Irene's (atozgrl) Reading 2023 - Part 2

^View from Mt. Mitchell - from our recent trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway, July 1, 2023 - this picture was taken after the rain had passed through

Hello everyone! Welcome to my 2023 thread.

I am new to this group, so we'll see how well I do toward making it to 75 books read in 2023. I don't know if I've ever completed that many books in one year. If I have, it certainly hasn't been since I was in college.

Since I haven't contributed to threads in LT over the years, here's a little about me. My name is Irene. I live in North Carolina. I'm a recently retired librarian, retired in the middle of last year. My work in the library was mostly with systems and websites, not so much directly with books. I joined LT all the way back in 2008, and around 2010-2011, I was making good progress getting my library of books entered into LT. Then work and life got in the way, and I haven't been active on LT for a long time. I also haven't been reading many books, even though the love of books was why I got into librarianship in the first place. The problem is that I want long blocks of time to read books, and I didn't seem to ever have much, between commuting to work and back, fixing dinner when I got home, and being mostly brain-dead after all that. And weekends were taken up by chores that couldn't get done during the week. So I didn't have much time for reading long-form books. The reading I was doing was mostly magazines or online articles, all shorter form materials.

Once I retired, I started to get back into reading more books, now that I had more time available. By the end of the year, I thought I needed to find some way of keeping track of what I've read, so I don't accidentally re-read something I've already read. And, duh! Of course, I already had an account on LT. So I came back, and started adding or updating the books I had read in 2022. Unfortunately, since I hadn't thought of it earlier, I could only estimate the dates I finished reading.

Then while poking around LT some more and looking to see what's new and what I had forgotten, I stumbled across the 75 Books Challenge. I thought it would be an interesting challenge, so I decided to jump in. I'm not sure if I can complete 75 books, since I've only been reading about 1 a week for the last six weeks or so. That would get me to 50-odd books in a year, if I can even keep up this pace, which might get harder once the weather is nicer out. But it's worth a shot. At the very least, this will give me a place to keep track of the books I read this year.

As for the kinds of books I read, in recent years it has been mostly nonfiction, especially history. But I hope to get back into more fiction this year.

Looking forward to meeting more book lovers!

Also participating in:

1. The ROOT challenge
Link to my thread there: https://www.librarything.com/topic/348422#n8067900

2. 2023 Nonfiction Challenge (75 Books Challenge) 75NF
    - Favorite Pastimes in February
    - Empires in March
    - The Sea in April
    - May: Literary Biography - did not read anything for this challenge
    - June: Indigenous/Aboriginal Peoples/First Nations
    - July: Explorations and Expeditions - did not read anything for this challenge
    - August: The World of the Land, Trees and Plants
    - September: Family Ties (a family-based memoir)

3. Reading Through Time
     Quarterly Challenges (RTTQ)
        - Jan-March 2023: WWI (1914-1918)
        - April-June 2023: Between the Wars (1919-1938)
        - July-September 2023: World War II (1939-1945)
        - October-December 2023: 1946-Present
     Monthly Challenges (RTTM)
        - February 2023: Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!
        - March 2023: Notorious Women
        - April 2023: April Fool
        - May 2023: The Big City - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
        - June 2023: the Fabulous Fifties
        - July 2023: Revolutions
        - August 2023: Immigration and Migration - did not read anything for this challenge
        - September 2023: School Days
        - October 2023: Tradition

Note: hat-tip to kac522 for the challenge codes.

Books read in 2023 - first half of year

January
1. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, by Allison Hoover Bartlett. - ROOT
2. The Double Helix, by James D. Watson. - Read to learn more for a class we're taking on DNA.
3. Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, by Vicki Myron. (re-read)

February
4. Dewey's Nine Lives, by Vicki Myron. - ROOT; 75NF; RTTM
5. The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse by Rich Cohen. - ROOT; 75NF
6. Fly the W: 2016 World Champions. - ROOT; 75NF
7. Seabiscuit: an American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. - ROOT; 75NF; RTTM

March
8. Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: the Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather by Mark Seal. - 75NF for Feb. (started in Feb., finished in March)
9. First to fly : the story of the Lafayette Escadrille, the American heroes who flew for France in World War I by Charles Bracelen Flood. - RTTQ
10. Sergeant York and His People by Sam K. Cowan. - ROOT; RTTQ
11. Cleopatra: a Life by Stacy Schiff. - ROOT; 75NF; RTTM

April
12. Intermittent Fasting for Women 40, 50 and Older: Natural Approach to Balancing Hormones, Losing Weight, and Reversing Aging by Kalina Keilah. - Early Reviewers
13. Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann. - RTTM
14. Witness to the Dark by Wolf Holles. - Early Reviewers

May
15. Raising the Hunley : the remarkable history and recovery of the lost Confederate submarine by Brian Hicks, Schuyler Kropf. - ROOT; 75NF
16. Historic Raleigh by Jennifer A. Kulikowski and Kenneth E. Peters. - ROOT; RTTM

June
17. The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order by Adam Tooze. - RTTQ
18. Ancient pioneers : the first Americans by George E. Stuart. - ROOT; 75NF
19. Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain. - Book Club

Books read in 2023 - second half of year

July
20. George Washington's First War: His Early Military Adventures by David A. Clary. ROOT; RTTM
21. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. - Book Club; RTTQ
22. Revolutionary Summer: the Birth of American Independence by Joseph J. Ellis. - ROOT; RTTM

August
23. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. - ROOT; RTTM
24. Wilmington's Lie: the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy by David Zucchino. - Book Club
25. Ribbon of Sand: the amazing convergence of the ocean & the Outer Banks by John Alexander and James Lazell. - ROOT; 75NF

September
26. Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. - ROOT; RTTQ
27. A Separate Peace by John Knowles. - RTTM (re-read)
28. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. - Book Club
29. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. - ROOT; RTTQ

Welcome!

Happy new thread, Irene!

Happy New 🧵, Irene!

Congratulations on a brand new thread, Irene! I'll look forward to whatever you have to say!

ETA: What a great shot of Mt. Mitchell! It's been 56 years since I was there. Good grief!

Happy new thread, Irene, and happy Monday to you!

We've gone to Mt. Mitchell several times since I moved to NC in 1991. That's a gorgeous photo.

Happy New Thread, Irene! Love the MT. Mitchell topper and we sure like having you part of this wonderful community. Have a good week.

Happy new thread and happy reading, Irene! Beautiful topper, too.

Happy new thread, Irene!

Happy new thread -- beautiful photo up top. Blue Ridge Parkway is a lovely drive, isn't it?

Happy new thread, Irene

>1 atozgrl: I sure hear you about being mostly brain-dead after work. Too often my reading weight pre-retirement was really light genre fiction.

Happy new thread, Irene!

>7 PaulCranswick: >8 vancouverdeb: >9 LizzieD: >10 karenmarie: >11 msf59: >12 kac522: >13 drneutron: >14 RebaRelishesReading: >15 ArlieS: >16 PlatinumWarlock: Thanks, everyone!

>7 PaulCranswick: Paul, of course you were first!

>10 karenmarie: It was hazy earlier in the day that I took the picture. I've got a shot of Looking Glass Rock from the parkway that's very hazy. There was rain and lightning around, but somehow we missed it on our drive up the parkway, and by the time we got to Mt. Mitchell, not only had the storms cleared, but the atmosphere was very clear. This shot turned out well.

>11 msf59: Thanks, Mark, what a nice thing to say! I certainly enjoy being here and I'm glad to have found the group!

>14 RebaRelishesReading: Yes, the parkway is indeed a beautiful drive. We'd like to go back and do more some year in the fall, but that's when the traffic is particularly bad.

>15 ArlieS: I'm glad to know it wasn't just me!

Thanks for visiting, everyone!

Lovely photo up top, Irene. We had a drive along part of the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1998, the only time that we’ve visited the States, and it was very pretty.

Thanks, Rhian! It's great to see you here!

I'm glad you were able to see the Blue Ridge Parkway when you visited the US. It's one of the scenic gems in our country.

Better success with today's Wordle.

Wordle 752 2/6

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SLATE, EARTH

Wordle 753 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, WHIRL

Belated happy new thread, Irene!

>22 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! It's still new, I only started it a couple of days ago, so you're not late.

Wordle 754 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, BARGE

Wordle 755 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, FINED, FIEND

We needed to make a Target trip this afternoon, because we were running low on some essentials. The hubby wanted to come with me, because he had some things he wanted to pick up as well. I was hoping to leave about 10-15 minutes earlier than we did, but Mr. A. was moving slower. When we parked at the store, we heard some distant thunder. While in the store we heard several loud claps of thunder. But the trip took awhile, because we had a number of things to get, and as always, Target had moved the location of where some items were shelved, so we had to find them. While in the checkout line, we heard the rain start coming down hard. We had to wait a few minutes for it to let up, and it finally slowed some, so we made a run for the car, but we still got soaked. If we had left home when I wanted, we would have been back home by the time the rain started. But given that it was still coming down pretty hard when we got home, there was no use waiting any longer than we did at the store on the way out.

Between the rain we got from thunderstorms in the pre-dawn/dawn hours and the ones this afternoon, my rain gauge is showing 2.5 inches.

I got busy yesterday and didn't visit LT. Yesterday's Wordle was the usual 4.
Here's today's Wordle.

Wordle 757 3/6

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SLATE, TRAMP, TOPAZ

>23 atozgrl: Usually I am checking the threads every day, Irene.
I skipped more than a day, so it feels late to me ;-)

Hi Irene! I hope you're doing well. Have a great week.

>28 FAMeulstee: Hello, Anita, great to see you here! I hope you have a wonderful week!

>29 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. Yes, we're doing well for the most part, aside from Mr. A. needing to replace his cell phone unexpectedly. He has been dissatisfied with it and was planning to replace it soon. But he cracked the screen yesterday, so we're replacing it now.

Wishing you a great week as well!

Wordle 758 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, PROUD, DROOP

Done in by alternate spellings today.

Wordle 759 4/6

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SLATE, BLEND, FLIER, FLYER

Hi, Irene. I hope your week is off to a good start. We are enjoying a lovely stretch of weather. I just counted 4 doves hanging around the feeders, along with cardinals and house sparrows. Of course, there are squirrels and a chipmunk too.

>33 msf59: Hi, Mark. Mr. A's replacement cell phone showed up today, even quicker than we expected it after ordering it yesterday morning. And it updated with just about everything he needed, even though he can't get back into the old phone. It's been a few years since we replaced a phone, and I was amazed at how easy it has gotten to get the new one up to speed. So our week has started out pretty well.

I'm glad you're having such good weather, especially after the storms last week! It is very hot and humid here, normal for July, but not pleasant nonetheless. Yesterday evening I stepped out into our screened porch, and the smoke smell was very noticeable. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires is back in our area, and this was the first time that I could actually smell it. But the air quality is expected to improve tomorrow.

We're still seeing lots of birds at the feeders. I think I forgot to mention when I visited your thread that I've also been seeing female bluebirds. No males when I was looking, so I don't know where they're hiding out. I finally put our hummingbird feeder back out, but still haven't seen any hummingbirds. We normally have plenty of them, but I haven't seen any this year.

I'm glad Mr A got a replacement phone. Dave, my husband recently gifted me with a new Iphone 14. I had a an Iphone X, but he earned ' points ' at work that enabled him to purchase the new phone with just the points. I was similarly impressed with how fast the phone set up. I'm in Vancouver , of course, with my screen name, but no smoke here. We've had it in previous years, but all good for the moment. I think the fires in my province are far enough north of me that we are not affected ( so far ).

>35 vancouverdeb: Wow, your husband was able to get an iPhone with just points? That sounds amazing! We've had Moto phones since we switched to "smart" phones. I've had my Moto G for a couple of years, and it's still working well. I apparently got a good model. My husband had a different model, and it's been driving him crazy for a long time. He replaced it with a Samsung this time, and we hope it will work much better.

I guess the winds must be blowing all the smoke away from you. I certainly never thought before this year that we could be affected by smoke from Canada, but we've already had several air quality alerts from the wildfires this year. I hope your air continues to stay good!

20. George Washington's First War: His Early Military Adventures by David A. Clary

I finally finished George Washington's First War: His Early Military Adventures over the weekend. It is one of my ROOTs, and it fit the June Reading Through Time challenge perfectly. I had started it in June, but unfortunately Mr. A's desire to take a trip prevented me from continuing it. I think I would have finished the book in June if we hadn't taken the trip. I took the book with me, but we were on the go almost the entire time, and I got very little reading done. Then when we got back from the trip, we had post-trip stuff to take care of, plus getting a new computer set up, and that ate up more of my time. However, I did finally get the book finished! It has just taken a little longer to get around to a review.

I found George Washington's First War to be very good. Clary begins by giving some background about the situation in North America regarding French and English settlers and the various native tribes, setting the scene for the events to follow. He describes some of the competition between the English colonies in America. He also summarizes George Washington's early life. The meat of the book deals with the events of the 1750's, leading up to and encompassing the French and Indian War. There is much more detail about what led up to the war than in anything I have previously read, so what actually happened and why makes more sense to me now. The book covers the expedition Virginia Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie sent to the French in late 1753, led by Washington who was only 21 years old, to warn them to withdraw from disputed territory in the Ohio valley, through the disasters of the Jumonville massacre and the surrender at Fort Necessity, Braddock's expedition, and all of Washington's activities during the subsequent war. Washington does not come off particularly well during much of this. He is ambitious, arrogant, defensive, sometimes whiny, and occasionally insubordinate. However, his superiors, notably Dinwiddie, should have known better than to put such a completely inexperienced and untrained young man like Washington in a position of leadership. Washington made many mistakes during this time, but he did learn from them.

The writing is clear and easy to read. It is also well researched, with lots of notes and a bibliography. Much of the book is very interesting in its descriptions of Washington's life and the various battles. The Jumonville massacre and Braddock's battle with the French and Indians are described in detail, so that it's clear what happened. The book does slow down when covering the years 1756 and 1757, as there was not much real action. Washington was tied up in dealing with military administration, having to deal with recruiting, supply issues, and lack of money. 1758 saw a renewed campaign against the French, but the French abandoned their fort before a major battle was fought. Washington subsequently resigned his commission and returned to civilian life, having earned the loyalty of his officers. The book ends with a discussion of the lessons Washington learned during these years when he grew up into manhood, and how these events influenced his later more famous service during the Revolutionary War.

Although I have read biographies of Washington before, none of them covered these events in much detail, and I have a much greater understanding of both the events of these years and Washington's place in them. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in early American history.



I see that the average rating on LT is 3.25 stars, but I don't know why. There are currently no reviews. I definitely think the book is much better than that.

Wordle 760 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, TONIC

Hi Irene!

>30 atozgrl: Sorry Mr A.’s cell phone replacement had to get moved up. On the other hand, new cell phone! When I got the Pixel 7 last year, I was very pleased with the quality of the photos and a few other subtle features I preferred over my Samsung.

>34 atozgrl: We have hardly had any hummingbirds this year, but I did see one yesterday. Only males, though.

>36 atozgrl: Samsungs are good phones, I just got a bee in my bonnet and wanted something different.

>37 atozgrl: Washington does not come off particularly well during much of this. He is ambitious, arrogant, defensive, sometimes whiny, and occasionally insubordinate. However, his superiors, notably Dinwiddie, should have known better than to put such a completely inexperienced and untrained young man like Washington in a position of leadership. Washington made many mistakes during this time, but he did learn from them. Chernow discusses this time in Washington’s life in detail in Washigton: A Life, too, although I seem to recall that the word ‘treason’ was used.

>38 atozgrl: Congrats on Wordle in 3. I got it in 4 yesterday and today.

>39 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen, nice to see you!

Mr. A. is still trying to get used to the new phone. He's having issues being able to silence the alarm when it goes off; some notification apparently covering up the ability to dismiss it. But once he gets used to it, it should be a huge improvement over the old Moto.

I finally saw hummingbirds yesterday! There were at least two. I saw females twice, then later there were two hummingbirds out there. A female was sitting on the feeder, and another one was hanging around, but kept flying off. I didn't get a good enough look at the one flying around to see whether it was male or female.

I haven't read Chernow's biography of Washington yet, though I have it on my shelf. Clary didn't go quite so far as to say "treason" but he certainly made it clear that Washington's complaints were excessive. There was a strong thread of individual colonies looking out for their own interests, and Virginia felt it was in competition with Pennsylvania for the Ohio Valley, and that seems to have formed the basis for Washington's opinions.

Wordle was back to the standard 4 today. This was one of those guessy, guessy puzzles.

Wordle 761 4/6

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SLATE, BLANK, PLANK, FLANK

Happy newish thread!

>41 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita, I'm glad to see you! It sounds like you had a great trip. I hope you're getting settled back in at home.

A quiet day here today. It's still hot, so we're mostly staying inside. But we're going to try to get some yard work done tomorrow, when the humidity is supposed to drop. I will probably be weeding.

What we're watching: I've noticed that several folks post about what they're watching on their threads. So I thought I would mention that we've been watching "A Small Light" this past week. Mark (msf59) mentioned it earlier this month over on Karen's (klobrien2) thread. He said it was streaming on Hulu, which we don't have access to, but it was originally on National Geographic channel in May. Somehow we missed it when it aired, but when I checked a week ago, it was still available on demand on the cable, but only for another week. So we've been watching the episodes all week. It tells the story of Miep Gies who helped to hide Anne Frank's family. There were many echoes of the story in Witness to the Dark by Wolf Holles, which I received as an Early Reviewer book earlier this year. Both tell a lot about what Amsterdam was like under the Nazi occupation. Like Mark, I also highly recommend "A Small Light."

Today's Wordle:
Wordle 762 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, BURLY

We had some overcast, lower temperatures and somewhat lower humidity, and a little breeze this morning, so I did the weeding as planned. Of course, there's always more to do.

Wordle was more of a struggle today.
Wordle 763 5/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, CHORE, GROVE, FROZE

At its annual conference, the American Library Association has reissued the Freedom to Read statement on its 70th anniversary, in conjunction with the AAP. You can read about it here. If you would like to show your support for the statement, you can sign on here.

>37 atozgrl: I've read a bit that period of Washington's career and was not impressed.

>40 atozgrl: It's sad that even with a relatively good new cell phone experience, there are still issues like notifications covering up the UI to dismiss a noisy alarm.

>46 ArlieS: Thanks, Arlie. Yes, Washington had a lot to learn at that young age. Fortunately for us, he grew up.

No kidding, about the cell phone. Mr. A couldn't dismiss the alarm because there was some notification covering it. But he finally resolved the issue. My biggest complaint with using the phone is the giant (on a phone) popups on websites that cover your screen when you're in the middle of reading something. Enough already!

Better today.

Wordle 764 2/6

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SLATE, WHALE

21. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

I read The Nightingale for my book club this month. Nicely enough, it also fits the quarterly Reading Through Time theme of World War II. I'm not sure how, but somehow I missed hearing about this one when it came out. Probably because that was the time when I was having to deal with moving my mother and discovering her dementia, and I was so thoroughly stressed out.

The book tells the story of two French sisters, separated in age by about 10 years. They have very different personalities, and often clash. Both also have a difficult relationship with their father. One sister is married and the younger one is single. The story begins on the eve of WWII, and we see how the war affects both of them, and the different choices they make. We also see how the lives of the French under German occupation gets progressively worse over time. I was unaware of just how bad conditions were on the home front in France during the war, and how near starving the people were. I also learned a lot about the French resistance that I did not know before reading this book. There is an unexpected twist at the end.

I found the book to be a beautiful story of love and loss. It's also about women in war, how it affects them, and how their contributions to the fight are important but often overlooked. One of my favorite reads of the year so far. Highly recommended.

Should have started with my second word today.

Wordle 765 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, HOBBY

Beautiful Wordle-ing! I took 5 to get it, but that’s okay. Like you, first word was a total miss.

Karen O

>51 klobrien2: Thank you! After seeing discussion on other threads, it looks like 5 was a good solve today. Lots of folks had trouble with this one. I was surprised I got it in 3, as I wasn't expecting my guess to be right.

Testing for stars

>53 atozgrl: very pretty! I used to use these colored stars until they went away. If you would, please indicate where you’re finding them? I seem to recall some discussion of them here on LT, but I scrolled by too fast, I guess.

Have a great day!

Karen O

LT green stars test












Instructions at https://www.librarything.com/topic/129158#6620607

>54 klobrien2: Hi, Karen. I asked karenmarie over on her thread how she got stars in her posts, and she gave me the information for both the green stars and the colored ones. I was having trouble getting the green ones to work, but the instructions for the colorful ones worked. What she said was:

where @humoress (Helen's) colored stars source is https://retz.us/deffNN, NN = 05-50

So I used:
img src="https://retz.us/deff05" /> (note that the opening angle bracket is omitted so that most of the coding will display)
for the half star
with the ending backslash added for more up to date HTML.

Let me know if you have any questions!

>56 atozgrl: Thanks! I'll give this a try tomorrow!

Karen O

Back to the standard result. I struggled a bit, even though I got it in 4.

Wordle 766 4/6

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SLATE, LEARN, BOWEL, WHEEL My second guess was mainly to try to get more letters and placement of letters, even though I knew it couldn't be the answer.

I should have solved this one sooner.

Wordle 767 4/6

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SLATE, MEATY (oops--I was trying to guess something keeping the A in place, but didn't notice that I had also left the T in place), TEACH, HEART

Wordle 769 3/6

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SLATE, HEIST, ETHOS

This one took a lot of figuring on paper, but I got it.

22. Revolutionary Summer: the Birth of American Independence by Joseph J. Ellis

I read Revolutionary Summer: the Birth of American Independence for the July Reading Through Time topic of Revolutions. I have collected several books by Joseph Ellis over the years, but this is the first one I've actually gotten around to reading. I have to say, I was quite impressed. I thought David Clary's writing in George Washington's First War, which I read earlier this month was quite clear and readable for a history book, but Ellis is even better. I really enjoyed his style. There's a bit of wit with an occasional touch of irony in his writing. In one example, as he describes the arrival of the Continental Army in New York, which was to be supplemented by local state militias, he says

On the day Washington arrived back in New York, his aides apprised him that many of the incoming militia lacked muskets. The next day, headquarters issued an order that these men be equipped with spears. This was an ominous sign.

Ellis' thesis in this book is that 1776 is the key year in the story of the American Revolution, but that historians have tended to tell the story in separate accounts, focusing on either the political story in Philadelphia with the Continental Congress, or the military events in New York. But Ellis argues that they were two sides of a single story that cannot truly be understood unless they are told together. These events were happening at the same time, and what happened in one place influenced outcomes in the other. He proceeds to give us the story, with details of what was happening on both fronts. He provides descriptive portraits of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin, as well as some of the leading figures on the English side. His descriptions of the political and military situations are clear and revealing.

The events surrounding the American Revolution are familiar, and we think we know what happened, but he provides details that I did not know. For one thing, we know all the stories about the deprivations that the Continental Army faced throughout the war. One of the problems being that enlistments were normally for just a year, so recruits were leaving at the time they had finally been trained, and they had to start over with new recruits. They were also usually woefully short of supplies. But Ellis points out that this was inevitable, because Americans at that time feared a standing army, and saw it as an embodiment of centralized military power, which was the very thing they were fighting against. Individual states were more interested in supplying their local militias than the Continental Army. And the Army was intended to be transitory, expanding as needed to fight battles, supplemented by the militias. This is a point I had never thought of before, and don't remember it being pointed out by any other historian. In describing the military campaign in New York, he makes it clear that the English forces had several opportunities to crush the Continental Army, but allowed it to escape to fight another day. Another surprise to me was that both General William Howe and his brother Admiral Richard Howe, leaders of the English army and navy, still actually hoped to broker a diplomatic solution and end the fighting. They hoped the superior show of force would cause the Americans to rethink their position. However, by the time they arrived, it was too late, and the Continental Congress could not be turned.

I found the book to be extremely well-written, making Ellis' points well, and clarifying the events of the American Revolution in 1776. I look forward to reading the other books by Ellis that are sitting on my shelves.

Wordle 770 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, CURLY

Happy Sunday, Irene. Thanks for dropping by while we were away. It was a great trip. Gave us a lot of well-needed experience. I am so glad you enjoyed "A Small Light". Such a fine production. We are in the second season of The Last Tango in Halifax. Such a good family drama. Happy Valley has been excellent too, but much darker.

GO CUBBIES!! They have been on a killer roll and are finally above .500. Keep it going!

Hi Irene!

>61 atozgrl: I have this one, along with 4 other as-yet unread books by Ellis on my shelves. I read George Washington: His Excellency in April of 2017. I see that you have it on your shelves, too.

Congrats on yesterday’s Wordle in 3.

Hi Irene! Welcome back to LT (although my wishes are a bit belated). I'm returning your visit. By the way, I'm 'humouress' with a 'U' as in the British spelling :0)

>63 msf59: Happy Sunday to you as well, Mark! I hope you are getting well settled back in at home after your trip. I really did enjoy "A Small Light." It should be getting much more attention. I will try to see if I can find Last Tango in Halifax. I'm not sure if I'll get to "Happy Valley." It doesn't look like the kind of thing I usually watch.

I wish the Cubs could have kept the string going today, but beating the Cardinals 3 out of 4 in St. Louis is an accomplishment! I hope they can keep the winning going. They've only got a couple of days to make any trades to improve the team. I guess we'll see what they do.

>64 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! It's so good to see you here!

Yes, I do have His Excellency : George Washington on my shelves! It's still waiting for me to get to it. Along with several other Ellis books. Based on how much I enjoyed this one, I should like the others as well.

Thanks re the Wordle. I seem to be getting better at it.

>65 humouress: Hello, Nina! Thanks so much for visiting! Karen gave me the information about the stars, so my post above was just quoting her. But I note the correct spelling! I really envy your lovely new shelving!

Today's Wordle:
Wordle 771 2/6

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SLATE, BATHE I was very surprised to get this. It was the first word I could think of that used the letters I had and left the last correct one in place. I did not expect it to be the solution.

My usual starting word worked great today.

Wordle 772 2/6

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SLATE, STYLE

>66 atozgrl: I like the scary stuff like Happy Valley! My eldest son teases me that I ought to watch more " wholesome " tv shows. I think I"ve started watching Peaky Blinders now, which I once thought was too scary. We'll see :-)

>69 vancouverdeb: Hi, Deborah, thanks for visiting!

Is Happy Valley supposed to be a scary show? It looked more like a police procedural, which isn't the kind of thing that I watch very often. I used to like scary things when I was a kid, but I don't like horror movies any more, so if it is a scary-type show, that wouldn't appeal to me much either.

I've been offline a bit the last few days, so I'm getting behind on the threads again.

Wordle 775 2/6

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SLATE, PARTY
Surprised myself again. I was just trying to get more letters, but my second word was the answer.

>71 atozgrl: Good for you with your Wordle-in-two! And that rhymes!

Karen O

>72 klobrien2: Thanks, Karen! I really didn't expect that to be the right one.

We went to see "Oppenheimer" at the movies this afternoon. It was our first outing to the theater since the COVID pandemic began. We brought masks but didn't use them. The audience was small this afternoon, and my glasses wanted to fog up, so I didn't keep mine on. Quite an outstanding film, we thought.

I'm not sure how the people who did the "Barbenheimer" thing could actually go see "Barbie" after watching "Oppenheimer." There was too much to digest in that film for me--I couldn't have followed it up immediately with something so much lighter.

>74 atozgrl: We loved Oppenheimer too, Irene, and you're right - so much to digest. We found ourselves wanting to see it again at home, with subtitles, so we could rewind... it was easy to miss important points!

>75 PlatinumWarlock: I just read an article that said Christopher Nolan doesn't have actors re-record their lines in the studio in post-production, which is why it's sometimes hard to understand what they're saying in his movies. I normally don't like captions in English language films because I find them distracting, but they might be necessary when watching his films.

For me, there's a remote but personal link to the story. My father was in the army in WWII, and he was one of the soldiers they pulled out to go work at Los Alamos. Apparently, they were looking for soldiers who had the right education/training/aptitude? to serve there. He told us he was sent first to Chicago for education, then to Los Alamos. He would never tell us much about what he was doing there, because he said he didn't know what was declassified. But he did say that his group was working under Kistiakowsky on the "fuse." When we were moving my mom at the end of her life, and clearing out what was in their house, I found several copies of a letter of reference that Oppenheimer had written for my father.

Today was another one of those guessy, guessy Wordles.

Wordle 776 5/6

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SLATE, TRAIN, APART, QUART, CHART

>76 atozgrl: Wow, fascinating story about your father.

>76 atozgrl: How interesting to have that letter. We went to see Oppenheimer last weekend and enjoyed it, but a lot to think about as you say. With two historians in our party (Mr SandDune and Jacob) there was a lot of post-film discussion that rather went over my head, ending up in an argument about the extent to which the atomic bomb caused Japan to surrender.

>79 SandDune: I spent a year in Japan on a study abroad program. I did a lot of reading about Japan at that time, some related to WWII. What I gathered was that after the first bomb was dropped, the Japanese military leaders were still opposed to surrendering. Even after the second bomb was dropped, the military wanted to continue the war, but the emperor intervened and said it was time to stop. Assuming all this is true, I cannot imagine what it would have taken in a traditional invasion to get the Japanese to surrender. Just demonstrating the power of the bomb in a remote spot wouldn't have stopped them if they still went on even after the first one was dropped on Hiroshima. But it is truly horrifying that such weapons exist. May they never be used again!

Wordle 777 3/6

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SLATE, CANOE, ANODE
Not an easy word today. I had to resort to writing options down in order to figure this one out.

>76 atozgrl: Wow! Interesting story about your dad.

Happy Saturday, Irene. We are having a good time with Jackson. We bring him back home later this afternoon. Nothing much to report on the feeders. A light rain falling out there. Not sure if that will delay the starting time of the Cubs game. Like we mentioned, I hope we can at least win one of these next 2 and stay above .500. Go Cubbies!

>80 atozgrl: As I said, Mr SandDune and Jacob's discussions were way beyond my historical knowledge. But Jacob seemed to be arguing for the importance of the Russians invading Manchuria (I think) in forcing the surrender - something I'd never heard of.

How interesting to have spent a year in Japan! I have been there only once (for a week - with work) and it's the country that I would most like to revisit.

Hi Irene!

>76 atozgrl: Wow, fascinating story about your father in WWII. Wonderful that you have copies of the letter of reference.

>80 atozgrl: My father was in Europe when the war there ended, getting ready to be sent to the Pacific Theater. He was glad the bombs were dropped, which gave me an opportunity to see other sides of a controversial issue. My dad did not have to go to the Pacific Theater, lived, went to college on the GI Bill, met my mother, married her, and I was born a year later.

On the other hand, a woman I worked with here in Sanford is Japanese and her grandparents disappeared when the bombs were dropped – don’t know where they were. They were just …. gone.

>81 atozgrl: I guessed abode for my second word, then got it on attempt 3.

I hope you’re having a good weekend so far.

Another good day, even with the rain!

>76 atozgrl: Wow! What a great discovery about your father. Too bad that due to classified information, he was not able to talk more about it with you.

Happy rest of the weekend

How interesting to find your father knew Oppenheimer. I do want to see both that film and Barbie -- but not one right after the other.

>84 SandDune: Hello, Rhian! Yes, Russia came in at the end of the war. I think they wanted the land they lost to Japan at the beginning of the century back. They didn't come in until the war was basically already lost, so I don't think their entry into the war made much difference.

>78 kac522: >82 SqueakyChu: >85 karenmarie: >87 figsfromthistle: >88 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks! My sister and I didn't find out about it until we were in our teens and the family made a trip to Los Alamos. At that time, it was still fairly remote, and the road up to Los Alamos was a windy, mountain road with no railings. It was a scary road to me. Los Alamos still had the look of an army base at the time. I remember passing a checkpoint gate and seeing fencing, etc. The last time we went about 5 years ago, it was really changed. Looked like a normal city, much more built up, and a wide, multiple lane road going into and out of the city.

I kind of wish the movie had had some scene that showed how hard it was to get to Los Alamos back in the 40's.

>83 msf59: >86 kac522: The Cubs had a good game yesterday; hoping they can hang on for the win today. Looks like it's still sorta rainy in Chicago today. It's hot and humid here today.

Mark, it sounds like you had a great couple of days with Jackson! I know you're always glad to see him. Maybe your feeders are busier today? I had to refill suet and nuggets on my feeders today.

>85 karenmarie: The decision on dropping the bomb was certainly difficult. Hard to say what was right or not. I don't think those of us today looking back can put ourselves in the position of the ones making the decision at that time, so I won't sit in judgment on them. I know all the American (and allied) soldiers were glad the war ended and they didn't have to try to invade the main Japanese islands. That would have been a bloodbath.

I remember reading Hiroshima when we were in junior high. It was required reading in one of my classes. It told how some people in Hiroshima were simply vaporized when the bomb exploded. Horrifying. (As an aside, that's why I don't like it when people say after some disaster that it looks like an atom bomb went off. No it doesn't. It may look like a bomb went off, but not an atom bomb.) So that might be what happened to the relatives of your Japanese co-worker.

I also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park while I was in Japan. Truly unforgettable.

>85 karenmarie: & >95 atozgrl: Yes, I don't think that it is overly meaningful to try to pass judgement on the decisions made by Truman and his team in dropping the bomb. It was to accelerate the end of the war and there may be a calculation as to whether the number of lives lost were reduced as a result of the pushing of the button (figuratively). I guess that is small comfort to those losing loved ones in the process.

>93 PaulCranswick: Very true! This is something that will always be a very uncomfortable part of human history. I truly hope that remembering it will indeed prevent any future world wars. May humanity never be that stupid.

Another guessy Wordle today.

Wordle 779 5/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, BROOM, BROOD, BROOK

>92 atozgrl: When my older son was in Japan again this year, he finally visited Hiroshima and shared his pictures with me - among them pictures of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. I feel happy that the U.S. and Japan are allies now. This is a tough world we live in.

Happy 15th thingaversary, Irene!

>97 FAMeulstee: Thank you very much, Anita!

>96 SqueakyChu: The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is well worth visiting for anyone who can make it to Japan. I am also very happy that the US and Japan are allies. Agreed, the world is tough, and it seems tougher these days. Tougher than necessary.

On a more cheerful note, I hope you're having a good week!

I surprised myself today.

Wordle 780 3/6

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SLATE, LYRIC, BULLY

Happy Wednesday, Irene. On my Trail Watch walk on Monday, I spotted a peregrine falcon, snacking on his breakfast. We have peregrines in northern IL but spotting them in the suburbs is not always easy. You have a much better chance to see them along the Chicago lakefront, where they perch along the high-rises. This was only my second sighting in my county. I also saw a juvenile bald eagle but they are nesting in that particular area.

Go Cubbies! Glad we didn't drop 2 against the Mets. I sure hope Hendricks delivers tonight.

>101 msf59: Thanks for stopping by to visit, Mark! How fun to see a peregrine falcon! I've never seen one in the wild.

Unfortunately the Cubs couldn't complete the comeback tonight. Drat those Mets! They have another challenge in Toronto, but I hope they can take advantage of a better schedule after that.

Wordle 781 3/6

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SLATE, LEMON, LOVER

My Fifteener badge finally showed up tonight, a day late. I was wondering how long it would take. But I'm glad to see it!

Wordle 782 3/6

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SLATE, PETTY, EMPTY

And yet again, a guessy-guessy Wordle day.

Wordle 783 5/6

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SLATE, LEMON, CELLO, JELLO, HELLO

This didn't start out very promisingly.

Wordle 784 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, DUMPY, QUICK Whew!

23. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

I started reading this in July for the Revolutions challenge. I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish it before the end of July, but I didn't expect it to take me this long to finish! Seems like that unexpected trip we took at the end of June knocked off my reading for two months straight--the trip kept me from finishing George Washington's First War: His Early Military Adventures until well into July, and as a result I didn't get through all my planned July reads until August. Doctor Zhivago is one of those books that has been sitting on my shelf forever, and I had never gotten around to reading it.

What to say about this book? It's a complicated novel. Although the cover blurb touts it as "a love story for all time", and the movie played it up as a love story, to me it was much more about what was happening to the people in Russia during the time covered in the book and how the great events of the time affected them. It didn't really turn into a love story until about the last quarter of the book.

Doctor Zhivago covers a broad swath of Russian history, from the 1905 rebellion through World War I, the initial revolution in February 1917, the October 1917 Bolshevik revolution, and the following civil war. The lives of Dr. Zhivago, Lara, and their friends and acquaintances are set against this background. Their stories are complicated, and there are a lot of characters who appear, disappear, and turn up unexpectedly later in the novel. Dr. Zhivago's story is tragic, although this is somewhat his own fault. I'm not sure I really understand why he let Lara leave at the end without following her, if he was that much in love with her. It led to further, probably unnecessary, suffering for both of them. The story continues longer than I expected, with more of Zhivago's life in Moscow, a new family, and even on briefly to WWII after his death.

The overall tone of the novel was also darker than I expected. In addition, Pasternak engages in a lot of philosophizing, which seems to be a normal part of the Russian literature I've read, but I wasn't much interested in those discussions in this novel. One quote that caught my eye, given the situation in our country these days, was when Zhivago said "Politics doesn't appeal to me. I don't like people who don't care about the truth."

In sum, I'd have to say that it was an interesting story, but I doubt that I would read it again. But I may have to watch the movie again, just to see how much of the novel was in the movie, since I don't remember much from it. I struggled a bit with the rating, but finally decided that 3.5 stars is closest to how I feel about it.

The heat is back with a vengeance today. Heat advisory up for today and tomorrow, and we'll probably get another one for Tuesday. Then it's supposed to "cool off" slightly. I got quite sweaty this morning while refilling the bird feeders and bird baths, which had gone completely dry. I also watered some plants. And looking forward to the day we get some really cooler weather in here.

Wordle 785 2/6

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SLATE, WRATH

>76 atozgrl: Wow... what a wild thing to find when clearing out your parents' home! I'm trying - and failing - to imagine what it must have been like to have someone like Oppenheimer write me a letter of reference.

Also - I had no idea that actors sometimes re-record their lines in post-production, but now that you mention it... duh! That has to make things easier...

Hello, Lavinia, good to see you here! It certainly was an unexpected find for us! But you never know what you might find in your parents papers.

I think they re-record lines all the time for the movies, to make anything that isn't clear from the live recording more understandable. But apparently Nolan doesn't usually follow that practice.

I hope you have a great week!

A standard Wordle day today.

Wordle 786 4/6

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SLATE, SPARK, SHAKY, SNAKY

I went to a decluttering class at the senior center this morning, then stopped for groceries for my weekly shopping trip on the way home. We were about to start lunch around 1:20 when the power cut off for a second. Long enough to knock out the cable and internet, but not the clocks. When my husband went back upstairs after 2:00, he noticed it was hot. We've experienced mysterious AC outages in the past, and when someone came to look at it they didn't find anything wrong. So my husband turned off the upstairs AC unit and went out to check the breaker. It hadn't flipped, but he turned it off and back on, then turned the thermostat back on. It kept getting hotter, even though the vent in the bedroom felt like it was blowing cold air. The upstairs got up to 84, but eventually the cooling did kick in, and it's back to normal now. It looks like we won't need to have the repair guys come after all. Fortunately, the downstairs AC had no problems, and I stayed downstairs most of the afternoon. At least it wasn't as hot as yesterday. My husband said the noon news reported that Raleigh got up to 100F yesterday, with a heat index of 115. Today it was only 91F.

Wordle 788 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, SHRUB, SCRUB

Oh, that is hot, Irene. We have a heat wave at the moment,but not with temps as high as you by any means. We had our power surge about 2 -3 times over a minute or two last December, and it hit our furnace! It cut out and we has to call in a Furnace guy. It turned out the power surges knocked out a blower motor or something, and we had to have it replaces. Our neighbour said they lost a few Christmas lights. I would have preferred that.

Sweet Thursday, Irene. Glad the AC is working again. Whew! Not sure if you were following the Cubs game last night but I was sure they were going to drop both games against the White Sox and Morel hit a walk off three-run homer in the 9th. The bullpen pitched wonderfully too. They are playing subpar teams for the next 10 days. Hoping they can really cash in.

We are off on another camping trip but this one just for the weekend and much closer. An IL state park. Have a great weekend.

We had high of 103 on Mon and Tues then 101 yesterday. There are some high clouds visible today and it's only 79 now a little past noon. There is a fire going not far away though which may be some of the "clouds" so I'm not going to celebrate the return to normal just yet. Hope your area cools off soon.

Wow! Hope your A/C situation remains good! Minnesota south central is under another air quality advisory the next two days due to the Canadian wildfires. Otherwise, it has been humid but not so hot.

Have a great weekend!

Karen O

>116 RebaRelishesReading: We're down to a delightful 75 in Seattle now, Reba - hope it got better for you too!

>118 PlatinumWarlock: Much, much better thank you. It's 86 outside right now. We went to the farmer's market this morning and it was simply delightful to be outside.

Thanks, everyone, for keeping my thread warm while I was not on LT the last few days! >114 vancouverdeb: >116 RebaRelishesReading: >117 klobrien2: The weather has cooled off and we actually had a delightful day yesterday. It was still in the 90s, but the humidity was way down, and it felt much better. I ran into all kinds of problems with my weed killer yesterday, but besides that, it was a good day. I did see that you all in Washington are getting your own wildfires now, in addition to the ones in Canada. I hope it's not too bad where you are!

>115 msf59: I did not have the Cubs game on Wednesday, but I checked the score shortly after it ended and watched the replays. What a way to end the game! I did see the game Friday, and unfortunately things didn't work out so well for that one. Very frustrating for the Cubs to be a run ahead, but then they had an error followed by a wind-blown home run into the basket, and they lost by a run. I do hope they can take advantage of the upcoming schedule. Wishing you a fun camping trip this weekend!

Wordle 792 3/6

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SLATE, GUEST, QUEST. I actually thought of Quest first, but didn't want to waste a guess on a Q so early in the game. I should have gone with my gut.

24. Wilmington's Lie: the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy by David Zucchino

I read this one for my book club this month. Wilmington's Lie tells the story of the coup led by white supremacists in North Carolina to overthrow the Fusionist government of Wilmington, made up of white Republicans and a number of black men. This is a tale that was largely lost to history until a few people at the centennial of the events started pushing for a way to commemorate it and the state legislature in 2000 created a commission to investigate it.

By 1898, Wilmington was a remarkably successful (for the time) community of mixed races. White supremacists in Wilmington and around the state were angry and determined to overthrow that government. This book sets the stage for events leading up to the coup. It provides background history from the Civil War to the end of the century, and introduces the leading characters who played a role on both sides. Zucchino describes the white supremacist campaign designed to frighten white Fusionist voters and scare them into voting for white supremacist Democrats. But the election of 1898 would not replace all the offices held by Fusionists. Democrats succeeded in regaining near complete control over the state legislature and full control of county offices. But this was not enough. City government offices were not up for election until the following spring. So the day after the election, they set their plan in motion to force the Mayor, Chief of Police, and other city officials to resign. This led to the notorious massacre of many black men on November 10. Zucchino recounts the event of this day in detail. Of course, the white supremacists claimed there was a riot of black men, and they had to put it down. But Zucchino presents a great deal of evidence to show that the events of that day had been planned in advance by a number of the white supremacist leaders.

It was somewhat shocking to me to see so many well-known names involved in these events. I was already aware that Josephus Daniels and Charles Aycock were involved, but I didn't expect to see William Rand Kenan, Sr., James Sprunt, or Hugh MacRae. The latter in particular played a leading role. I was also surprised to see how much of the country knew about the events. Apparently people were expecting a race war in Wilmington, and there were correspondents from around the country covering the election there. Also appalling was the complete lack of a response from the federal government. It was a truly horrific event and a stain on our country's history.

Wilmington's Lie gives about as complete a recounting of the events of that day, as well as what led up to it and what followed, as is probably possible to make. It is extremely well researched, with 41 pages of notes and an extensive bibliography. He has unearthed some unpublished memoirs which help to fill in the details. It is also very well written and compelling. Given events in this country at the present day, it is important that we not forget what happened here, as we do not want to see a repeat. I recommend this book for everyone, but North Carolinians in particular should read it.

Wordle 793 3/6

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SLATE, YEARN, BEACH

>121 atozgrl: Wow, Irene! That sounds like quite a book. I’m getting all those same feels from the book I’m currently reading: Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. I’m not yet up to the late nineteenth century, but in this chronological history of racism it is quite unnerving to read about the real Black history. Who knows what the future will bring? These well documented and researched histories of our states (mine is Maryland) and country in both of our current reads are deeply sad as well as terrifying.

>123 SqueakyChu: Sad and terrifying is right. We need this knowledge to help prevent more of the same in the future. I hadn't heard about that book by Kendi. I've got a different one in my stack of books to read. It looks like I need to add this one to my TBR pile. Thanks for sharing about it!

Our book club met today and had a very good discussion about Wilmington's Lie. All of us were shocked by some of the things we read in the book, and we saw parallels to things happening today.

Another guessy-guessy Wordle.

Wordle 794 5/6

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SLATE, SHINE, SPIRE, SPIKE, SPICE

>124 atozgrl: I 100% highly recommend Kendi's book. It will have five stars from me. But because it is so long, it will take me quite a while to finish it. I don't want to miss anything so I'm reading it very slowly because it is packed with information. Which is the book you have in your stack to read? You'll find Kendi's book shocking as well.

>125 atozgrl: I would have very much liked to hear the discussion about Wilmington's Lie.

Happy Wednesday, Irene. With the August heat, not much to report on the feeder front. It is also keeping me off the trails. The Cubs need to be more consistent. It was a rough one against the Tigers last night and they are not a good team. It is doubtful they can win the division but could pull off a Wild Card spot.

>127 msf59: Happy Wednesday to you too, Mark! I saw most of the game this afternoon, and it was also a struggle. It doesn't help that Milwaukee keeps winning. I'm hoping for the wild card, but there are a lot of teams still in competition for those spots. I guess we'll see what happens.

I was glad the Cubs were in Detroit, where it seems to be a lot cooler than Chicago. We're supposed to get the heat here on Friday. They're now forecasting that it will be 100 here. I hope the heat doesn't stick around for you too long!

>126 SqueakyChu: Hi Madeline! The Kendi book I have is How to be an Antiracist. I've got a pile of current interest type books that I was planning to make a dent in this year, but after getting back involved with LT this year, I've been doing a lot of challenges, and haven't gotten to those books yet. I've got so many TBR books that I can find a lot to fit the various challenges, but these books haven't fit any yet. Maybe I can find some time to fit them in at some point this year. I've added Stamped from the Beginning to my wishlist. Thanks for sharing about it.

Wordle was a challenge today. It's been a while since it took me all 6 to solve the puzzle.

Wordle 795 6/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, DUCKY, WHERE, VERGE, VERVE

>129 atozgrl: That was also a great book and so worthwhile reading. The book I’m reading now is pure history, much like your Wilmington’s Lie book. I’m at the part in my book just after the Civil War and just decided also that I also have to read Uncle Tom’s Cabin concurrently! There was a part in my current Kendi book that discussed Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I didn’t want to read that part until I read Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book first. Somehow I have gotten to be reading four books concurrently, but I’m not willing to stop reading any of them! I hate when that happens. :)

>131 SqueakyChu: I honestly don't know how people read more than one book at one time! I can't really do that, except for books that are more like a daily devotional, with one short essay to read every day. I have not gotten into audio books, and I could see how you might listen to one of those while driving or doing something else, and then still have a book to read the traditional way. Four is really a lot!

I read Uncle Tom's Cabin once when I was still back in school. I read it on my own, not as a school assignment, but I remember thinking it was kind of a slog. But I thought it was important, so I wanted to read it. I don't remember much; maybe I should read it again.

>132 atozgrl: It’s funny. I never had any desire to ever read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but now that I’m reading it in conjunction with Kendi’s nonfiction book that puts this novel in historical perspective, I’m finding it quite interesting. The third book is just an extremely long horror novel that is so dense I can only read a few pages at a time. The fourth book is a daily devotional, but it was written for fathers. I feel compelled to read it because I asked my local library to buy it…and they did! One day I’ll finish all four books! :D

>133 SqueakyChu: Hmmm, interesting idea. Maybe I should try to read both books as you are. It might make Uncle Tom's Cabin a more interesting read. Good luck with reading all four of those books! It sounds like quite a lot to take on at once!

Hi Irene!

>121 atozgrl: Living in NC, of course I’ve heard of the coup but never read anything about it. Added to my wish list.

>129 atozgrl: I read Kendi’s How to be an Antiracist in October of 2020. I gave it 4.5 stars and raved about it. In case you’re interested, here’s the review I wrote: How to be an Antiracist

>132 atozgrl: I’ve got 7 going, but 3 of them are possibly Abandon material, haven’t figured that out yet. Three romances, The Federalist Papers, Pilgrim, The Making of Biblical Womanhood, and Lethal White on audiobook.

I have a lovely Easton Press edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, started it twice, and have never wanted to finish it. I keep it because it looks pretty on my shelves, one of the least common reasons I have for books taking up valuable shelf space.

Have a wonderful weekend.

>135 karenmarie: Hi Karen, it's lovely to see you here! I really think you'll like Wilmington's Lie. Or maybe "like" is the wrong word, given the subject matter. I think it's an important book, and illuminates some history that was mostly forgotten but shouldn't be. The link to your review of How to be an Antiracist doesn't seem to be working. I definitely plan to read the book, hopefully sooner than later.

7 books at once! I could see The Federalist Papers as one of those where you could read an essay at a time when you feel like it, but that many other books at once is more than my head can keep up with!

The heat is back. Stay cool this weekend!

Wordle 797 4/6

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SLATE, DREAM, CHEAP, OCEAN If I'd stuck to my usual second guess, I would have probably gotten it in three. But I'm satisfied with 4 today.

>132 atozgrl: I can do 3 books: one fiction, one nonfiction and one audio (in the car). The audio is almost always a re-read, so I don't feel it interferes with the other books.

Even with the other 2 actual books (fiction & nonfiction), I tend to read them alternate days (fiction today, nonfiction tomorrow). And sometimes I abandon the alternate strategy and just go for finishing one of them, especially if I'm nearing the end or enjoying one a lot. I feel like having too many books going at one time diminishes the impact of them all, and so I eventually revert to one at a time.

>138 kac522: Having too many books going at one time diminishes the impact of them all
I think that's partly my issue with it, and I just want to focus my attention on one thing at a time. Fiction and nonfiction at the same time would be easier than multiple fiction books. But I'm still mostly a one-at-a-time gal.

>139 atozgrl: I totally get it. I've put down my fiction book for a few days and am going to concentrate on the nonfiction: My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead, which is keeping me turning pages.

Happy Saturday, Irene. Much more comfortable today- mid-70s. The Cubs were completely flat in last night's game, like they were suffering a team hangover. I hope they show much more energy these next 2 games against the Bucs. You need to build up some momentum with the Brewers series coming up.

Feeders were hopping yesterday, with the highlights being a flicker and a grackle. I also saw several common nighthawks fly over the house last night. Always a neat sighting, during migration.

>140 kac522: That sounds like an interesting book!

>141 msf59: I didn't see any of last night's game, but the score looked like they didn't hit much. I hope they can get things going against Pittsburgh. And Milwaukee looks like they can't lose right now.

My feeders are also busy right now. I needed to refill both seed feeders this morning, shelled and unshelled. And all the birdbaths were dry, so I filled them as well while watering the plants. When I was getting ready to eat my bowl of cereal, I saw a cardinal taking full advantage of the shallow birdbath. He was getting a nice bath, splashing a lot. It's supposed to be in the upper 90s here today, but then it's supposed to drop into the 80s all next week, so it should be the last really hot day for a while.

I don't think I've ever seen a nighthawk. That sounds like a cool sight!

Well, I gave Connections a try this morning, and managed to get it all right. This was my third try after hearing about the game from Peggy, and my first time to get a perfect score. I wouldn't have been able to figure out the last line, but fortunately I was able to get the first three, so there were only 4 squares left. I did also have to look up Trouble to make sure it was a game; I wasn't familiar with it.

Connections
Puzzle #76
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>144 atozgrl: I bombed out totally with Connections today. :(

>145 RebaRelishesReading: I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you'll have better luck next time. I realized first that there were three I recognized that were games and guessed which one was the fourth in that category, and double-checked by googling it first. Then I saw a group that were names in myths, then of what was left, some were clearly sections in a newspaper. I didn't recognize the link between the last four at all, but since that was all that was left, they must go together somehow. I just got lucky with a set of words that worked for me today. I think a lot of this just depends on what you happen to know. It was also the first time I realized that the results were shareable, so I went ahead and posted them. I doubt I'll make another clean run any time soon.

Wordle 798 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, CHOIR

>147 atozgrl: I don't think Connections is for me, but I do like Quordle, which is 4 Wordles at once. You get more guesses, and I'm ecstatic when I can get all 4 before my guesses run out.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/games/quordle/#/

>148 kac522: I had seen Dordle before, but not Quordle. I haven't really tried playing it. Maybe I'll have to give one or both a try.

I've done Quordle, but not for a long time. I stick just to Wordle lately.

>150 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah, it's nice to see you! I don't know if I'll get into Quordle or not. I might want to give it a try. But I don't have time to play all of these games, so we'll see. I will be sticking with Wordle though.

25. Ribbon of Sand: the amazing convergence of the ocean & the Outer Banks by John Alexander and James Lazell

I read this book for the August Nonfiction Challenge: The World of the Land, Trees and Plants. I've had it on my shelves for a long time, but I don't remember when I picked it up. I thought I was going to finish reading it yesterday, as I had only one chapter left, but I wound up watching a bunch of track and field and gymnastics instead. I did read a little bit yesterday, but only finished this morning. C'est la vie.

My copy of this book is the paperback edition, published in 2000. It was originally published in 1992, and my edition only added a preface to update some of the information in the book. So it's not current, unfortunately. However, that doesn't really matter for most of the information presented in the book.

Most of the book focuses on the natural history of the Outer Banks, and how sand, water, and wind have shaped them. It also describes some of the flora and fauna of the Banks, and spends a chapter covering the scientific investigation of a very unusual king snake, which appears to be unique to a specific section of the Outer Banks. However, it also spends a couple of chapters on history. One details Blackbeard's final battle with Lieutenant Robert Maynard and shows how the configuration of the land, channels, and shoals were key to the battle. The other historical chapter reports on the Wright brothers and their flight tests at Kitty Hawk, the difficult Outer Banks weather they had to cope with, and their eventual successful powered flight.

The final chapter of the book discusses several threats to the Outer Banks, including drilling for oil in the Atlantic, proposed construction of jetties to stabilize the Oregon Inlet (which would interfere with the natural processes that build and maintain the barrier islands), and threats to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This chapter is really the only one affected by the book being 30 years old. The preface updates it to some extent, but only to 1999, and a lot has happened since then. The Bonner Bridge has been replaced after years of arguments, and proposals to build jetties at Oregon Inlet were dropped, only to be recently revived. Now the question seems to be whether or not to build wind farms offshore rather than oil rigs. Threats from global warming and rising oceans have only become much more apparent. It would be useful to have an update on the current threats.

The style of writing in this book changed with the subject matter. Some chapters took a more scientific approach, especially the one about the king snake. Others were more historical, although the chapter on Blackbeard also included detailed analysis of various maps of Ocracoke from before and after 1718. The opening chapter, "Sand," was almost poetic at times.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and there were times when I couldn't put it down. Other times it dragged a bit. Maybe the most frustrating thing was that several times the authors referred to pictures that were not included in the book. In particular, they mentioned an apparently famous photo of the Outer Banks taken from Apollo 9 several times in different chapters. I finally had to look that one up online. It makes me wonder if that photo had been included in the original edition of the book, but omitted from the paperback edition I have. I would be curious to read something updated that addresses current issues faced by the Outer Banks, but overall it was a worthwhile read for me.

>146 atozgrl: I did have better luck with connections today. I've only been doing it for a week or two and seem to succeed about half the time -- sometimes too much pop culture for me

>153 RebaRelishesReading: I think that makes a big difference. For me, if they have categories for something like old movies, I would probably do well, but not so much for recent movies. A lot of recent pop culture would be bad for me.

Wordle 799 4/6

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SLATE, BRAVE, DUCKY, PEACE After trying one word with the correct pattern and getting nowhere, I decided I'd better try something completely different to see if I could find another letter.

Struggled with this one today.

Connections
Puzzle #77
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Wordle 800 2/6

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SLATE, WRITE

Connections
Puzzle #78
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An unusually good day for games today.

I'm really enjoying Connections from the NYT! What a fun game. I am not sure which I love most, Wordle or Connections.

Morning, Irene. As expected, the Brewers are going to be tough to beat. Not sure they will be able to win the next 2 against the Brew-crew but we can dream.

>158 atozgrl: Wow -- indeed it was. I got connections in one go but it took me four for Wordle.

Trying not to see "connections" given my obsessive personality!

>159 vancouverdeb: >161 RebaRelishesReading: >162 PaulCranswick: Connections is interesting. I'm not sure if I'll play it every day or not. I got it with only one miss today, but I struggled with today's puzzle. It took a lot of thinking this time. I don't know if I'll be playing it every day. I will be sticking with Wordle, hoping to extend my longest streak.

Connections
Puzzle #79
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Wordle 801 5/6

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SLATE, DREAM, REHAB, PAPER, CAPER

>160 msf59: Hello, Mark! I missed last night's game, but watched the one tonight on TBS. They pulled out a tight one! Here's hoping they can get the next one, but it won't be easy. The Brewers are hot!

I saw this afternoon that LT has another hunt on. I worked on it tonight, and I've actually already finished! That's probably the quickest I've completed one of their hunts.

Happy Wednesday, Irene. What a pitching duel last night!! Steele was outstanding and so was the bullpen. I sure hope we can pull it off tonight.

*What is up with post #166? 😁

>167 msf59: You saw post 166 before I did. By the time I logged on, it was already removed as spam.

Looks like the game this afternoon was another tight one. I didn't see any of this one, but glad to see the Cubs pulled it out again. Now let's beat Cincinnati! Go Cubs!

The NYT games were easier today.

Wordle 802 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, AUDIO

Connections
Puzzle #80
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I’m really enjoying Connections! It was a “ phew” day for me as I just made it . I also Wordled in 3 today.

> 165 Nice work with the Hunt, Irene! I got 9 last night, but still have 3 to work on . I’ll check the talk thread for clues , but I’ll know where I can come if I have trouble .I really love the LT treasure hunts!

>171 vancouverdeb: Connections is definitely an interesting game! I've only done it a few times so far. Some days it clicks, and other days it's a struggle.

I'm liking the LT Hunts. I missed a lot of them while I let my LT account go dormant, but they've been fun since I got back on here this year. The first one wasn't easy, since I had to figure out how the hunts work, in addition to finding the answers. I really struggled on the last one because I'm not very familiar with LGBTQ+ literature. I needed lots of hints on that one. But this time I got most of them without needing hints. When I looked at the hint thread, there was a hint that helped me find the answer for one of the clues without looking at the spoiler. I apparently found it a different way than what was actually hidden in the hint, but the hint helped me nevertheless.

Good luck with the rest of the hunt! I'm sure you'll be able to find the answers.

Wordle 803 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, BRIDE

Well, we've got a bit of a bummer just in time for Labor Day. I had NatGeo on last night, listening to an interesting show on the beginnings of the Vikings while cleaning up the kitchen, when the TV went black, about 8:10pm. I waited a bit, but the picture didn't come back, so I checked some other channels. They were working, but when I went back to NatGeo, it was still out. Then I remembered I had seen something earlier in the day on our local ABC station asking viewers to contact Spectrum cable to ask them to keep ABC, etc. programming. So I checked the ABC station, and sure enough it was out, and there was a banner up on that channel from Spectrum saying that Disney had pulled their programming, negotiations hadn't gone well with Disney and they're asking too much for their programs, with information to contact Disney to complain.

First of all, this is the first time one of those contract disputes between programming providers and my TV service has actually affected me. Second, I can't believe they interrupted programming in progress, in prime time, before the end of the month. I don't believe it was Spectrum that pulled the plug; I lay that on Disney. Finally, whenever there have been disputes like this in the past, we've always had lots of advance warning that negotiations weren't going well, accompanied by pleas to contact the other party. So when I saw the first messages yesterday, I certainly didn't think anything was imminent. It was rather a shock for the programming to disappear while I was watching it. (Couldn't they have waited another 50 minutes?)

The whole situation is annoying, but what I will miss most while this is going on is watching Jeopardy. Maybe I need to look into getting an antenna.

Wordle 804 3/6

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SLATE, SCARE, SPACE

>174 atozgrl: What a bummer!! Hope it gets resolved soon. At least Jeopardy is still on re-runs so maybe you won't miss too much before it gets sorted.

>175 RebaRelishesReading: I am hoping so too. Unfortunately, we lost the last show in the Tournament of Champions. My husband didn't see it the first time, because it aired the night he has band rehearsal. So he missed it twice now.

New programming on the networks is all messed up this year anyway due to the writers and actors strikes. I'm hoping this will give me time to catch up on streaming shows that I have meant to watch.

Wordle 805 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, UNION, ONION

Hi Irene!

>165 atozgrl: Congrats on getting all the entries in the Hunt. I've gotten four, may putz around a bit before it ends on the 12th, but usually only work on it hard enough to get a badge.

Hope you're having a good weekend so far.

Happy Sunday, Irene. Well, the Cubbies let another one go in the 9th. The bullpen cannot always preform perfectly so we need some offense to support that. They have done diddly, wasting some great starting pitching. We need to win today, just to split the series. Sighs...

>178 karenmarie: >179 msf59: Hi Karen and Mark, thanks for stopping by! I wasn't able to get on LT yesterday, it was down every time I tried. I have been having a good weekend.

>179 msf59: The Cubs' offense broke out big time in yesterday's game, so they were able to come away with a split. Unfortunately, they needed to win 3 in Cincinnati to get the tie breaker if they end up with the same record at the end of the year, so the two close losses in the 9th inning hurt. But I think the relievers are pretty worn out right now. I got to see this afternoon's game, and it was a good one! Everything looked good in this one, which was nice to see. I hope they can keep it up!

The numbers are wearing off our mailbox and need to be replaced (for the second time since we moved in). We've got the numbers, and my DH decided to repaint the mailbox while he was at it, so he went out and got some black spray paint. He also decided to touch up his music stand at the same time, and I decided as long as he was in the mess, we should spray paint the baffle on our bird feeder, where a lot of the paint has chipped off and parts of it are getting rusty. So that was this morning's project: taking the mailbox off the post and cleaning it, cleaning the music stand, and my job was taking down the baffle and cleaning it. Then my DH spray painted all of them. It got pretty hot in the garage this morning, before he was done with that. We've been letting everything dry this afternoon. So far I haven't seen any squirrels getting on the feeder; we'll see how long that lasts. We'll put the mailbox back up in the morning.

Unfortunately, the really high heat is back this week. I think they said the high hit 99 today, and the next two days are supposed to be the same. I'll be glad when this heat leaves for good.

Wordle 807 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, DUCKY, GIDDY

Great job on Wordle! I bombed out today, and it seemed pretty tough to me. Oh, well, there’s always tomorrow!

We’ve had a couple days of really hot temps here in Minnesota. Right now I see it’s 96 F. My poor son is working at the Renaissance Festival, and the crowds are down because of the heat and the fact that the State Fair is also on. Jerry says that while this makes the work a little easier, the time drags a little bit. He’s looking forward to getting inside and into AC!

I just stay inside if I possibly can when it gets so hot.

Happy Labor Day, and have @ great week!

Karen O

>181 klobrien2: Wordle was difficult today. It took me three guesses to get enough letters to actually try to solve the puzzle. What helped was that by that point I had eliminated enough letters, in addition to identifying one that was in the word but not the first letter, that I could try using DY for the last two letters, and I was able to get it.

I am so sorry to hear that your son is having to work at a festival in such awful heat. It shouldn't be that hot in Minnesota this time of year! I hope he is inside and cool now.

I too try to stay inside and out of the heat when it's this bad.

I finally got to Connections today, and had a good day with it.
Connections
Puzzle #85
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Happy Labor Day to you as well, and I hope you and your son have a great week!

I bombed out on Connections a couple of days ago! I really enjoy it, but it can be challenging. I think I got Wordle in 3 today, but I'm not sure. LT has been down so much that I have not had a chance to post my results. Happy Week ahead!

Sweet Thursday, Irene! Go Cubs! What a great sweep against the Giants. Everything clicking. Have a good weekend.

Hi Irene!

Cooler today, but with the potential for rain and storms. Ah, summer in central NC! I’m hearing thunder, so things are going to get interesting just in time for me to go out to run errands. Sigh.

Wordle in 4 for me today.

>180 atozgrl: We recently had our numbers/post replaced so you’re not alone. Yay for repainting the mailbox, music stand, baffle. We need to repaint the ironworks Lion we inherited after Bill's stepmom downsized (she’s a Leo, shares a birthday with my daughter). I might be able to get by with just washing it, we’ll see.

I hope you have a great weekend.

>183 vancouverdeb: >184 msf59: Thanks so much for visiting, Deborah and Mark! I got behind on updating my own thread when LT was repeatedly down earlier this week, due to the DDoS attack. (Can't think of anything bad enough to wish on the attackers!) I'm finally trying to get caught up.

>183 vancouverdeb: Connections is interesting. I loved the puzzle that was all movie titles a few days ago. That was fun! But I bombed out on today's puzzle. I've gotten Wordle in 4 almost every day this week, with the exception of Tuesday when I got it in 3, so not an exciting Wordle week. I hope you've been having a good week this week!

>184 msf59: I loved the sweep over the Giants, but now the Cubs have gone back to losing close games. I really thought the worst outcome would be a split series with Arizona, but now they're in danger of losing all 4. I sure hope they can save the last one tomorrow! And I hope you are otherwise having a good weekend!

>185 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I was awakened early this morning by thunder in the distance, but slept on for awhile, or tried to. We had thunder basically all morning, probably until 11:00 at least. It was dry for a couple of hours while it was thundering, but the rain eventually arrived, and it poured. We needed it too! Maybe around 11:30, it cleared and the sun came out for about an hour, and then the thunderstorms returned. It finally stopped sometime mid-afternoon. I haven't seen non-stop thunderstorms like that for a long time.

It sounds like it took awhile for the storms to reach where you are. I hope they didn't impede your errand-running too badly.

That hot southern sun sure does a number on the mailboxes! I hope that washing your ironworks Lion will work for you, and that you won't need to paint it. Fortunately, the spray paint worked for our jobs. After my DH painted his music stand, he used some stick-on letters to put his name on it, in hopes that will help to prevent people who are picking up after rehearsal or a performance from taking his personal stand with the ones that belong to the band. But when he went to rehearsal Thursday night, he accidentally took the wrong music folder, and wound up having to look on with another band member. As a result, he left his newly painted stand in the car and didn't get to show it off.

Wordle 812 4/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, DUCKY, LUCKY My standard 3rd word when I haven't gotten anything helpful from the first two turned out to be lucky today.

Wordle 813 3/6

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SLATE, WRITE, QUOTE

26. Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

I read Unbroken for the Reading Through Time quarterly challenge, World War II. I finished it last week, but wasn't able to write up my review at that time because LT was repeatedly down. In the meantime, I finished A Separate Peace and wrote that review right away, while it was fresh in my mind. I finally have a long enough stretch of time to return and write about Unbroken.

Unbroken tells the life story of Louie Zamperini, who had a remarkable life. As a youth, he was quite the hell-raiser, but his brother got him involved in track, and he competed in the 1936 Olympics at age 19. He was too young to be able to win against more experienced competition, finishing 8th in the 5000-meter race, but he had run his final lap in a record 56 seconds.

The majority of the book tells of Louie's service in the Army Air Corps during World War II, surviving when his plane went down in the Pacific, then surviving 47 days drifting on a life raft before being captured by the Japanese. He then experiences life as a POW, having to survive multiple prison camps for over two years.

I was aware that the Japanese treated their prisoners very badly, but the descriptions of life in the Japanese POW camps was excruciating. Their treatment of POWs was similar to Nazi concentration camps. It reminded me quite a lot of what I read in Witness to the Dark by Wolf Holles back in April. It is shocking to me to see just how cruel the Japanese captors were, after living for a year in Japan. The Japanese people that I knew were nothing like that, and their sensitivity to art and beauty that I encountered makes it very difficult to comprehend the wartime cruelty. Hillenbrand does provide some reasons for this cruelty, from the education system at that time to propaganda about people who were not Japanese, Japanese belief in their racial and moral superiority, and the fact that in the Japanese military corporal punishment of servicemen was routine practice.

I also learned about the Japanese "kill all" rule, a policy stating that Allied forces could not be allowed to recapture POWs. If Allied advances made this possible, the order was to take decisive measures. Hillenbrand reports on some incidents where all the POWs in a camp were killed when the Japanese feared an Allied invasion. She also says that virtually every surviving POW believed that the dropping of the atomic bombs and subsequent sudden ending of the war had saved their lives.

The book does not end with the end of the war. It follows Zamperini's life after he returns, his struggles with PTSD and alcoholism, and his Christian conversion. Hillenbrand also reports on the postwar lives of others whom Zamperini had known, including some of his Japanese captors.

Hillenbrand has done a tremendous amount of research for this book. She does a great job of recreating what the world was like at the time, in addition to telling us about Zamperini's life. She conducted many interviews and reviewed diaries, letters, unpublished memoirs, as well as official documents. It all adds up to a book rich with information, more than I had expected.

27. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

I read A Separate Peace this month for the September Reading Through Time: School Days challenge. This was a re-read for me. I read this back in high school. As I recall, our assignment was to read Catcher in the Rye for class, but for students who didn't want to read that book (or their parents objected to them reading that book), they could read A Separate Peace instead. So I read Catcher in the Rye for class, and also read A Separate Peace on my own. I remember liking A Separate Peace better at the time.

However, I honestly didn't remember anything about the book at all. I didn't remember that it was set during WWII, which makes it also work for the Reading Through Time Quarterly Challenge. I didn't even remember the plot twist at the end.

The book tells the story of boys at a boarding school in New Hampshire during 1942-43. The heart of the book is the relationships between the various boys at the school. It is primarily about the protagonist, Gene, and his friend Phineas, their friendship and their rivalry. But the war is an ever present background, which eventually intrudes in the story when one student leaves to enlist, and suffers a mental breakdown as a result, before he is ever sent overseas to fight.

Overall, this is a sad story, and I have mixed feelings about it.

>191 atozgrl: Thanks for that very thoughtful review, Irene. It has been on my shelves for the longest time and I really out to dust it off sometime soon.

>192 PaulCranswick: I guess it's considered a classic, at least by some. It's worth reading, but I did not find it an easy read this time, as far as the content of the story goes.

>193 atozgrl: I am in need of a few easy-ish reads, Irene, so I guess I will hold it back just a little. xx

Hi Irene!

>191 atozgrl: I had this book on my shelves forever, have somehow gotten rid of it, and am not sure now that I want to read it, based on the time period (WWII). However, it may show up at the Friends as a donation, and I may snag it early or at the sale.

I read and sort of liked The Catcher in the Rye but ended up loving everything else by J.D. Salinger more.

>194 PaulCranswick: >195 karenmarie: A Separate Peace is a short book, so it was a quick read in terms of time spent. But I found the content difficult on the re-read. Maybe it hit me harder now that I'm older. I think it's worth reading, but it's not a light read. Or at least it wasn't for me.

I haven't read any other Salinger yet. I guess I need to remedy that! Do you have any recommendations?

>191 atozgrl: I read this one a long time ago but can't remember much about it. I think I still have it somewhere....I will see if it is a good one to re read.

Happy Tuesday!

>190 atozgrl: I finally got my comments about Unbroken written up. I finished it last week while LT was under attack and down most of the time when I wanted to get on. In the meantime, I finished A Separate Peace and wrote about it while it was still fresh. It has taken me a while to find a long enough stretch of time to get my thoughts about Unbroken written up, but I finally had some time tonight.

Wordle 815 5/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, FISHY, PHISH, WHISK

I also tried Connections again and did better today. Some days it's a real struggle.
Connections
Puzzle #93
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Another guessy, guessy day in Wordle.
Wordle 816 5/6

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SLATE, PLEAD, GLEAM, CLEAN, CLEAR

It was a good day with Connections, however. This was one of the few times where I actually saw the connections in all four groupings, and didn't have to rely on getting the last group by default.
Connections
Puzzle #94
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🟦🟦🟦🟦

Some days the puzzles go well, other days not so much. Today was a good day.

Wordle 817 3/6

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SLATE, ROBIN, RAYON

Connections
Puzzle #95
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I have not posted my Wordle and Connections yet today, Irene, but it took me 4 tries on Wordle, and , happily, I managed Connections in 4. I often find Connections quite challenging.

>200 atozgrl: Wow! Excellent puzzling results! Good job! (My son had a computerized learning toy when he was little, and it would reward correct answers with statements like, “Top notch!” or “Good job!” Those phrases have stuck in my head through the years!)

Have a great weekend!

Karen O

>201 vancouverdeb: >202 klobrien2: Thanks Deborah and Karen! Wordle is pretty steady for me, although I've gotten more in 5 this week, so it's not my best week. I'm not always keeping up with posting my results here either.

Connections is different. I'm getting more used to it. It seems like I either get it pretty quickly, with missing one or being perfect, or else I bomb out completely. It really does seem to relate to what knowledge you have. Overall I've had a better Connections week this week.

Both puzzles are a good challenge!

I hope you both have a great weekend!

28. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

People of the Book is the September selection in my RL book club. It's about the Sarajevo Haggadah, an illuminated medieval Hebrew manuscript. It is very unusual because it was created in Spain at a time when Jewish belief opposed illustrations in books, because it was believed that they violated scripture. The manuscript itself is real, but its history is mostly unknown, giving Brooks the opportunity to create a fictional history for it.

The story opens in contemporary times with Hanna Heath, a book conservator, working under tight security to restore the manuscript. While working on it, she finds several small artifacts that may help to unlock some of the manuscript's history. Hanna's story provides the framework for the novel, and the artifacts tie to several interwoven stories that reveal the history of the manuscript. These take place in the known locations where the real manuscript appeared: medieval Spain, Venice in 1609, Vienna in 1894, and Sarajevo in WWII and during the 1990's.

The real manuscript survived expulsion, persecution, and multiple relocations of the Jewish people over time. It also survived attempts by the Nazis in WWII to destroy Jewish books and the bombing of Sarajevo during the fighting between Bosnians and Serbs in the 90's.

Some quotes from the book that struck me:

...The book has survived the same human disaster over and over again. Think about it. You've got a society where people tolerate difference, like Spain in the Convivencia, and everything's humming along: creative, prosperous. Then somehow this fear, this hate, this need to demonize 'the other'--it just sort of rears up and smashes the whole society. Inquisition, Nazis, extremist Serb nationalists ... same old, same old. It seems to me the book, at this point, bears witness to all that.

The point--that diverse cultures influence and enrich one another--was made with silent eloquence.

...The haggadah came to Sarajevo for a reason. It was here to test us, to see if there were people who could see that what unites us was more than what divided us. That to be a human being mattered more than to be a Jew or a Muslim, Catholic or Orthodox.

I thought this was an interesting book and I enjoyed it overall. I was especially interested in the book conservation and the investigation into what the artifacts that were found could reveal about the manuscript. There is a theme throughout the book showing antisemitism in multiple places and times, and people who bravely fight against it. Unfortunately, I thought Hanna's story was overly dramatic, and her romance didn't really catch me. I also wasn't crazy about the story set in Venice. Given the subject matter and the fact that the book's dedication is "for the librarians," I wish I had liked it more.

Yesterday the weather was so nice that we went to the Apex Community Park and walked around the lake. Unfortunately, they're doing some unspecified work there and they've lowered the lake level, resulting in a noticeable fishy smell. We saw several herons, egrets, mallards, and a hawk. The first thing we saw was a heron who had caught a rather large fish. He was trying to swallow it whole, but couldn't manage it, and kept setting it down, pecking at it, then trying again. We finally walked on without getting to see how that struggle turned out.

Wordle 819 3/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, IDEAL, ANGEL

Connections
Puzzle #97
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Well, this just put the lie to what I said in >203 atozgrl:, because I had a real struggle, but managed to solve it before I bombed out.

Happy Sunday!

Glad you are able to take advantage of the nice weather.

>206 figsfromthistle: Hello, Anita! Nice to see you here!

The weather has mostly been good this weekend, although we're getting some rain this afternoon. I'm not complaining though; it's been dry and I'll take whatever rain we can get. I hope it's nice weather for you as well!

Have a great week!

Aren't herons gorgeous birds! I see a lot of them here, as well as egret, hawks , Bald Eagles etc, but Heron are so elegant. I watched a sea gull down a dead squirrel in several gulps ( on you tube ) . So gross. I didn't know a seagull could down something so large. We had just a bit of a mist of rain today, but yesterday was lovely! I think you are in Oregon, so no wonder if your weather is pretty similar to mine. I know we need the rain, but the sunny days are nice!

Hi Irene!

>196 atozgrl: I love every single short story ever published by Salinger, and his three books about the Glass Family: Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, and Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. The Catcher in the Rye is my least favorite work by him, actually.

I looked up and read every single short story by Salinger listed in the card catalog at our local library when I was in high school, reading all of them in the original magazines. Now of course, everything’s digitized and available online mostly. Pulling those musty magazines out and turning to the pages where they were originally published was a wonderful experience.

>203 atozgrl: I tried Connections again the other night, and was stumped. It tricked me…

>204 atozgrl: I read People of the Book for my RL book club in 2009. Unfortunately, IMHO, it pales in comparison to The Source by James Michener, another book about artifacts and the stories of how they got to their destination. Have you read The Source? It’s one of the few books I have given 5* to, ever.

>205 atozgrl: Sorry about the fishy smell. Jenna and I were able to eat lunch outside on Friday because the weather was so nice.

>208 vancouverdeb: No, I'm in North Carolina, not Oregon, so we get pretty hot. I'm sure your weather is usually better than ours.

Yes, herons are gorgeous birds! I used to think they were more tropical, but I've seen them all over since moving to NC. They're fairly common here. I sure never saw any growing up in Illinois.

>209 karenmarie: Hello, Karen! I haven't read any Salinger besides Catcher in the Rye, so it looks like I've got a lot to add to my TBR list. I can relate to the thrill you had finding the stories in the original magazines. It's a shame that libraries are mostly getting rid of the old magazine stacks.

I have not read The Source either. That's a Michener book that I'm not familiar with. On the wishlist it goes! People of the Book was a disappointment, given the appeal of the subject matter, although I did enjoy it in some respects.

It's been a long time since it took me 6 to get Wordle.

Wordle 821 6/6

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⬜🟩🟩⬜🟨
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⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, ROBIN, PRAWN, GRAND, CRANK, FRANK

Connections was a struggle today too.

Connections
Puzzle #99
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Multiple attempts to get the right combination of words for the first, easy group, then I solved the hardest group. After that, the rest was easy.

Morning, Irene! Looks like you've been reading some good books lately. Unbroken is one of my favorites - hard to read, but SO well done. And I liked People of the Book a smidge more than you did, but generally speaking I liked the stories from the past better than Hanna's story. Hope you have a good day!

Morning, Irene. I am back and connected again. It looks like the Cubs did a complete swan dive while I was away in the north country. They sure got our hopes up, didn't they? I haven't checked the wild card standings, so not sure if they still have a chance. My Bears had another awful game too. Sighs...

I LOVED Unbroken. I know she has had serious health issues, so I am not sure she will ever write another book. Sad to say...

I also liked People of the Book more than you, but it is certainly not a favorite of her work.

>213 bell7: Hello, Mary, so glad to see you here! Unbroken really is well done, isn't it? I had seen the movie when it came out and was somewhat disappointed with it, so I had a little bit of trepidation picking up the book. But it did not disappoint; so well researched and written!

I agree, the stories from the past in People of the Book were more interesting to me. I was enjoying Hanna's story as well at the start, but it just got more and more dramatic as the book went along, and I found it overly dramatic. It's too bad, because I really do like the overall theme of the book.

I hope you have a good week!

>214 msf59: Welcome back, Mark! The Cubs just couldn't beat Arizona. I don't know why, as the two teams seem pretty equal to me. Of course, they have been bitten by the injury bug this month, which doesn't help. I hope they can be successful this week, because they have to play Atlanta and Milwaukee next week to end the season, and that's going to be quite a test.

I agree about Unbroken. And I finally read Seabiscuit earlier this year, which I had been wanting to get to for a long time. I think that's my favorite book so far this year. After reading that, I read up on Laura Hillenbrand and found out how much trouble she has with her health. I too wish that she could write more, because these two books were so good. Her inability to write due to health issues is a loss for all of us.

I won't let my feelings about People of the Book keep me from trying her other books.

Wishing you a good week as you get settled back in at home!

Today's Wordle makes up for yesterday.

Wordle 822 2/6

🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, CLOSE

Connections was also better.

Connections
Puzzle #100
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🟨🟨🟨🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
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🟨🟨🟨🟨

Took me 4 for Wordle today, and I bombed out on Connections, despite my best efforts. Duh! I thought you were in Oregon, and you are in North Carolina. Our climate is good, over all, especially for Canada. We get only a few days of snow in the winter and while some of summers can get very warm, they are not too bad heatwise , usually. We do get a lot of rain though.

>218 vancouverdeb: For the most part, I loved the climate when I moved here. But it's getting to be too hot in the summers now, with climate change. We used to get nights in the 40s F in September, which I used to complain about. I'd give a lot to have them back.

Wordle turned into another one of those guessy, guessy puzzles today.

Wordle 823 5/6

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SLATE, SPARE, SHARE, SCARE, SNARE

I learned a lesson from yesterday's puzzle.

Wordle 824 4/6

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SLATE, STORE, KNAVE, STONE. In order to avoid another guessy, guessy day, I used KNAVE to eliminate possible letters.

I had fun today. I went to the Friends of Chatham Community Library's book sale and picked up some books. I also got to meet karenmarie in person, which was a real pleasure! Of course, she was working, so I didn't get to talk to her as long as I wanted, but we hope to meet again soon. Good times!

Here is what I picked up this morning:

The Prisoner of Zenda/Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My Antonia / The Troll Garden / Selected Short Stories by Willa Cather
The Hustons by Lawrence Grobel
D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen E. Ambrose
America's Wonderlands: a Pictorial and Descriptive History of the Country's Scenic Marvels by J. W. Buel

Note that the last book was published in 1893, and the LT touchstone is missing the 's' at the end of Wonderlands. Also, the Amazon cover picture looks nothing like the volume I have. This book is full of fascinating old photographs, some of which are faintly colorized.

I was hoping I might see something by Hilary Mantel, especially the Cromwell series, but no such luck. Of course, there were so many books there that I could have overlooked it.

Happy Friday, Irene. Hooray for getting to meet Karen. I have yet to have that honor. How far away are you from the library? Nice book haul too. I read and loved The Hustons about 20-25 years ago.

Well, our Cubs lost 2 out of 3 to the lowly Pirates. They are done...

Well, I have somehow completely missed this thread. My apologies, Irene!

>221 atozgrl: Yay for LT meet ups! Nice haul, too!

Have a fantastic Friday!

Welcome Stasia! I am so glad to see you here! I only got back on LT at the beginning of this year, after a long absence. And I hadn't gotten involved with the discussions before, so I'm not surprised that you missed me. I think I looked at your thread once, but it was so active I didn't think I could keep up. I'll go visit you now!

LT meetups are great! I hope I get to meet more LTers in the future!

>221 atozgrl: Nice haul, Irene!

>220 atozgrl: I often do something similar to what you did , so as to eliminate so called " alphabet soup" with Wordle. Good idea!

Apparently our last sunny day here in the Vancouver day for the foreseeable future. Sigh. I'll have to dig up my rain pants for my many dog walks.

>222 msf59: Hello Mark! It's about 1/2 hour from my house to the library, and it's a pretty straight shot, so not bad. And the drive is mostly country, so it's not annoying traffic. When I saw The Hustons after taking part in the Hustonfest this year, I thought I could not pass it up. I remember you had recommended the book.

The Cubs have been frustrating lately, losing games they ought to win. But they've had injuries to some players, including two key bullpen pitchers. And I think their best remaining bullpen pitchers are gassed. And maybe some of the starters are too. So it's a struggle. I don't know if they'll be able to make the playoffs or not. I never expected them to get very far if they did get in, but it sure would be nice to see, especially after everyone pre-season predicted them to be not a good team.

I've got the game on this afternoon, and they're playing better. I sure hope they can sweep this last home series.

We're expecting rain from the latest tropical storm in a couple of hours, and tomorrow should be a washout. Should be good reading weather. I hope you have a great weekend!

>225 vancouverdeb: Hello Deborah! I'm sorry to hear that you're in for an extended string of rainy days. Any hope that this may help with the Canadian wildfires? As I just said to Mark, we're expecting a lot of rain from the latest tropical system over the next 24 hours. But it should clear up on Sunday, so it won't be going on for an extended period. I hope to get some good reading done.

Have a great weekend!

Wordle 825 3/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, ROBIN, BRUSH

Hi Irene!

>221 atozgrl: I’m so glad to have met you, and agree that it was great to meet and that we’ll get together later. Yay for the books. I'm glad you found enough to justify the trip.

Happy Saturday, Irene. Glad to hear that the library is so close. It looks like the Cubs played well yesterday and Stroman is back on the mound today. Sure hope he is his old self. He has been missed.

>224 atozgrl: LT meetups are great! I hope I get to meet more LTers in the future! The annual Joplin meet up is on October 20th, Irene. *hint, hint*

BTW - I am not sure on what thread I saw the Cubs book recommended (I think it may have been the 'This Just In' thread), but it was not on one of mine, so no worries there.

>230 msf59: Stroman is back on the mound today. Sure hope he is his old self. He has been missed.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw Stroman was pitching today. Glad that Taillon had a decent outing yesterday.

>229 karenmarie: I definitely did find enough to make it worth it! I could have bought more. If the library were closer, I might have gone back today to fill a $5 bag. I saw a few other things I was somewhat interested in, but wasn't quite sure whether I wanted to pick up or not (there were multiple copies of some of them, so I figure it's likely some were still there by today). Also, there was a lot of Grisham, but I need to inventory what we've got before picking up any of those. Then there's the AV that I didn't look through Thursday. But I really didn't want to go out in the weather today anyway. I'll definitely have to make a trip over there for the spring sale!

And of course, just meeting you was worth the trip!

>231 alcottacre: Joplin is a bit far for me, I'm afraid. ;-) And we'll be back in Mississippi to deal with some family issues at that time anyway, so it wouldn't be possible this year in any case. But I sure wish I could go to meet another group of LTers!

Well, if it wasn't my thread where you saw the recommendation for The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse, I feel better. It's a bit embarrassing if you found it here, and I never managed to get over to your thread until now! But at least I've corrected the oversight now.

>230 msf59: >231 alcottacre: Whew, the Cubs pulled it out today. I was a bit worried there for a while. It looks like Stroman still needs some time to get back in the groove. It feels sort of like he's back in spring-training mode, building up strength. Unfortunately, there's not much season left. I wish Taillon had been more like he was yesterday all year. Maybe he'll be better next year.

It's going to be an interesting last week of the season!

Tropical storm Ophelia paid us a visit. Yesterday it was windy. It started raining a little in the evening. Today it wasn't windy, but it was very dark all day. It rained most of the day, but it was mostly a steady, gentle rain, with heavier rain coming down occasionally. This was nice, because we've been so dry for the past couple of months. We needed a good rain, and I think it was gentle enough to soak in. I'll check the rain gauge tomorrow to see what we got here.

I washed and chopped some veggies this morning and put them in the crockpot with a roast, so we had a nice dinner tonight.

It was a good day for reading, but I didn't get as much reading in as I had hoped. I was able to read for a while this afternoon.

Wordle 826 5/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, LAUGH, DAILY, VALOR, CAROL

Connections
Puzzle #104
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🟨🟨🟨🟦
🟦🟩🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪

I'm glad Tropical Storm Ophelia wasn't too bad, Irene. We had rain here today, and some hail early in the morning, but not big deal I was lucky enough to get out to walk our dog, Poppy, after it rained and before it started to rain again. That was lucky!

>236 vancouverdeb: Hello Deborah! I'm glad you were able to get your dog walking in between rain showers.

We got 2.5 inches here from Ophelia yesterday, a much welcome rain!

Wordle 827 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, ROBIN, RIGHT

Connections
Puzzle #105
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟪
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦

Boo to me today. I thought of the right word first, for my guess on the third row, but decided to try something else first. I over-thought it today.

Wordle 828 4/6

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🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE, ROBIN, ROUGH, ROCKY

Hi Irene!

>232 atozgrl: Music to this book lover’s ears. Saturday’s weather was irritating but not as dangerous as it could have been. It may have kept a few people away, but we were plenty busy. *blush* So glad you thought meeting me was worth the trip. After you get back we’ll get together. Mark your calendar! The spring sale is April 11-13. Thursday morning 9 a.m. is the best, of course.

>238 atozgrl: Your yesterday Boo is not as bad as mine – I used my first word (adieu), went to another website for something else, came back, and typed in adieu again without thinking.

>239 karenmarie: I'll make a note of the next book sale. Here's hoping we'll be in town then, and not having to make another trip for family reasons.

I wonder why Wordle isn't smart enough to warn you that you duplicated an entry. It seems like it ought to be able to do that.

Today's Wordle:

Wordle 829 4/6

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SLATE, LABOR, LOAMY, LOYAL

And Connections

Connections
Puzzle #107
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Yesterday my RL book club met and discussed People of the Book. Interesting that a plurality liked the book, but no one loved it. That was pretty much my reaction. One person didn't like it--he thought it was contrived--and one other did not finish it, and after our discussion, I don't think she's going to finish it. Of those of us who did like it to at least some extent, we all preferred the stories set in the past.

Members of the book club who had read other works by Geraldine Brooks all said they liked her other books better. The ones most recommended included Horse, Year of Wonders, and Caleb's Crossing. Interesting to me that March wasn't mentioned as much, since it's the one that won the Pulitzer. I'll have to try some of these books.

Wordle 830 2/6

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SLATE, SMILE

Happy Wednesday, Irene. Very disappointing Cubs loss last night. That should have been a win. Playoff hopes slipping away quickly.

I am a big fan of Geraldine Brooks. Year of Wonders is my favorite followed closely by Horse & March. I hope you get to more of her work.

>241 atozgrl: I've read both Year of Wonders and Caleb's Crossing. I enjoyed both, especially the depictions of the place and time, until the endings, which seemed a weird mix of puzzling and contrived. I have March and People of the Book on my TBR.

>242 msf59: Ah, the Cubs. I can only say at least they are not as embarassing as the Bears.

I'm a big fan of Geraldine Brooks but have to say Horse is by far my least favorite.

>233 atozgrl: I am sorry to hear that Joplin is too far for you to make. Of course, I want to meet everyone :)

>241 atozgrl: I am sorry you did not enjoy the book one. I really like it myself. On the other hand, March is probably my least favorite of her books. Ah, well. Not everybody likes every book.

>242 msf59: >243 kac522: >244 RebaRelishesReading: >245 alcottacre: Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! How interesting that you all have different reactions to her books. Most everyone at our meeting Tuesday recommended Horse, and here too, but Reba, you didn't like it! And Stasia, you didn't like March. I guess I'll have to try them all, and see for myself.

>245 alcottacre: I didn't dislike People of the Book, I was just disappointed in it. I really liked the premise of the book and wanted it to be better than it was. And Hanna's story that framed the book started out OK, but became overly dramatic, and then the ending where they had to return the real book to its place was really over the top. I thought the book was good overall, and I was glad I read it, just wanted more.

>242 msf59: >243 kac522: Sigh. The Cubs. Two games where they led the Braves, giving hope, and then to lose them both. I'm glad I wasn't watching. It's not looking good for them. All those one-run games they lost to Miami early in the season are really coming back to bite them now.

As for the Bears, I used to watch football, and I was a Bears fan. The '85 Bears sure were a lot of fun! But I kind of lost interest in football back in the '90s, and only watch occasionally now. I try to keep up with the Panthers and the Bears somewhat, but neither one of them look good this year.

Wordle 831 4/6

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>246 atozgrl: and then the ending where they had to return the real book to its place was really over the top.

That's exactly the way I felt about Year of Wonders and Caleb's Crossing. The books as a whole were good (with excellent historical research, historical settings, etc.), but there's something about the endings where Brooks goes off to a place that seems out of nowhere. I may still read the books I have on my shelves just for the historical aspects, while being prepared that the endings are probably going to be weird.

>247 kac522: Thanks for warning me! The ending of People of the Book felt like something out of a movie, where it needed a dramatic climax. It just didn't feel like it fit in with the rest of the novel. But there obviously was a lot of research that went into most of the story, which I really did appreciate. So I have mixed feelings about this one. Maybe those endings are just Brooks' style. I'll have to check her other books out.

Wordle 832 4/6

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- Clay Bennett

>246 atozgrl: My biggest knock on Geraldine Brooks writing is that she does not seem to know how to end a book. Overall, I enjoy her books, but she seems to struggle with the endings, especially in her early books. Maybe that is just me though.

My poor Cubbies. They are just killing themselves!

Have a wonderful weekend, Irene!

>250 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. It sounds like there are quite a few of us who have issues with how Brooks ends her books. I'll eventually get around to trying some of her other books to see what I think.

Between untimely injuries and worn out pitchers, the Cubs are struggling. Well, at least they gave it a good shot this year, which was a lot more than most of the "experts" predicted at the start of the season.

I hope you also have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Weekend, Irene. I confess I have not read a single book by Geraldine Brooks nor do I desire to do so. Uh oh!

>252 vancouverdeb: Hello, Deborah! No need to read any books by Geraldine Brooks if they don't interest you. There's so much out there to read that we'll never get through it all, so don't waste your time on anything that doesn't appeal. Read what you like!

Have a great weekend!

Must confess I've read most of Geraldine Brooks' books and I really liked all of them except Horse which I found pretty disappointing.

>254 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! Very interesting! It seems like everyone has a little bit different take on Brooks' writing.

Have a great weekend!

>255 atozgrl: Good we have a nice variety of books to choose from, isn't it? -- Hope your weekend is good too.

29. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw.

I read The Greatest Generation for the Reading Through Time quarterly challenge, World War II. It was an interesting book. Tom Brokaw recounts the stories of a number of people, both ordinary and famous, who served in the military during World War II, or who served in some capacity on the home front. The stories tell of what they did during the war and also go on to tell of their accomplishments after the war and how their war experience played a role in those accomplishments. Many of them learned discipline and leadership skills that were instrumental in their success. While celebrating the bravery and heroism of Americans during the war, Brokaw does not overlook America's flaws. He includes a chapter on the (mis)treatment of minorities including African-Americans and Latinos and the forcible relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps. The book tells the stories of my parents' generation, and it's striking how common it is to hear about the reticence that most of them had to talk about their war experiences, which my own parents shared. It does provide a good insight into that generation of Americans.

Wordle 834 4/6

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SLATE, TEMPT, REBUT, BERET

Connections
Puzzle #112
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A good puzzling day today.