Susan/quondame has her nose in a book 2021 - 3

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Susan/quondame has her nose in a book 2021 - 3

1quondame
Jun 2, 2021, 12:08 am



In 2012 the day after I picked Gertie up from her foster home, while she was still swollen after weaning her puppies, I took her to an SCA event where she escaped her harness, ran across the archery range and got us expelled from the event. (left) The rest of her life she loved going to SCA events, when she was welcome, smelling all the smells, eating all the fallen crumbs and being with her people.
She would not back down from a fight with Manny, who she was originally acquired to companion, which resulted in a number of vet visits as he always won. (top center) She could be relied upon to help me put on my shoes in expectation that I would take her somewhere with crumbs on the ground, or at least interesting smells.(bottom center)
Many of her vet visits were do to her eating something she shouldn’t or an amount she shouldn’t. This is what probably led to her final fatal blockage. (right)
I totally miss her pliant weight on my lap or against my back as I read and her comforting warmth against my feet as I go to sleep.

I remain 72, married with live in daughter 28, 2 dogs and lot of books and time. Also dolls, fabric, sewing notions, patterns and a few other fiber craft supplies and looms.

2quondame
Editado: Jun 2, 2021, 12:47 am

It's OK to post. I haven't figured out how to generate the statistics from the spreadsheet that I want yet.
Though I can get that in May I read 31 books, 9691 pages, for an average of just over 312 pages per day.

3FAMeulstee
Editado: Jun 2, 2021, 5:45 am

Happy new thread, Susan.

Thanks for sharing Gertie's story and pictures.
Sending you some comforting thoughts, as it wil take time to heal the gap Gertie left.

>2 quondame: You did read 9 pages more in May than I did, I won't get so close in June :-)

4drneutron
Jun 2, 2021, 10:46 am

Happy new thread! 312 pages a day - that's way more than me...

5weird_O
Editado: Jun 3, 2021, 4:04 pm

Yow. It took me four months to read the number you've read in a single month. I might average 312 pages a week.

Doggies are such good companions. And then they die.

6johnsimpson
Jun 2, 2021, 3:34 pm

Hi Susan my dear, happy new thread.

7PaulCranswick
Jun 2, 2021, 8:37 pm

Happy new thread, Susan.

Nice tribute to your pooch in your opener.

8quondame
Editado: Jun 2, 2021, 10:19 pm

137) Temporary



Idiosyncratic and surreal, this book isn't necessary but it is essential. There are some absolutely stunning sentences. A bizarre riff on employment and identity intersectionality, which I admit is not a thing, it fails only when it is pushed into having meaning.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book where The title is shorter than the author's name

BB shot way back in 2020 by jnwelch.

9karenmarie
Jun 3, 2021, 1:22 pm

Hi Susan, and happy new thread.

Beautiful tribute to Gertie, photos and all. Thank you.

>2 quondame: Impressive stats.

>8 quondame: Joe got me with this one, too, but it’s still on my wish list.

10Familyhistorian
Jun 3, 2021, 3:44 pm

Happy new thread, Susan. Sorry for your loss. Gertie sounds like she left many wonderful memories.

11msf59
Jun 3, 2021, 6:47 pm

Happy New Thread, Susan. Love the toppers and the pooches.

12Narilka
Jun 3, 2021, 9:12 pm

Happy new thread! Such a lovely tribute to Gertie.

13quondame
Editado: Jun 4, 2021, 2:39 am

Well, that was a day. Mike was wrong about the city inspection for our solar - that's tomorrow, but we did get the lawn care guys, the stove and hood installation, and the last of the bedroom blinds were installed.
Mike encountered the cleaning couple for our neighbors and asked if they were interested in more work. So they came by after they finished across the street and looked around. And asked if we wanted them to start right away. Well, yes, for some version of want. They spent hours in the kitchen for round one cleaning and reorganizing everything and will be back tomorrow for another attack on our feral house. This will probably go on for a week or so until they can go to an every other week schedule.

After our housekeeper of over 20 years left Mike and I hired in people a couple of times, but it is very stressful for me to deal with so I just don't. But, something needed to be done, and even in a pinch I just can't anymore. I kind of like Nancy and Juan, she seems the sort of no-nonsense person I prefer. And there was no stopping for long chats with teenage dependents every hour or so, which drove me crazy about some of the later people we had in. But, Mike was chattering away upstairs with the blind installer (weird I know) and it echo down the stairs and into the main room where I was trying to read, so that drove me crazy.

So tomorrow, more cleaning, and the city solar inspection, and a guy to give a quote on new duct work. I'd better live long enough to appreciate all these improvements in peace and quiet.

14PaulCranswick
Jun 4, 2021, 3:53 am

>13 quondame: I can understand your domestic woes, Susan. We have had Erni, our maid live with us for an astonishing 21 years and she pretty much part of our family now. It is fair to say that we would be all at sea without her and I personally will forever be in her debt for how she helped me to look after Belle when Hani was in the UK tending to my mum.

15karenmarie
Jun 4, 2021, 9:00 am

>13 quondame: When we ran into some temporary financial problems in early 2019 and one of our two house cleaners was getting more and more frail from cancer, we stopped having a cleaning service. They had been with us for 25 years, but they kept doing less and less in a shorter period of time and I was glad to end the relationship without telling them the real reason and keeping Pat's dignity intact. Except like you, something needed to be done. I tried last year but was seriously disappointed with the quality and they broke a small sentimental object on top of it. Now it's time to try again, with just the downstairs, I think.

I hope your new couple works out. My husband loves to chat up folks who come into our house to do work like your Mike, and I'm like you and don't.

16richardderus
Jun 4, 2021, 4:14 pm

>13 quondame: Huge relief, if all too busy a day...not a big fan of loaded days anymore, me.

>8 quondame: That sounds peculiar, but anything *YOU* give four stars to automatically gets a slot on the procurement sheet.

>2 quondame: 312pp a day!! Wow. Those were the days, for me now fled. I'm excited to get to two hundred in a day!

>1 quondame: Vale dear little Gertie.

*smooch*

17quondame
Editado: Jul 13, 2021, 10:39 pm

Here are works 1-10, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210530

1958 Things Fall Apart................... Chinua Achebe
1954 Lucky Jim........................... Kingsley Amis
1984 Money............................... Martin Amis
1953 Private Life of an Indian Prince Mulk Raj Anand
1978 Tirra Lirra by the River............ Jessica Anderson
1996 Alias Grace......................... Margaret Atwood
1977 Injury Time......................... Beryl Bainbridge
1953 Go Tell it on the Mountain.......... James Baldwin
1984 Empire of the Sun................... J. G. Ballard
1989 The Book of Evidence................ John Banville


I'm adding if I've read it. Even if I can remember zip about it.

18quondame
Editado: Jun 6, 2021, 12:12 am

Here are works 11-20, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210531


1991 Regeneration Trilogy................ Pat Parker
1984 Flaubert's Parrot................... Julian Barnes
1955 The Molloy Trilogy.................. Samuel Beckett
1956 A Legacy............................ Sybille Bedford
1951 December Bride...................... Sam Hanna Bell
1953 The Adventures of Augie March....... Saul Bellow
1964 Herzog.............................. Saul Bellow
1963 The Little Girls.................... Elizabeth Bowen
1995 The Tortilla Curtain................ T. Coraghessan Boyle
1985 Family and Friends.................. Anita Brookner

19SandyAMcPherson
Jun 5, 2021, 12:06 am

Hi Susan, such dear photos in your topper. Thanks for the background stories.
As I have said before, there's something about dogs that seem like one of our kids. Cats are just so interesting and independent and all, but despite the frustrations, dogs seem to get into my mind more as 'people'. Sending some more sympathy.

>8 quondame: That's a rather interesting book, based on what you wrote and a quick skim of other reviews. I added it o my e-book WL at the PL. I'm still on a Bujold binge and don't yet feel like relinquishing my scant reading time to another author.

I hope all your scheduled callers and fixers proceed smoothly and exit quickly. And wouldn't it be well-deserved to have found some efficient, reliable cleaners? After our cleaner did less assiduous work as time went by, we bid her adios. I figured she was coasting and I was feeling stressed about paying for such careless cleaning. It's tricky how to ease the whole arrangement out the door. We haven't even bothered looking for a replacement.

20quondame
Editado: Jun 26, 2021, 2:05 am

Here are works 21-30, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210601


1980 Earthly Powers...................... Anthony Burgess
1959 Naked Lunch......................... William Burroughs
1990 Possession.......................... A. S. Byatt
1988 Oscar and Lucinda................... Peter Carey
1991 Wise Children....................... Angela Carter
1988 Where I'm Calling From.............. Raymond Carver
1953 The Long Good-bye................... Raymond Chandller
1982 On the Black Hill................... Bruce Chatwin
1991 A Strange and Sublime Address....... Amit Chaudhùri
1977 Falconer............................ John Cheever


I'm entering this data here partially as a check for typos - if the touchstone doesn't work, then voilà! I know I've made a mistake.
Dates, unfortunately will still be wrong.
Also, if I wanted to have a list of novels to read, the list would be a resource, so there's that. Some are story collections, which is weird for a list of novels. Also C.P. Snow isn't included. Humph!

21FAMeulstee
Jun 5, 2021, 7:11 pm

>20 quondame: I just read On the Black Hill last month.

22quondame
Jun 5, 2021, 11:26 pm

>3 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita.

>4 drneutron: Thanks, Jim.

>5 weird_O: Thanks Bill. Not having a life does allow the pursuit of pleasure == books! A sad truth.

>6 johnsimpson: Thanks, John.

>7 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul.

>10 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg. Gertie isn't one who will fade from memory and I remember do consciously treasuring her little ephemeral life as well as her ways.

>11 msf59: Thanks, Mark!

>12 Narilka: Thank you, Gale.

>14 PaulCranswick: Well I can't say Lesbia was anywhere near as essential to us as Erni has been to you. She started with us just after our first baby was stillborn and knew Becky from a nub. She had a mischievous way of placing small items that we came to call Lesbized. Mostly we could make out the logic, but occasionally we'd have to wait for her return and ask. She did take a few long sabbaticals to visit her family in Guatemala and another big break when she had cancer. Once she lost her phone just before she left the country and months later turned up at my door to a very happy welcome.

>15 karenmarie: I'm happy not to have had to fire anyone I actually liked, but didn't have any trouble with the one who was on her cell phone almost half the time she was at my house after Becky reported money missing from her room.

>16 richardderus: Well, I can't actually recommend Temporary but it did have it's charms and they worked on me.
I love that LT is so unlike FB - it's clear from the comments that people read what's posted.

>18 quondame: Thanks Sandy! It's good to see you here! I have known a couple of families with cats that filled the same niche as dogs do for me. One couple is after a decade still mourning Gengi, the only cat I know who co-authored his owners math publications. For Temporary see my response to richardderus above and for the cleaners to karenmarie.

I'm a bit slow and dim just now as I've been waking up before 8:00AM for all this week. This cannot go on, since I'm rarely asleep before 1:00 AM.
The cleaners moved upstairs today and went through my daughter's room. They'll be back Monday, and in the bedroom where I have my computer, so I may even slower with posts then.
Mike took a bunch of electronic waste to a collection point, so there is a bit more space in this or that odd corner, 2 laptops, 2 printers, a scanner, a rather compact 18-20 year old stereo system that was a gift to my father from my older brother which was unloaded on us almost as soon as it was given and apparently a box full of disk drives, keyboards and mouses.

23quondame
Editado: Jun 6, 2021, 12:14 am

Here works 31-40, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210602


1950 A Murder is Announced............... Agatha Christie
1994 What a Carve Up!.................... Jonathan Coe
1990 Age of Iron......................... J. M. Coetzee
1959 A Heritage and It’s History......... Ivy Compton-Burnett
1997 Quarantine.......................... Jim Crace
1990 A Home at the End of the World...... Michael Cunningham
1970 Fifth Business...................... Robertson Davis
1994 Captain Corelli's Mandolin.......... Louis de Bernières
1997 Underworld.......................... Don DeLillo
1984 In Custody.......................... Anita Desai

24quondame
Editado: Jun 6, 2021, 12:29 am

Here are works 41-50, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210603


1988 Paris Trout......................... Pete Dexter
1977 A Book of Common Prayer............. Joan Didion
1885 Anecdotes of Destiny................ Isak Dinesen
1975 Ragtime............................. E. L. Doctorow
1990 The Snapper......................... Roddy Doyle
1977 The Ice Age......................... Margaret Drabble
1962 That's How It Was................... Maureen Duffy
1951 My Cousin Rachel.................... Daphne du Maurier
1991 American Psycho..................... Bret Easton Ellis
1952 Invisible Man....................... Ralph Ellison

25LizzieD
Jun 6, 2021, 12:22 am

Dear Susan, thank you for the pictures of lovely Gertie and lovely you. We are still missing our May. I would so love to have a Gertie-sized dog for what will probably be our last time. (I have just a few years on you.) I don't know whether it will happen. Peace to you!

Also, I have to stomp on my envy of your having cleaners in. We live on the top layer of stuff generated by my dead SIL, the parents, and the grandparents. We couldn't ask anyone else to deal with it. I'm never here and hadn't dealt with it in the preceding 45 years anyway.

I do envy your reading. I get to less and less. Oh well. Here's hoping that I will have time and brain and eyes to process good books one day! I look forward to seeing what you read and what you think about it on this Happy New Thread.

26quondame
Editado: Jun 8, 2021, 10:51 pm

Here are works 51-62, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210604


1993 The Virgin Suicides................. Jeffrey Eugenides
1973 The Siege of Krishnapur............. J. G. Farrell
1962 The Reivers: A Reminiscence......... William Faulkner
1993 Birdsong............................ Sebastian Faulks
1995 The Blue Flower..................... Penelope Fitzgerald
1979 The Year of the French.............. Thomas Flanagan
1986 The Sportswriter.................... Richard Ford
1971 The Day of the Jackal............... Frederick Forsyth
1966 The Magus........................... John Fowles
1957 Owls Do Cry......................... Janet Frame
1997 Cold Mountain....................... Charles Frazier
1955 The Recognitions.................... William Gaddis

27quondame
Editado: Jun 9, 2021, 8:32 pm

Here are works 63-76, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210605


1917 From the Fifteenth District............. Mavis Gallant
1984 The Children's Bach..................... Helen Garner
1968 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass
1978 Plumb................................... Maurice Gee
1987 Ellen Foster............................ Kaye Gibbons
1954 Lord of the Flies....................... William Golding
1979 Burger's Daughter....................... Nadine Gordimer
1981 Lanark: A Life of Four Books............ Alasdair Gray
1950 Nothing................................. Henry Green
1978 The Human Factor........................ Graham Greene
1951 The West Pier........................... Patrick Hamilton
1979 Sleepless Nights........................ Elizabeth Hardwick
1950 Power Without Glory..................... Frank Hardy
1981 Red Dragon.............................. Thomas Harris

28weird_O
Jun 6, 2021, 1:02 am

I'm usually attracted to lists of "best" books. Moth to a light. Took me an embarrassing stretch of time to decipher entries read 210602. I couldn't believe you, even you, could read ten books in a day. And then *banging head on table* I figured out you'd read entries in The Modern Library about those 10 books.

Looking at the book page at Amazon, I note that the list comprises "200 best novels...since 1950" but it's now 21 years out-of-date, since it was published in 2000. The subtitle tricks those who aren't paying attention (i.e., ME). Anyway, I've read more than a few of the 40 books you've listed so far. Then there are books I've never heard of. Or books not heard of by known-to-me authors. Kind of a carrot and stick character that I like.

29quondame
Editado: Jun 6, 2021, 1:34 am

>28 weird_O: I'm finding lots that look like they are on the edge or maybe over the edge of the "misery porn" category, and there is certainly a tendency to go for liberal political stance literature. And so much raving about the quality of language that I suspect the authors had to spend a quarter of their editing time figuring out less repetitive ways of saying "well written." And not quite halfway through they haven't escaped repetition.
The choice not to include science fiction - and fantasy - does mean that they've ignored a huge influence on the culture of the late 20th century and the early 21st.

There have been updates, minor, about 10 years ago - 2 added books, and some death dates. I've added in a few death dates on my Excel spreadsheet as well.

30quondame
Jun 6, 2021, 10:42 pm

Imagine if you will, one of those leather bookmarks, stamped with gold foil and with one end cut to a fringe for a bit over an inch. Now, can you picture the effort to roll it up - fringe first to a one inch cylinder?
OK, so during the desk area clean up my daughter pulls this dust encrusted thing out of a shot glass and unrolls it with a delighted smile. It makes total sense to her - she really is my kid.

31quondame
Editado: Jun 9, 2021, 8:32 pm

Here are works 76-90, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210606


1964 Heartland............................... Wilson Harris
1953 The Go-Between.......................... L.P. Hartley
1980 The Transit of Venus.................... Shirley Hazzard
1978 The Murderer............................ Roy A. K. Heath
1961 Catch-22................................ Joseph Heller
1952 The Old Man and the Sea................. Ernest Hemingway
1950 The Grand Sophy......................... Georgette Heyer
1987 Double Whammy........................... Carl Hiaasen
1955 The Talented Mr Ripley.................. Patricia Highsmith
1949 The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love Oscar Hijuelos
1980 Riddley Walker.......................... Russell Hoban
1994 The Folding Star........................ Alan Hollinghurst
1986 An Artist of the Floating World......... Kazuo Ishiguro
1994 Original Sin............................ P. D. James

32quondame
Jun 7, 2021, 12:53 am

Some books were culled today. No fiction, nope, but X Windows manuals from 1993ish, a couple of 30 year old gardening books, an SNMP book, and whatever my daughter snuck out while I wasn't looking.
As a form of bullying, insisting on helping me clean up has its points but it's still very unpleasant. I'm feeling beaten about the head and shoulders but I can see some desk top and the dust isn't visible from across the room. The hand vac is recharging before the last assault on my dresser top.

33quondame
Editado: Jun 8, 2021, 7:41 pm

138) A Master of Djinn



It's fun spending time with Fatma in 1912 alt-Cairo, but the novel lacked the smart pacing of Clark's novellas, and was mechanical in execution.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a standalone capital letter in the title

139) Storm Warning (gen:LOCK)



A giant robot book. I read it because Melissa Scott, which it wasn't much, just teenage insecurity, ex-offender hacker working against the evil Union - in a giant robot, er mech, er Holon, the tech for which the Union is willing to burn major resources. Go teen hero, go!

I took 3 days reading this thing! At least it
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book where the first name of the writer comes alphabetically before the last name

34quondame
Jun 8, 2021, 12:23 am

Whoa this housecleaning is seriously eating into reading time - now my bedroom and bath are cleaned, mini-disaster #1 is that they put all the toothbrushes that were on the counter together in my rinse cup - and well, some of them had been used for cleaning this and that other than teeth. I knew which were which, but well, I guess they are all this-that-other-than teeth cleaners now. No worries, more are left from the Cost-Co pack below the sink where I did find them easily.

35weird_O
Jun 8, 2021, 10:00 am

>29 quondame: Misery Porn. Such an apt label.

36quondame
Editado: Jun 8, 2021, 7:42 pm

140) What Abigail Did That Summer



Well, now we've got Rivers of London lite, the YA version. Not that RoL was so heavy it required deboning, but here it is, with foxes.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book whose title starts with the word "who","what," "when", "where," "why," or "how."

37quondame
Editado: Jun 8, 2021, 10:53 pm

Oops. I had to insert A Master of Djinn in >33 quondame:.

I am tired stupid.

I also had fix >26 quondame: >27 quondame: and >31 quondame: Because I skipped Faulkner and Fauks. It happens.

38quondame
Editado: Jun 9, 2021, 8:33 pm

Here are works 91-97& 99-106, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210607


1954 The Tortoise and the Hare.................. Elizabeth Jenkins
1975 Heat and Dust.............................. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
1969 The Unfortunates........................... B.S. Johnson
1988 The Sugar Mother........................... Elizabeth Jolley
1994 How Late it Was, How Late.................. James Kelman
1982 Schindler's Ark............................ Thomas Keneally
1957 On the Road................................ Jack Kerouac
1984 Nation of Fools: Or Scenes from Indian Life Balraj Khanna
1987 Misery..................................... Stephen King
1966 A Jest of God.............................. Margaret Laurence
1969 Happiness.................................. Mary Lavin
1963 The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.......... John le Carré
1953 The Echoing Grove.......................... Rosamond Lehmann
1990 Get Shorty................................. Elmore Leonard
1962 The Golden Notebook........................ Doris Lessing

39quondame
Editado: Jun 9, 2021, 8:56 pm

Here are works 107-120, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210609


1975 Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses........... David Lodge
1980 Lamb.............................................. Bernard MacLaverty
1976 The Lost Salt Gift of Blood....................... Alistair MacLeod
1992 Death and Nightingales............................ Eugene McCabe
1992 The Butcher Boy................................... Patrick McCabe
1986 Blood Meridian: Or The Evening Redness in the West Cormac McCarthy
1963 The Group......................................... Mary McCarthy
1951 The Ballad of the Sad Café........................ Carson McCullers
1978 The Cement Garden................................. Ian McEwan
1990 Amongst Women..................................... John McGahern
1996 Asylum............................................ Patrick McGrath
1985 Lonesome Dove..................................... Larry McMurtry
1979 The Executioner's Song............................ Norman Mailer
1952 The Natural....................................... Bernard Malamud

40quondame
Editado: Jun 9, 2021, 8:55 pm

>38 quondame: Every time I tried adding book 98 to that table the author on a couple of entries was replaced by a repeat of the title. Truly weird.
So here it is, #98, and it should have been obvious in its absence:


1960 To Kill a Mockingbird...................... Harper Lee

41SandyAMcPherson
Jun 10, 2021, 9:03 am

Hi Susan, I must have missed what your reading lists are about. These are books you've read from the ' The Modern Library' lists are they?

I'm still veging out happily working my way through Bujold adventures. Our PL (and Overdrive e-books) do not have some of the Penric and Des novels (Masquerade in Lodi, The Orphans of Raspay, The Physicians of Vilnoc or The Assassins of Thasalon (which just was released somewhere, 2021-05-10, but not in Canada as far as I can tell).

I think I'll break down and make an assault on my bank account to buy these books. Obviously I am going to enjoy re-reading them and I will like having them on my own bookshelf.

42jjmcgaffey
Editado: Jun 10, 2021, 4:14 pm

Yeah, Overdrive doesn't have any of the Penric books as books except the first. They have most of the rest (up to Physicians) as audiobooks (which doesn't work for me, but might for some). Note that there are compilation books for the first six, which might be easier on your bank account - Penric's Travels and Penric's Progress (in paper, both hard and soft-cover).
Though it sounds like you already have the ones covered by the omnibus, the last is Limnos.

43quondame
Jun 10, 2021, 5:01 pm

>41 SandyAMcPherson: I've been slowly reading though The Modern Library which has a page for each book. I started with 10 pages each day but jumped to ~15 when I checked the due date. I list the books about which I read each day, and the ones I've actually read and remember having read. If I can renew this I may go back and try to figure out which ones I may actually want to read. There is a preponderance of people in very difficult circumstances which I can only take in small doses so I'd probably have to live another 50 years to get through them with sufficient fluff to pad them out, by which time there would be another batch of them piled up. Still I think it makes a good list to have and I would really like to collect the descriptions of writing.

44SandyAMcPherson
Jun 10, 2021, 6:20 pm

>43 quondame: This story précis (a page for each book) sounds brilliant. Better than publisher's hype.

I recently took back A Deadly Education to the library having discovered it very much not to my taste (I certainly liked Spinning Silver, so I was doubly disappointed). A proper overview (kind of like a Kirkus review) would have saved me the angst of struggling through 30 or so pages.

45quondame
Jun 10, 2021, 6:58 pm

>44 SandyAMcPherson: I liked A Deadly Education. I enjoy the more typical magical boarding school stories but it's fun when someone takes it in a different direction too.

46quondame
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 12:54 am

Here are works 121-136, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210610


1990 The Great World................... David Malouf
1960 The Balkan Trilogy................ Olivia Manning
1980 So Long, See You Tomorrow......... William Maxwell
1993 A River Sutra..................... Gita Mehta
1995 A Fine Balance.................... Rohinton Mistry
1991 The Redundancy of Courage......... Timothy Mo
1985 Black Robes....................... Brian Moore
1988 Forty-Seventeen................... Frank Moorhouse
1987 Beloved........................... Toni Morrison
1990 Friend of My Youth................ Alice Munro
1968 The Nice and the Good............. Iris Murdoch
1955 Lolita............................ Vladimir Nabokov
1961 A House for Mr Biswas............. V.S. Naipaul
1979 A Bend in the River............... V.S. Naipaul
1952 The Financial Expert.............. R.K. Narayan
1970 Master and Commander.............. Patrick O'Brian

47quondame
Editado: Jun 11, 2021, 4:23 pm


A friend pointed me to a podcast about Robert van Gulik and the Judge Dee mysteries which are some of my favorites.

48quondame
Editado: Jun 28, 2021, 10:09 pm

Here are works 137-151, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210611


1962 The Lonely Girl.................... Edna O'Brien
1952 Wise Blood......................... Flannery O'Connor
1958 From the Terrace................... John O'Hara
1987 In the Skin of the Lion............ Michael Ondaatje
1959 The Little Disturbances of Man..... Grace Paley
1984 Machine Dreams..................... Jayne Anne Phillips
1963 The Bell Jar....................... Sylvia Plath
1962 Ship of Fools...................... Katherine Anne Porter
1951 A Dance to the Music of Time....... Anthony Powell
1998 The Lady from Guatemala............ V.S. Pritchett
1993 The Shipping News.................. E. Annie Proulx
1969 The Godfather...................... Mario Puza
1973 Gravity's Rainbow.................. Thomas Pynchon
1966 Wide Sargasso Sea.................. Jean Rhys
1976 Interview with a Vampire........... Anne Rice


OK, now I really have a beef with the authors of this collection. Having said they aren't including fantasy or science fiction they include Gravity's Rainbow, a book rarely completed, and Interview with a Vampire which I would not have hesitated to include in the trash TIOLI challenge last month. And they praise the writing in IwaV! which is maybe a cut above that in 50 Shades of Gray, but I wouldn't be the one who could say, just that IwaV is the most poorly written book I remember completing as an adult. Someone must have encountered it at a vulnerable moment and taken it into their heart, and Carmen Callil is surely old enough to know better. Sure IwaV has had a huge influence on modern fantasy writing and popular culture, but so has Lord of the Rings and only one of them displays quality.

49quondame
Jun 12, 2021, 12:30 am

Well shelf space in the garage has been opened up with the expectation that I will put boxes of doll and craft stuff on them to get them out of the living and family rooms. It may happen. I have been offered help.
Next week the duct work will under go renovation - first the removal of lingering asbestos (I'm not certain I believe that, the original refurbish guys did a load of asbestos removal) but the house was built in 1971 before CA banned asbestos use. We will have to rely on a contractor supplied AC unit for a day or so. Ugh.

I warded off a new washing machine - Mike likes the idea of the newer large capacity ones, but ours isn't that old and can do a comforter so what more do we really need? Well, a new kitchen table is possible. The 22 year old really cheap one my warm coffee pots have ruined the laminate finish on is rather shabby and Mike wants a pedestal table so the legs aren't always in the way, which legs on round tables always are. I'm sure there is a reasonably priced wood look one out there, but my attention was caught by a variable height table from Crate & Barrel with a C&B price tag attached. No hurry unless Mike goes haring off on some other home improvement project.

We have put in an adoption application for a French Bulldog who was reportedly saved from being turned into meat. What!?! Who could think to do such a thing? It's unlikely that we'll be offered the dog, but it would have been silly not to apply.

50quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:39 pm

141) David Mogo: Godhunter



This is not the book to read when your mind is distracted. In a Lagos beset by gods that are more like demons, David Mogo tries to help by using his half divine strength to get rid of godlets plaguing the remaining people. But a wizard wanting more power uses him to trap a god and things get rapidly worse. The storytelling is stop start and repetitive and sometimes more like story shards. Progress is lurching and arbitrary and not particularly original though these are new gods to most of us.

After reading Half of a Yellow Sun one is hardly feeling charitable to northern Nigerians, but nobody deserves an infestation like these gods that hit Lagos.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book that completes a square in Seattle Public Library's 2021 Book Bingo card

51karenmarie
Jun 12, 2021, 7:56 am

Hi Susan!

My goodness. Cleaning stress and adventures, pressure and change. Good luck with it all.

I've read 17 of the Modern Library 200 and have another 26 on my shelves tbr.

Poor French Bulldog. I hope she/he finds a good home.

52richardderus
Jun 12, 2021, 12:19 pm

I hope you survive all the changes you're making with the minimum of mental anguish, Starless, and get a pedestal table soon (many a barked shin led me to ditch tables with legs at every opportunity).

53Berly
Jun 12, 2021, 10:46 pm

Hello there! Sounds like you are busy, busy with all your projects and that you are actually making progress! You go, woman! I have read 4 books on your most recent Modern Library post, so I'm feeling pretty decent. ; ) Wishing you a happy weekend!

54quondame
Editado: Jun 13, 2021, 2:06 am

Here are works 152-168, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210612


1971 St. Urbain's Horseman.............. Mordecai Richler
1980 Housekeeping....................... Marilynne Robinson
1997 American Pastoral.................. Philip Roth
1991 Mating............................. Norman Rush
1981 Midnight's Children................ Salman Rushdie
1951 The Catcher in the Rye............. J. D. Salinger
1965 Memoirs of a Peon.................. Frank Sargeson
1966 The Jewel in the Crown............. Paul Scott
1964 Last Exit to Brooklyn.............. Hubert Selby Jr.
1993 My Idea of Fun..................... Will Self
1993 A Suitable Boy..................... Vikram Seth
1988 Ice-Candy-Man...................... Bapsi Sidhwa
1948 Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.. Alan Sillitoe
1991 Downriver (or the Vessels of Wrath) Ian Sinclair
1956 Train to Pakistan.................. Khushwant Singh
1991 A Thousand Acres................... Jane Smiley
1965 The Interpreters................... Wole Soyinka

55quondame
Jun 13, 2021, 2:05 am

>51 karenmarie: Thanks Karen! I know Ella will find a home and the other 2 FBs too. It's all the chihuahuas and chihuahua mixes that are heart breaking, some of them have shown up since last year when Becky was looking. So many got them thinking they were like the dog in Legally Blond or Beverly Hills Chihuahua and couldn't keep them. At least we had a good idea what dachshunds were like before we brought the first pair home. Nutmeg has been a surprise, but mostly delightful and so smart, friendly and lovingly devoted to her mommy. It would be so wonderful if they home one of the 2 little female FB with us.

>52 richardderus: No anguish. A bit of exasperated with pinch of peeved. I'm all in for no barked shins, but that would take getting rid of the dishwasher which is a huge nope.

>53 Berly: Great to see you back! Check today's list to see how many of those are under your belt!

56Berly
Jun 13, 2021, 2:12 am

>55 quondame: Only three, like you. ; )

57quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:39 pm

142) Ask Again, Yes



The course through this novel is a strong steady compelling current with brief rapids. In the stories of two families of NY policemen who met as rookies and lived next door in a suburb we are confronted with the devastating effects of untreated trauma and mental illness and the healing power of real connection and engagement. For me the main detraction is the relentless distance from the subjects, but it works and may prove a plus for others.

BB from richardderus

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book where at least two of the title words start with the same letter

58quondame
Jun 13, 2021, 8:31 pm

Soon we will be going out for Mike's 65th birthday dinner. Fogo de Chao and our first in restaurant meal since Covid. No buffet but we are told that they have the same selection, it's just brought to the table. I'm actually letting myself get hungry, which is generally so not me.

59richardderus
Jun 14, 2021, 7:53 pm

>57 quondame: I'm really glad you enjoyed it...more than ordinary.

Dine well!

60quondame
Jun 14, 2021, 8:21 pm

>59 richardderus: Oh it is a carnivore's dream - except they put so many delightful littles on the table before the rounds of skewers came by that we greeded out on popovers and garlic potatoes, cornichon and prosciutto, Caesar salad, chicken salad, potato salad and more. Didn't mean we didn't dive enthusiastically at the meat, just that the dives became more shallow by the third round.

61quondame
Editado: Jun 14, 2021, 9:37 pm

Here are works 169-182, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210613


1961 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark
1966 Cotters' England............. Christina Stead
1952 East of Eden................. John Steinbeck
1981 A Flag for Sunrise........... Robert Stone
1976 Saville...................... David Storey
1971 Black List, Section H........ Francis Stuart
1967 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron
1996 Last Orders.................. Graham Swift
1989 The Joy Luck Club............ Amy Tan
1992 The Secret History........... Donna Tartt
1957 Angel........................ Elizabeth Taylor
1986 A Summons to Memphis......... Peter Taylor
1967 A Grain of Wheat............. Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
1980 A Confederacy of Dunces...... John Kennedy Toole

62richardderus
Jun 14, 2021, 9:57 pm

>60 quondame: ...my psychic belly hurts...

63quondame
Editado: Jun 17, 2021, 1:00 am

Here are works 183-202, by author, in The Modern Library, entries read 210616


1991 Reading Turgenev.................... William Trevor
1963 The Palm-Wine Drunkard and his dead
.... Palm-Wine Tapster in the Dead's Town Amos Tutuola
1988 Breathing Lessons................... Anne Tyler
1960 "Rabbit" Series..................... John Updike
1986 A Dark-Adapted Eye.................. Barbara Vine
1982 The Color Purple.................... Alice Walker
1954 The Flint Anchor.................... Sylvia Townsend Warner
1952 The Sword of Honor Trilogy.......... Evelyn Waugh
1980 Puffball............................ Fay Weldon
1993 Trainspotting....................... Irvine Welsh
1972 The Optimist's Daughter............. Eudora Welty
1957 The Fountain Overflows.............. Rebecca West
1982 A Boy's Own Story................... Edmund White
1961 Riders in the Chariot............... Patrick White
1985 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit...... Jeanette Winterson
1991 Cloudstreet......................... Tim Winton
1960 Jeeves in the Offing................ P. G. Wodehouse
1988 The Bonfire of the Vanities......... Tom Wolfe
1996 The Night in Question............... Tobias Wolff
1987 The Other Garden.................... Francis Wyndham

64quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:39 pm

143) A Brief Guide to the Modern Library



A decent if idiosyncratic view of novels - and some short story collections - of the second half of the 20th century. Apparently the only politician worth vilifying in that span is Margaret Thatcher and doing so is a path to at least one of these authors' heart. I doubt any even partially well read person who was reading for up to 30 of those 50 years won't have books they agree with including, books they would never have included, and books that darned well should be, but were not, included.

BB from Crazymamie

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book in honor of Morphidae's 56th birthday

65quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:39 pm

144) Owls of the Eastern Ice



Readable but not particularly involving, more mishaps and misfits in Eastern Russia than birds, wild life, and scenery though those are all there, just not communicated with the impact of the other bits. It's good to know that a small population of fish owls exist and that the author got his Ph.D. and a job he wanted though I at no time felt taken on a quest.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a non-fiction book about some aspect of nature

66quondame
Jun 17, 2021, 1:25 am

Last night our air conditioning was out of service, inadequately replaced by a room cooler suck in our doorway which we partially blocked with taped up garbage bags. Today the duct replacement began, but alas did not conclude, though we do have air conditioning for tonight. I spent a good deal of time this afternoon on the floor with Nutmeg, and my back hates me.

After two days of home invasion duct replacement, Becky and I were in dire need of special food - sushi. She wasn't up for going out and insisted delivery would produce degrading due to waiting to be picked up, so I found a place near enough for me to pick it up and get it home fairly quickly. It was pretty good, but spicy tuna roll does not need cucumber, and BTW requires spice. The Yellowtail was yummy.

I've continued my search for a new dog. The one I asked about today disappeared from the site. Well, there's always tomorrow.

67richardderus
Jun 17, 2021, 7:13 pm

Where is Morphy, Susan? I need to tell her I'm reviewing a book she gave me on my blog tomorrow.

Too bad about Owls of the Eastern Ice. I won't hustle my bustle to get it opened up on the Kindle.

68quondame
Editado: Jun 17, 2021, 8:45 pm

>67 richardderus: She's been on the TIOLI threads, but she just started her own thread this month.

It wasn't at all bad, just not a good vehicle for communicating the author's enthusiasm which is stated, but what comes across is persistence.

69quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:39 pm

145) Interior Chinatown



This isn't any Joy Luck Club or Crazy Rich Asians, and there are no picturesque scenes, just a statement of claustrophobic local and dialog within garnished with scraps of attitudinal description. The characters aren't my middle class coworkers from 20 years in computers but the actors and extras working as waiters striving to win better roles and in the flow the difference between roll and identity is mostly erased and is the dream of the better role a dream worth sacrificing other dreams.

BB from msf59

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a novel written by a politician or journalist

70quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:38 pm

146) The Swallows



Sexual politics at a private Vermont high school on large grounds outside an afterthought of a small town. Each class has a formalized self selected elite called The Ten, and for years the boys have run a secret contest recording and grading the girls for blow jobs. This is the year things don't go the usual way. The whole double standard is swung about as a bludgeon and hits just about everything, not uncalled for. The book could have been significantly tightened as the last third dragged badly. At least this book doesn't have mooning romantic adults or teens for that matter. Sex happens, trouble follows.

BB from scaifea

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #4: Tagmash Rolling Challenge - Read a book which has a tag from the previous book

71quondame
Jun 20, 2021, 12:27 am

Wow, Tim was quick with the Pride Flag

72quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:38 pm

147) The Postscript Murders



At least a 3.25 and almost more, but not for me....
A mostly fun to read romp, it ran a bit long because complications, with decent characters and a tricky mystery, though the clue dropping was a bit more like thuds. It's just so far over on outlandish obscure motive and the outrageous amateur sleuthing.

BB from lauralkeet

I had to pop it on top of my reading stack when I got the eBook as a 7 day lone -
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book where the first name of the writer comes alphabetically before the last name

73quondame
Editado: Jun 21, 2021, 7:35 pm

6 books in a row with no fantasy or science fiction element. And more on the stack. This is a strange month indeed. Not to mention the non-fiction - I'm into the campaign, past the Iowa caucuses in A Promised Land.
There has been a slight complication in the dog hunt. Mike, hopeful of one of the French Bulldogs rescued from Korean soup, is less than enthusiastic about a more likely prospect of a pug mix a couple of hours from us. Non chihuahuas are rare and most of the other small dogs are terrier and dachshund mixes which are below our acceptance level at present - I'd love another dachshund, I'm sure, but Mike has understandably reached his limit, owned as he is by the changeling Zette who came to us disguised as a dachshund, but isn't really a dog, more like a collection of non-negotiable demands. And he's fallen in love with Nutmeg, who wouldn't.

74karenmarie
Jun 22, 2021, 9:07 pm

Hi Susan!

>71 quondame: He was. I only got one of the answers, but that’s all it takes to get the badge. I got three all at once:
Nest Badge for participating in the 2021 Children's Literature Treasure Hunt
Corsair's Crossbones for participating in the 2020 Pirate Treasure Hunt
Pride Flag for participating in the 2021 LGBTQ Pride Month Treasure Hunt

75sibylline
Jun 23, 2021, 9:09 am

I'm like Weird-O drawn to those lists -- all the while kind of despising them . . . I've read a lot of what's on here and am happy to recommend ones I think you'd especially enjoy -- because you are correct that there are an awful lot of 'misery' books, including one actually called Misery (Stephen King) -- haven't read that. Never read a thing of his until recently as my visual and aural imagination is too vivid -- but I am listening to his book on writing and enjoying it immensely.

But really Gert((())) I spent several minutes looking at her and you, such love! what a little sweetie. So hard.

76quondame
Editado: Jun 23, 2021, 3:09 pm

>74 karenmarie: Two of those arrived just before I learned about the Pride hunt. Then the last popped up before the hunt ended!

>75 sibylline: I'm mostly through the Iris Murdoch and it is not my thing at all. First though the people should be interesting, their concerns in the book are not, and it absolutely falls into the {people in a big (usually) English country house are important/representative/interesting} bin I've decided is 99% rubbish. I didn't think much of The Optimist's Daughter and I've mentioned Interview with a Vampire has got to be a fluke. Of the others I've read I've enjoyed the US ones more than the UK ones with the international ones all over the place. So given that, I'd welcome recommendations. Stephen King is a great storyteller. His writing distracts me, but I've only read the Gunslinger books as horror doesn't give me what I want from reading.

Gertie, while far from the best dog I've known, or even owned, was my own true doggie love. Just smelling her was a pleasure, though I had to do so away from either end. Such a soft smooth coat and such a melty little body and she was so happy to be with me. Bouncy Nutmeg is a consolation, but she is totally Becky's dog and that makes all the difference.

77SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Jun 23, 2021, 10:21 pm

>72 quondame: I liked this story despite the flaws. I agree there were a few clunky ones, for sure.
Funny (as in strange, I guess) how engaged/not engaged works. My mental/emotional headspace has to align with the story for me to engage in that zen place where I am in the story and then I often don't absorb it very intellectually at all.

Yes, the amateur sleuthing was a rather poor device to move the story along but I liked the characters. I didn't like the first book, especially the way the structured police investigation stumbled along; and partnered cops with the off-kilter relationship? Just the sheer idiocy of it all was distracting. So maybe that's why I liked the way Griffiths presented Harbinder in the 2nd book.

Edited to add that I am not a reader of Stephen King's books, but I certainly found his On Writing an engrossing book. I have always since read with an eye to 'kill your darlings'.

78quondame
Jun 24, 2021, 12:47 am

>77 SandyAMcPherson: The writers I know are all agreed that the most important action is writing on a daily basis.

79quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:38 pm

148) The Nice and the Good



What a slog. Kate and Octavian have collected at their home in Dorset Theo, Octavian's older brother, Mary Kate's school friend who looks after the house, Paula Kate's school friend divorced from one Octavian's co-workers, John who works for Octavian and is in love with Kate, Willy who lives in a cottage remote from the house and is broken from his time in Dachau. Livening the place up are Paula's twins, and glooming about is Mary's son Pierce pining after the just returned from finishing Barbra, Kate and Octavian's daughter. During a long hot summer they sort themselves in a tedious pavane. Love, good, and evil are mentioned constantly equally with regard fooling about killing pigeons over naked whores and routine sexual peccadilloes and really at the end one feels it could go on forever with the readjusted alignments, but in the rain rather than the sunshine.

There are some brilliant sentences embedded in the sludge, but really many writers produced works that examine the sexual adventurism of the British civil servant milieu with greater sophistication and understanding.

I selected this from The Modern Library list >46 quondame:
Read for June TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book with a flower in the title or author's name

80sibylline
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 9:25 am

Hmm sorry Iris hasn't caught your fancy. I never liked her until suddenly I did, like a light turned on and I got what she was up to. That said, her books vary enormously. I haven't quite read all of her novels, but I separate them into the seriously dark, almost Oatesian (as in Joyce Carol) creepy, the lighter and quite funny, and . . . something in between or I forget! One thing I came to love was Murdoch's deep love of interesting houses, sometimes she describes them better than she does the denizens within. I also came to deeply enjoy what everyone was wearing, their frocks and so on. Made me want to wear them!

Running off to look at my comments on N&G. Here it is:

"The point is that nothing matters except loving what is good. Not to look at evil but to look at good....In the light of the good, evil can be seen in its place, not owned, just existing, in its place."
Thus one of the characters, old Uncle Theo, reasons, toward the close of the novel in which almost all the characters come up against their own limitations, the limits of 'niceness', the creeping devastations of evil - from the petty rationalizing of one's own bad behavior to larger and more serious infractions. What makes this novel work is that the characters, while playing out Murdoch's explorations of human behaviour, are virtually all believable and likeable. I didn't 'like' all the characters, but I felt some compassion for all of them. One interesting twist is that Iris makes it clear that she emphatically does not believe that all people are created the same. Some are endowed with an internal moral compass, a penchant for 'the good' and some simply are not. Yet in their weakness and frailty they are human and worthy of compassion. I actually, for the first time, truly loved a character - John Ducane - and that was a great pleasure and even a relief! As with The Sandcastle, the novel's crisis is focussed around an incident of great danger - requiring courage and fortitude - and this was deftly done, I was on the edge of my seat and felt very emotionally involved. ****1/2

Gertie was a dear dumpling, obviously!

81sibylline
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 9:22 am

Removing this one altogether as it is largely repetitive.

82sibylline
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 9:29 am

Looking through the first list, the one that jumps out is Lucky Jim (I reread it for a one particular scene when I need to really laugh). Most of K. Amis's other books I can give a miss, but this one really is a classic of comedic writing. That is not my favorite of Martin Amis's but I would have to poke around for one I think better. I think you would hate Money far more than N&G! Glad you've read the Achebe already because that is one of the saddest books ever, haunting. Of the rest I would recommend Tirra Lirra By the River (read in the 80's as a Virago when I was madly reading every one of those I could get my hands on!) and Go Tell It on the Mountain. I'd read other 'more fun' Atwood before taking on Alias Grace as it is probably her most serious book and a tough one. (confession, I didn't finish it!) Never heard of the Indian Prince until now, but I am aware of the others. I've meant to read a John Banville as part of an Irish Lit push, but I haven't yet. Nothing else grabs me. No wait, maybe the Ballard. I've read lots of his SF but never this.

Have you read Atwood's post-apoc (well, slow decline of civilization) trilogy? I loved those!

These are mostly serious books and I find, these days, I can take one now and then, but am careful not to overburden myself or I get too sad.

83sibylline
Jun 24, 2021, 9:25 am

This is interesting! I thought I lost these posts and kept trying and trying and now here they all are!

84quondame
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 3:44 pm

>80 sibylline: Ah, well, I'm not of the "nothing matters except loving what is good" faction, good being so selfishly defined in general and loving hardly defined at all. John Ducane left me totally cold, so far into the closet that you'd have to send his mail to Narnia, but I was really pissed that Jessica and her art as an experience rather than a source of objects was so completely dumped on. The incident of great danger seemed a complete contrivance, and rewarding Pierce's selfish-destruction with Barbara, yetch, barf!

Gertie was exactly a dumpling.

A couple of people here and elsewhere claimed to have finished Gravity's Rainbow but most admit they pretty much opened it, read a bit, and abandoned ship pretty much straight off. I've read The Handmaid's Tale and yes, it has something to say and does it competently. It was a turn off for reading anything else of hers. I'm reading The Book of Evidence and believe I shall dislike it even more strongly than The Nice and the Good, but will not feel so imposed upon as it dives into deep unsavoriness but with less self satisfaction.

Thanks for the recommendations.

85richardderus
Jun 24, 2021, 5:17 pm

Re: The Book of Evidence...the only thing I remember about it was not being able to see past the male MC being named "Freddie Mercury" even though I don't think he was. Close; but not that exactly.

I still like The Bell and The Sea, the Sea well enough. Poor Arrowby...Iris Murdoch created him in The Sea, The Sea in 1978, and thus didn't get credit for coining the über-sexist "mansplaining" terms although he embodied the slur as completely as it is possible to do.

86sibylline
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 5:22 pm

>84 quondame: The Atwood trilogy I am thinking of is The MaddAddam Trilogy --and the first one is Oryx and Crake. Second The Year of the Flood and third MaddAddam. I'm fairly sure you will enjoy them.

Ah, well I'm a Pynchon fangirl. Not obsessed like some are (including him!) but totally on board. And I am aware that my tastes are unusual. I often wonder about myself -- I've only met one or two other women who love Pynchon the way I do and Murdoch falls in that zone for that matter. I was in a reading group for Against the Day and was one of two women and about twenty men, which is more or less the usual ratio. I wish I could explain well why I think what Murdoch is exploring has great value. I'm not sure what you mean by self satisfaction -- the characters are often self-satisfied, but Murdoch isn't, she is however often showing how self-satisfied people are with themselves?

Wouldn't it be fun to be in a real book group! Mine here is just getting underway again, we're in the throes of figuring out what to read for September! So exciting. (not the group for Pynchon -- that one was on line).

Hope I'm not being a bother.

87quondame
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 6:03 pm

>85 richardderus: Montgomery alas. Probably best to remember it as you do. FM is a nasty piece of work and that seems to be the point so far.

>86 sibylline: The opposite of a bother! I know my taste for character over plot, and, to some extent, for measured exposition isn't universally shared.

Iris Murdock seems to be quite overt in her judgemental statements and while JD is quite human, men who can't cut short inconvenient relationships are vanishing rare in my experience and before social media it was that much easier to vanish from someone's life.
I guess I haven't the taste for authors making proclamations about good and evil - and when basic sexual interactions are set in a context of evil, rather than the lack of consideration for the person engaging in the acts, that's pretty close to a trigger. I know I've read something by Pynchon, but we're talking pre-Internet, I can't say more than I have.

88quondame
Editado: Jun 24, 2021, 10:10 pm

Today is major home invasion day. Nancy and Jose have been working since 9AM and they are still (5:30 PM) here - they dusted every single book in our living room and those top shelves are 10' though there are cabinets up to 3'. I even found a thing they had moved, so that's a positive. I don't think they'll get to Mike's study, with his double stacked paperback wall. At least the 2'-3' stack of comic boxes, dead electronics and I don't want to know is gone and I have no excuse for not cataloging more of those paperbacks. They also did the windows in the living and family rooms.

Ah, they left around 7PM. They won't be back until next Thursday to start regular maintenance cleaning.

89jnwelch
Editado: Jun 26, 2021, 4:55 pm

Hi, Susan. I’m glad you got a kick out of Temporary. I liked your thought that she got a bit off track when she tried to give it meaning. A surreal lark would have been plenty.

Like you, I loved Interior Chinatown. What a clever take on the effect of radcist views against and experiences of Asians.

Two other offbeat reads I’ve enjoyed this past year: Mrs. Caliban and Cluny Brown.

90sibylline
Jun 26, 2021, 5:05 pm

Susan, I just used your advice to find a book on Conversations! Worked in a jiffy!

91quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:37 pm

149) The Book of Evidence



I could have lived without reading this short but dense book. Freddie Montgomery has inadvertently blackmailed his way into debt to dangerous people putting his wife and son in danger. He returns to his birth home in Ireland and inadvertently murders a young woman who gets between him and something he wants and may get him money he needs. Inadvertent in action but observant of his surroundings we are treated to his begrimed view of his surroundings past and present. However well done it is never particularly involving and always unpleasant.

I selected this from The Modern Library list >17 quondame:
Read for June TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book whose title takes the form "The xxx of yyyy"

92quondame
Jun 26, 2021, 8:41 pm

>89 jnwelch: I enjoyed Mrs. Caliban as well and Cluny Brown looked interesting.

>90 sibylline: Shameless gossip here. I love sharing information.

93richardderus
Jun 27, 2021, 3:28 pm

>91 quondame: ...how could I possibly resist with a paean like that....

94Berly
Jun 27, 2021, 4:21 pm

Just catching up here. I love your reviews! They are so to the point and hold nothing back. I know right away if I want in or out! : ) And hurray for dusting getting done.

95quondame
Jun 27, 2021, 4:33 pm

>93 richardderus: There are a few scenes set in a sunny Berkeley which showed how differently a So. Californian and an Irishman can relate to climate and though he did spend some of the 60s in the US west, his Berkeley isn't the one I moved through.

>94 Berly: Thank you! Aside for the self-expression involved, I am putting down reminder hooks to my future self.

I've no objection to others dusting as long as I'm fare enough away!

96souloftherose
Jun 27, 2021, 4:38 pm

>88 quondame: Hurray for cleaners! I hope Nancy and Jose work out for you.

We are also rejoicing at getting our cleaners back now my husband and I are both vaccinated and it's so nice having things properly clean. (Although I feel a bit funny afterwards at having had someone come into my house and go through everything - but on balance I would rather have that feeling instead of having to manage it all myself)

97quondame
Jun 27, 2021, 4:45 pm

>96 souloftherose: I've had someone to do the cleaning since I could afford it in the 80s even while I was single. I doubt I could have survived in a marriage where I was expected to keep the place clean since it never seemed to work well during the gaps. Now I really can't do the bending and lifting or even the moving about, so since my cohabitants have been complaining, it's good to have the place clean, but I'd like a bit more of my stuff to hand.

98quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:37 pm

150) The News of the World



Short and evenly textured this both is and is not the old man and the little girl who is a comfort as he is a shelter. The vast Texas landscape and the scrabblely folk of the towns fighting each other as they fight to survive are as much agents as Captain Kidd and Johanna.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a Western

99quondame
Jun 28, 2021, 9:01 pm

In a package of misc doll items delivered today was the small decapitated doll shown (not Pugsley or Wednesday Addams). I ruthlessly sewed her head on and gave her to Raggedy Ann & Andy to hold for the moment. They are likely kinder than her former caretakers.

100msf59
Jun 28, 2021, 9:42 pm

I liked Owls of Th Eastern Ice a bit more than you but I agree that it never really soared. Hooray for Interior Chinatown & News of the World. I am a big fan of both.

101quondame
Jun 28, 2021, 11:36 pm

>100 msf59: I am a bit less excited now about the last two than when I rated them - at least I often feel moved to re-read a 4 star book, but I can't imagine re-reading either of those.

102quondame
Jun 28, 2021, 11:49 pm

OK, I have made a LT list of the books mentioned in A Brief Guide to The Modern Library which I called TML 200 Best Books 1950-1999 to differentiate it from the common meaning of The Modern Library which has its own list. There are 202 books on it, some of which have 10s of thousands of LT members going all the way down to 9.

IMO An Interview with a Vampire and Gravity's Rainbow could easily be dropped if 200 were a truly desirable number. They should be dropped even if there were only 200 titles or less.

There are a few entries which don't quite match the book - Jeeves in the Offing has no solitary entry in LT, and I went with Shindler's List because Shindler's Ark had so few members. Alternate titles were used for couple of other books or series, but the works should be the same.

Another list I'd like are all the titles mentioned in What Makes This Book So Great

103SandDune
Jun 29, 2021, 4:02 am

>102 quondame: A list of books in What Makes This Book so Great would be great…

104quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:37 pm

151) Mirror's Edge



Teenager in wildly unlikely circumstances and with nearly impossible history has identity issues while involved in a complicated rescue. It is a sprightly moving tour of a dystopian city where the nearly all pervasive dust records everything you do and say and big brother can comment and judge you at any time.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book where the title and the author’s name both have a double letter in them

105quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:37 pm

152) A Swim in the Pond in the Rain



A book to make the embryonic author in me become alert and uncomfortably ambitious and myself anxious. 7 stories by 4 authors with their clear strengths, possible weaknesses and strange ambiguities are presented and examined and loved.

I've been dipping into this book for what seems like a long time, but couldn't have been more than a couple of months. In any case it is finished now because it so well

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a liquid on the front cover

106FAMeulstee
Jun 30, 2021, 6:35 am

>104 quondame: Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Susan!

107quondame
Jun 30, 2021, 1:35 pm

Thank you, Anita!

108richardderus
Jun 30, 2021, 2:38 pm

>104 quondame: Double-75 orisoons!

>105 quondame: Sounds horrible to me, one who sees the naked emperor where Saunders is concerned.

109quondame
Jun 30, 2021, 4:43 pm

>108 richardderus: Thanks Richard!

I know nothing about Saunders but what I get from this book and his Wikipedia page.

110Whisper1
Editado: Jun 30, 2021, 4:44 pm

>1 quondame: Susan, I understand the pain of losing a beloved pet. It is so darn difficult. When I lost the Simon, my previous Shetland Sheepdog, I missed him so very much, especially when I came home from work, entered to house and looked for him. I had to literally tell myself "Simon is not going to be at the door when you walk through." It helped, but I still miss each and every pet that left their paw prints on my heart.

111quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:36 pm

153) The Giver



This book asks the imprisoned child in Omelas to bite her keeper and escape into the sun. Of course we all are the child and the citizens of Omelas with our clever gadgets, easily procured clothing and sundries, we live less than we could and give less than we should for the most part. Using dystopic utopias to ask what it is and what it requires to be human is what this does, asking what it costs is something else.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book that shares a common word with a book title or author’s name that is #65 on any LT list AND that you read in the past.

112quondame
Jul 1, 2021, 10:39 pm

>110 Whisper1: I'm still reminding myself to be careful where I step when I get out of bed to head to the bathroom. Once Mike has healed from his knee replacement - scheduled in 2 weeks - we'll get to actively searching for a dog for me. Nutmeg is a darling, but she is completely Becky's dog and other people exist to make her toys move amusingly.

113karenmarie
Jul 2, 2021, 8:34 am

Hi Susan.

>xx I came late to the Stephen King game, having thought his stuff must be trash since most of the world enjoyed it. Lack of good audiobook choices at the Library 11 years ago caused me to check out Duma Key, and I really liked it a lot. Twenty-two books later, my four absolute favorites are Doctor Sleep, (a sequel to The Shining which I liked but didn’t love), 11/22/63, The Green Mile, and Gerald’s Game.

>86 sibylline: I loved Oryx and Crake and have the other two waiting for the right time.

>88 quondame: Too bad they can’t transport here and do my house… they sound wonderful.

>98 quondame: I read this one 2.5 years ago and rated it 4.5. I absolutely never want to watch the movie, since at this point in his career I don’t want to watch Tom Hanks play Tom Hanks playing Captain Kidd.

>99 quondame: *smile*

>104 quondame: Congrats on your second 75.

>105 quondame: I don’t plan on becoming an author but got this book when it came out because I liked Lincoln in the Bardo so much. I should actually plan to read it one of these days instead of just enjoying it on my shelves.

>112 quondame: I have a friend whose family had dachshunds her whole life until her mother went sideways and got a dachshund some-thing-else mix. Karen faithfully took care of the very irritating Joanie the dog after her mother died until the dog died earlier this year but has no plans to get another although she’s only 70. She’s down to one kitty, too, so I’m interested in seeing what she'll do for animals into her next decade. I’m glad you’re going to get a new dog for you.

We have cat toys instead of dog toys, but they are just as painful to step on.

114johnsimpson
Jul 2, 2021, 3:56 pm

Hi Susan my dear, congrats on 2 X 75 for the year so far, sending love and hugs dear friend.

115quondame
Editado: Jul 2, 2021, 8:31 pm

>113 karenmarie: Thanks Karen! My thread seems well and truly done!

>114 johnsimpson: Thank you, John.

Just on the off chance you might be able to view this video of me and Nutmeg this afternoon.

116quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:36 pm

154) Victories Greater than Death



It's great that there are more books where the standard introduction is "My name is ...., my pronoun is....", but that doesn't mean that a book with the jerkiest stop start flow and a pretty standard kick ass heroine leads a group of teens plot is a good story. It wasn't much fun to read without a complete need for its gender presentations.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book by or about a U.S. President or by an author with the same initials

117quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:36 pm

155) Unzipped



Fun to read, this is not credible as a mystery with all of the visible detection being done by the psychologist in whose office the victim died. The McMullen family may only be represented by Christina, but their pungent comments that preface each chapter are quite the highlights of the book.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book with a title with 3 words or less

118quondame
Editado: Jul 4, 2021, 8:15 pm

We're off to an actual party tonight. A friend has thrown 4th of July parties for many years - his back yard slopes up abruptly and from the gazebo at the top there is a view west over much of the west LA basin and all of the fireworks from within a few miles. We've only attended a handful of times before 2020 since for some years I held a waltz night at a local park with a backdoor view of the local fireworks show and before that we'd do a show with Becky and a couple we knew.

Yesterday we did our first movie at the theater - In the Heights which was colorful and sentimental and not Hamilton.

When Becky got busy making pretzels!?! this morning I thought it was because she was having friends over while we were out partying. Nope, she just felt like making pretzels, something that I've never made and she's never made before. I think I'll go have another, but this time with mustard.

119quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:36 pm

156) The Hidden Palace



Just being two individuals different from all around you does not make you perfect for each other. The golem Chava and the jinni Ahmed find their abilities as well as their limitations can drive wedges between them however good they are for each other. This novel is a slow burn to a firecracker string finish. Perhaps it could have been shorter, but one doesn't regret the calm time one spends in this milieu.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book which has a word in the title considered a dwelling place

120quondame
Jul 6, 2021, 2:10 am

I had a fun afternoon playing with Nutmeg. She is so well behaved, good natured and smart. Fast too - I throw the ball so it goes out of the room, through the banisters and down 2 levels and she's back in a few breaths. She knows I mean her to put whatever the fetch item is down when I point down and she'll do it - and try to intercept me as I reach for it.

121humouress
Editado: Jul 6, 2021, 11:30 am

Hi Susan; it looks like I lost you quite a while back. I’m so sorry to hear about
Gertie. Belated congratulations on 75, 100 and double 75.

122weird_O
Editado: Jul 6, 2021, 3:51 pm

Had the opportunity Sunday to peruse the shelves in a friend's book retreat. I borrowed three books about books, including The Modern Library, which you posted about recently. I've read 49 of the books, and I have another 32 awaiting attention on the TBR. I'm enjoying this compendium, reconsidering those I've read, and particularly getting introduced to the many books and authors that are unknown to me.

The other two books I borrowed: Book Lust by Nancy Pearl and Ex Libris, largely a collection of reviews by Michiko Kakutani, who for many years was the chief book critic for the New York Times.

123quondame
Editado: Jul 6, 2021, 4:03 pm

>121 humouress: Hi! Thank you and glad you found me. It's been pretty quiet here, but it was never Grand Central or anything.

>122 weird_O: Ex Libris is a sort of 21st century American counterpart of The Modern Library. It's good to read about books, but What Makes this Book So Great is much more my thing not just because F&SF are where I've lived my life but because its selection motivation seems more love than purpose.

124karenmarie
Jul 6, 2021, 4:10 pm

>118 quondame: Oh how I love soft pretzels. Oh, how I’m not going to spend the time making them. Yay for Becky, and lucky you.

>119 quondame: I saw your mention of this sequel on RichardDerus’s thread today and reminded myself that I was going to buy it, never pre-ordered it, and hadn’t ordered it. So today I ordered it. I’m glad you gave it 4 stars – makes me pretty sure I’ll like it a lot, too.

125quondame
Jul 6, 2021, 4:18 pm

>124 karenmarie: I often get a bit impatient with long books either because little happens or because too much happens, but while I noticed I'd been reading for a good long while and was only at 50% I didn't mind. I did want to spend more time with Sarah and wish she had a deeper story, but the Ned Lawrence bits were lovely little sparkles.

126souloftherose
Jul 6, 2021, 4:41 pm

>102 quondame:, >103 SandDune:

That list exists!

https://www.librarything.com/list/6989/all/What-Makes-This-Book-So-Great

I wish there was a way to link a list to a work in LT (other than including that work on the list).

>118 quondame: Glad you enjoyed In the Heights - I've been looking forward to that one.

127quondame
Jul 6, 2021, 5:44 pm

>126 souloftherose: Oh hurray! Do you mean that works should include of list of lists they are on? Or that a work should have a slot for lists based on that work? Does what I've said even compute? I once tried to program a class of listable objects if I remember correctly.....

128quondame
Jul 7, 2021, 6:25 pm

I was up early this morning, so I went to a local farmers' market to see if my favorite olive seller was there. He was and now I am supplied with some great brine cured Kalamata olives as well as some green tomatoes. A new vegetable stand has taken the place of a couple of other booths near where I enter, which is great for me because I always had to walk far around the incense and scent dealer who held that location for many years and I don't have to go 3 blocks just for radishes unless I want to!

After the cleaners were here last week I noticed that two of Christopher Robin's friends were missing, but it has taken me a while to figure out how to search them out and retrieve them from the most likely spot - they were on top of a large tall bookcase style record/laser disc case which is beside the 5 stairs to the lower level, so they were at eye level when I'm a couple stairs down. This afternoon I attached double sided mounting tape to a long dowel and fished behind and beside the case and was able to maneuver them out, although only dust stuck to the tape.

Here are mini Pooh and Piglet resting after being cleaned up from their frightening adventure!

129quondame
Jul 7, 2021, 11:52 pm

Things are beginning to change around her in anticipation of Mike's knee replacement. A week from tomorrow he'll come home from the hospital and we will hopefully have a rental hospital bed in the lowest level and a chair with arms waiting for him as well as a shower stool in what has been the dog sundries and food storage closet. Mike had to grout the shower stall that hasn't been used for over a decade. Maybe I should have a plumber check it out ....
In some ways it's good that Mike can have his own space where everything is level, but since the kitchen is on the middle level Becky and I will have to keep him supplied with food and drink.

130quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:35 pm

157) The Hidden Girl and Other Stories



This is a substantial collection, almost, but not quite, two collections. The majority of the stories take us into a more dystopian future where what it means to be human and what it means to be an individual is given a testing against aliens and technology and of course other humans as is the purpose of being at all. The fantasy stories, which otherwise I might prefer have their own volume touch the same core, though less pointedly.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with an adjective in the title

131quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:35 pm

158) Swimming in the Dark



This is the mid-twenties coming of age story of a young homosexual man in communist Poland who struggles with his passion to live honestly and his love for a contemporary who has a passion to live well. Compactly told without sentimentality or indulgence.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the main title’s initials can be used for an acronym that can be found in a search engine.

132richardderus
Jul 8, 2021, 9:37 pm

>131 quondame:, >130 quondame: Oh goody! We pretty much agree on the merits of these two, I'm glad.

WEEKEND HOOO-OOO-OOO!

133quondame
Jul 8, 2021, 10:16 pm

>132 richardderus: It feels great to have a string of good reads.

134quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:35 pm

159) The Garden Behind the Moon: A Real Story of the Moon-Angel



A very strange mix of 19th century children's fable and older fairy tales with the Moon Angel being death/transition. The chapter headings have the charm of Howard Pyle's wood cut style drawings while the realistic illustrations are more pedestrian than fanciful.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book whose title contains a place you could visit

135FAMeulstee
Jul 9, 2021, 6:09 am

>134 quondame: Sorry this book broke your string of good reads, Susan.

136richardderus
Jul 9, 2021, 10:54 am

>134 quondame: what >135 FAMeulstee: said...too bad. Maybe the weekend's reads...?

137quondame
Jul 9, 2021, 1:04 pm

>135 FAMeulstee: >136 richardderus: Oh it wasn't painful, and it was short. It sort of subverted Christian myth into fairy tale as if the author were trying to get outside of that framework but then suddenly the hero declares a Christian soul, but the context doesn't shift. It's almost as if a publisher put his foot down. And Pyle is a master illustrator - perhaps if I'd seen color plates I would have been more charmed, but in b&w even a wing'd steed isn't fabulous. It was certainly aimed at a different future than the one it found

138quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:34 pm

160) Witness for the Dead



We are in the same world as The Goblin Emperor, but far from the court. Of course politics is still in play and complicating the investigations of the previously disgraced Witness for the Dead into 3 different deaths. A woman found in the canal introduces him to the personalities and exuberant world of opera, a disputed will gets him dispatched to chase a ghoul and looking for the remains of a man's sister who only once sent a message after her marriage to a man unknown to her family initiates a search for a true monster.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book for the "Samesies" challenge

139quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:34 pm

161) Strega Nona Takes a Vacation



Cute and mildly charming.

I like Strega Nona's fashion sense:


Read for July TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book about a vacation or with the word vacation in the title or a word indicating a vacation, highlight the word.

140karenmarie
Editado: Jul 15, 2021, 6:35 am

>128 quondame: Ooh, olives. Congrats on finding Christopher Robin's friends. Eeyore is staring down at me from a shelf here in the Sunroom, bought at Disneyland decades ago along with Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger. They're upstairs somewhere.

>129 quondame: All the prep sounds good. I vote for having a plumber check the shower stall. An ounce of prevention, etc...

141richardderus
Jul 10, 2021, 5:25 pm

>139 quondame: ...I told her not to use those images of me!!

142quondame
Jul 10, 2021, 11:09 pm

>141 richardderus: Well then I like your fashion sense too.

We went to see Black Widow. Meh. The women were good to look at but there was only one decent looking man - at least whose face was on display - in the whole film.

143quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:34 pm

162) The Bootlegger's Daughter



It seems key to Attorney Deborah Knott's identity that when she gets fed up with the abuses of racist judges she chooses to run for the office rather than support the qualified black man who is already in the race. And if it weren't for the fallout of her investigation on behalf of the girl she once babysat she might have a better chance. None of the men who is interested in her can attach her feelings, though women don't seem to interest her. The rare southern novel without a chorus of heat and sweat.

BB from sibylline

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with at least two characters in its title

144sibylline
Jul 11, 2021, 7:01 pm

Phew! Glad you enjoyed the Maron! I'm glad, too, to see you like short stories, so many don't.

Glad to see there is a new K. Addison (or newish?) I am taking Goblin on my little roadtrip this week to see family in Western NY.

Haven't been in a movie theatre yet, I confess.

145quondame
Jul 11, 2021, 7:24 pm

>144 sibylline: Witness for the Dead just came out in June this year, so new it is.

146SandyAMcPherson
Jul 12, 2021, 12:16 am

Hi Susan. Thanks or adding your greetings to my thread awhile ago. Feels an age and half since I stopped by LT. I am trying to stay reasonably disengaged from things where I see no resolution happening. 'Nuff said.

I even actually-truly-read all the way through this thread, from where I had left off. Lots of great discussion and 4-star reads to go and hunt out. I think the Iris Murdoch and Marg Atwood discussion with Lucy was insightful. I have not ever cared to read much of their work. Just not for me, but I found the comments interesting.

My Bujold reviews have to be written. I loved the Pen and Des novellas. More later.

And PS, I am thoroughly envious of your market visit. I miss those big city markets with so many specialties (but not the big city!)

147Whisper1
Editado: Jul 12, 2021, 12:50 am

>99 quondame: I see you, like me have a penchant for dolls. I am currently going through all my Julie Good Kruger dolls, making an excel spreadsheet of those i have, and those I don't but would like to purchase. Though, right now, I have no where to put even the dolls I do own.

I tend to buy dolls from ebay, though sometimes the doll arrives without the items they should have.

I have a rather large glass case where I have many. Still, where can I put more....no where is the answer. So, I won't purchase any more..drat.

148quondame
Editado: Jul 12, 2021, 1:16 am

>146 SandyAMcPherson: It's good of you to take time to visit and give some attention to my thread. I hope you enjoy some of what I've been having a good, or at least an interesting, time with. I've totally acclimatized to city life, at least in LA.

>147 Whisper1: I do still buy dolls even if they have to go straight into storage. And mostly from eBay as well. I like that you can actually see what the items have been selling for before bidding.
I'm collecting 8" Madame Alexander dolls that figure in books - Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm are recent acquisitions along with spare clothing, since I'm all about the wardrobes. I'm currently hoping to get Dorothy and Mary Lennox, but have gotten more particular about the hair, so while there are lots of Dorothy dolls available, most have bangs and the dress is not great. Mary just doesn't show up nearly as often as Dorothy, Anne, and Alice. But a bit more often than Sara Crewe which I've only seen in pink that I didn't much like. I have Anne, Alice, Mary and Sara as 14" trunk sets all stowed under a vanity space, along with Diana since bosom friends should stay together. But setting up scenes with 14" dolls would just take over everything, so I'm searching out the smaller versions, which as it happens are at least as expensive as they are more in demand.

149quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:34 pm

163) Private Life of an Indian Prince



A decline and fall story for the eponymous character told by his personal physician who needs to cover his training expenses and likes the comforts of his court position. As the prince has no real judgement or connection to realities and is utterly emotionally absorbed by his unfaithful mistress, the clear absence of hope for him is demonstrated by clumsy, backfiring efforts to save his rule based almost entirely on utter fantasy. For the physician there may be hope, but there isn't a lot that he will follow his better intentions. Long, without much in the way of flow, I suspect it was (self-righteous) prurient interest, not much satisfied, that gave this what popularity it had, but it is a portrait of life in an utterly corrupt and reality deficient administration and how it exhausts any positive intention.

This read was lengthened because the library copy of the hardback had be rebound and for 60% of the pages the first or last syllable of each line had to be extrapolated.

Read because it appeared in The Modern Library it
Meets July TIOLI Challenge 16: Help me sort out my birthday gifts by reading the appropriate books

150quondame
Jul 15, 2021, 2:40 am

Mike had his left knee replaced today. It seems to have gone well, though the pins from his previous surgery made it take at least 40 min longer than calculated and they got a late start on it, so though we we at the hospital before 10:30AM he didn't get out of surgery until 7:00PM. He surgery was about 3-4wks earlier than planned because his surgeon had a cancellation, so it happened on the same day I had an appointment which had been set up for weeks. I missed the time after they prep'ed him and he was in surgery when I returned so I had no idea what the start time was.
I'm beat. I'm sure he's feeling worse, but still.

151karenmarie
Jul 15, 2021, 6:40 am

Long and stressful day for you both. I hope the house arrangements work out well once he's home.

In the meantime, I hope you can get some rest.

152quondame
Jul 16, 2021, 12:41 am

>151 karenmarie: Thanks Karen.

When I went to the hospital this morning Mike had no memory of anything after 1:15 PM when they anesthetized him until 11:30 PM. So it's like I never visited him last night, though somehow he remembers that my doctor put in for me to get a hearing test which I couldn't have told him before 7:30PM last night even though he's sure I told him on the way to the hospital.

Well, I have to get him to the surgeon's tomorrow because he seems to be leaking into the bandages. It looked like he had a massive allergic reaction to the bandages, but after a panicked call he was told tomorrow morning will be soon enough.

153FAMeulstee
Jul 16, 2021, 8:22 am

Glad to read all went well with Mike's surgery, Susan. I hope changing bandages works out today.

154quondame
Jul 16, 2021, 1:42 pm

>153 FAMeulstee: Mike got his dressings replaced early this morning - his new ones can't be taken into the shower, so he's likely to get a bit ripe in the short term. Other than that he seems to be doing OK.

I'm still exhausted, what with wearing a mask most of Wed and a good part of Thurs making it hard to drink I got a bit dehydrated. So I'm making sure that doesn't happen today.

155richardderus
Jul 16, 2021, 1:44 pm

Bandage-changing is often necessary after surgery...the skin's still upset by the surgical scrub and the, um, gross insult to the body, so flare-ups aren't a big surprise.

It'll all be fine in the end...you'll be exhausted, of course, but New Mike will be worth it.

156quondame
Jul 16, 2021, 3:14 pm

>155 richardderus: One hopes, one truly does.

Alas, my speculation that my lack of knee trouble with the Covid weight gain was due to near complete inactivity seems to have been confirmed - my left knee seems to be demanding a replacement after over 10x activity - I mean how does one go from toddling about 40x40 even with stairs a few times a day to doing 12 football fields and get a meaningful factor? The distances from parking to surgery pavilion and back, from surgery pavilion to cafeteria and some repeats are on my Epic scale at Cedars-Sinai Medical center, without wanders through twisty passages all alike to and from recovery rooms and wards.

157quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:33 pm

164) Drummer Hoff



A colorful, playful, fantasy of a cannon shot. One does wonder why.

Read for July TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a "military" tag

158quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:33 pm

165) Beyond



A lively time with pleasant characters, a bit too good to be true, it moved along well, but I felt no real tension nor did I connect to any sense of danger. It also employed a trope that has been way over used in my reading of the last 10 years.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book that triggers an ear worm

159FAMeulstee
Jul 16, 2021, 4:31 pm

Going from >143 quondame: book 160 to >149 quondame: book 61?
Probably because you are tired, Susan, but I though you might want to correct the numbers.

160quondame
Editado: Jul 16, 2021, 4:36 pm

>159 FAMeulstee: Ah, yes, no question tiredness played its part. I don't read so very many that I can carelessly toss out 100 or even 99.

161quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:33 pm

166) Strange Weather in Tokyo



Two people who don't form the usual sort of couple and aren't handy with their feelings or relationship dynamics circle into their own version of being a pair. An engaging and expressive translation.

I got worn out reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead so I took a break to read this since it
Meets July TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with a connection to the Tokyo summer Olympics

162humouress
Editado: Jul 17, 2021, 10:06 am

>158 quondame: I'm glad Mike has got through his surgery well.

I see that Beyond seems to be the founding of Valdemar, but that was touted for the Gryphon sub-series (although I'm a bit hazy on its connection to Valdemar).

163richardderus
Jul 17, 2021, 11:29 am

>161 quondame: I'm always in the market for a story about intergenerational love. I'll see if my library has it.

164jjmcgaffey
Jul 18, 2021, 12:51 am

>162 humouress: Gryphon series - Mage Wars - was earlier. One of the side-effects of that story was the founding of the Empire (by people who fled east, away from the catastrophe that ended the Mage Wars). We've been told in various other stories that Valdemar was founded by a noble of the Empire who fled west (into the heart of the mess caused by said catastrophe) and founded the kingdom, multiple generations after the Mage Wars ended.

It's a big, complex world, and various series have different angles on things. I'm hoping that one story of this series will be the one about the heir of Valdemar that runs into Sunsinger and Shadowdancer - that's from a song or two, I'd love to read the whole story.

165quondame
Editado: Jul 18, 2021, 1:52 am

>162 humouress: Thanks!

>163 richardderus: I liked the smooth flow of the story as well as the quirked characters whose emotions are more obscure to them than to the reader.

>164 jjmcgaffey: I wouldn't be surprised if it's planned for what seems to be a new sub-series.

166quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:33 pm

167) Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead



Several deaths, probably murders, occur in the course of the novel and are constantly in the consciousness of the narrator who is dealing with age, pain and an obsession with astrology and her rage against hunters and other animal cruelties. The isolation of a small western Polish settlement on a steep sided plateau gives a claustrophobic sense to the narrative, though the people the narrator likes are are described in lively and engaging fashion. The protagonist and some of her friends engage their minds in activities like translating Blake or entomology which puts them in a class more congenial to me than the usual denizens of village murder mysteries.

A few locations named in common with Swimming in the Dark, and though the WWII echos have died down they have not vanished.

Read for July TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book that has been long/shortlisted for or won a translation prize

167msf59
Jul 18, 2021, 8:26 am

Happy Sunday, Susan. I am a Saunders fan, so I had my eye on A Swim in the Pond in the Rain. Glad to hear you liked it. I have seen very little LT activity on that one. I am also glad to see you enjoyed The Hidden Palace. I want to read that one.

168richardderus
Jul 18, 2021, 9:54 am

>166 quondame: I'm surprised you liked it so much. It seemed to me a translation gone slightly off the beam...maybe not, of course, I don't read or speak Polish but it felt stilted somehow.

Still and all, four-star read! Yay for that!

169karenmarie
Jul 18, 2021, 10:07 am

Hi Susan!

I hope Mike is doing better and that YOUR knee isn’t as troublesome.

>166 quondame: On my shelves, and I’m encouraged that you gave it 4 stars.

170quondame
Jul 19, 2021, 4:57 pm

>167 msf59: Both were enjoyable and very very different ways.

>168 richardderus: I rather like the translation. I wasn't at all surprised by the resolution.

>169 karenmarie: Mike is much improved and my knee has settled, but I've given it nothing like as much stress as Wed, Thurs & Fri, though my activity level is still higher than per-surgery. It is strange, but it was interesting to revisit Poland a generation later than Swimming in the Dark.

171quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:32 pm

168) The Innocence of Father Brown



The puzzles of the murders and thefts are rather nice, and the creation of Father Brown has it's delights though he's a bit too much. Flambeau, after his first two appearances is a complete dud reduced as he is a tag-along with none of the creative flair that colored him as a criminal. And the authorial attitude rather disgusts me, reducing people to atheists, puritans, evangelicals, sensualists and making that do the work of character. The once per episode appearance of extravagant descriptive prose setting the scene hit me as a character in itself.

Read for July TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book available on Project Gutenberg

172humouress
Jul 20, 2021, 2:06 am

I'm glad to hear Mike and you are both feeling better.

173karenmarie
Jul 20, 2021, 8:58 am

>170 quondame: Glad to hear that Mike’s improved and your knee has settled. My right knee is giving me fits and I’ve moved up a follow-up appointment with the ortho from August 12th to next Monday.

>171 quondame: Ah. Well. I loved the series with Mark Williams and have a Kindle version of The Complete Father Brown Mysteries that I suspect won’t get read any time soon.

174jjmcgaffey
Jul 21, 2021, 1:19 am

I love Father Brown, but I do have to be in the right mood. I've watched a couple episodes of the show and was amused that each episode was glued together from bits of several stories.

175quondame
Jul 21, 2021, 1:35 am

>172 humouress: Mike does seem to be healing steadily and I've made progress toward getting enough sleep. Becky is a huge help even if I don't see her in action - she gets up at 6 and deals with the dogs breakfast, cleaning up after Zette who is old and blind and almost sure to have messed the floor by morning. I get to sleep until 8 or 9 and take my time getting out of bed and downstairs.

>173 karenmarie: >174 jjmcgaffey: I'd doubt the attitude of the stories which I wasn't pleased was implemented in the TV series, and that if Flambeau was used as the side kick, the script writers and actor did something to redeem his intelligence and abilities or at least save him from being an utter non-entity. It's also possible that later stories have something more to offer than the initial dozen.

176quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:32 pm

169) Let's Go Crazy



I learned a lot about Prince and the people around him up through his Purple Rain tour, but I suspect nothing that fans of his didn't already know. Written a couple of years before Prince's death there is an unwitting haunted quality to the book, but that's about the only quality.

No pictures!!!! What's with that!?!

Read for July TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book whose title gives advice or an order

177quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:32 pm

170) A Scholar of Magics



A good deal of to-ing and fro-ing and the pacing is rather even with bouts of action followed by slow wind downs. There is a fair amount of subverting expectations, but then not. Well, on my second read I remembered absolutely nothing from the first, but am not surprised because while the characters were fairly good and the setting and issues interesting, the hooks were just not very sharp.

Read for July TIOLI Challenge #16: Help me sort out my birthday gifts by reading the appropriate books

178quondame
Jul 24, 2021, 12:29 am

Mike is back in the hospital to have an infection in his knee cleaned out and will be staying there for observation for a "few" days. Becky took him into the emergency room this evening and is still waiting there until he's taken into surgery.

It's good that they are tending to him quickly, but I worry about late Friday night surgery.

179SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Jul 24, 2021, 12:48 am

Argh, Susan. You are having much family drama and worries. I can sure sympathise. I hope Mike's knee repair/infection clean up will be the final attention needed in a hospital.
And there's you with some of your own knee difficulties. All best wishes from my end of the drama queen world.

PS. Well done with book reviews that really give some incisive evaluations. My efforts tonight are rather lame and not as sharp as I'd like.

180FAMeulstee
Jul 24, 2021, 4:14 am

>178 quondame: So sorry that your husband had to go back to the hospital, Susan, I hope he can come back home soon.

181karenmarie
Jul 24, 2021, 1:25 pm

I'm sorry to hear that Mike's in the hospital with the infection, Susan. I hope they get him squared away quickly and he can come home soon.

182drneutron
Jul 24, 2021, 5:37 pm

183richardderus
Jul 24, 2021, 5:53 pm

Mike's in the proper place. An infection with a new transplant needs serious attention fast so that's all to the good. I'm sure he's cranky as hell right now!

184quondame
Jul 24, 2021, 7:12 pm

>179 SandyAMcPherson: >180 FAMeulstee: >181 karenmarie: >182 drneutron: >183 richardderus: Thank you.

I visited Mike and took him devices and cables so he is connected and has entertainments. He has been sleeping a lot and is doing pretty well - he was eating when I arrived and polished off the whole tray while declaring it horrid and was ready with selections when the dietician came in.
He's in one of those huge CU wards in a dim curtained corner and likely to stay there because staffing for rooms on the main floors won't be up to adding a new patient over the weekend. Mostly they are pouring antibiotics in through an IV and plan to continue doing so until they judge it enough. He actually is only mildly grumpy for him though a bit maudlin which is more difficult for me to take.

185SandyAMcPherson
Jul 24, 2021, 8:46 pm

>184 quondame: "though a bit maudlin"...
Yeah I can understand that would (is) hard to take.
I hope as the treatment improves the battle against infection that he'll rally to become what you are more accustomed as Mike's persona.

Sending supportive vibes...

186quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:32 pm

171) The Fabric of Civilization



The history and uses of fibers from the first strings to filaments incorporating lithium batteries or micro chips are explored in an entertaining way, and two of my favorite practitioners Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Jane Malcolm-Davies both come in for kudos. As I already understood a good deal of the importance of fiber technology in civilization only some aspects were enlightening for me, though this material could be a complete eye-opener for someone who only looks at plastic, silicon or metal fabrications as technology.

BB from drneutron

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the main title’s initials can be used for an acronym that can be found in a search engine.

187richardderus
Jul 26, 2021, 8:13 pm

>186 quondame: This sounds like such a great book! I hope my library will buy it....
***

Isn't he precious?!

188quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:32 pm

172) The House in the Cerulean Sea



A sweet book, but the pacing and the more stated than felt peril kept me from being involved and the viewpoint character didn't seem as charming to me as he was to the island inhabitants. I much preferred Melanie Rawn's Glass Thorns series for dealing with minority issue within a world with magic.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with an adjective in the title

189quondame
Jul 27, 2021, 12:14 am

>187 richardderus: Isn't he just.

190quondame
Editado: Jul 27, 2021, 1:48 am

Mike will be in the hospital at least two more days. Becky and I visited tonight. She brought a deck of Steven Universe cards to play war with, which was about the level of focus he has just now. Something, probably one of the antibiotics, has caused an uncomfortable rash over his back so they are trying to adjust for that before letting him go. At least the infection seems to be responding to treatment and the culture from inside the knee is clear. Also, I found a parking lot that doesn't require a football field of hiking before I reach an entry point.

191humouress
Jul 27, 2021, 1:34 am

>187 richardderus: Ker-yute!

>188 quondame: I thought it was sweet but a bit saccharine in parts. I'll have a go at Glass Thorns; I remember reading her Dragon Prince series(es).

>190 quondame: I'm sorry about the rash; having to lie in a hospital bed for eons is never comfortable as it is. I'm glad Mike's on the road to recovery. And that you found a closer parking lot; maybe hospital thinking is that they do their part towards making us fitter by making us walk?

192quondame
Jul 27, 2021, 1:51 am

>191 humouress: Glass Thorns is much more mature and very different than the Dragon Prince books and the books aren't evenly good, but the development and use of special abilities and the ups and downs of a group equivalent to a 70s or 80s rock group is a very different approach to fantasy and I really appreciated it.

193quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:31 pm

173) The Four Profound Weaves



While I may be a bit puzzled at the choices of change, wanderlust, song and death as the four four profound weaves, the author takes them to where they need to be to enlarge a story about trans identity into one of selfishness, compassion, greed and sacrifice, art and artifice, despair and hope. Bound in its own weave it is universal.

Not only does this feature 2 sexagenarian protagonists, it is a great book in proximity to The Fabric of Civilization.

Meets July TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with an adjective in the title

194richardderus
Jul 27, 2021, 7:11 pm

>190 quondame: Thank goodness the rash developed *before* he left. And yay for a clean culture!

>189 quondame:, >191 humouress: I can't find the artist's name anywhere but I want to see more of their work!

196ronincats
Jul 28, 2021, 10:24 pm

Just catching up here, Susan! You've been through a lot while I've been away. Hope Mike gets home in good shape soonest.

197humouress
Jul 29, 2021, 12:21 am

>195 jjmcgaffey: Amazing! One or two parts, like the angel’s face, must be custom made.

198quondame
Jul 29, 2021, 1:49 am

>194 richardderus: As you see, it has been found.

>195 jjmcgaffey: Thank you! Good find.

>196 ronincats: Mike is clearly better and is coming home tomorrow - July 29, 2021 perilously close to today. A pump to deliver antibiotics has been delivered. That's gonna be fun.

>197 humouress: She's clearly talented at modifying bits and pieces.

199quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:31 pm

174) Equal Rites



Not among the best Terry Prachett Discworld book, but this is the one where we can see the more than a few hints of what's in store: a beta version of Granny Weatherwax with her headology, and lots of attitude though not much taking on of fantasy tropes which is all for the better.

Read for July TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the main title’s initials can be used for an acronym that can be found in a search engine.

200figsfromthistle
Jul 29, 2021, 3:35 pm

>190 quondame: Sorry to hear about the rash! How very uncomfortable. I had to laugh about the parking lot dilemma. It's very true. Most of the parking is quite far.

Glad Mike is on the mend and coming home!

201quondame
Jul 29, 2021, 3:44 pm

>190 quondame: Fortunately the rash went mostly away quickly. At least he hasn't complained about it for a day or two.

Mike is home. Grumpy and a bit demanding, but hey, what's new. I managed the pick up without parking at all, so that worked well.

202richardderus
Jul 29, 2021, 4:55 pm

>200 figsfromthistle: Hm...mediocre Pratchett merits 4 stars! I sense the calibration scale has much to do with this rating.

>195 jjmcgaffey: Thank you! I'm delighted to see her other art is just as enrapturing.

203quondame
Jul 29, 2021, 6:21 pm

>202 richardderus: Well, yes, it really didn't earn the final star. That belongs to the idea of Granny Weatherwax in her pre-Lancre phase. Esk is good, but not exceptionally so and most of the rest is just the first stages of a rehearsal.

Per your: >1 quondame: I found reading the story Compulsory Games while the gardeners were mowing to be a singular experience.

204Whisper1
Jul 29, 2021, 9:06 pm

Hi Susan. I hope all is progressing well with Mike's recovery from knee surgery. I enjoy talking about dolls. I have a rather large Madame Alexander doll of Alice in Wonderland. Periodically, I get her out of the closed and place her on a chair. I purchased her a long time ago. I think I paid $100. I also buy, then put them in the closet. It seems a shame that I don't have enough space to show them.

>152 quondame: In addition to doll collecting, we have children's books in common.

205karenmarie
Jul 29, 2021, 10:15 pm

I hope that things go better with round 2 home from surgery for Mike.

206quondame
Jul 29, 2021, 10:39 pm

>204 Whisper1: Mike is doing rather better than when Becky took him into Emergency last Friday - he's off most pain medications and getting around pretty well. He even came upstairs to the top level of our split level from the bottom and saw what state his half of the bed is in (I'm sorting my pants before re-hanging them).

In 1981 just before going to the East coast to visit her grandchildren, my mother gave me 2 of the dolls she didn't feel like packing for the trip - She must have given the two small girls 6-8 21" Madame Alexander dolls with the elaborate gowns - and one of them was a 14" Alice like the one in this picture, the other a 12" Cleopatra. It's unfortunate that those big dolls of that time were very poorly made though the outfits and hairstyles were often very pretty, except for a few of the really outstanding ones they aren't worth anything like the ordinary dolls of the 50s and 60s or the ones from the 90's and later where the kitsch factor went way down.


I like a number of young adult books, both series and singles and picture books are often just fabulous objects. My cousin Barbara Berger did some lovely illustrated children's books. Unfortunately she developed some problem with her hands and hasn't done more books for some time.

>205 karenmarie: Thank you! He does seem improved by his treatment.

207humouress
Jul 30, 2021, 10:20 am

>204 Whisper1: Put a transparent door on the closet? :0)

208Berly
Jul 31, 2021, 9:50 pm

Hopelessly behind on LT, but popping in to say Hi! Lots going on here...books and rashes and knees and dolls....wishing you a wonderful weekend! And I hope Mike continues to improve.

209quondame
Ago 1, 2021, 12:56 am

>207 humouress: Once something other than clothing gets stored in one of my closets, its reappearance is unlikely and no one should have a view of the (w)hole.

>208 Berly: Indeed Mike is much better. We had friends over last night for dinner and relatives over tonight and he quite enjoyed himself. There was a fuss because the in home nursing company didn't have anyone scheduled to administer his antibiotic and it took until 3PM for a nurse to come by who should have been scheduled for 10AM.

210PaulCranswick
Ago 1, 2021, 5:19 am

Glad to see that Mike is on the mend, Susan.

I managed to spend a bit of time and calculate how many of those 202 Modern Library inclusions I had read. Comes to 74 books. Some of the selections per author are a bit eccentric though - East of Eden for Steinbeck?

Have a lovely Sunday.

211quondame
Editado: Ago 1, 2021, 8:25 pm

>210 PaulCranswick: I found most of the titles to be strange and the three I've read since have born that out. The compilers give vastly different weights to qualities a book should have than I do. They seem to place obvious, liberal, social concern at the top of their filters, where I consider it a nice plus if it isn't shoved at me.

I did the IV antibiotic for Mike under the Nurse's supervision this morning. I found that my back objects to me leaning over for more than mere instants. Otherwise it went well, but boy that nurse never shut up for an instant and just when I needed to see the fluid in the tubing pointed in such a way as to shadow my view.

212PaulCranswick
Ago 1, 2021, 10:35 pm

>211 quondame: I just found some of the selections obtuse. 12 of the selections where I had read that as well as other work by the same author, I would not have chosen.

I really don't believe many would agree with Modern Library that the best work of Steinbeck is East of Eden, the best Trevor is Reading Turgenev or the best Greene is The Human Factor. Interesting though because opinions on reading are so fascinating to me and especially why someone should adore a certain book whilst another would throw it at the wall in disgust or frustration.

213PaulCranswick
Ago 1, 2021, 10:36 pm

>213 PaulCranswick: I have similar trouble bending over for too long and took a couple of long soaks in the bath to recover from sorting my books out.

214quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:31 pm

175) Compulsory Games



Ordinary horror writers make the monsters more vast than the character, but Aickman achieves with bacterium what others strive for with hoards of ghouls. In those vast wastelands between what people are and what we understand of them it is ever so easy to go astray and have your life shredded by the underbrush.

This one's on richardderus

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the author's name contains at least two common nouns

215quondame
Ago 3, 2021, 1:20 pm

I find I have nothing to say before noon. Humm. I had to get up early (relative to when I usually have to get up) to be ready for a nurse's visit and needed to get coffee before that. An I've reached just past the point where my lack of enough sleep doesn't matter much. So I caught up on all the LT threads with pretty much a complete blank for a mind.

216richardderus
Ago 3, 2021, 2:25 pm

>215 quondame: I detest that blank sensation! I hope it passes soon.

>214 quondame: *preens*

217quondame
Ago 3, 2021, 8:48 pm

>216 richardderus: Alas, no. This isn't the best day.

The home nurse was just late enough that while I was able to set up Mikes IV antibiotic, I had to leave before it was finished (the nurse took care of that) go get my hearing test (yes, I do have serious hearing loss in the speech region and higher frequencies) go home, take Mike to the surgeon's office for a dressing change.

Feeling like a crushed aluminum can. That a truck ran over. In a puddle.

218weird_O
Ago 3, 2021, 11:20 pm

>217 quondame: That IS low, Susan. In a puddle too. (Where did you find a puddle, by the way? Aren't you drought stricken?)

219SandyAMcPherson
Ago 4, 2021, 12:11 am

>217 quondame: Ack, Susan. What a gruelling day. In LA heat I surmise. With traffic. *shudder*

I never have a single thought in my mind wrt LT Talk threads until at least 1 in the afternoon.
Of course you may have possibly noticed that my posts in the morning are frequently innocuous twaddle. I guess late evening ones tend that way, too.

I'm trying to read a Guy Gavriel Kay novel and it is looking like a DNF novel and I'm not past page 20. I was inspired in this idea over on Lucy's thread the other day, when I saw Sailing to Sarantium recommended (unread in my past GGK stage). Other people wading in about liking his work effectively convinced me to give myself the chance to re-discover a liking for Kay. I had re-read 2 of the 3 books in the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, a mistake to revisit that old favourite.

I hope you can get a good night's rest and wake up to brilliant thoughts, visiting threads and delurking!

220quondame
Ago 4, 2021, 4:41 pm

>218 weird_O: Dunno, moisture just seems to collect in depressions.

>219 SandyAMcPherson: Traffic not enough to be remarked, going our direction that is, I remember commenting on downtown bound traffic as we returned west. Heat there was, but house-to-car-to-garage-to-office&back pretty much overrode that.

If I've read any Guy Gavriel Kay, it's lost to memory. Tigana does sound familiar, but it came out shortly after I stopped being LASFS librarian and while I would have heard about it I was entering the phase of my life with the fewest reads.

I'm better rested today and administering the IV antibiotic on my own went well enough, Mike only had to be quashed once while no nattering nurses kept it calm.

221richardderus
Ago 4, 2021, 6:07 pm

>220 quondame: The heat...the nattering...the sheer uccchhhiness of medical shenanigans...not the most silky-smooth of Augusts, is it.

222quondame
Ago 4, 2021, 9:25 pm

Ah, the afternoon too, was littered with medical bits and pieces - with an appointment at 3 for an EKG, a delevery of IV antibiotic and supplies between 1-2 and a physical therapist between 1-2, there wasn't a good spot to slip in the shopping for all the things that have appeared on the refrigerator white board. At about 5 Becky and I went out for the barest essentials and hamburgers, also essential.

223quondame
Ago 4, 2021, 10:07 pm

Ah, the afternoon too, was littered with medical bits and pieces - with an appointment at 3 for an EKG, a delevery of IV antibiotic and supplies between 1-2 and a physical therapist between 1-2, there wasn't a good spot to slip in the shopping for all the things that have appeared on the refrigerator white board. At about 5 Becky and I went out for the barest essentials including hamburgers. Maybe I'll tackle the rest of the list tomorrow.

224quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:31 pm

176) Another Time, Another Place



Markham must leave with his wife and baby daughter, and his replacement Hyssop does not make herself any friends at St. Mary's. Leon takes Mathew and the tea-pot duo with the archives to a safety just before ---- well, let's say if anything can go wrong... I was not surprised by the major developments, but the details were almost as engaging as ever.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book which is tenth or higher in a series

177) The Trials of Quintilian



Three short stories narrated by the somewhat annoying C. Plautus Maximilianus Aureus about murders solved by the historical Marcus Fabius Quintilianus. Sort of Sherlock Holmes light in a toga. Somewhat amusing and engaging.

Suggested by Barbara Hambly on FB

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a “furniture vocabulary word” in the title or in the first paragraph of Chapter One or its equivalent. - started by SqueakyChu

225quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:30 pm

178) The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop



Pleasant and interesting until just past the middle when it went more into the business and less into history and memoir when it flattened out for me as if the author were more checking off the boxes he had to cover. Also, considering how much e-Books and Amazon in general has taken over the world, strongly nostalgic. It is sad to hear of all those no-longer-bookstores.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book that starts with the definite article

179) Pizzapedia



It does talk about pizza, but not in real depth, and the illustrations while cute aren't that illustrative. I didn't know about the beef fat in pepperoni though. And while over a dozen NYC pizzerias are mentioned, Ray's wasn't, when it was often mentioned by ex-NYCers and seemed all over the place back in the 90s.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a non-fiction book about food or drink

226SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Ago 6, 2021, 4:23 pm

Reasonably-decent reading here, Susan, but nothing sounding stellar for you.
I tried some Jodi Taylor awhile ago,mostly prompted by Lucy's reviews. She's an author (Jodi that is) I might try again when I feel less background anxiety which currently needs a definite swamping out.

I feel sad about the book shops that have had to close, too. I recently heard that one of my favourites in the Victoria, B.C. area closed. A long standing venue and a place you could browse all afternoon, no hassles and so often a gem to be found.

I'm just chattering. Nothing to say, really. Consider it a 'ping'?

227quondame
Ago 6, 2021, 9:16 pm

>226 SandyAMcPherson: I still miss Campbell's with the dream toys in the basement children's section just south of UCLA. I wonder what's in that basement now, they aren't a usual feature of Los Angeles architecture.

I'm glad to see you here what ever the excuse.

228quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:29 pm

180) Finna



The concept was more interesting than the execution, which was competent but didn't engage me.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book published between 1930 and 2021

229karenmarie
Ago 6, 2021, 9:49 pm

HI Susan.

Way too much medical stress and shenanigans for you. I hope it's going to start settling down soon.

230quondame
Ago 6, 2021, 11:57 pm

>229 karenmarie: That's pretty much my opinion too. I am catching up on sleep, so maybe I'll get a bit of morning before 10-12 of getting ready for the IV, doing it, and cleaning up after. It really only takes about 10-15 min of me actually doing anything and for a ½ hr drip 2 hrs seems a lot, but the antibiotic has to be out of the fridge an hour before use and there is a lot of hand washing and sanitizing.

231sibylline
Ago 7, 2021, 12:05 pm

Glad you are doing ok with Mike's IV! Hope you don't have to do that for too much longer.

The book on The Fabric of Civilization looks fascinating!

232quondame
Ago 7, 2021, 10:20 pm

>231 sibylline: I hope the last day will be Wed. That's what we have the supplies for so unless they order more, that should do it.

233quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:28 pm

181) The Midnight Library



Second chance books are a guilty pleasure of mine, and this one takes a different angle than the more common, rewind to start again and make a different decision to a combination of that with a more, not It's a Wonderful Life, but it's a different life, but it's still you. It wasn't unpredictable, but even that worked for me.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a word in the title that implies a measurement of time

234quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:28 pm

182) The Ship of Stolen Words



A fantasy book that's a chore to complete? Nope. This book just never has enough steam to move past a slow wallow of things keep getting worse until they don't.

Small coincidences, the school was named after Ursula K. LeGuin who also appeared in the thank yous at the end of Finna >228 quondame:.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book that has something on the cover that is mentioned in the title

235quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:28 pm

183) Prosper's Demon



More 3.25, but the ending tips it a bit higher.

Demons are bad, but exorcists are almost as bad since it can be very harmful, even deadly, to remove a reluctant demon. Even though demons are immortal they take damage and feel pain when being ousted from a host. Then there's the complication that the demon can enter the exorcist and commit outrages. And the demons seem to be smarter and a pair have chosen hosts that it would be disastrous to damage.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book published between 1930 and 2021

236richardderus
Ago 9, 2021, 6:15 pm

>235 quondame: I liked it about that much, too.

>233 quondame: You liked it a LOT more than I did.

So far, the intraspecific agreement averages remain the same.

237quondame
Ago 9, 2021, 9:14 pm

>236 richardderus: Re: >233 quondame: Well I did say that sort of thing appealed to me. A couple of the narratives were way too shallowly handled, and the disorientation in each option was more an annoyance than a feature.
Even if you don't know why you made the choice at the time and feel regrets doesn't mean it was the wrong choice, just that your subconscious was working for you. Also, the sometime it's too easy to fall into feeling that it's all about you when other people aren't there for you.

238quondame
Ago 10, 2021, 5:23 pm

Yesterday was 2 Dr. visits for Mike - 8AM for stitch removal and 10AM for an eye check for possible LASIK, which turned impossible because of scar tissue, but he got a new prescription. Then I did the IV, and almost as soon as that finished the physical therapist arrived after which we went to CostCo to get his prescription filled and pick up a few items. Later I went and picked up Thai food at a different place than usual. I won't go there again. I didn't know it was possible to actually make Thai food so bad. And the only reason I went was because the previous Thai dinner we ordered had the wrong soup, chicken instead of shrimp. That chicken was so much better than this shimp. I'm grumpy.

And today, while I slept in (yay!) the visiting nurse change Mike's shunt and disarranged the bags with the IV supplies and used up items I would need for Thursday's IV - which well, since he is seeing the infectious disease Dr on Thursday, we'll just skip. I'm grumpier, but a bit better rested.

239SandyAMcPherson
Editado: Ago 10, 2021, 8:59 pm

>238 quondame: Sheesh. Home care that is competent and consistent appears unobtainable on *both* sides of the border. You have great sympathy from me, not that such a comment helps with the boneheaded visiting nurse.

We're having such unreliable care for my cousin (the one who survived heat stroke), that I despair. Here's me at distance now but that shouldn't have made a difference to the support that was put in place. I've bowed out of trying to manage this and leaving it in her physician's hands. At some point only a medical emergency will elicit the case manager's attention. And like I said, if one doesn't have an advocate on the spot, long-distance efforts at intervention are hopeless.

Wishing you and Mike all the best and hope that your medical team can point to other sources of home care. Maybe.

240quondame
Ago 10, 2021, 9:11 pm

>239 SandyAMcPherson: Fortunately Mike is pretty much over the need for a home nurse. This last shunt change is the last and the plan is to take it out Thursday - it seems strange that they didn't schedule removal for Tuesday, but they didn't so he got a new shunt today that will be removed day after tomorrow.
After this it's just PT until he's moving at what they consider his new optimum, which should be better than he was doing for 2019-present as the knee was definitely slowing him down.
I know two women younger than he who have done very well with their replaced knees, but according to all the medical people he's interacted with they see only people who waited until they were crippled before this surgery and have a much more difficult time recovering.

241quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:27 pm

184) The Dictionary of Lost Words



I like the idea of this better than I liked reading the book. Esme's story seemed way too contrived to illustrate the points, and however good the points as a skeleton they weren't enough to give heart or heartbeat to the story.

I've had a first edition of the entire OED (with supplement) since sometime in the 70s, and for a while had a CD version and later the app for my Mac, not that I consult it all that often and the main purpose of the paper edition is to keep my husband from taking over the shelf where it reigns as storage for his comics reprints. I'm ashamed I never even noticed the missing bits.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book that starts with the definite article

242richardderus
Ago 11, 2021, 1:16 pm

>241 quondame: Another that I liked better than you did...I felt Esme's story was really honest, like I could go look her up and find she was real.

Chacun, of course. *smooch* for the Starless One

243quondame
Ago 11, 2021, 2:00 pm

>243 quondame: It would have felt a lot more real to me if Esme had bedded Tilde rather than Bill. The whole marry Gareth just so he could die in the Great War after years of courtship and a brief marriage really pissed me off partly because it was so telegraphed, and then dying young just so that her effects could be sent to Megan within Ditty's lifetime. Nope, nope, nope. I've seen stories of unconventional turn of the century women I could relate to, gay and straight, but Esme just did not have the gears to engage me.

244richardderus
Ago 11, 2021, 2:11 pm

>243 quondame: Those are all valid, of course, but my take on them was otherwise slanted...it felt more "in keeping" to me than to you. Ah well, such are the pleasures of having people with strong opinions around. Got to keep thinking, "yes, but WHY ____?" or reading can get dull.

245Familyhistorian
Ago 11, 2021, 6:55 pm

>243 quondame: My problems with The Dictionary of Lost Words were the same as your spoilery items, Susan. It seemed to abrupt and pat for me.

I hope all goes well with the shunt take out tomorrow.

246quondame
Ago 11, 2021, 9:03 pm

>245 Familyhistorian: The shunt is out! They sent a nurse today after I couldn't get the saline into the line and she verified that it was blocked and removed it. Mike still has to go in tomorrow, but at least he was able to take a shower with no limbs covered for once.

247SandyAMcPherson
Ago 12, 2021, 11:28 am

>246 quondame: Yay! I hope all the difficulties are over and life can percolate back to your normal routines.

The Dictionary of Lost Words was on my WL for awhile, via several LT members praise and high ratings. But when I actually had the book in my hands to check out at the library, I dipped into the beginning (waiting for meeting up with a friend), I found the tone odd and the story boring.

Yeah, not a fair try at reading it, what with dipping and skimming, but too many other titles are calling to me, so I didn't borrow the book after all.

248quondame
Ago 12, 2021, 3:16 pm

>247 SandyAMcPherson: I think part of my limited enjoyment of The Dictionary of Lost Words is the pacing and the use of a significant change happened, but we weren't in Esme for it, just for the aftermath. This can work with an experienced novelist, but Pip Williams hasn't the chops to carry it off.

249quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:27 pm

185) The Magicians



This is a pretty tedious magic boarding school story with a decent magical adventure goes sideways tail featuring Quentin, who is pretty much a pain with his constant longing for the adventures he read as a child and has continued to hold to into his 20s and his ingrained dissatisfaction. Be very afraid of getting what you ask for.

Apparently I read this in 2009 but until I was halfway through it I didn't remember anything except fleeting impressions of the Fillory books withing the book.

Checked out for #15 but it better
Meets August TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book or work (fiction or non fiction) in which the characters or subjects read and discuss their reading

250quondame
Ago 13, 2021, 8:22 pm

Today I slept in in celebration of the first day of no medical stuff to do with Mike's surgery. No visits from nurses, no trips to a Dr., no hospital visits, no IV infusions. I was woken at 10:30 to take a call to meet a friend from English Country Dance for coffee up the street from me. So I peopled. A little. She and her dad have been preparing a formal dinner almost nightly for the duration of the pandemic and dressing for dinner, making a cocktail, taking a photo and watching a movie. They are both outgoing and active and staying in is not at all their thing.

Now I'm waiting for dinner to arrive feeling I've no idea where the day went. Where ever did it go???

251quondame
Ago 13, 2021, 8:50 pm

Is there a way to bulk add books to a list?

252karenmarie
Ago 14, 2021, 9:32 am

Hi Susan!

>233 quondame: It wasn't unpredictable, but even that worked for me. Agree. I was quite moved by it, actually.

>240 quondame: I know two women younger than he who have done very well with their replaced knees, but according to all the medical people he's interacted with they see only people who waited until they were crippled before this surgery and have a much more difficult time recovering. The problem out here, at least, is that you either have to meet the artificially high pain threshold that doctors seem to feel is needed to justify the surgery or doctor shop and hope you get lucky. My husband has bone-on-bone knee pain, but it’s not ‘bad enough’ to recommend surgery. At the rate I’m going with my arthritic right knee, I’ll qualify for knee surgery before he does…

Glad Mike’s to the ‘just PT’ stage now.

>178 quondame: For some reason this book doesn’t appeal to me, but I do love the name Esme.

>250 quondame: Yay for sleeping in and having dinner plans. I think it’s great that you have no idea where the day went.

253quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 7:26 pm

186) Things We Lost to the Water



I wasn't particularly moved by this Vietnamese refugees in New Orleans story - it hits all the obligatory marks, the over worked mother with her somewhat misguided rigidity, the son who can't adjust to his American reality, the gay son. It's all there, but as if the author flinched at driving the knife into his guts and left us with a smear of blood from a surface wound.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a “coming of age” book that was suggested to you by someone else

254quondame
Ago 14, 2021, 2:03 pm

>252 karenmarie: What a bummer about your husband's knee. Mike reasoned that he'd never be in better shape to recover from the surgery, but he's now grumpy because the whole thing is stiffer after the second surgery. It turns out the rash wasn't infection, just allergy, but they couldn't risk that.

I don't supposed your husband is up to exaggerating his agony?

I just hate when I don't feel I have any gears engaged by 2PM. It makes trying to read the LT threads a bit dizzying.

255humouress
Ago 14, 2021, 2:17 pm

I'm glad to see that Mike is well on the way to recovery.

256Berly
Ago 14, 2021, 4:46 pm

Just checking in here...glad Mike is home and free from medical garnishes. Also glad you got to sleep in!! Hope as things calm down your brain wakes up a little. Hang in there!! And look at you go...#179. Wow.

257quondame
Ago 14, 2021, 5:33 pm

>255 humouress: Thank you.

>256 Berly: Thanks. Oops, it's really at least #180 - my tags report 185, but that could be a different sort of error.

258FAMeulstee
Ago 14, 2021, 6:05 pm

>257 quondame: I found six doubles in this thread, Susan

>36 quondame: #140 and >50 quondame: again #140
>119 quondame: #155 and >130 quondame: again #155
>171 quondame: #166 and >176 quondame: again #166
>177 quondame: #167 and >186 quondame: again #167
>225 quondame: second book is #175 and >228 quondame: again #175
>234 quondame: #177 and >235 quondame: again #177

259quondame
Editado: Ago 14, 2021, 8:54 pm

>258 FAMeulstee: Thanks for working that out. My brain cells have been more than usually fuzzy the last month, but I guess I've been in deep lint for a good deal longer! I fixed it.

I wonder, do we have a incrementing number macro that we can include so we just do {{#bookcount#}} or some such and it will keep the numbering neat for us.

260humouress
Editado: Ago 15, 2021, 12:52 am

>259 quondame: I keep a list at the beginning of my thread and link it to my posts which helps. I’ve been known to miss the occasional book, still but less than one a year. Or you could keep a wiki list that would number it automatically.

261quondame
Editado: Ago 15, 2021, 1:19 am

187) Miss Buncle's Book



A delightful froth of pretty much pure nonsense, a great break book where you know all the ground will be lightly got over.

BB from richardderus

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the author's name contains at least two common nouns

188) Too Many Tamales



Sweet.

I was going to read Too Many Magicians but when I went to look for it on the PB shelves not only was it not there - there were no Randall Garrett titles! If the library hold works I may get to it.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with a word indicating quantity in the title, but not a number

262FAMeulstee
Ago 15, 2021, 6:21 am

>259 quondame: Glad I could help, Susan.
As far as I know there is no way to count books in your thread.
I do the same as Nina, keep a list at the top of my thread. I also use the "Books read in 2021" list, and have a spreadsheet on my computer. Checking three times is usually enough ;-)

263richardderus
Ago 15, 2021, 11:27 am

>259 quondame: Not that I know of, but there sure as heck should be. A coddiwomple to the PTB's threads to make the suggestion wouldn't go amiss....

264quondame
Editado: Ago 16, 2021, 2:24 pm

>260 humouress: I keep a list off LT, but never thought to number it. In general I'm not inclinded to front loading my thread with lists. Another thing to maintain, and in public too.

>261 quondame: Ah, it turns out Mike wasn't the Randall Garrett fan I was and I read the LASFS library copies of the books and didn't own them.

>262 FAMeulstee: I just realized I could probably keep the numbers on my not LT list for each year. If I get a round tuit that may help.

>263 richardderus: Which html works and over what scope seems bizarrely opaque sometimes.

265quondame
Ago 16, 2021, 2:22 pm

189) The Walls of Westernfort



Fantasy in almost entirely non-magic sense, on a planet with only women who have found a way to reproduce believed to be a gift of the Goddess, there are rebel leaders who must be eliminated, and the naive Guard Natasha is recruited to assist in the mission. Nothing in this story comes as a surprise, but it's not precisely painful and if you could use some male free reading time, this is here for you.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with an occupation in the title or author's name

266richardderus
Ago 16, 2021, 7:52 pm

>261 quondame: Oh, in case you're in a Buncle-mood, #2 is only $2.51 on Kindle today: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B008NCAUOS

267quondame
Editado: Ago 17, 2021, 2:34 pm

>266 richardderus: My sugar levels a bit high for more Buncle - and the library is already loaded. Thanks though.

Yesterday was CostCo day and I made a strategic error - when Mike took the basket as support for his trip through the aisles, I didn't take a second one for myself. I had planned to pick up the shopping while he was picking up his new glasses prescription. Going through the CostCo at a slower than normal pace with no basket to lean on was more tiring than I planned for.

The Pesto got made. It was perfect for those deep fried breaded ravioli that I didn't burn. The new stove heats the oil up so fast I really need to get a easy to read thermometer to monitor it with. Now I need to order more Medeterranian pine nuts from Nuts.com and I'm sure some candy will stow away in the packaging.

268quondame
Ago 17, 2021, 8:42 pm

190) Frogs and Kisses



This book is all cute and plot and the plot is just a string of absurdities brushed with don't look closely. No character to mention and cute isn't my thing unless it is. It isn't.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book which has the name of a mineral water well among the first words

269quondame
Ago 17, 2021, 10:33 pm

The panini was great. Pesto, mozzarella, prosciutto, pesto, parmesan, pesto, prosciutto, mozzarella, pesto, in an Italian bread buttered and pressed between griddle plates, and fried until deep golden brown, brushed with garlic, sliced and served with lemon wedges for a splash of tart. Yum.

270quondame
Editado: Ago 18, 2021, 6:49 pm

191) Inside Man



How the other half live. This time the cleverness didn't come off for me.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the author's name contains at least two common nouns

271FAMeulstee
Ago 18, 2021, 6:01 pm

>270 quondame: There you go again, Susan, second #190. And the touchstone goes to an other book with the same title.
You are still a bit tired I guess.

272quondame
Editado: Ago 18, 2021, 6:50 pm

>271 FAMeulstee: Thanks! And I checked, but clearly the wrong place - and wasn't even thinking touchstones.

273quondame
Editado: Ago 19, 2021, 7:36 pm

192) Flashman



Well it does what it sets out to do in a sprightly manner, but not sprightly enough to make up for the determined ghastliness of its eponymous narrator. Spending time with the Flash is not time well spent.

I've been meaning to read this for decades as it's been recommended several times, so it seemed appropriate to

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book about someone who can't stop bragging

274richardderus
Ago 19, 2021, 4:18 pm

>273 quondame: Oh GAWD no. One and done.

275humouress
Editado: Ago 19, 2021, 11:08 pm

>264 quondame: I keep my list purely for me to keep track. I have no idea if anyone else looks at it.

Hang on; I have a round tuit somewhere. I'll have a look for it.

>267 quondame: I occasionally grab a trolley instead of lugging a basket just so I have something to lean on (especially if I've worn shoes that aren't as easy to walk in). Of course, the downside is that then I'll fill up the trolley rather than just getting the essentials that I went into the shop for.

>269 quondame: So ... pesto, then.

ETA: found it. Here you go.

276quondame
Ago 20, 2021, 2:12 am

>269 quondame: In days of not so old but older than PCs there were round tuits that would pop up some random time after you pressed them down. Kept you from getting anything done they were so much fun to wait on.

277quondame
Editado: Ago 21, 2021, 11:08 pm

193) Quarter Share



A sweet young man in near desperate straights finds a berth on a merchant ship - and there is no meany! A friend of his is somewhat injured, and the circumstances that required him to ship out are bad, but there isn't any struggle to be found. A cute easy read, especially if you like C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter books or Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's Trader books and are happy to only get the calm parts.

Long ricochet BB from ronincats so it

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a “coming of age” book that was suggested to you by someone else

278quondame
Editado: Ago 21, 2021, 4:37 pm

194) Warm Worlds and Otherwise



The richness and invention of these stories stands out sharply from much of the SF of the late 1960s and early 70s. I appreciate them though I don't really enjoy them. Reading them half a century after they were written in like being immersed in hot house loam and constantly confronting the roots of less articulate growths that have colonized the soil.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book listed on the 'Among Others' wiki

195) The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo



A small silly romance which is better if you're in the mood for it. Why set a story in the 1920s and have zilch period feel. This tale was a little bit clever, but not as clever as it thinks it is, and it has very little originality.

Looking in an old Kindle for suitable titles I found this to
Read for August TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book with a traditional anniversary gift in the title

279lindapanzo
Ago 21, 2021, 7:34 pm

>225 quondame: I saw Pizzapedia on the TIOLI wiki. It sounded good. Didn't see your review until just now. At least it was short and I got a copy from the library.

280quondame
Ago 21, 2021, 7:36 pm

>279 lindapanzo: Well, it's not the least bit painful, but what's with leaving Ray's out of the NYC pizza scene?

281ronincats
Ago 21, 2021, 9:57 pm

>277 quondame: It was a good covid read.

282quondame
Ago 22, 2021, 5:14 pm

>281 ronincats: Quite. So is

196) A Psalm for the Wild-Built



In a future that probably isn't ours, robots have gained sentience and have formally separated from humans to vanish into the wilderness. Our monk, searching for fulfilling meaning in their life and crickets, encounters a robot who has volunteered to learn what humanity needs centuries into the separation. The search for crickets seems mislaid, which was a discordant note in a set of explorations and interactions I found otherwise delightful.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the author's name contains at least two common nouns

283richardderus
Ago 22, 2021, 6:07 pm

>282 quondame: Dunno if I'd call "beck" a common noun, but noun it can indeed be.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the read!

284quondame
Ago 23, 2021, 2:44 pm

>283 richardderus: Heh. I'm blaming you for:

196) Amatka



Composed about equally of postpartum depression and nightmare, this might be an exploration into the nature of perceived reality except in our bubble of real we do experience comforts and beauties, even seek them, and Tidbeck presents comfort in a watered down offhand way while griddling us on grey oppression.

Having nowhere else to put it at least it
Meets August TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book published between 1930 and 2021

285quondame
Ago 23, 2021, 4:57 pm

Nutmeg may be allergic to the medications that keep her sedated or the anti-inflammatory!?! for her leg troubles. Her undercarriage is all scratched to bits and swollen. Becky and I managed to rinse the area last night and I just had her for about an hour to the exhaustion of my arms and hands. She is quite a package, that one.

286richardderus
Ago 23, 2021, 6:23 pm

>285 quondame: Poor Nutmeg! And Calamine is not for poochie, darn it.

>284 quondame: I *did* say....

287quondame
Ago 24, 2021, 1:01 pm

197) Honor Among Thieves



Super competent rogue teen girl in space with something extra. Living space leviathans zip about the solar system visiting multiple planets in less than a week, and reach light years away in days. The plot action is fast and packed and predictable. Space Opera popcorn for the preadolescent.

I was taking a break from Small Spaces and this
Meets August TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book published between 1930 and 2021

288karenmarie
Ago 24, 2021, 2:35 pm

>285 quondame: Poor Nutmeg. Poor Becky and Susan. I hope the dog recovers soon and the humans get some relief from caring for and worrying about her.

BTW, how's Mike?

289quondame
Editado: Ago 24, 2021, 6:44 pm

>288 karenmarie: Mike is doing pretty well. His anemia has resolved enough that he feels safe driving a few miles and shopping. His leg strength is excellent but it's hard going getting his range of motion back. Thanks for the good wishes about Nutmeg. Her mommy is a worrier and I've got to maintain a serious attitude about all dog issues.

I was expecting to get some lipomas removed from the area of my right elbow today, but the surgeon said she couldn't locate them by feel and they were all pretty small, which the ultrasound technician hadn't mentioned to me. Since one of the recent changes to my morning stretch routines has coincided with a decrease in elbow pain I'm OK with not being cut up today.

And another sausage disappointment. For the second time the Jimmy Dean Sage sausage frozen in rolls is bad. Nasty smell - and there is a notice that it is being discontinued. So, if I want my sage sausage patties in future, I'll have to roll my own, which was a bit of a chore as I recall.

290quondame
Editado: Ago 24, 2021, 8:44 pm

198) Small Spaces



A middle school story which moves well and has decent characters, but doesn't quite pull the whole save yourself from devil plot off with the necessary panache.

Meets August TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a “furniture vocabulary word” in the title or in the first paragraph of Chapter One or its equivalent.

291quondame
Ago 25, 2021, 8:15 pm

LibraryThing seems to have changed the way times are posted on threads. Sometime in the past posts would show up with whatever my local time was for those entries. Now it seems to be what the poster's local time was. Not sure when this happened, but not more than a month or so or I'd have remarked it by now.

292quondame
Editado: Ago 26, 2021, 3:02 am

199) When the Sparrow Falls



The Caspian state was intended to provide an AI free life for those who established it, but that's about the only freedom its residents have left, while AIs rule the rest of the world and and others can upload themselves - or download themselves into clones, but not copy themselves. Somehow Sharpson manages to provide enough action and interest to keep the complete nastiness of his created state within a world from utterly oppressing the reader as it does its citizens, with deft feats of characterization and intrigue.

BB from richardderus

Since it doesn't say what they read or why they discuss it this
Meets August TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book or work (fiction or non fiction) in which the characters or subjects read and discuss their reading.

I have got to read something set is a fun future real soon now.

293FAMeulstee
Ago 26, 2021, 5:07 am

>291 quondame: If I remember right, I did set the local time myself. It is under "Account settings", you get there by clicking "Edit profile and account" on your Profile page.

294humouress
Ago 26, 2021, 5:16 am

>291 quondame: >293 FAMeulstee: I haven't paid especial attention to the timing of posts, so I can't say I've noticed that. I set my local time, too, so everyone's posts (I assume) are shown in my time zone. According to the time stamps, you posted 291 today at 8.15am and Anita posted 293 at 5.07pm. My time is currently 17.15 on 26/8

295quondame
Ago 26, 2021, 7:48 pm

Now reading in a future I've visited many times before and trust how things will go because they've gone way beyond these problems in earlier books. I've about had it with gloomy doomy books.

I put in a Porto's order yesterday, and here the little morsels are today so that's dinner taken care of. Yum. I'm trying a couple of new offerings. I didn't realize the cheese rolls were sweet, so I'll have to do some fill in on the savories.

296quondame
Editado: Ago 27, 2021, 2:19 am

>293 FAMeulstee: I didn't change anything, but it's nice to know I could if I wanted.

>294 humouress: For me >291 quondame: shows 8:15pm, much more consistent with my habits while >293 FAMeulstee: is 5:07am. You really are half the world away.

What's boggling is >292 quondame: showing edited at 3:02am, which I did not!

Porto's was great, but is rather active in my digestion for such mild (though tasty) fare.

297karenmarie
Ago 27, 2021, 5:52 am

Hi Susan.

>289 quondame: I didn’t know he had anemia and am glad that it’s resolved enough so that he can drive and shop. Sorry about the range of motion issues. Is he in PT?

My husband sounds a bit like Becky. He worries about the kitties in a different way than I do. I worry about them, but he usually thinks that whatever the issue is will kill them. His worry never extends to being the one to take them to the vet, however.

Yay for stretch routines and not needing to be cut up any time soon. Yuck to bad sausage.

>292 quondame: and >295 quondame: I've about had it with gloomy doomy books. Good luck.

298sibylline
Ago 27, 2021, 9:11 pm

OOOooo another Becky Chambers I haven't read!

299quondame
Editado: Ago 28, 2021, 5:17 pm

200) Eaarth Awakens



It is possible to write an interesting fast paced adventure without having every protagonist endangered past any reasonable expectation of survival every time there is a conflict. However that's what this book sets you up for and well, it gets tedious when you know who will survive. OSC can do brains and planning and there is some, but this depends more on luck and impossibly fast and accurate engineering. An uneven ride.

I got this for July TIOLI Challenge #1. Read a book with a "military" tag but it
Meets August TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book where the author's name contains at least two common nouns

If I hadn't been close to finished I would have saved it for
September TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book where the title of the first chapter is a common noun

300quondame
Ago 28, 2021, 5:24 pm

I had to go out and get my blood pressure measured and on my way home stopped at CVS. Due to a bus interfering with a right turn I took a route past TJs and noticed the Mango Sticky Rice stand on the sidewalk in front. I was correct in my assumption that the news would motivate Becky to go get some - she insisted I go with, so I drove and ended up taking rather longer, first because the don't just fill the plate from prepared rice and mango, but mix the rice and cut the mango for each order, second because there was a line, and third because Becky got some for some nearby friends and we took the long way round to get to them because I misunderstood what she meant by downtown Culver City.
It was very good Mango Sticky Rice. This is probably the last weekend it will be available, so yay!

301quondame
Ago 29, 2021, 3:42 pm

201) Yesterday



The world as it is, the people not so much the adults - over 18 - only have a day, the Monos, or two, the Duos, of direct experienced memory, but their memory for that time and for facts is clear and absolute, so what they record in daily diaries and memorize as facts are the facts - or are they?
Aside from the boggling idea that history and even historical figures would be identical under such circumstances, the distance the core notion makes with our mostly very unlikable characters keeps is in the way of investing emotion in them. But the almost complete lack of self awareness of the deviant character is a treasure. It did get a bit much before the wrap up and rather dragged for a while.

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a word in the title that implies a measurement of time

302quondame
Ago 29, 2021, 4:32 pm

Oh, and Kaiser is offering flu shots - but not on the weekend so I'll either have to wait for my next weekday appointment or haul myself over there during the week.

303quondame
Ago 30, 2021, 4:38 pm

202) Infinite Country



The immigrant tale of a family of five, mother, father and first daughter from Columbia, son and second daughter born in USA, father deported, second daughter raised by grandmother and later father in Bogota so mother could earn enough to support the family. All members of the family have entries, but the concentration is on the father and second daughter. To leave the country of ones birth is a lifelong trauma and to live unwelcome in a new land is another, and this is by no means close to the worst emigrant tales, rather one with real but not fatal struggles and a better stopping place than many.

It seemed my challenge wasn't getting many entries, in fact I couldn't even get my hands on the book I intended to read for it so I
Read for August TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with a word indicating quantity in the title, but not a number

304quondame
Ago 30, 2021, 8:26 pm

I don't seek out poetry, but sometimes it finds me.

John Roedel
August 12 11:18AM

my brain and
heart divorced
a decade ago
over who was
to blame about
how big of a mess
I have become
eventually,
they couldn't be
in the same room
with each other
now my head and heart
share custody of me
I stay with my brain
during the week
and my heart
gets me on weekends
they never speak to one another
- instead, they give me
the same note to pass
to each other every week
and their notes they
send to one another always
says the same thing:
"This is all your fault"
on Sundays
my heart complains
about how my
head has let me down
in the past
and on Wednesday
my head lists all
of the times my
heart has screwed
things up for me
in the future
they blame each
other for the
state of my life
there's been a lot
of yelling - and crying
so,
lately, I've been
spending a lot of
time with my gut
who serves as my
unofficial therapist
most nights, I sneak out of the
window in my ribcage
and slide down my spine
and collapse on my
gut's plush leather chair
that's always open for me
~ and I just sit sit sit sit
until the sun comes up
last evening,
my gut asked me
if I was having a hard
time being caught
between my heart
and my head
I nodded
I said I didn't know
if I could live with
either of them anymore
"my heart is always sad about
something that happened yesterday
while my head is always worried
about something that may happen tomorrow,"
I lamented
my gut squeezed my hand
"I just can't live with
my mistakes of the past
or my anxiety about the future,"
I sighed
my gut smiled and said:
"in that case,
you should
go stay with your
lungs for a while,"
I was confused
- the look on my face gave it away
"if you are exhausted about
your heart's obsession with
the fixed past and your mind's focus
on the uncertain future
your lungs are the perfect place for you
there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either
there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment
there is only breath
and in that breath
you can rest while your
heart and head work
their relationship out."
this morning,
while my brain
was busy reading
tea leaves
and while my
heart was staring
at old photographs
I packed a little
bag and walked
to the door of
my lungs
before I could even knock
she opened the door
with a smile and as
a gust of air embraced me
she said
"what took you so long?"
~ john roedel (johnroedel.com)

305ronincats
Ago 30, 2021, 10:08 pm

>304 quondame: Oh, I love that!

306humouress
Ago 31, 2021, 1:31 am

>304 quondame: I can see why that one found you. I’m not a poetry person either, but that is lovely. And I can understand it :0)

307quondame
Ago 31, 2021, 3:52 pm

203) Stay Gold



Senior Pony starts a new school and immediately falls for the pretty cheerleader he sees as he arrives. She likes him too, the problems being that he is trans and she is recovering from a very public crash and burn breakup. It's all about being who you are, and the pressures around that. However reality and wish fulfillment mix in this book, it didn't really work for me, probably because it was high school and who needs that?

Read for August TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book with a traditional anniversary gift in the title

308SandyAMcPherson
Set 2, 2021, 3:31 pm

>274 richardderus: I'm with RD on that sentiment.
Este tópico foi continuado por Susan/quondame has her nose in a book 2021 - 4.