Pat (phebj) Resolves to Read More in 2015

This will be my sixth year on LT and, after getting out of the habit of keeping up on LT during the second half of 2014, I'm vowing to be more active in 2015. I'm also vowing to read more and, in particular, to read books I already own. I've developed the dangerous habit of being distracted by new books and not always finishing the ones I've started.

For those who don't know me, I moved from New York to a suburb of Boise, Idaho with my husband in 2007 and have absolutely fallen in love with living here. We built a new home last year and were thrilled with the result. It was so much fun to see the emergence of the house we had designed on paper.

My disappearance from LT last year coincided with our move into our new home just three weeks before a big trip to Paris with my best friends which in turn was followed by a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary, an open house, a big family reunion, a little family reunion, and, after four months, a successful effort to sell our old house.

For those that used to follow my threads, I owe you some pictures of how the house turned out but for some reason the pictures I'm uploading to LT seem to be blurry to me especially the ones of my new sunroom/library. I think part of the problem is that we built the house with tons of windows and I'm finding all the light and it's reflections challenging. At any rate, here is a photo of our great room taken from our sunroom. It gives you a view of at least some of my bookshelves to the left of the fireplace. I'm still trying to get a good photo of my main bookshelves and hope to have one to post soon.

Currently reading:

Late Fragments: Everything I Want to Tell You (About this Magnificent Life) by Kate Gross
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman

Need to Get Back To:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert
Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere: A Memoir by Poe Ballantine
Deep Dark Down by Hector Tobar
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Not Sure If I'm Going to Get Back to or not:

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (about the eventual suicide of the author's sister and the author's attempts to keep her sister alive; pretty depressing but it was a Powell's Indiespensable pick so I might give it another chance)

Books read in 2015

1. The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum (essays)
2. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (American Author Challenge)
3. The Iridescence of Birds: a book about Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan
4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (British Author Challenge)
5. The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc
6. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
7. The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
8. Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams
9. The Harder They Come by T.C. Boyle
10. Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman Rushdie
11. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
12. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
13. Alexandrian Summer by Yitzhak Gormezano Goren
14. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
15. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
16. Out of Egypt: A Memoir by Andre Aciman
17. The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson
18. The Fly Trap by Fredrik Sjoberg
19. Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget Sarah Hepola
20. You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey
21. Three Classic Children's Stories: Little Red Riding Hood, Jack the Giant-Killer and Rumpelstiltskin by James Donnelly, drawings by Edward Gorey
22. Hello NY: An Illustrated Love Letter to the Five Boroughs by Julia Rothman
23. The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Chris Scotton
24. Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein
25. Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
26. Debt of Dishonor by Robert Goddard
27. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Another big highlight of 2014 for me was commissioning Ilana to draw a portrait of our dog, Rocky. I loved being able to follow the progress of the portrait online and I really loved how it turned out. Here's a closeup of the framed portrait hanging in our house:

And here's a picture of the portrait as I see it each morning coming out of our master bedroom. The door in the middle leads to our guest room (with tons of light streaming in) and the door to the left is our second bedroom that we use for an exercise room. I will post more pictures of the house as I get them uploaded to LT.

Hi Pat! It looks like you're enjoying the new house. And I love the portrait of Rocky!

>2 phebj: Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere
Hmm, looks interesting... but I'm trying to stick with books I already own for awhile...

Happy New Year!

Great to see your new thread, Pat!! And I'm looking forward to more photos of your lovely new house. Especially the bookshelves.

>6 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie! We're enjoying the house so much more than we even thought. I wish we had decided to build our own house sooner. There's something about feeling like we created it that I really love.

>7 qebo: Hi Katherine! I can't remember where I first heard about Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere but it sounded interesting and my library had it so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm about 100 pages in and really liking it. It has a very enthusiastic introduction by Cheryl Strayed. I had never heard of Poe Ballantine before but if it continues to be good I'll look into some of his other books.

YAY, PAT!!! Glad to see you on your own thread, and your house looks absolutely perfect! You have so much light and so much room - wow!
And the Rocky picture ROCKS.
*Howling Plains* does look good. I'll put it on my reminder list at the very least if you end up liking it.

>8 ronincats: Hi Roni! Glad you found me. I really want to take a good picture of those shelves but the light coming in from the two walls of windows in that room seems to blur things in the photo. Ilana offered to help me so I'm going to take some more pictures and send them to her to see what she can do.

Hi Pat! Great to see you and love the pictures of your home. I would live to build our own some day...

You are starred of course :-)

>10 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Thanks for the compliments on the house. Didn't Ilana do a fabulous job on the portrait of Rocky? I'm so glad she made the offer to do pet portraits. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job.

Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere only has 2 reviews on LT and is only in 20 LTer libraries but as far as I can tell no one in the 75ers has it.

I really wish I could remember where I heard of it. I've "liked" Book Riot on FB and they're always posting recommendations for books I haven't heard of and of course I read like a zillion articles on the best books people had read in 2014. Oh well, so it goes. The memory is not what it used to be!

>12 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I would encourage you to make building your own home someday a reality. We almost did it in 2001 but backed out at the last minute. It seems like an overwhelming thing to do but it turned out to be a great experience for us.

Hi Pat - great to see your new thread, and both the house and portrait of Rocky look fantastic. We're about to demolish our house and rebuild on the site ...gulp. It will all be lovely in the end but right now there is a lot of packing up to do!

Have got you starred and am looking forward to seeing what you read this year.

Happy New Year, Pat! Your new home is beautiful and I love Rocky's portrait. I may think about asking Ilana if she's interested in doing a golden.

I'm looking forward to following your reading this year.

>4 phebj: Pat another supreme example of the wider benefits of the group. Ilana is immensely talented isn't she?

Lovely to see you back Pat and that the house that we saw growing in the clearing last year has very much become a home!

Happy New Year Pat! Good to see you back and posting. My husband was a home builder so I can appreciate your pleasure in having a brand new home. Happy reading in 2015.

Welcome back!

Hi Pat! Happy New Year and good luck with your reading goals this year.

Welcome back, Pat! The photos of your new house look lovely.

I love your new space! It looks like it would be very welcoming for big holiday feasts and, oh, a book discussion group or two...

And Rocky's portrait is excellent. What does the subject himself have to say about it??

Hi! Love the photos of the new house!

Happy New Year. :)

Happy New Year, Pat! I love the house photos!!

Welcome back! Your great room looks so inviting...and right off the bat you've intrigued me with a book that sounds interesting and hasn't been hyped to death. Not good for MY resolution to read a lot more of the books I already own before buying any more. So, thanks, I think!

Great to see you back, Pat! What a whirlwind 2014 was for you but all good stuff! Everything about your new home is lovely; the colors, the style, Rocky's portrait! what a great home. I'd never want to leave. Looking forward to following your reads once again.

Happy New Year, Pat! The house looks great - comfortable and full of light. That's an outstanding drawing of Rocky by Ilana.

Happy New Thread Pat! I'm so happy you've decided to come back to the fold and start your own thread again, because your presence was very much missed here. I felt really privileged to correspond with you while we were working on the Rocky project, but I didn't want it to end with the project either, and now it doesn't have to. Love the photo of your new home and looking forward to seeing more. From what I see it looks so full of light and I love all that open space—so roomy and airy. Of course I'll be happy to do whatever I can to fix other photos you send my way as best I can. Needless to say I'm thrilled to see Rocky all framed and hung on the wall, and to know you see him every day as you come out of your bedroom, and especially to know how happy your are with the final result. I take it as a very good omen that my first commission went so well from start to finish!

xox

Love the pictures of your new home, and the portrait of Rocky is fabulous--Ilana is extremely talented and I've loved what artwork of hers I've seen on her thread.

I'm hearing rumors there may be another Portland meetup sometime in the next several months. It would be great to see you in RL again.

We were lucky enough to go to Paris last year too. We took a riverboat cruise from the Normandy beaches (Honfleur) to Paris. Unfortunately, that left us with only 2 1/2 days in Paris, not nearly enough time, so we are already planning another trip.

I was not on LT very much last year either, so I'm hoping to delurk more often this year.

Hi Pat, great to see you back posting. I am cutting back this year on my computer time, but will certainly be around to visit with everyone.

Hi Pat! I love your sunroom - what a welcoming space! I just started Deep Down Dark tonight. Do I remember right that you're planning to read that one? After Ann Patchett recommended it on NPR, I figured it was worth a try. So far, it's quite good.

Found you, Pat! I love the new house pictures. So much light pouring in. Our house is dark inside which I don't mind in the heat of summer, but it's depressing in the winter. I have followed the process of Rocky's portrait by Ilana with great interest and awe. It is good to see what a perfect focal point it is on your wall. Looking forward to seeing more of you in 2015.

Hi Pat and Happy New Year again!

I was watching Ilana's progress with Rocky via FB and I think she did a lovely job! I'm tempted to send her a photo of my Edgar to see about commissioning her to draw him. I love that you posted a photo of the drawing in your house, too! And of course I'm anxious to see more photos of the new home, if you can get the light thing figured out. It looks lovely and I hope you're feeling at home there.

Wow, I guess it's been a whole week since I've checked in. I obviously need to focus more on getting LT back into my routine.

>15 cushlareads: Hi Cushla! I remember you saying something about demolishing your existing house and rebuilding but wasn't sure if you had already started that or not. Looks like it will be a busy year for you. My husband and I have a niece in San Francisco that did what you're doing and while I don't really know what all the challenges were, they ended up with a gorgeous home that really took advantage of their lot. I hope your project goes smoothly and can't wait to see how it turns out. I have your thread starred as well but it will take me a while to get back over there. It's amazing how many posts there have been on my starred threads in the last week.

>16 Copperskye: Hi Joanne! Happy New Year to you too. I must say I really loved the whole process of working with Ilana. It was so much fun to see Rocky come to life as she posted updates of her progress. To me that added so much to the finished portrait because I felt like I had been able to look over her shoulder as she worked on it and those memories come back when I look at the portrait. You have so many great photographs of Copper and Skye that you'd probably have a hard time choosing one.

>17 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the welcome back, Paul. I wasn't sure if it would take awhile for this house to feel like a home. With every existing house we've bought, it took me three to four months to start feeling settled and probably even longer to feel like it was home. In this case, it was almost instantaneous because we had basically been living in the house in our minds before the building even started.

>18 brenzi: Hi Bonnie! It is good to be back on LT but I forgot how quickly things move at the beginning of the year. I never really caught up on the 2014 threads and now I have a ton to catch up with on the 2015 threads. I remember that your husband was a home builder. We ended up loving the builder we worked with and if we weren't so happy with the home we built, we'd build another home with them. They were the nicest people and even though the house went up faster than I expected (a little over four months), they were always focused on the details so I never felt like any corners were being cut.

>19 drneutron: Thanks for the welcome back, Jim. I've really missed the 75ers community.

>20 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Thanks for the good wishes. I just found your 2015 thread and added it to my starred list so I will eventually get over there to check out your reading.

>21 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! It's good to see you. Hopefully, we'll manage to actually meet in RL this year. I will be keeping my eye on the planned LT meetups to see if any of them will work out timing wise. I'll also keep my eye on your planned trips because you go to so many great places. Fingers crossed that the stars will all align.

>22 Chatterbox: Hi Suzanne! We always have a big Christmas Eve party for Mike's family every year (20 to 25 people) and in the other house, we served dinner in the garage because we didn't have enough room to seat everyone inside. It had the added benefit of forcing us to clean our garage each year. This year we were able to do it inside and that was nice.

I never thought about the book club angle. Sadly, I've never found a good book club out here. LT is way better than any of the ones I've tried. In NY, there was a former literature professor and writer in Scarsdale that hosted one at her home and I absolutely loved it. She chose the books and was a super prepared host and we always had great discussions. The ones I've tried here, no one has really taken charge like that. People have told me I should start one but I'm more comfortable as a follower than a leader and would probably get very obsessive about it. (Actually, now that I think about it, you would make a great RL book group leader!)

Rocky, as you might imagine, is a VERY spoiled dog so he has taken the whole portrait thing very much in his stride. Because we don't have kids and have only one pet at the moment, I have to watch that we don't overdo it with him. But who am I kidding, that ship sailed along time ago!

>23 nittnut: Hi Jenn! Good to see you. I saw on facebook that you moved to a new home. I've been loving seeing all the pictures of your new life and can't believe it's already been a year. It's also nice to see your summer when all I see out the windows these days is the color gray!

>24 scaifea: Hey Amber! Happy New Year to you too. I wish I could join you at your Iowa City LT meetup because I'd love to meet you guys plus that book store looks fantastic.

>25 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda! I hope you like Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere if you get a chance to read it. I had to take my copy back to the library so I'm waiting for the one I ordered from Amazon to get back to it.

>26 Carmenere: Hi Lynda! I am really glad to be back on LT. 2014 was a great year. When you're retired, it sometimes seems that nothing momentous happens but 2014 was an exception. Building our own home was a great thing for us. Only wish we figured that out sooner!

>27 jnwelch: Hi Joe! Thanks for the compliments on the house. I know you followed along with Ilana's progress on Rocky's picture. I'm so happy that we had her do his portrait. It was a great experience from beginning to end and one of the things I like is seeing her signature on the portrait and having that connection to her.

>28 Smiler69: Hi Ilana! Thanks for the welcome back to the fold! Like I just said to Joe, I'm so glad we had you do Rocky's portrait. It was one of the highlights of the second half of the year for me. It's amazing the connections we develop because of LT and I'm really happy to be back although I do need to check in more often than once a week! Hopefully, I'll have some more pictures of the house to post soon. I'm starting to get back into the swing of things with transferring pictures from my phone to LT and using the photo enhancing tools of Picassa.

>29 arubabookwoman: Hi Deborah! I'm looking forward to another LT meetup in Portland too. Mike and I were discussing some trips we might take this spring and I told him I wanted to go to Portland if another meetup happened. He's fine with that since he has a brother there who just retired. I had such a good time at last year's and of course Powell's bookstore is like Nirvana for me. I'm anxious to see what they did with their remodel.

Paris was such a wonderful city to visit in June. The weather was just perfect and it's such an easy city to walk around. I was there for about 2 1/2 days in my mid-20s and really had no memory of it. We've never done a cruise but it we do, I would look into one of those river cruises.

>30 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, I have cut back on my computer time just because I've been busy with other things. There's nothing I love more than checking in on LT or reading but my body needs to move more these days or I end up feeling very creaky--like the Tin Man.

>31 porch_reader: Hi Amy! I need to get back to Deep Dark Down since NPR is going to have the author on for an hour long discussion of the book on January 20th (at least I think that's the date). I have a bad habit of picking up other books before I've finished what I'm already reading. I told Amber I was sorry I couldn't get to Iowa City for your meetup. I'd love to meet you sometime.

>32 Donna828: Hi Donna! Glad you found me. Our other house was quite dark in the winter too because the great room windows were tinted. It also didn't help that there were no overhead lights. In this house, we probably ended up with too many overhead lights but it's nice to have as much light as we want in the winter months. Looking forward to seeing what you're reading these days and checking in on those grandchildren of yours.

>33 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! I hope you do end up having Ilana do a portrait of Edgar. I know how important he was to you and I was amazed at how Ilana brought Rocky to life in the portrait. She got way more detail out of the photograph I sent her than I thought possible. By the way, how does UW feel about Coach Pete these days? I haven't been following the Huskies but surprisingly the new Broncos coach has done well for us. I thought it would take years to recover from the loss of Coach Pete but I was wrong.

So, a quick update on my reading.

Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere is currently stalled while I wait for the copy I ordered from Amazon. I was reading it from the library and they wouldn't renew it anymore.

I've started and love The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers for Mark's American Author challenge. I decided I would try any book I already owned that met one of the challenges taking place this year. I'm so glad I did. I bought tHiaLH years ago at a used bookstore and it was good to have this challenge to get me to try it. (Which reminds me that I also want to get to Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro for Paul's BAC before the month is out.)

Yesterday, I picked up The Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum. It's a 2014 book of essays and looks really good so I'm planning on starting that soon.

I've also been reading off and on A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg. I never thought I'd ever play this game but one of our new neighbors played it in California before she moved here and she's teaching me and some of the other women in the neighborhood how to play on Monday afternoons. Afterwards, we have some wine and cheese and crackers and get to know each other better. It's more fun than I thought it would be but we're getting to the point where we're going to start playing for money so I need to get more serious about knowing what I'm doing.

And lastly, I need to get back to Deep Dark Down about the 2010 Chilean mine disaster.

>38 phebj: Mah Jongg
Well that sounds kinda fun. I was not aware that Mah Jongg was still (again?) a thing. Trying to recall where I've encountered it... Harriet the Spy? Googling... Yes.

Happy 2015, Pat! Its great to have you back.

I love Mah Jongg! We have been playing for 20 years. What rules do you all use?

>39 qebo: Katherine, I was aware that a lot of what I considered "older" women at the time were playing it when I was growing up on Long Island. I just never knew what it really was. The woman who is teaching it is so enthusiastic and such a good teacher that it's been fun. I will have to check out Harriet the Spy now.

>40 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! We're using the card from the National Mah Jongg League. Is that what you were asking about? I also know there's an American version and a Chinese version of the game and we're doing the American version.

I have a good friend that's been playing for about 20 years too. She gets together with friends every week or so and plays from 10 to 5! They also go away each year as a group for a Mah Jongg playing vacation.

The woman who is teaching us has some back issues so we only play for about 3 hours which is fine with me. I can't imagine playing for a whole day.

>42 phebj: We play the Wright-Patterson Airforce Rules, which I think are similar to the American rules you use, but a little different. We usually play for 2-3 hours.

Before I learned Mah Jongg, I thought I wouldn't like it, because it made me think of grumpy Chinese mothers in The Joy Luck Club. But I started, because a friend wanted to teach us, and I ended up loving it.

>43 banjo123: Mah Jongg was/is a very popular game where I grew up. I just didn't think I'd ever be "old" enough to play it. ;) I also didn't think it would be something I'd enjoy but I do like it. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be as complicated as bridge which I gave up on learning.

>42 phebj: >43 banjo123: My Tai Chi group usually plays mah jong for an hour or two after class. I wasn't sure I'd like it either, but it's nifty!
The problem with the 75 book challenge is that all you people have books and they all sound good! My TBR is getting so incredibly top heavy at this point. I'm switching to the library ~Judith

>45 0wllight: Hi Judith! That sounds like a great combination--Tai Chi and Mah Jongg. I used to do Tai Chi and then the teacher moved and I haven't found a good class at the right time so I can start back up.

The good and bad news about the 75ers is the number of tantalizing books I've never heard of before. It makes it very hard for me to stay focused on the books I already own that are waiting to be read.

See, you are all caught up on your own thread, and that's really the only one that matters!

>47 ronincats: Hi Roni! I'm trying to catch up on some other threads tonight but I must say the number of unread posts is daunting!

I have a lovely Mah Jong set and have never learned to play. Years ago a woman I worked with was going to teach me, but she moved away before we got that organized. I don't know much about the game, but I fear if I got started I'd be collecting sets of tiles...some of them are just so gorgeous.

>49 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, I hear you on wanting to collect sets of tiles. I've already considered purchasing a set but since I haven't mastered the game yet, I'm going to wait a while. The woman who is teaching us has a custom set that her husband bought for her and it's beautiful. I love just looking at them.

We have a nice Mah Jong set too. My In-laws picked it up while they were living in Taiwan. I only sort of understand the game, so I won't be playing for money any time soon. lol

Mah Jong has become quite popular here. I know of two different groups that friends play in. I finally got old enough to learn to play duplicate bridge and simply can't add another thing or my brain cells will explode! We just use regular playing cards...I think I would enjoy the more arty and tactile Mah Jong tiles.

Pat, that's a very good idea to read only those challenge books you have on your shelves. There are so many fun challenges this year.

>51 nittnut: Hi Jenn! We played 5 games on Monday and I didn't win any of them so I was dipping into my purse a lot. Next week we learn some new money rules so I'm preparing myself to lose more. I'm still waiting until everything starts clicking for me. It was lots of fun when we were all just starting out and things moved slowly. It's still fun but it's moving a little fast for me at the moment.

>52 Donna828: Donna, I totally understand about not wanting to add Mahjongg if you're already playing duplicate bridge. My brain cells would explode too. The tiles are neat. The ones we play with are all sparkly on one side and remind me of those jelly candies.

I'm really enjoying The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and wouldn't have picked it up if not from Mark's AAC so I'm going to do my best to look for books I already own that can fit in the AAC, BAC, and Australian/New Zealand challenge. It's actually very satisfying to read something I love that's been sitting on my shelves for ages.

I'm glad you are back! Thanks for the pictures of your gorgeous new home.

Thanks for the welcome back, Lori! I hope to have more pictures soon. My computer has been acting up and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive next week.

I've enjoyed playing Mahjongg on the computer but have never played it live.

Welcome back Pat!

Hi Pat! I was just thinking about you and wondering if you had a thread, and lo and behold, here it is! Happy New Year to you, and congratulations on your new home, and the many exciting things in your life in 2014. You absolutely deserve every blessing.

Thanks for posting the photos -- everything looks beautiful!

>56 ronincats: Roni, what website do you use to play Mahjongg online? I think that might be helpful to me in getting better at the game.

>57 souloftherose: Hi Heather and thanks for the welcome back. I'm hoping to get over to your 2015 thread soon and catch up with you.

>58 AMQS: Hi Anne! I'm glad you found my thread. I never got over to the Introductions thread to post anything so I'm probably not that easy to find. My new computer is now supposed to arrive on Wednesday and after that I'll post more pictures. My current one tends to flake out after a period of time and all of a sudden I can't control the cursor and I just have to shut it down for awhile.

We have an older- mah jongg set--bamboo and bone. I love the feel of the tiles, and the way they clink.

I remember playing mah jongg years ago. I haven't played in years though. I like the sound of the bamboo and bone set of tiles.

Hi Pat! I've only just found your thread. Love the pictures of your new house and of Rocky.

>60 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! That sounds like a nice Mahjongg set you have. I love the feel and clink of the tiles too. The book I'm reading, A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg says "mah jongg, loosely translated, . . . means 'clattering sparrows,' which refers to the sound of the tiles when they are mixed or shuffled." The author says some older sets have a sparrow perched on a bamboo stalk on the the 1st Bam tile as a reference to the name "mah jongg", "sometimes interpreted as 'The Game of Sparrows.'" Does your set by any chance have a sparrow on the first Bam tile?

>61 thornton37814: Hi Lori! There seem to be a lot more mah jongg players in the 75ers than I would have expected.

>62 SandDune: Hi Rhian! I'm so glad you found me. I just got a new computer this week because my current one is in the process of giving up the ghost but my husband had to order some software to transfer everything over to the new one so once that's done I will get some additional pictures posted of the house.

Book Notes:

I finished two books this week--The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I enjoyed both books and hope to have something more to say about them soon.

I just started Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro for Paul's British Author Challenge today and like it so far. I must say it is very satisfying to read books that I already own so I'm hoping I can keep this trend going.

I got my copy of Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere from Amazon and will get back to that soon.

I'm not sure whether I'm ready to get back to Deep Dark Down about the Chilean miners yet. It just isn't calling to me at the moment.

One thing I did at the end of last year was subscribe to Powell's Books' Indiespensable Club. I've only gotten one Volume (#50) so far last November but I was thrilled with it. It was a signed copy of Miriam Toew's new novel All My Puny Sorrows in a hardcover slipcase, a copy of Charles D' Ambrosio's essays called Loitering, an interview with Miriam Toew's, and a fancy chocolate bar from a Portland chocolatier. The next volume will be shipped on Tuesday the 27th and I can't wait to receive it. The volumes come about every six weeks and cost $39 each. It seemed a little pricey but the thrill of getting a package of books plus a surprise was too much for me to resist.

>63 phebj: Clattering sparrows is a wonderful name! I hadn't heard that. Here are a couple of pictures, one of a few tiles, the other of the case:





You can see that the one bam is a bird, but it looks more like a peacock than a sparrow, if you ask me. Our friend has several sets though, and all of the one bamboos are birds, and some do look sparrow-like

>65 banjo123: WOW, Rhonda! Thanks for posting those pictures. The tiles are beautiful but the case is unbelievable. Here's another quote from The Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg that talks about the peacock tile:

"Interestingly, the first tile of the Bam Suit is stamped with an image not of a bamboo twig, but of a bird, usually a peacock. In some older sets, the birds are sometimes shown soaring; there are also "sparrow" sets, in which a bird is perched on a bamboo stalk. These "sparrow" sets can be seen as a reference to the name mah jongg, sometimes interpreted as "The Game of Sparrows."

Way up there, you asked: "...how does UW feel about Coach Pete these days?"
The jury is still out. Cautious optimism. We're probably more impatient than is reasonable....

>65 banjo123: What a gorgeous set.

Sorry to be so late in checking in here, Pat! I love the picture of Rocky - I followed part of the process when Ilana posted to Facebook :)

Greetings Pat! I've always been curious about the game of Mah Jongg but curious is all I'll remain because I do not know a soul around here who plays. The Have a wonderful day!

Hi Pat! I had to come and track you down but I found you, my friend. I would sure love to see you around LT more. Fingers crossed.

I LOVE your sunroom/library! Sweet! And I love Rocky's drawing. Ilana did a wonderful job!

Hi Pat- I love the photo of your great room and hope you'll post more. The chairs by the fireplace look soooooo inviting.

I'm gathering my thoughts for my comments on The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Lovely writing but not my favorite book of the year. When I picked up my audio copy at the library desk, the volunteer said to me "That's the saddest book I've ever read." Lovely writing, but the volunteer was oh so correct.

Well, Pat--I think that next time you are in Portland you will have to stop by to play Mah Jongg. We bought this set about 20 years ago at an auction. There are a fair number like this out there, I think they are from the '20's and you can usually get them for under $200.

Pat, so sorry I missed your birthday! Hope you had a lovely day on Sunday and did something special and fun and got all kinds of lovely books. xox

Just a fly by to wish you well Pat and record my pleasure that the B.A.C. has been useful in reducing your TBR mountain. xx

Just tracked down this much-too-quiet thread. I do see that you edited >2 phebj: and >3 phebj: recently. Anything good going on?

Hi Pat! I love the images of your new home. It looks lovely.

Would love to hear more about how you've settled into your lovely new home, Pat.

Hey, Guys. Thanks for the visits. Unfortunately, I've been dealing with a recurrence of my breast cancer. So I'm back to doing chemo and trying to wrap my head around having a treatable but uncurable disease. Luckily, there are a lot of treatments available for advanced breast cancer but, for most people, each one usually only works for a number of months and then it's time to move on to the next one. Assuming you tolerate the side effects well, you can string these treatments together for a number of years. So far so good for me with the side effects and fingers crossed it stays that way.

I've really missed everyone on LT and hope to start participating more. I have been reading although it's been slow going. I absolutely love our new home. Right now it's mostly covered in dust as the landscaping for the house next door goes in. I'm hoping for some good rain this weekend to wash all the dust away.

Well, just wanted to check in and let you know what's going on. Wish I had better news to share.

>79 phebj: Hate to hear about the cancer recurrence. Praying for you.

I'm sorry to hear about the recurrence, Pat. I was concerned that might be the reason behind your absence. My daughter's mother-in-law has been dealing with the same situation, as it sounds, for several years. A round of treatment, a period of abatement, a recurrence, another round of treatment...it amazes me how she keeps her spirits up through it all. I wish you the same strength and determination I see in her.

Hi Pat, sorry to hear about the recurrence as well. Linda said it well: I wish you all the strength & determination the treatments require.

>79 phebj: (((hugs)))

I'm very sorry to hear that your cancer has returned, Pat. I'll be thinking of and praying for you.

Hi Pat! Thanks for the update. I wish the news could have been more positive. Good luck with this latest round of treatment, my friend. Check in, when you can.

I'm sorry you have to go through this Pat. Wishing you grace and strength and an equal measure of love and laughter and sunny days.

ETA: Oh, dear, you requested rain and not sun. :-) We could use a bit of that ourselves.

Glad you're loving the house - would enjoy seeing more pics of both the interior and the exterior.

OH, no Pat! I am ever so sorry that you are going through this again. I send healing prayers and gentle hugs.

Hi Pat. Adding my thoughts and prayers to those already expressed.

Thinking of you, Pat and sending all sorts of strong vibes your way, friend.

>79 phebj: So sorry. With others, I wish you internal and external resources to wrap your head around the situation. I hope the new home provides pleasure and distraction.

Strength and determination seem to be the keywords, Pat, and I am sending you wishes for these along with my healing thoughts.

Sorry to hear about the recurrence of the cancer, Pat. Best wishes for your treatment.

Pat, I' m thinking of you today.

Thank you everyone for the good wishes. So far the treatments haven't been bad. What's hard physically and emotionally is when they stop working. I'm coming out of one of those periods now having just started a new chemo on Tuesday. Surprisingly, I'm already starting to feel better. (The main symptoms of my cancer progression are pain, fatigue and weakness.) Last time this happened (in February), it took me about 6 weeks to bounce almost completely back to normal but this time it seems to be happening faster. Who knows maybe I'll get more than 6 months out of this new chemo.

You guys were such a great source of support during my first diagnosis in 2011. I really should have gotten back on LT awhile ago and let you all know but once I started to feel better I just started filling up my calendar with things to do and places to go.

I really really appreciate all the good thoughts, prayers and hugs.

Hi Pat, I was so happy to see that you added some books and the activity on your thread but now I see that there is disappointing news as well. I'm so sorry to hear that you are having to deal with chemo treatments again and send all good vibes your way.

I'll be thinking of you, my friend!

That really stinks, Pat. You have such a good attitude about more treatments. Keep up the good fight and know that you will be in my prayers.

>94 phebj: I'm glad you're starting to feel better. And the best thing you can do is to make the most of every good day, "filling up your calendar with things to do and places to go". Isn't that the most any of us can wish for? You set an excellent example, and we should be thanking YOU.

It is wonderful to see a post from you. I hope that soon you will be better.

Definitely will pray for you.

Hi Pat. I'm so sorry to hear about the cancer recurrence. It's wonderful to have you around LT but please know that we will just be here when you have time to check in. I agree with others that "filling up your time with places to go and things to do" --- well, enjoying life is the point, so I'm glad that's what you've been doing!
Take good care and know that you are in my thoughts.

Hi Pat. I'm so glad you popped in to tell us how you are doing. It's really stinky that the cancer is back, but great that you are finding treatments that are helping and that you are enjoying life. Lots of prayers headed your way. (((Hugs))).

Hi Pat. I'm really sorry to read that the cancer has come back and hope this round of chemo works for longer.

I'm not on here much (juggling school and the kids remains a bit crazy!) but I'll be thinking of you and looking forward to seeing you back on here when you get time.

Stopping by to say I am thinking of you today.

Sorry to read about the cancer occurrence. I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you Joanne, Donna, Linda, Linda, Jim, Ellen, Jenn, Cushla, Linda and Lori! It does my heart good to see all the good wishes on my thread. I've really missed LT and to get back into the swing of things I'm actually going to make some comments on the book I just finished, so here goes:

Three Classic Children's Stories: Little Red Riding Hood, Jack the Giant-Killer, and Rumpelstiltskin, text by James Donnelly and drawings by Edward Gorey---4 1/2 stars

First of all, this is a beautiful book. Nice thick glossy pages with quirky illustrations by Edward Gorey. Second, James Donnelly has changed the stories just the tiniest bit to infuse some humor into them. My favorites were Little Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin. Donnelly came up with some great names for the Queen when she was trying to guess Rumpelstiltskin's correct name that had me smiling and I'm sure would have kids giggling. Nothing was overly scary about the stories, at least to a 61 year old, and I think this would be a lovely book as a gift for kids. It's put out by Pomergante Kids. I would have given it 5 stars if not for being left lukewarm by Jack the Giant-Killer. Part of it may be I don't remember this fairy tale so it didn't hold any sentimental feelings for me. Now I'm off to check out Pomergrante Press's website and see what else they've got--that's how much I loved the quality of this book.

Oh, and I just wanted to mention that I heard about this book on a website I recently discovered called brainpickings.org. The woman who runs it, Maria Popova does a great job recommending unusual books. I've been madly adding to my library list and my Amazon cart every time I read another one of her newsletters.

Oh I LOVE brainpickings.org! I've purchased a couple of books I discovered there. The alphabet book she posted about today, Take Away the A, sounds adorable and I have it on my library list.

Ooh, Gorey! Love him.

Also, I'm off to check out this brainpickings site...

Pat, so sorry to hear about the recurrence of breast cancer. It is lovely to see you posting again though.

>105 phebj: Three Classic Children's Stories looks like a lot of fun. I'm starting to think about buying books that would be fun to read with my nephew or goddaughter although as they've only just turned one it might be early days yet...

>106 Copperskye: Hi Joanne! Glad to hear you're also a fan of brainpickings. I also saw that reference to the alphabet book. I can't remember if that made it to my library list or not. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed with all the book recommendations and shut down as far as updating my library lists.

>107 scaifea: Amber, I hope you checked out the brainpickings website. They seem to have a lot of great recommendations about kid's books. I need to visit your thread and get some recommendations for books for boys. I have two grandnephews I want to get some books for and they're similar in age to Charlie. One is 7 and one just turned 5.

>108 souloftherose: Hi Heather. Thank you for your concern. I'm feeling a lot better these days and have started up a lot of my activities I had put on hold when I was sleeping so much. I have a brand new grandnephew who is almost one that I also want to get books for. Their are so many choices and I'm a bad decision maker so that has been slow going for me. But I love the idea of contributing to a child's library of books.

Hi Pat, I'm late getting over here to check in. I'm so sorry you are having to once again deal with the breast cancer. Doesn't seem fair at all. Take good care and let us know how you are doing, but only when you feel like it :)

It is great to see you around a bit again.

>110 katiekrug: Hi Katie and thanks for the good wishes. On this new chemo, I get it once every three weeks. There's an excellent website with a very active discussion board for people with breast cancer (called breastcancer.org) and I've been able to follow along with other women doing the same chemo. Their experience was they didn't feel up to par for about the first 10 days after getting the chemo and remarkably that's been my experience as well. I think today is Day 13 of my three week cycle and I feel almost great so I'm very happy about that. I'm slowly making my way around the threads and I hope to get to yours soon.

>105 phebj: Pat, Thanks for noting where you found this book. I searched for it today and couldn't find it anywhere. I love children's illustrated books, and your description of this one caught my eye, and my tbr pile.

I hope today is a good one for you.

>105 phebj: I've just added this to my wishlist! Rumpelstiltskin was the story that my grandmother used to tell us at bedtime when we visited her house. I love Edward Gorey's illustrations, and I think this would be a great addition to my library!

>112 Whisper1: Linda, I always check my library for books before buying any these days but my library didn't have this one. I got it from Amazon and am glad I purchased it because it's such a nice book to own and now that I've read it, I like seeing it on my shelf.

>113 cbl_tn: Carrie, I think you'll love this book. I have another book about fairy tales and I went to read it's version of Rumpelstiltskin and it was more like the version I remembered but I liked James Donnelly's version much better. Edward Gorey's illustrations are wonderful.

Dear Pat, I had been thinking of you, and am just now seeing your thread active again. I'm very happy to read about "almost great," and hope this particular chemo moves you on into "great" and keeps you there for a very long time.
I also hope to see you here oftener!

>109 phebj: Well, to start I'd recommend anything by Mo Willems or Mac Barnett for your grand-nephews. Also, The Book with No Pictures and The Day the Crayons Quit.

Pat, sending you love and support for all those treatments--even without major side effects, they have to be an ordeal! I'd love to hear or see more about your house, now that you've settled. Have you found that message center feature to be one you love, or just okay? ARe your shelves filled yet? Are you happy with the location you picked and do you still have your view with neighbors building around you? Have you been able to get down to the river walk to enjoy it?

>115 LizzieD: Hey Peggy! Good to see you. Yours is one thread that I may have lost because it occurs to me I haven't seen it in my list of threads I need to catch up on. I will have to rectify that as soon as I finish responding to Amber and Roni. I'm hoping to be on here more often too. My energy levels have definitely improved. I went to Mahjongg again for the first time in about a month yesterday and actually won a game. And no naps the last two days!

>116 scaifea: Amber, thank you for those recommendations. I had seen a reference to The Day the Crayons Quit on brainpickings but my search of my library's catalog didn't turn it up. With your recommendation though I don't need to see it first. I just checked out The Book with No Pictures on Amazon. That looks like a hoot and something my nephew and his wife would love reading to their boys. I will have to check out the other two authors and their books later.

>117 ronincats: Hi Roni! Thank you for the love and support. It really does buoy me up. You're right about the treatments being an ordeal sometimes even without the side effects. The week of August 3rd, I was at the hospital 5 days in a row--Monday for scans, Tuesday for doctor's appts and chemo (an eight hour day), Wednesday for a white cell booster shot that the doctor never ordered, Thursday back for the same shot, and Friday to see the doctor again to discuss some suspected side effects that turned out to be nothing.

I will work on the pictures. We have so many windows in the house that the interior shots often come out very dark. And right now outside it's very gray and smoky from some fires in SW Idaho not to mention the gazillion construction trucks and cars next door and in front of our house as they try and finish up our neighbor's house.

That message center tends to be messy and we only shut the doors when we're expecting company but it is out of the way so we don't see it from the living room. I am happy with it because it's a single designated location for all our random stuff and it holds our printer and has file drawers.

My shelves are mostly filled. I organized them last year but unfortunately didn't always leave room for new books in the same category so as a result my new books ended up in a pile on the floor. We temporarily solved the problem by bringing in an old set of shelves from the garage but those are rapidly filling up. I could remove some of my decorative stuff but I kind of like the way the shelves look. Oh well, not a biggie in the scheme of things.

We're very happy with the location we picked. I love the view out our windows of our struggling nature preserve and the cottonwood trees along the greenbelt. I say struggling nature preserve because they seem to be having trouble getting the wildflowers to thrive in it. Last year we had a great field of orange poppies to look at but they didn't come back this year. From the house I don't even see our neighbor's houses (unless I look out the front) so that hasn't been an issue. I will be glad when this house is finished next door. They're on Week 3 of their landscaping work (ours took one week to put in) and with some high winds we've been having lately, we've been watching lots of dirt drift by our windows.

Sadly, I have not been able to get down to the greenbelt in a while. I tire easily when I walk. One of the problems with having cancer in your bones is that they can easily fracture and I now have a compression fracture at L3 which doesn't hurt (due to the low dose extended release morphine I take) but does make my back stiff. That's another reason I'm so happy with the location of our house. From my perch in the sunroom, I can see the whole expanse of the nature preserve, Boise's highest mountain and ski resort, and a whole host of wildlife--mainly, hawks, blue herons, white egrets, assorted finch and hummingbirds, and occasionally, a male mule deer who comes down to drink from the little creek behind our property. It does make a difference what you see being this close to the river.

>117 ronincats: Thanks for asking all those questions!
>118 phebj: perch in the sunroom
Sounds lovely.

Pat, I love the description of the area where your house is set: the views, the nature preserve, the mountains, etc. It sounds like a beautiful place.

Wonderful long response with lots of info! Yea, Pat!!

>119 qebo: You're welcome. ;-)

GREAT to hear all this stuff, Pat! You are a champ and a hero for sure!

Nice to hear an update. I am so glad you have good windows. A nice view makes such a difference. I'm praying for your comfort and the success of your treatment.

Your grand nephew may be a little young yet, but we adore Skippyjohn Jones. He's a Siamese cat who thinks he's a chihuahua and we think it's hysterical. Could be our Southern CA upbringing, but whatever the reason, we love those books.

I am glad the pain of the fractured back is under control.

I love the description of your reading spot and your ability to look out and enjoy. What a good thing you got the house done and moved into while you felt really well! Not to mention your European trip ... hmmmmmm did we ever get to hear any details about that?

I hope the smoke isn't too bad - it's really nasty here in Montana.

I'm sorry to hear of the recurrence of the cancer, Pat and I'm very glad that it is treatable, even if there are side effects that are rather nasty.

It's wonderful that you have lovely greenery to look out at while you read. I love houses with a lot of windows, especially when there is an expanse of nature outside. I hope too that your neighbor's landscaping is completed soon and you are no longer subject to dirt drifting over from their house.

*sending you virtual hugs and healing waves*

Just keeping your thread warm....
And hoping you are doing okay.

I was thinking of you yesterday and sending you love, so I'm glad Ellen bumped your thread up!

Noticed your thread pop up, Pat, and I didn't want to not stop by and say hello. Hope you're feeling good and enjoying some good books.

Pat, I just wanted you to know you are in my thoughts and prayers this holiday season. {{{{Pat}}}}

Pat, I join others in sending all good wishes!

Me, too Pat. You are definitely on my mind and in my good wishes.

Miss you, Pat! Hope everything is good in your corner of the world :0)

You're also in my thoughts Pat. As far as possible hoping you have a good Christmas.

I am thing of you. I send wishes for a bright and wonderful holiday season.

Merry Christmas, Pat, wherever you are!! We MISS YOU!!

You're in my thoughts this season, Pat. I hope there is light in your life.

For my Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Holiday image this year (we are so diverse!), I've chosen this photograph by local photographer Mark Lenoce of the pier at Pacific Beach to express my holiday wishes to you: Peace on Earth and Good Will toward All!

Have a lovely holiday, Pat

Happy Holidays, Pat!

Best wishes to you, Pat, for a happy and healthy new year.

Happy new Year! Hope we see you around here now and then. xx

THIS MESSAGE WAS ALSO POSTED ON THE KITCHEN THREAD TODAY

This is a message for those who knew Pat Howard ( phebj). Pat was an active member, and then in 2016, did not rejoin the 75 challenge group. Because I had not heard from her in awhile, approximately a month ago, I sent a card to her address in Idaho. Those of you who may remember Pat, she and her husband were transplants from NYC to Idaho and they were incredibly happy in Idaho. They built a new home in 2015, and Pat was so happy about this.

Sadly, today I received a card in the mail from her sister in law, Ruth Smith. Ruth thanked me for the card and told me that Pat and her husband both died. Pat's husband died n December 2015, and Pat followed him on January 13, 2016. The note states that "the cancer and the grief coincided." And, a joint celebration of life was held a few days ago.

Thank you so much for posting this, Linda. This is so sad. I had the pleasure of meeting Pat, at a Portland Meet-up and she was a lovely person. I wish her family the very best.

Thank you, Linda. This is very sad news, but I appreciate you making the effort to get closure for all of us who have been wondering.

Rest in peace, Pat and Mr Pat.

Thank you, Linda, such sad news. I also met Pat with Mark, and she was so sweet.

I have been and will continue to miss you, Pat.

Oh, no. I miss Pat, too. Thanks so much for sharing this, Linda.

>142 Whisper1: Oh my goodness! I had no idea that Pat's husband passed as well! So very tragic! Still so young.