for brightening my thread!!! If only I could stay awake to read more than 3 pages at a time! I see that it's after midnight, and I have to be up by 7:15. Could that possibly have something to do with my chronic sleepiness?

SLOW DOLLAR by Margaret Maron

I don't read much these days, but at least MM keeps my eyes in practice. I like this one. Deborah is involved in the lives of a small carnival that comes to Colleton County (a handy little glossary of carny jargon is included), and she begins to find her true love. *beam*
I'll be on to the next in fits and starts.

Hi Peggy!

Sorry you aren't reading much these days. I'm halfway through Hot Money by Dick Francis and really enjoying it.

Gentle hugs to your ma, hello to your DH, and many hugs to your own dear self.

>77 LizzieD: At least the reading you *can* do is cherce, Peggy, so it's all good...but could be better if the sleep issues would let go, obvs.

Dear Karen and Richard! You are both that! Thank you!!!!!

Hi Peggy. Thought I’d do a return visit.

I see you are a fellow tree lover. Those are two beautiful oaks, I am sorry about the lopping that had to be done! I know how it feels, this week the tree guys have been working on the trees in the back garden of our city housing complex. They started with the beautiful ginkgo behind my direct neighbor’s house. He sent me a panicky app at 8.30 in the morning about it. The tree has been pruned down so much, we can only hope they knew what they were doing.

Putting the last Becky Chambers on the wishlist! Thanks.

Welcome, Ella! Yep. I love trees. I cried for our oaks and wailed for days after we lost our wonderful black walnut. It was diseased, but we lost it earlier than we might have because it endangered the house and the vehicles. I can't say how much I miss its friendly shade and beautiful leaf pattern against the sky from our back porch - where I no longer sit in the summer.
I do hope that ginkgo comes back stronger than before. They are such lovely trees! The best one in our town blew over in Matthew five years ago.
Enjoy That B. Chambers!

QUARTER SHARE by Nathan Lowell

This is likely my favorite of the Solar Clipper series. I don't care that nothing happens. I simply sink into the routine of the galley aboard the Lois McKendrick, spiced with early forays into personal trading, and am comforted and enchanted. You bet I'll go on to *½* share, but maybe I'll be able to read something else too.

HALF SHARE by Nathan Lowell

Ish is going from a sweet, mature boy to a sweet, increasingly mature young man. This necessarily involves his handling his sexuality aboard the Lois McKindrick where sexual relationships between shipmates is forbidden. If all the innuendo gets tedious to a grown woman, it's still a fair recreation of adolescence. Ish is perfect, but I still find him an appealing character and still relax into his world of environmental support and portside shenanigans.

On to the next. Then I think I may be ready for something else.

>82 LizzieD:, >83 LizzieD: Your pleasure in the reads is a strong recommendation, Peggy. I'm so glad you're able to see that it's time to take a break too.

Hi Peggy, I'm just stopping by to say hello. I'm still reading my mysteries but manage to include a few other things. Keep well.

>84 richardderus: Richard, I recommend these with strong caveats.... I think my love for them is idiosyncratic. Readers who are not me may easily see the flaws more strongly than the strengths. I do sort of say, "just one more," but we'll see. The first three are definitely my favorites.

Hi, Jan! Thanks for stopping by! We're doing our best to stay well all around. Hope you are too.

Hmm. You are reminding me I have to get to the next Maron!

Whoo Hooo, Lucy. Do it! (Read Porter Osborne too!!!)

FULL SHARE by Nathan Lowell

Ishmael spends his last few months on the Lois McKendrick, earns his full share classification in every section, saves the ship - maybe a couple of times - and leaves Lois for the spacer academy. I love him, and I love the next three, but this is enough for now. I do believe that I can read something else!

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: At Home in Georgian England by Amanda Vickery

I did enjoy the book although I took an unconscionable time to get through it. A. Vickery is doing what I think historical research should be, and I hadn't read anything quite like this. To understand how people lived, she read court records, household accounts, business accounts and correspondence as well as the more traditional letters and literature. I learned a lot: "taste" became a governing concept during this period; this was when manufacturers started making gendered furniture - ladies' desks and men's shaving stations. I almost wrote etc. and remembered how I enjoyed seeing contemporary documents with "& c." as an abbreviation.

I really, really reacted badly to her inflated style. For example, she's writing about needlework's replacing practical occupations in the lives of middle class women: "Fancy works played a totemic role in the commentary on the social impact of enclosure, symptomatic of the decay of homespun virtue in the farmhouse." O.K. Even so, this is a book worth your time if you have any interest at all in social history.

Hi Peggy! Happy Sunday to you.

Behind Closed Doors sounds fascinating. Onto the wish list it goes.

Hi, Karen, and there you go. I wrote a word or two about the book!

Stopping by to say hello, and hope you, DH and your Ma are all keeping well and staying safe.

>88 LizzieD: I remember enjoying Behind Closed Doors when I read it a few years ago but I think I enjoyed Vickery's earlier book The Gentleman's Daughter more because it focused more on individual lives and less on furnishings. The style was probably the same though.

Hi, Heather! I think you may have been my source for the Vickery. I have a copy of *GD's* available for Kindle and wonder whether I should have a paper one instead for the plates and figures. I loved the ones in *BCD* - was thrilled to see real early wallpaper designs, for example. I loved all that stuff.

We are all well, and I thank you for inquiring. We're back in earlier quarantine mode except that I do get fast food take-out a couple of times a week, and that's a real bonus.

I had commented about our hot spot status on Judy's thread. When I read our local paper this morning, I copied the following info. This is the reason we're staying in!

55 hospitalized locally, with 10 in the ICU on ventilators. One of the 55 was vaccinated. 829 cases reported since 8-24 in a population of 130,600; 19,000 of those in my town, the county seat. The hospital has just brought in a mobile morgue since the hospital's is full. No study club meeting in a restaurant for me in a couple of weeks.

>93 LizzieD: ouch

Hi Peggy!

Yes, your county is particularly hard hit, and I'm sorry for it. We're not doing too well, either, statistics wise, in our county either. I saw a man going into the Post Office today without a mask. Stupid. Just plain stupid.

Hey, Judy and Karen. We're not noted for our smarts here. (Remember Lumosity? We were ranked at the very bottom of their national list when they were a thing.) I hope I don't have to rethink my picking up occasional fast food. More and more often, unmasked beggars walk along the lines in the drive-through. If they take to standing at the order mic where you have to put your window down, I guess it's back to cooking every meal every day. I know. Women have done it forever; just not me.

Meanwhile, I just got a copy of Ina Caro's The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France. She's Robert A. Caro's wife, who does his research. I didn't realize that she also was published.

Hi Peggy, the Caro book sounds interesting. Another book to add to my list.
I'm sorry to hear about the anti-maskers around you. I can't imagine having to order fast food while dodging the unmasked. Oregon has the same ignorance issue. All I can do is shake my head in despair!

Hi Peggy,
Love your tree photo up top.
How are all you folks doing in your area? I guess the rains (and hurricanes?) have really swept through the whole south.
I updated my new thread with my August reading today. The Goblin Emperor is certainly a fave read for me!

>93 LizzieD: That is just...dire. *smooch* for staying out of ALL those places.
***
Normally I am a person who Knows My Own Mind. Startling, I realize, for you to hear this...as I've always been such a soft-spoken crowd-goer-alonger.

Stop laughing.

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

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

Hi, Jan! Heaven knows when I'll get to the Caro book, but I hope the one of us who reads it first will let the other one know how it is. What a world right now! I'm not surprised, I guess, that we're falling apart, but I'm terrified at how quickly it is all happening.

Hi, Sandy! I miss our trees although we do still have those in the picture leafed out but not crowned. I should take a picture. So far, so good right here in this hurricane season. We still have a lot of time to go. Up here on the river levee, we're really dry. Enjoy *GE*! I certainly did!!! I'm beginning to get into A Master of Djinn and have high hopes for it.

Hi, Richard! Thanks for the smooch and one back to you. We have some pretty good restaurants for such a small place, but I'm not about to risk our health for a serving of any favorite by going inside. The receptionist at the eye clinic always asks whether I've been anywhere COVID-risky, and I always want to say, "This is the riskiest thing I do." Apptmnt. next week.
And I have done my duty to keep you out of the GG.

DOUBLE SHARE by Nathan Lowell

Ish is third mate on a sick ship. Want to bet who starts the healing process?
I'll be on to the next except that I'm not in love with the first quarter or so of the book. It's releasing me to read other things!

HIGH COUNTRY FALL by Margaret Maron

Another good one! Deborah is in the mountains of NC during leaf season. There's a pretty good mystery, and her personal life takes a romantic turn for the very, very good.

Hi Peggy, and happy Saturday to you!

It's nice to see you finishing a read that lets you go to other series and reading another Margaret Maron.

I just finished The Plot and will return it to the Library and pick up Second Place by Rachel Cusk. I'm reading quite a bit of contemporary fiction recently, which surprises me.

Today's the first day of dove season, and there's apparently a good field nearby - lots of guns going off a mile or so away. Sigh.

Gentle hugs for your ma, warm greetings for your DH, and fierce hugs for your own dear self.

>101 LizzieD: Happy that the reads are treating you well...I'm including "releasing you for other reads" in that. Series vacations can, and often do, make the heart grow fonder.

Good night to you both, Karen and Richard! it's a great pleasure to find that you've visited!

I wish I had something to say for myself, but No. I am making very slow progress in the E. Wharton bio that has been on my "current" list all year. At this rate, I'll have read it by the end of the year!

Hi Peggy!

I hope your week has gone well. I've read another Miss Marple in my new personal challenge and am quite enthralled with Killing Kennedy, even though it was co-authored by the despicable Bill O'Reilly.

>104 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I hear you on the slow progress in the E. Wharton bio .
I DNF'd that after less than 100 pages!

I think it was the one by by R. W. B. Lewis, but I didn't belong to LT in those days, if in fact, LT even existed back then. (I used to keep a spreadsheet of reading and the DNF column had an embarrassing number of biographies listed). A very literary type of friend was extolling Pulitzer winners at the time so I thought it merited a read. But just not my sort of non-fiction book, I have to admit.

Best wishes for a good weekend coming up. I'm hosting an end-of-summer gathering with my 5-member sewing & quilting group ~ outside on the back patio. We may have a very hot day, so last chance for 'people-ing'. We're not inviting folks indoors (although the lower level toilet facility will be cleaned to a fare-thee-well to accommodate urgent requirements).

OK, that was probably TMI!

Hi, Sandy. Not too much info at all. I like to know that my friends are being extra, extra careful!

I am a bit over 200 pp in the Wharton bio. It is my kind of thing, but very, very slowly.

Hi, Karen. I confess that I'm still spending most of my time in the #5 Ishmael. I was looking forward to a lot of waiting time to read the Wharton bio at Pinehurst for my eye shot. They pushed me right through. I read maybe 5 pages. Every little bit helps! As to the eye, the shot was fine again - amazing really. I'll find out how well it has responded to the treatment next month. Then I may get a little break.

CAPTAIN'S SHARE by Nathan Lowell

I still love the series. Ish is put into the worst ship in the company and maybe in the whole sector. Of course, given a bit of time, he turns everything around and develops a crew who can live and work together smoothly and make money. I'll likely move on for one more book. Then maybe I'll be able to stop!

Hi Peggy. I just say ugh to the cases and hospitalizations. It is SO frustrating since we could have been out of this!!!

I'm not familiar with the Nathan Lowell series but it looks kind of fun.

I'm currently reading Once There Were Wolves, a painful and beautiful novel.

I hope you're having a good weekend!

Ellen, how good of you to come calling!!!! I think of you often but visit seldom. *Once/Wolves* looks compelling, but I'm not able to read pain right now. I'll keep it in mind though for some kind of new normal.

We could have been out of this. How dependent we are on each other! How deep and wide is the current rift between us!

Nathan Lowell is wonderful fun for some people. I'm one of them, but I certainly see how dismissable he is by others.

Take care of yourself and P and the handsome Carson!

'Morning, Peggy!

I hope you get a good result from all this eye stuff next month. Dare I say that my back's just a tad better today? I'm going to do a whole lot of nothing today and maybe this improvement will stick a bit.

Being Panthers fans, Bill and I will watch the game at 1 today.

>102 karenmarie: Dove season? Do people eat doves, or is this just for glory?

>112 ffortsa: People eat doves. My husband says that when he was little, he and his dad would go dove hunting and take whatever they killed to area churches, which would prepare them and distribute them along with whatever else to people in need. Lots of recipes online...

Hi Peggy, I got a copy of Ina Caro's The Road From the Past from the library and I've started it but I'm not sure I'm going to finish it. No pictures, not even drawings! A book like this has to have them. If you decide to try it, let me know what you think.

Have a good day.

Hi, Judy and Karen! Let us simply note that I do not eat doves. I've never been hungry either. Good for Bill!

Hi, Jan! I hadn't even looked in the I.Caro. If/when I get to her, I'll likely read it while checking out images on Google. That's my normal practice. Hope the book is worth the trouble!!!

Hi Peggy!

Happy Rainy Wednesday to you. I hope you're reading Good Books and hanging in there.

Hi Peggy!

That is all.

Bless you both, Richard and Karen! I'm at least hanging on......still with Ishmael, but Murderbot 3 is something that can lure me away from Ish, Iris, and the crew. I am also managing a few pages of E. Wharton bio every day or so, so maybe I'll have her taken care of before the year is out. And Italian. I'm being faithful to DL with a 309 (that's about right) day streak. I think that my passive Italian will be quite adequate. Spoken is hopeless. Written is spelled wrong. What a language!

>118 LizzieD: Peggy, is that the Hermione Lee bio of Wharton that you're reading? Just yesterday I came across some books that were inexplicably still in their boxes, many of which turned out to be biographies of my favorite women authors: Wharton, Elizabeth Taylor, Penelope Lively, Barbara Pym. All still unread, sadly. I just can't get fired up about chunkster biographies. You may be on to something with the "a few pages a day" approach.

Hi, Laura. Lucky you to have those on hand when you are snowed in this winter or something else interesting! No, I think my EW bio is worse in terms of size: it's the R.W.B. Lewis bio, older than the Lee and very, very good. I have a weakness for these monsters. They make me feel as though I have some real feeling for their subjects, and I like the short analyses of the books and I like to know what was going on when they were written. So, enjoy one of these days!

OWNER'S SHARE by Nathan Lowell

Ah well. This is the last of the Ishmael Want books that I absolutely love. A lot happens in this one, but I can handle it. In the next three too much is going on. I miss the long descriptions of everyday life that probably drive everybody else crazy.

Finishing this frees me to polish off Rogue Protocol. Edith W. and I continue together bit by bit. (I'm up to 1911 and 300 pp of 5??.)

>121 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I admire your perseverance with the Edith Wharton biography. It must be soothing to be continuing with it.
I know what mean by saying a story has "too much ... going on" to enjoy reading. My brain tires quickly with books where the narrative is action-packed. I think that's why I've abandoned books this year that throw a panoply of characters into the mix in the first 30 pages.
It's especially challenging when the names and places are all fantasy and incorporate the most outlandish pretend language format. The Goblin Emperor was like that, although I persisted and really enjoyed the story.

Hi, Sandy! Thanks for dropping by! I really, really enjoyed *GE* too but eventually just gave up on the names except for a few..... Much turning to the list to check who was who. I suspect that's one reason I'm not racing to read #2 yet; that, and the fact that the GE himself is not a main character if he appears at all.

I don't know that I'd call the EW bio exactly soothing. She was quite a complicated woman, and that's an understatement. All those complications are fascinating though.

Stopping by to see what is happening here -- I admit at a certain point I also let the names flow over me, but around then I also realized that I was sorting them out. A bit like doing a duolingo lesson over and over until you get it, eh?

Book 2 of the GE series is equally wonderful. Think of it as in the murder mystery line. To me the protag is just as loveable and interesting as Maia.
And I was much more at home, generally, with the world itself which made things easier.

I like Ish -- not love -- just like -- but I will return to those on audio when I need them. Very soothing.

Hi, Lucy! You're what's happening over here this month. In fact, I stopped in only to see who had paid a visit on my way to battle DuoLingo's step-child Italian. There has been no moderator past the first few lessons, and this week and last, many discussions have not been available. I wonder if the lack of discussions is happening in other languages? Anyway, discussions that I can access go back six years with the same questions over and over and the same plethora of answers from people who have very little idea what they're talking about. And yet ----- Imparo l'italiano!

I can see why you'd only like Ish. I love him a bit out of loyalty to his young self on the Lois.

>124 sibylline: >125 LizzieD: Ish is a lot too good to be true for my taste. I just finished Half Share so I have a ways to go with these cotton candy confections. But they are soothing and I do like the daily life, just as I do on some of the Liaden books and Cherryh's Merchanter books.

Hi, Susan, and welcome! Of course, Ish is too good to be true! I need some fairy tale in my life these days, and these have been a great help! I love Liaden too, but not the romance right now, and anything Cherryh is bound to be good (although I've put *Faded Sun* down for a couple of months).

Checking in on you, Peggy. Hope all is well there!

Hi Peggy, I'm not familiar with the books you've been reading but I'm glad they are giving you respite from the unpleasant reality. We all need that right now!

Last week I got my Covid booster and flu shot and I'm feeling like I have a suit of armor! Still wearing a mask though.

Stasia and Jan, YAY!!!!! Thank you both for visiting!

Jan, if I lived somewhere else, I'd be celebrating too in my suit of armor. But no. We're the least vaccinated place in NC, and that's saying something, so I stay in and keep everybody else out. *sigh*

Hi Peggy!

I wish you a good Monday. Gentle hugs to your ma, kind regards to your DH, and lots of virtual hugs for your own dear self.

Hugs right back, favorite Karen in the world! Thank you!

Hi Peggy, I'm still waiting for my booster but I got the flu shot already. It's been absolutely impossible for me to go most places without double-masking. I had easy COVID before, just sleepsleepsleep eat sleepsleepsleep. I do not want to push my luck.

I'm thrilled to see you've enjoyed the reads you're doing, and even without moderation are acquiring la lingua italiana apace.

*smooch*

Many thanks for the visit and the smooch, Richard. We were talking to my cousin who had a pretty bad case of COVID last July. Her lungs are badly scarred, and she went for an antibody test today. Her doc does not want her to take the booster unless she absolutely has to.

You very much take care of yourself and *smooch* back.

Your poor cousin, I'm sorry to hear about her ongoing problems with Covid. It is definitely something to be avoided at all costs.

Hey, Karen. Thank you for sympathy for Nancy.
My doc and I were naturally talking about it at my appointment. He is frustrated beyond saying. His saddest story was about a couple in their early 70s. He had convinced the husband that they needed the vaccine, but they wouldn't get it because their daughter, a nurse, was opposed to it. They both got COVID and died. The daughter says that they died of heart failure, totally leaving out that little COVID detail. I'm not sure how she can manage to live with herself.
O tempora! O mores!

RITUALS OF THE SEASON by Margaret Maron

One of the rituals is that Deborah finally marries her love. Very nice! There are also violent deaths both in the court system and the sheriff's department, so Deborah and Dwight both lose work friends. And there are lots of Knott relatives. Good fun!

>137 LizzieD: I can just imagine what the Knott clan all in one place could get themselves up to...wow.

Happy weekend-ahead's reads, Peggy!

Thank you kindly for your weekly check-in, faithful Richard. Same good wishes back to you.

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER by Julia Spencer=Fleming

The first of the series, and I ended up in like but not in love. O.K. I loved the middle part, but when Clare talked too much and then talked too much again and again and found herself in need of rescue, I was pretty disgusted. I will keep on since so many of you assure me that these are wonderful. After all, I read 3 Louise Pennys and disliked the first book, so this series deserves at least 4 tries.

>139 LizzieD: My pleasure entirely, dear lady.

Although I can't quite agree about being in like with Clare...I find her annoyingly stereotypical of a girl sleuth, term used advisedly.

>139 LizzieD: I hope that the series (and Clare) grow on you, Peggy!

Richard, I'm afraid I'm closer to your opinion of Clare so far, but I've been assured that she improves. I'm hoping so.

Stasia, you're one of the reasons for my optimism. You're also the source of my ability to find out! Thank you!

Meanwhile, I read this and that today, including my current *In Death* but came to settle on the E. Wharton bio tonight. I just can't read it with *Rosanne* in the same room. (Horrors! The only thing worse is Dr. Phil. At least, I think he's worse.)

>142 LizzieD: I am glad that you continue to enjoy the "In Death" series and hope that your optimism regarding Clare is rewarded, Peggy!

>139 LizzieD: I started the Clare/Russ series back in 2009. At the time, if anyone asked I would have said "I don't read series." But this one, foisted on me by trusted LTers, changed my mind and I've discovered many many great series since. All that to say I have a soft spot in my heart for the Clare/Russ mysteries so I'm unable to judge their literary quality! Many years ago we became close friends with the husband-wife pastor team at our Presbyterian church. The woman had to fight for credibility in a way her husband did not. So Clare's character has always appealed to me because of her clergy role, even if she does stupid things sometimes.

Greetings to two of my favorite Clare boosters. I live in hope. I'm finally getting into *Witness*.
I like her in the clergy role too, Laura, but discretion is a thing a minister has to learn fast. I know that she was talking to parishioners, but really! I would have given the caseworker's contact number to the two in question and let her make the decision about how much information they needed. That is, I'm not thinking about literary quality; just common sense. Not calling to get better directions to take a sports car into NY mountains with approaching snow? Nope. Etc.

Fair enough Peggy!

According to Facebook, it's your birthday today, Peggy. I hope it's a good one!

Happy Birthday, dearest Peggy!

I hope you have a lovely day, filled with all good things.

Happy Birthday. Hope it was full of loveliness.

Why thank you, Laura, Karen, Richard, and Liz! Today is the day, and since I've gotten home from a doc's appointment where his waiting room scared me, it has been lovely. I complained to him and asked one man to put his mask back on, but neither of those things did much good.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday from me as well, Peggy!

One day late, but Happy Birthday, Peggy.

Many thanks, Susan and Stasia!!! I picked out "Happy Birthday" for myself on the cello. Mama didn't recognize the tune until I sang it to my own accompaniment. That's pretty much my current level of non-expertise.

Wow! There's Jan. Thank you, friend!

Happy belated birthday, Peggy! Many happy returns. Hooray on the cello serenade!

Beth, good wishes are always welcome here!!!!! (I don't think anybody would consider what I do to a cello a serenade. Otoh, just drawing the bow across the G string gives me a huge amount of pleasure!)

Good news in the eye department from my check-up today; "inactive choroidal neovascularization," means that for now that the MD is not progressing. YAY!

>157 LizzieD: That's wonderful news, Peggy!

Peggy, fantastic news in the eye department. Yay for sure.

>157 LizzieD: *sigh of relief* That is such good news!

Thank you, Laura, Karen, and Richard! I'm much relieved for the moment. I'll go back for another check next month and would be happy to keep that up indefinitely. It will come back and will almost certainly go active in the left eye too. I'm just very happy to be diagnosed this time before my sight was damaged. Happy reading to me and to you!!!

I'll say it. I LOVE The Hands of the Emperor! Victoria Goddard is a real find! Meanwhile, Mama and I are enjoying a reread of Run with the Horsemen. She is about the same age as Ferrol Sams. When we were reading about his debate club, she recognized his year's topic as one her debate club had been posed - probably the same year. Anybody who wants to know what the rural South was like for white folks in the 30s should read this book. A lot of the attitudes carried through my childhood in the 50s.

>157 LizzieD: Wonderful news, Peggy!

>161 LizzieD: The Hands of the Emperor goes into the BlackHole. Unfortunately my local library does not have a copy of that one.

Such good news about your eyes, Peggy. I'm glad you had it diagnosed early. Have a wonderful Sunday.

Peggy, I decided that a new thread would be easier on your eye(s).

Did I not speak, Jan and Richard??? I thought I had. I absolutely appreciate your visits and good wishes.

I was just saying that I spent about 20 of my LT minutes trying to connect my phone to this computer with bluetooth so that I could send a picture of a fantastic mushroom we walked by this afternoon. No luck. I think it's a tiger's eye (coltricia perinnis if anybody is a fungus fancier): deep, rich, velvety brown center sort of spiraling around, surrounded by a brilliant orange edge. This one is 8" or so across. Wish you could see it. Google images doesn't have anything quite as dramatic as the one that I can't show you. (I can't make this #()@)*^& cheap phone e-mail the picture either. BAH.)

So I'm going to bed.

>165 LizzieD: Oh dear! That sounds a lot like one of my struggles with technology. I have now worked out how to upload a photo from my phone to LT, but they usually display sideways, which is helpful (not!).

'Morning, Peggy! Sorry about the tech woes. I just duckduckgo-ed Tiger Eye Mushroom, and wow! What a gorgeous fungus.

I send cell phone pics to my email, save them to my computer, then upload them to LT. Tedious but never fail.

Hi, Helen and Karen. Well ---- I tried to send my cell phone pic to our personal email, and it didn't go, at least not last night. It did, however, show up in my sent g-mail, so here's the pic. The colors are not nearly as dramatic as the thing itself.

>168 LizzieD: Ooo! Lurvely fungal thing, those colors are truly 1974 in a cute package.

I'm glad you were able to post the picture. Amazing. We have lots of mushrooms in our forests but nothing so exotic.

Hi, Jan and Richard..... I'm glad that you are both impressed with our mushroom growing prowess.

'74 colors indeed!

I do love mushrooms, Peggy, but would never pick any as I haven't the foggiest which are edible or poisonous.

Have a lovely weekend dear lady. x

>168 LizzieD: That's an impressive looking funghi. Glad you were able to get the technology to do it's thing.

I just wanted you to know I've started Run with the Horsemen and am absolutely charmed.

Karen, I'm more than charmed that you are charmed!!!! Mama and I were reading some tonight. Porter may be little, but he's all male in every way.

Hi, Helen! Ah technology! I left my mom happily watching a DVD for our 25 minute walk. Got a call as we were almost back saying that she had pressed her emergency button. Ran in to find the DVD blaring theme music at an intolerable volume, and Mama didn't know how to turn it off or down. Then the ambulance arrived. We were all shaken, but DH and I are glad that that system works.

Paul, I'd never, ever pick a mushroom to eat, don't know enough. We had what looked for all the world like delicious morels here one summer, but I couldn't risk it. I can't imagine anybody looking at the brown and orange specimen and thinking, "I believe I'll eat that."

Lighting a match near the rear end of a donkey mule and watching a rooster peck at the dangling bits of a man in the privy are the LOL bits, and just the general tone, pace, and story are wonderful.

Oh my. Yes, I'm glad the emergency button worked, sorry for the elevated heartbeats of everybody involved.

One of my favorite books of all time is Dorothy Sayers and Robert Eustace's The Documents in the Case about the murder of a fungi expert via poisoned mushrooms. I see it's in your cataloged and tagged 'read'.

Yep, yep, yep! I enjoy *Documents* too and haven;t reread it in years.

Keep reading, Karen. Porter/Sambo gets better and better. I will quibble..... Pet is a mule not a donkey......

Check out Plowing with a mule in Georgia

Mule instead of donkey noted, I was just lazy and didn't go back to check. *smile*

Nor did you grow up in a time and place when farmers still had mules. I did and forget that most of the world didn't.

Mules! They're amazing creatures. Not as skittish as horses, not as foul-tempered as donkeys, but they got no dog in this fight if you don't make 'em *want* to work for you. I like 'em.

Happy week-ahead's reads, Peggy!

Richard, you amaze me. My granddaddy had mules, but I never knew one. I didn't know the cows either. I loathed the chickens. You probably need to read Run with the Horsemen. I think everybody needs to read it.

Thank you, as always, for your visit!

>175 LizzieD: >:-o Well at least you know the emergency button works.

Exactly, Liz. We test it every month. The question is whether Mama will remember to use it if she needs it.

>183 LizzieD: Hoping she doesn't do what his mother did and leave it beside the bed "because it was uncomfortable to wear". Fine, until she actually did fall over and need the thing. And then she wondered why my husband got really very cross with her.

There are times when I find having lost one's parents quite young to have a bit of a silver lining - I don't have any of this to deal with.

>184 Helenliz: I was 54 when my parents passsed away (both in the same year, which sucked). I wouldn't say I was *young* but my parents were only 80 & 81, so *not old*. Dealing with their care needs was no picnic, but both suffered from dementia so my silver lining is that they didn't live into their 90s.

You're doing a great job with your mama, Peggy!

Dear Laura and Helen, I am happier than I can ever say to have my mom still with me and in relatively good shape. I'm a frail reed, but I do my best and she is almost always patient and forgiving. Mostly we have good days.
I'm loving watching the beginning of *Downton Abbey* again instead of Ellen or Dr. Phil. I'm really not reading much because of it.

> 185 I meant they were quite young, Dad was 56, Mum 64. It's an odd silver lining, but seeing what friends are going through, it's certainly there.

>186 LizzieD: >:-) Keep on enjoying.

>187 Helenliz: I'm sorry I misunderstood your post, Helen. I'm sorry you lost your parents so soon. Even though mine were considerably older, I can relate your comment about the silver lining.

I lost my dad in 2006 at age 84, and my mother in 2016, also at age 84. Bill's parents also died at the same age - 80 - a year apart. Strange. I was here in NC and my sister bore the brunt of helping my parents in their last few years. My sister also had medical power of attorney with my mother and when Mom had a stroke in October 2016 Laura had to do all the work of finding a convalescent home for her and dealt with all the paperwork. I had financial/legal power of attorney (because Mom and Dad didn't trust my brother-in-law - and they were so right not to because Mike would have influenced Laura something awful).

Your mama is very lucky to have you, dear Peggy, and you're lucky to still have her.

Oooh! Downton Abbey! We watched it again about two years ago and loved it all over again.

We deal with what happens, don't we? Most of us can be thankful that we missed something worse or what we construe to be worse. My own daddy died at 59, so Mama has been widowed close to half her life. Carpe Diem, friends!

Heh...rural South Texas in the 1960s had plenty o'mules around (but I hated the chickens, too). (And cattle scare me. Stupid things do.)

Hi, Richard! I was a tad friendlier with the cows, Daisy and Bessie are the two I remember. I also remember some cow getting out and Granddaddy chasing it. After they had run around the house a couple of times, it became clear that the cow was chasing Granddaddy. Grandmother laughed until she cried, but I was a little scared.

I occasionally, and unhappily, have cows here at the house, because the idiot farmer behind me doesn't keep his fences maintained. Hasn't been in a while, though, because I threatened the man who leases the pastures with the county if I see the cows again.

That's a funny story about the cow chasing your Granddaddy. I was at friend Karen's in 1987 and she walked me through the family herd. She was nonchalant, I was, frankly, terrified. I kept getting pressed between cow bodies.

I grew up in the country, Karen, but I was never anything but a small town girl. I think I've said that I lasted about 10 minutes trying to pick cotton and something less than that when I tried barning tobacco.

WITNESS IN DEATH by J.D. Robb

I started out not very impressed with this one and ended up liking it a whole lot. I'm happy to have quite a few on the shelf yet to go.

>174 karenmarie: I still need to find my copy of Run with the Horsemen. I know it is here somewhere! I have been looking for it to no avail. I found the other 2 Ferrol Sams books that I own, but not that one. *sigh*

>194 LizzieD: Told you so. Lol. I am very glad you continue to enjoy the In Death series, Peggy.

With you and Karen both so enthusiastic about *ID*, how could I not enjoy it, Stasia?

I've made it to page 59 in Run with the Horsemen, and I'm continuing to be charmed. Also Ah ha! moments, some of which applied to me as a kid - mucilage glue being one, and kid politics on the playground. Finally, I wouldn't have known what UDC was without living in NC for 31 years.

>196 LizzieD: True. Karen and I both have exquisite taste in books :)

Have a terrific weekend, Peggy! I will probably try and call on Sunday, depending on how things shake out here.

Hi, Karen. As to UDC, the next thing you need to read to understand the South is Confederates in the Attic. Somehow I thought you had already read a Horwitz book about the South. Anyway, it gets better and better.

Hi, Stasia. I never doubt either you or Karen, even allowing for idiosyncratic taste. I'm LOVING The Hands of the Emperor, which Karen won't read but you should, if for no other reason than that there is a character named Anastasiya. I'm happy to get back to it and back to a bit of E. Wharton and Churchill in 1941.

>199 LizzieD: I will have to get hold of a physical copy of The Hands of the Emperor at some point that is for sure, Peggy!

>199 LizzieD: I have read Confederates in the Attic, but for some reason did not grok UDC.

{{{{{Peggy}}}}}

Glad to hear you're finding the In Death series is hitting the spot at the moment - I'm finding I need that comfort of something familiar to read and the knowledge there is more of the same on the shelf a lot more the last couple of years.

We are in complete agreement, (((((Heather))))). I ½way regret all the meaty, worthy, solid stuff I'm not reading, but I apparently can't do it. I'm happy to have fluff that goes down well. Given time, we'll get our mojo back!

Hi, (((((Karen))))). I thought you had read Horwitz. He does talk about meetings of the UDC and Children of both. I have a friend who felt the Children of as benign when she was a child but is appalled as an adult.

(((((Stasia))))), I'm only ½ through *Hands* and am in no hurry to finish. I love being in this world! Otoh, she has written a number of books set in the 9 worlds, so I could just relax and get on with it.

>203 LizzieD: The cheapest physical copy of Hands of the Emperor that I could find was over $45, so it is probably going to be a while before I get one. I am glad you are finding it so enjoyable!

>204 alcottacre: Holy Moly! I'm a fan, but that would be a no-go for me. I'm sorry, Stasia.

>205 LizzieD: I am sure the price will come down eventually. It is not as if I have nothing to read in the meantime!

There's that -------- except that I know what you did!!!!!!! (A little mystery never hurt anybody.)

>203 LizzieD: I spend far too much time worrying about what I am not reading and planning what to read in the near future than on......well.....reading.

Dropping by to say Hi! I'm way behind and jogging along like mad to catch up on the thread explosion while I was away.

>208 PaulCranswick: That sounds so like me it is not even funny!

Happy Friday, Peggy!

Oh, Stasia and Paul, we are kin not too far under the skin! I always knew it.

Sandy, I'm grateful to see you here since I get to threads less and less often and don't tend this one either. I sort of need to start a new one, but I can't think about it right now.

Ehhh...skip the new thread, Peggy, it won't hurt a single thing to have this one finish out the year. Why ever make work without a strong reason?

Anyway. Onward! Excelsior! Dieu et mon droit! *smooch*

That's a kind thought, Richard. Actually, it's a series of them. Many thanks! *smooch* back to you.

Just popping in to say that I finally found my copy of Runs with the Horsemen late last night.

Happy Wednesday, Peggy!

Yay, Stasia! I hope you can start it immediately. Mama and I need to get back to it. (The more you read, the better it gets!)

THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR by Victoria Goddard

I LOVED this book. I'd read it again now if I didn't have a few others in the same worlds ready to go. It's even better than the Nathan Lowells that I've loved and reread this year. It shares their leisurely pace, but *Hands* is deeper and more beautiful. I confess that I found a section near the end repetitive, but I was so happy to spend time with Kip and Co. that I wasn't impatient. Normally, I would have been impatient at a description of high ceremony. The last one was so beautiful that I read every word with joy.
Fantasy lovers should beat a path to wherever to get their copy. I'm off to thank friend kokipy for putting it on my radar.
What is it about? Cliopher/Kip Mdang is a civil servant from one of the far-away-from-everything countries. Brilliant and dedicated and supremely loyal, he becomes secretary to the Emperor, whose magic makes him a god on earth. Together they set out to reform the worlds. Together they break down the barriers that prevent the Emperor from living a fully human life and Kip from receiving the respect that is his just dessert. Nothing startling happens. Everything happens.

Yay! Happy/sad you finally finished. I loved it too, but have other reading to do before getting into Goddard's other books, although they are in the queue!

>215 LizzieD: One of these days I will get my hands on that book!

Not sure when I will get to Runs with the Horsemen, Peggy. This month is pretty well booked as is next month. Maybe January?

Hi, Roni! As you see, I've read the novella. I think I'll take a break for a moment before seeing how His Radiancy quests.

Hi, Stasia! You'll be a happy reader when you get to both of these favorites of mine - one new, one old. Mama and I need to pick up *Horsemen* again, but we've been looking at my little collection of DVDs. Just finished the 1980 *P&P* which I love. David Rintoul was the perfect Darcy. He's too stiff to be anybody else. Elizabeth Garvey was a wonderful Elizabeth, and she does have fine eyes.

PETTY TREASONS by Victoria Goddard

I'd be ashamed to count a novella as a book if I hadn't just counted 969 pages as one book. We see Cliopher's first days as the Emperor's secretary from his Radiancy's POV. I liked it, of course. Goddard chooses to tell the story with a 1st/2nd person POV. It makes sense, but I got tired of it well before the end. Nothing, however, can dim Cliopher's brilliance.

>218 LizzieD: Someone in the group told me early on "if it is between covers, it counts" so I do not worry about the lengths of the books i read. I read quite a few juvenile and young adult books which tend to be shorter but honestly, who cares? So you read a novella. You enjoyed it. So why does it matter how long it was :)

I sort of agree, Stasia. I'm just a little ashamed of my low count when I used to be able to read more. Oh well.

WINTER'S CHILD by Margaret Maron

In my rereads of the Deborah Knott series as my private memorial to MM, I find this one not to be a favorite. Dwight heads up to Virginia when his ex-wife disappears, leaving their eight year-old son Cal alone overnight. Deborah soon follows. The mystery is pretty good, but I find MM insisting on the effects of pride a little too enthusiastically. The over-all plot moves right along, and I'm ready to make my leisurely way through the next.

>220 LizzieD: Nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes life just makes your priorities for you.

True enough, Stasia. If I were really going to be ashamed, I should be ashamed of still buying books that I'm not getting to. Reading hope springs eternal!

A note to say that today was my mama's 100th birthday. We celebrated quietly and enjoyed, calls and cards and flowers and gifts and even a meal - all without breaking quarantine. Now I am officially tired.

Happy birthday Mama! That's quite a milestone.

Thank you, Laura! I'll pass that on.

>223 LizzieD: Congratulations to your mother. It is my mother's 100th birthday as well at the end of next month.

Many happy returns to your Mama! She's a wee bit younger than mine...May 1920...but her longevity puts the lie to "only the good die young."

>223 LizzieD: Happy birthday to your mother, Peggy. Reaching 100 is a milestone!

>223 LizzieD: I hope you have recuperated, Peggy!

Thanks for the birthday greetings!

Hope your mother is looking forward to her 100th, Rhian! That generation gave us some strong women; good ones too, as Richard says. RD, your mother was a bit older than my father who was born in July of 1920.

Thank you, Anita. 100 is a milestone! She has another couple of years before she's older than her mother, who died at 102. (I can add.) Mama is in much better shape at this point than Grandmama was.

I am recuperating, Stasia. It was a fine thing to have a normal day today. I'll have to jump on thank-yous tomorrow.

>230 LizzieD: Hooray for normal days!

Congratulations to mama on reaching 100, an impressive milestone. Glad to hear that you all had an enjoyable day.

Hi Peggy!

Novellas count and buying books is good.

Belated Happy 100th Birthday to your Mama, and I hope you're recuperating from the successfully-quarantined celebrations.

Jenna just left and I'm eating a bit of brekkie and drinking coffee.

Amen, Stasia!

Thank you very much, HelenL.

Big smiles for Jenna and the coffee, Karen!

Happy 100th birthday to your mother, Peggy.

Thank you, Beth! Mama continues to receive cards (including a beauty from Karen), and that made today special.

As to reading --- not much going on here. I'm hiding in The Wizard's Butler, which suits me again, and the bio of EWharton, which I might actually finish this month with a little luck. Honestly, it's a really good book, but I just can't manage it with Ellen and Dr. Phil in the background. I have more than I can read lined up ready for when I finish the Wharton.

Popping in here at long last . . . I'm becoming tempted by The Wizard's Butler as it is on Audible. . . currently though I am immersed in an endless series (on Audible) that I know you would enjoy immensely but I don't think is even available as E-books, though I could be mistaken.

Can't imagine trying to read R.W.B. Lewis on Edith with Dr. Phil blaring in the background.

Two centarians! That's great. I aspire to the same, but I'd better keep exercising if I'm going to make it. Only 27 years, 2 months to go!

You go, Judy! I will say that Mama was in the pool 5 days a week most weeks until she was well into her 95th year.

Anyway, let's make a deal. You congratulate me in 23 years, 11 months, and I'll stick around to congratulate you in 27, 2!

THE WIZARD'S BUTLER by Nathan Lowell

I was a charmed by this one now as I was last year when I first read it. I knew to skim through installing the Internet this time, and otherwise, I was soothed by all the butler's doings and the removal of the cursed artifact.

I'm indulging myself in a trial of Amazon Prime in order to get the free shipping on an order that I thought was eligible anyway. I'll cancel it soon. Meanwhile, I watched the first episode of *Wheel of Time* today. I really like the casting and the visual effects. When trollocs attack, it's pretty bloody. I do wonder why adapters reject significant scenes from the book in favor of their own creations which don't seem particularly useful to me - not enough to compel me to keep the account.

>240 LizzieD: Kerry is watching The Wheel of Time too - he has watched the first 3 episodes. I am still slogging through The Eye of the World so I have warned him not to tell me what is going on in the series. I do not want spoilers!

I'm sorry that *Eye* is a slog for you, Stasia. If you don't like it, you don't like it, and that's that. I'm happy to know that they've done 3 episodes. That means that I'll get to watch maybe 6 before my Prime trial ends.

>242 LizzieD: I have not given up on The Eye of the World yet, Peggy, since you assured me it does get better. I am over halfway through at this point.

Hmmm, Stasia. If you aren't a fan at over halfway through, I think that you're not going to be. I know you're reading it for TIOLI, but you should stop if you want. Meanwhile, since I've been watching the Prime videos, I've picked up *Wheel13*. I'm not quite committed to reading it now, but we'll see. It's really nice to be out from under the EW bio. I might play around a bit on smaller things.

EDITH WHARTON: A BIOGRAPHY by R.W.B. Lewis

This is a fine biography, and EW was a fascinating woman. Her friends adored her, but she could be very much the princess to everybody else. That said, she worked as hard as Dickens did to support herself and her dependents. She also worked tirelessly for refugees during WWII in Paris. I had never known that. I had also never known that Vita Sackville-West's name was "Victoria." Read and learn!
Lewis balances biography and criticism of her work magisterially. That's the word for the whole book. I'm glad I read it. I'm glad to have finished it!

>244 LizzieD: Congratulations on finishing the Wharton bio, Peggy! I know that you have been reading that one for a while now. I will have to look for a copy.

Wow. 100!! That's wonderful. And active in the pool until 95. I am inspired! Nice job on the Wharton book. : )

>244 LizzieD: I am waiting for Wheel 10, Peggy.
I was reading the Wheel on my e-reader. Recently they were removed from the e-library (probably because a new edition came out with the series), so now I have to wait until the paper copy becomes available.

Congrats on finishing the Wharton tome, Peggy. One of these days I'll read the Hermione Lee version, which is on my shelves. But as much as I love EW, biographies in general just aren't calling to me these days.

Congrats on finishing the Wharton bio, Peggy!

>239 LizzieD: That's quite a recommendation, in the pool 5 days a week. I need the incentive. And yes, I'll be overjoyed to congratulate you in 23 yrs, 11 months

>244 LizzieD: Wharton was clear about who was in and who was not, wasn't she. I don't know that it's admirable but it's got the virtue of being unmistakable. Points for that, at the very least.

23 years, 11 months...I'll be dead a decade by then, but I still might visit. One never knows.

Dear Richard, please postpone being dead for a long time.
Wharton remains pretty much a mystery to me. I think I don't understand privilege at all, while being very privileged.

I wish I could get her to the pool now, Judy. We would have done things so differently without C-19, as would the rest of the world.

Many thanks for the congrats, Karen, Laura, Kim, and Stasia! I realize that I had it open for a year, but I wasn't reading it all that time. I wasn't reading it many days at a time when I was reading it.

Anita, I think I've said that *Wheel10* is the one that you just have to get through. I know I'm not the only one to think so.

Oh! I've giggled all day reciting a little verse to myself that my DH found. Richard, of course, will know it, but I hadn't ever heard of Hughes Mearns or "Antigonish," which he wrote in 1899.

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...

>252 LizzieD: That's the sort of poem my parents would recite to amuse us, or at least it amused me. That one, verses from Such Nonsense or from The Space Child's Mother Goose which now days fails in the PC department.

>252 LizzieD: My mother recited that poem to me a lot. I suspect she was hinting that she needed time alone, but I couldn't swear to it...I was four-ish.

I shall postpone my departure from the gate with maximal effort. Actuaries be hanged!

Heavens, Susan and Richard!

Indeed. Hang the actuaries!

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

In difficult times
a friend is there to light the way
to lighten the load,
to show the path,
to smooth the road

At the darkest hour
a friend, with a word of truth
points to light
and the encroaching dawn
is in the plainest sight.

Peggy, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

Hooray for 100!



Happy Thanksgiving! Posey's dream.

Ah, Paul. Thank you for the lovely message. Friends do hold light for us. You certainly do for me. Thank you.

Perfect picture, Lucy! Shades of our first dog together, Tricks, who somehow grabbed the rind (?) from a ham that we had boiled and headed through the house at a gallop. Wild Glee and ultimate happiness!

I hope you and yours had a terrific Thanksgiving, Peggy!

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, Peggy!

Aaahhh...I do so love elastic-waist jammy bottoms. *oink*

Happy Leftover Day!! Enjoy some books, too. : )

Many thanks for good wishes, Kim, Richard, Judy, and Stasia! Yep. We're eating and enjoying the MEAL again (and with luck again and again). I love that you visited........... That's a lovely thing about this place. You all forgive me for being not-present (mostly) and offer love and support anyway. THANK YOU!

Hey, if people around her forgive me for absences of 6 months at a time, why would they not forgive you? Your absences are shorter than that :)

Have a wonderful weekend, Peggy!

Peggy, I'm another one who hasn't been around much. There's so much I've missed. Congratulations to your mother on reaching 100. You are a good daughter who helps give her so much quality of life.
Age wise, I'm just a few months behind you and plan to be around for some time too. My oldest sister is 92 and still going strong.

It sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. I went over to my daughter's house for leftovers last night and it was just as good!

Peggy, after I was carted off to the goofy garage I was generously and lovingly supported by my LT pals for ages of absence. If they could hang through that, believe me when I say it's nothing deeply worrying to accept the occasional absence. Just announce you're back and there it'll be!

*smooch*

I love to hear from you, Richard, Jan, and Stasia! This is home.

As usual with math I've miscalculated my time to 100. Make that 22 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, and I thank you very much.

Hi Peggy!

I hope you've had a good week so far. Jenna's visiting, and I'm not reading and not on LT. We played Yahtzee yesterday and with a combined 3-game total, she beat me by 5 points. Harrumph.

HI, Karen! I've played Yahtzee a bit, but I know it mostly from the fanatics who played it on the floor of their dorm room a floor above ours. The tinkle of dice on the ceiling is an unmistakable sound.

Stopping by and saying hi!

Swinging by to let you know that I am back! Thanks for helping to keep my thread warm in my absence.

Hope all is well, Peggy. xx

Why have I not visited my own thread???? Thank you for coming, Paul, Stasia, and Lucy. We are well, and you are welcome.

HERE is yet another article about famous book "hoarders" (or is that "collectors" or my favorite term, "readers"?). Lagerfeld looks to be #1 if you're not interested in the article.

Fascinating list and article, Peggy!

Michael Jackson surprised me, and I shuddered at Nigella Lawson's Library. Partially empty shelves! Books on the floor. *shudder*

>273 LizzieD: I'm *gobsmacked* about that level of hoarding. WOW

And, if I'm even slightly honest, I'd be on there too if I had that kind of money.

>273 LizzieD: I do not feel as bad only owning about 6 to 8 thousand or so. I am culling though, so the number is going down. But I also keep buying, so that may not be true. Oh well.

>273 LizzieD: Books are not hoarded, books are collected ;-)
Athough I have read once about a professional Dutch book reviewer, you might call a hoarder. His whole house was filled with books, leaving only small ways through, and the front door could only partly open, because of the stacks of books behind in the gangway. I don't recall the exact number of books, but it was over hunderd thousand.

>277 FAMeulstee: I think I've come to the view that hoarding has to do with the space you have at your disposal as much as the items you collect. My space has run out, and I have come to recognize that, as one New Yorker cartoon put it, books have to earn their space. Not easy to do, but then again, I ditched a collection of John Milton's prose the other day, because I couldn't imagine wanting to read it enough to keep that fat, small-print book on the shelf. That's one down.

Happy to see you all here, Judy, Anita, Stasia, Richard, and Karen!

I feel - again - immeasurably happy to have a house large enough and a husband kind enough to support my book collection. I guess it makes some sort of difference that most of mine are pbs and a goodly number of those, series mysteries from the 70s and 80s. I have been able to let a few series go, but pulling a book to go always hurts.

>279 LizzieD: I am extremely lucky in both regards as well, Peggy. When we were looking for a house back in 2008, Kerry had 2 requirements - a garage and a fireplace. I had only 1 - a room for my books. We both got what we wanted. We actually ended up with 2 fireplaces. One in our living room and one in the library, which I told Kerry would never get lit.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Chiming in on the lucky to have a husband who respects my need for books and a house large enough to accomodate that need. Plus, he had book shelves built in when we built the house and later on added them to other rooms.

Ha. Jim certainly reaped ts my need for books... but he brought his collection with him!

Hi, lucky Stasia and Karen and Judy! I've turned my DH into more of a reader than he was before we married. He always read non-fiction, but now he has a few old mystery series that he has read as completely as my collection allows - mostly Brits. Go figure.

>283 LizzieD: I have to read enough for both Kerry and me. He has read exactly 2 books since we got married 33 years ago :)

Well, Stasia, I'd say that you are doing more than an adequate job of reading for both of you!!!!! Ain't love funny? Ain't love grand?

RUN WITH THE HORSEMEN by Ferrol Sams

This is one of my favorite books. It compassionately depicts the South of my white parents' era without cutting white folks any slack. I reread it this time aloud to my 100 year-old mama, who enjoyed it again. I was always interested in her comments. For example, her high school debate club spent a year on the same topic as Porter's. She corrected my pronunciation of "elaeagnus." She laughed through episodes that I would have thought too earthy for her.
The book ends on a tragic note, so we are pushing on to The Whisper of the River in which Little Porter goes to college in Atlanta.
I hope that I've written about it enough in the past that folks don't need much more than this. I'm off to bed!

>285 LizzieD: Glad you do not think I am failing at reading for two!

I need to get Run with the Horsemen read one of these days! Glad to see your mother enjoyed it too.

Really, Stasia. If your girls were not readers, you'd be reading enough for them too! And your mother.

TROUBLED BLOOD by Robert Galbraith

This may be my favorite Strike/Robin book so far. I guess it's too long, but I don't care. Clearing up a cold case, and another cold case that they were not hired to solve, our detective team outdoes themselves in research and doggedness and deductive skills. I thought it was fascinating, and I was happy that RG gave us only a few pages of horrors. Rather than mooning over each other, Robin and Strike misunderstand each other, and that is entirely preferable. They eventually move to a deeper understanding of their relationship, and that is satisfying for the faithful reader too.

>288 LizzieD: You do make a good case for it...and for >285 LizzieD: but I Am Immune! I cannot be book-bulleted!

*sigh*

Hi Peggy!

>288 LizzieD: Not too long for me, either.

Well, Richard, I believe that you probably have enough to read without being bulleted if you don't want to be. I do remember on Lucy's thread that you said you enjoyed Sams's "The Widow's Mite."

Hi, Karen! Bring 'em on again! I'm ready.

>288 LizzieD: and I was happy that RG gave us only a few pages of horrors

So was I, Peggy. Good books are never too long.

Hi, Anita! I'm pretty impressed with how much she has improved her writing since her early HPs, which sort of clunked and banged their way along.

Hmmm. Has anyone read The Lincoln Highway? I have a few days to save a few $ on the Kindle version if the book is any good. Hmmm. I guess I could check "mentions," and I will.

>287 LizzieD: Well, someone has to do it, I guess. I will make the sacrifice, lol.

>288 LizzieD: I have yet to have read any of that series. I really need to get to it at some point. I think I had the first one home from the library but never got to it.

>293 LizzieD: I have read The Lincoln Highway, Peggy. While I liked it, for me, it did not measure up to A Gentleman in Moscow. That being said, I still gave it 4 stars.

Hi Peggy! Happy Wednesday to you!!

I originally planned on buying The Lincoln Highway when it came out, took it out of my Amazon shopping cart, and didn't think anything more of it. I just looked at a few reviews, not something I usually do, and (immediately scrolling past the one that warns of unhidden spoilers), read several and saw lots of 5* ratings. So I just bought it, and what with Amazon's Durham distribution facility being so close, it will arrive tomorrow. Instant gratification.

Good for you, Karen! You and Stasia have pretty much pushed me over. It also looks like I'll be signing up for Prime for a year to save $ and have *Wheel* + at my beck and call. Dear readers, if you haven't watched their series, you should give it a try if only for the visual beauty. O.K. Daniel Henney has a LOT of visual beauty.

Meanwhile, I'm reading not much. Stasia and I are sort of reading Pleasure of Ruins together except that I can read only 10 pp a day at best, so she waits for several weeks and then passes me in one session. It's a pretty pleasurable book though. And I read a page or two of my current Deborah Knott mystery and have started Rosemary and Rue at a word from Roni long, long ago.

Oh, and Karen? A cousin in Canada has sent Mama a box of See's chocolates for Christmas, and I get the dark ones! HA! AND her brother in CA, quite independently, is sending her another. We're really rich for the moment!

>291 LizzieD: Oh, I gave in the second I saw the darn thing, because I have zero...less than zero...shelf control.

...see what I did there...?

>296 LizzieD: We are not "sort of" reading Pleasure of Ruins together, we are reading it together. I just read it in larger chunks :)

>297 richardderus: OK, that's a good one. GROAN!

>297 richardderus: Dear Richard, I not only see, I am with you heart and soul. I might groan with Susan (Hi, Susan!), but it's too true to be a mere cleverness.

You do read in larger chunks, Stasia. I am up to p 197 though, so you'll pretty soon be able to jump in again. *Ruins* suits me perfectly at the moment. We're in Rome in the 18th century, and she quotes large chunks of poetry and travelogues as we look at the state of the ruins then. In fact, I'm off to see whether I can google images of what was around then; a good bit that we see now was underground, I gather.

I find myself hungry for meaty fiction or even middlebrow fiction. I can't even remember the last decent thing I read. A reread of *P&P* hardly counts since I can almost quote pretty lengthy passages. I'm exploring, but I have very little concentrated reading time. I will get my book-a-week this year, but that's about it. *sigh*

Hi Peggy!

>296 LizzieD: I’m glad you don’t have to fight your mama or your DH for the dark chocolates. And another one on the way? Wow, definitely riches.

My sister usually sends See’s for Christmas, but their finances can’t handle it this year - 3 custom mix boxes. I waited too long for us to get a box for Christmas, but we don’t really need it, right? I’ll get Bill a box for his birthday in February, custom mix, and I’ll put in 20% dark chocolates for me. *smile*

May all your surprises be good ones this Holiday season.

Have a lovely holiday, Peggy.

Happy Holidays Peggy!

What a happy place this is! I love LT and the 75ers! Thank you for the visits and the wishes for happiness, Susan, Paul, Roni, Richard, and Karen. You are all dear to visit a non-visitor of your threads. Thank you!

I wish all friends the merriest of Christmases or the happiest of whatever winter solstice holiday you are celebrating!

I love you, Peggy. Have a wonderful day!

Love right back, Stasia!!!! We did have a fine day.

Now it's our 51st wedding anniversary. How amazing is that!

>308 LizzieD: Congratulations!

>308 LizzieD: Congratulations, Peggy, that is amazing!

>308 LizzieD: 51 years! That is amazing, for all the right reasons. Congratulations to both of you.

Happy anniversary, Peggy! 51 years is amazing, indeed. Congratulations.

Happy Fifty-First Anniversary to you and your DH!

Many thanks from both of us, Karen, Laura, Helen, Anita, and Susan! Best day's work I ever put in 51 years ago!.

Congratulations on the 51st anniversary, Peggy! Kerry and I have been married 33 years at this point, which I cannot imagine, let alone 51 years!

Happy Anniversary, Peggy!

These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I see the same is true for your holiday and your anniversary and here's to next year!!

>308 LizzieD: 51 years! O.M.G.

Thanks to y'all too, Judy, Kim (love the ornaments! I tried too.), Roni, and Stasia!

Mostly I think that I shouldn't even be 51, much less be married that long. He still makes my heart go pitty-pat.

>319 LizzieD: Awwww! That's so cute. : )

>320 Berly: : ~

HARD ROW by Margaret Maron

This is another good one. I really enjoy Deborah at home rather than on location as she subs for another district court judge. The only blot on my reading streak is that I can't find the next installment. I know I have it, but it's not with the rest of them. Bother!

Good luck finding the next Deborah Knott! I hate it when I can't find a book where I think it is.

Jenna's still home but going out to have lunch with a college friend. I'll have rehab for most of the time she's gone, then it's time to make Pecan Puffs and perhaps sugar cookies. Tomorrow she's off to visit with her romantic interest and then will leave Friday morning for Asheville. A longish nice visit from my kidlet, for sure.

I guess I'm going to read the second Clare Fergusson while I hunt my D.Knott. Such flexibility!

Sounds like you are having a super time with Jenna. Glad you have another day+ to enjoy.

>51 LizzieD: I totally agree with your comment about politics.. Already, Biden is asked if he will run again, especially if Trump is the republican candidate. Haven't we had enough of this craziness? I January 6th occurrence isn't enough to keep trump out of our lives, I'm not sure what will!

>323 LizzieD: Needs must when the dratted poltergeists hide the next one in a series.

Happy that y'all haven't killed each other as of yet...18,623 days is a darn good streak.

>323 LizzieD: I hope enjoy the second Clare Ferguson book, Peggy! Good luck with finding the book that is missing. I hate when I cannot find a book I am looking for - although it happens all too often :)

What a pleasure to come and find visits from Linda, Richard, and Stasia! Three favorite people - not to mention three of the 75ers' most stalwart supporters. Love you all.

Oh, Richard! Only 18,623 days? Seems to me that we should have a huge number more!

This is my worst reading year since retirement. I'm relieved to have made it to one-a-week, a paltry number for a real reader. The best I can do is the best I can do, but I yearn for more and more.

I see that I'm a greedy soul in every way.

>327 LizzieD: I think we are all greedy in that way, Peggy!

>327 LizzieD: I often feel I'm not a real reader when I see people reading several hundred books in a year. I think the important thing is to enjoy them and not worry about the numbers too much. Although none of that stops me wanting to read just a few more... Shame life tends to get in the way.

When you have your 2022 thread up and running, can you post a link to it? the 75 books group always ends up so busy I tend to miss people when I venture over there.

I will post a link, Helen, but I normally stay with the old thread until the new year. I couldn't tell you why.

Life-with-a-capital gets in the way of most good things. The issue for me isn't work, since I don't, but that darned miscellaneous stuff...doctor appointments, visits from various souls, my end of the Zoom/Skype/Hangout relationship Rob and I are having now that he's away at school.

Thank goodness I don't really sleep that much!

Yep. Who said that life is what goes on while we wait for the big thing to happen? You're lucky not to need much sleep. I do.

ROSEMARY AND RUE by Seanan McGUire

My last book completed in 2021. What a sorry little year for reading! That said, I did read some wonderful things (see >3 LizzieD:). That said, this was a pleasant enough little fantasy. I see that it was McGuire's first, and that gives me encouragement to try the next one when I can get a cheap copy. Thanks to Roni for loving the series.

HERE is where I will be in 2022.

Last visit of 2021 to my very dear friend. Here's to a better 2022 for all of us!

Love,
Karen

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Peggy.