Witchyrichy (aka Karen) Working the Stacks in 2018 - Part I

Last year was my best ever with this group: TWO threads and lots of great sharing. I am looking forward to being back and am so optimistic, I added the Part I to the title of the thread.

Here's a bit of background: 55 years old, living with my husband and 2 dogs (Spot & Major, seen above) in an 1854 farm house on 18 acres in southern central Virginia. We've had pigs and chickens but now just have three royal palm turkeys that free range along with some barn cats that drive the dogs crazy.



I work from home running a state nonprofit related to educational technology, teaching online and doing instructional design consulting and project management. My husband does most of the farming, but I raised a nice crop of ginger this year in our high tunnel and a small crop of turmeric on our sun porch.

My main hobbies (besides reading) are crocheting and paper crafting. I play piano and guitar and received a ukelele for Christmas this year. It is fun to pluck and easy to play.

I love to read and have shelves full of books in the library. (That was one of the selling points of the house: an honest to goodness library.) I love buying books, too, but really need to think about downsizing the collection. So, my goal for this year is to read for free...either from my own shelves or the public library. And, I want to do more writing about what I am reading. I'll do reviews here and on my personal blog.

I had a good year of reading in 2017. Mostly fiction but some excellent, timely nonfiction. Joining a face to face book group helped expand my reading. When I look back on my potential TBR list, it is mainly the biographies/autobiographies and environmental categories that I neglected. A friend rereads Annals of the Former World every year and I have a copy on the shelf. Maybe I should start with that.

Here are my top five books from last year:

The Hate U Give
Eleanor & Park
Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian
Small Great Things

Book Log for 2018




January: 8
A Mystic Murder Review
Whose Woods These Are Review
Following Atticus Review
A Study In Scarlet Women (audio) Review
Miller's Valley Review
Lincoln in the Bardo Review
Brava, Valentine Review
Mountains Beyond Mountains

February: 8
Mrs. Lincoln's Rival Review
The Quilter's Kitchen
America's First Daughter Review
How To Be Alone Review
Gods of Howl Mountain Review
The Book of the People Review
84, Charing Cross Road Review
Home Front Review

March: 7
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics
Fates and Traitors Review
The Grave's A Fine and Private Place
The Last Runaway
The Silk Roads Review
A Column of Fire
Bishop's Pawn

April: 15
Alpha
Shunned and Dangerous Review
Paris By the Book Review
Look for Me
A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Audio)
Suspendered Sentence Review
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again Review
A Churn for the Worse Review
This Will Be My Undoing (Audio)
The Whole Town's Talking Review
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Turtles All The Way Down
Desert Solitaire
Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave
Murder is Binding (audio)

Welcome back for 2018!

Dropped my star off Karen my dear.

Okay, your menagerie sounds (and looks) adorable, your library sounds wonderful, and your 'free reading' resolution is exactly what I SHOULD be doing if I had more willpower and less amassed Amazon gift vouchers. :)

*flings star up top* See you in 2018!

Happy reading in 2018!

>4 drneutron: >5 johnsimpson: >6 elliepotten: >7 thornton37814: Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

>6 elliepotten: The free reading resolution is already being tested. I read Nora Roberts Dark Witch as a fun vacation read at the recommendation of a friend. My first Roberts and I really enjoyed it! And now I want to read the second one which is available via Overdrive, but my library card expired today and I can't get it renewed until after January 2 because I have to go by the library with my driver's license. (FWIW, I have been able to renew my Virginia driver's license online for the past 15 years with no visit to the DMV. They use the same photo so this seems a bit excessive.)

My husband suggested that I have plenty of other options but I am immersed in the world that Roberts has created and ready to keep going with the story.

Hmm...

Karen, I'm dropping off a star and have ambitions to keep up with your thread.

>9 witchyrichy: Maaaaaybe... and I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here... maybe it doesn't COUNT if you're reading a series, and whatever you pay for will be read immediately anyway because it's the next one? Also, if you make a decision NOW, then technically it's not the New Year yet even if you can't ENACT the aforementioned decision for a few days, right?!

You know that quote from Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way?" Well... so do LibraryThingers. ;)

Happy reading in 2018!
>1 witchyrichy: What a pretty smile!

Hi Karen! Dropping off my star. Your farm in central Virginia sounds and looks like heaven! I love the picture of the dogs and the chicken.

Good luck with that reading for free goal. I'm reminded of my own resolution not to commit to any challenges in 2018. Technically, I've not committed to anything other than one African American autobiography per month, but you might think otherwise by looking at my thread.

>13 EBT1002: Which I just did (check out your thread) and I copied the bingo card, not that I'm thinking about playing BingoDOG either. And I think that colour challenge would really help me choose books off my shelf. But, like you, I'm not getting involved in any challenges ;-)

ColourCAT 2018:

January/Black: Whose Woods These Are
February/Brown: 84, Charing Cross Road
March/Green: The Dragons of Eden
April/Yellow: Amish Guys Don't Call
May/Blue: The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
June/Purple:
July/Pink
August/Grey
September/Metallic
October/Orange
November/Red: The Book
December/White

AlphaKIT for 2018:

Jan: V, M
Brava, Valentine
Mountains Beyond Mountains

Feb : P, J
The Book of the People
How to Be Alone (Jonathan Franzen)

Mar: F, I
The Silk Roads (Peter Frankopan)
Hogs Wild (Ian Frazier)

Apr: Y, U

May: Q, K
Q's Legacy

Jun: G, R
Carry On (Rainbow Rowell)

Jul: S, A
Desert Solitaire (Edward Abbey)
Finding Abbey

Aug: O, D

Sep: B, E

Oct: N, L

Nov: T, H
Tash Hearts Tolstoy

Dec: C, W
All the Wild That Remains

Yearlong: X, Z
A People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn)

January Plan:

Whose Woods These Are: ColourCAT
Brava, Valentine: AlphaKIT
Mountains Beyond Mountains: AlphaKIT
Lincoln in the Bardo: TIOLI #3: 3. Read a book that is on a list of best or notable books of 2017
Following Atticus: TIOLI #5: Read a book that you did not select (eg gift, subscription, book club choice)
Miller's Valley: TIOLI #6: Read a book you acquired in December 2017, but NOT as a gift
A Mystic Murder: TIOLI #7: Read a book that has been on your e-reader or phone for at least 6 months

>11 elliepotten: I like the way you think. I did buy a few ebooks as part of a year end sale at Amazon. But I managed to spend the day reading 12 Days At Bleakly Manor and may be able to finish Norse Mythology tomorrow. I think I can wait.

I have to say these plans you folks are making... make me wonder! In a good way, of course.

Me, I'm taking it one month at a time. I'm reading Bad Land right now for the face to face book group I am a party to... I'm looking at Born A Crime again because I'm supposed to lead a discussion next week. And I think that may be all of January. But, maybe I'll pick one off the shelf if I finish all that before the end of January.

I'll be interested how long I keep up. Trip to the Eye Dr. was good and bad. No surgery for now, but she did do a little laser repair to a hole in one retina, avoiding possible detached retina. Eye sight is not better, and much work on using artificial tears and laying a hot cloth across my eyes every day, a couple of times, such help some. We shall see. (I hope)

Hi Karen, just stopping by to wish you a Very Happy New Year my dear and hope that 2018 is a really good year. Sending love and hugs dear friend from both of us.

Happy New Year! I wish you to read many good books in 2018.

Happy reading in 2018, Karen!

>17 witchyrichy: I read Following Atticus for my RLBG a couple of years ago and I quite liked it.

Happy New Year, Karen!

I too read Following Atticus and loved it, also Will’s Red Coat which I liked even more but then I am nuts about dogs. The author reveals a kind heart and a great deal of patience for damaged dogs.

Happy New Year
Happy New Group here
This place is full of friends
I hope it never ends
It brew of erudition and good cheer.

Hi Karen! Happy new thread. I like your optimism by putting Part 1 on your thread.

1854 farmhouse, 18 acres, Royal Palm turkeys, official library. Free books by reading from your shelves and the library! It’s all good.

What’s your high tunnel? Enquiring minds and all that.

I hope you like Lincoln in the Bardo. Some folks have said that listening to it is better, but I read it and loved it. My book club will be reading it for our November 2018 discussion, so I’ll listen to it then with a book read-along, I think.

I’m sorry to hear about your vision problems.

A picture from a warmer day and a reminder that winter is great for reading and spring will come!

>19 maggie1944: The plan looks good on paper...we shall see how it survives once my holiday break ends tomorrow. I am keeping you in my thoughts as you work on your eyesight with your doctor.

>20 johnsimpson: >21 The_Hibernator: >22 FAMeulstee: >25 PaulCranswick: Thanks everyone for the greetings! I am optimistic about 2018 for lots of reasons and LT is certainly a part of that!

>23 EBT1002: >24 maggie1944: I am looking forward to reading it. My mother gave it to me as a gift along with Will's Red Coat. I am also a dog lover.

>26 karenmarie: We are quite happy with our life here at Bottle Tree Farm. It can be a challenge this time of year but the wood stove and a south facing porch make it bearable.

The high tunnel is an unheated green house meant to help farmers extend the growing season or grow tropical crops like ginger. Right now, we have lots of greens, radishes and beets. I am dabbling with ginger and turmeric.

2017 Book Meme

Describe yourself: The Mighty Miss Malone
Describe how you feel: Good Omens
Describe where you currently live: Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Beyond the Hundredth Meridian
Your favorite form of transportation: The Underground Railroad
Your best friend is: Eleanor & Park
You and your friends are: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
What's the weather like: Odd and the Frost Giants
You fear: Inequality in the Promised Land
What's the best advice you have to give?: Instructions
Thought for the day: The Earth is Weeping
How I would like to die: Essays After Eighty
My soul's present condition: Small Great Things

>7 thornton37814: Thanks for the link to this!

Ways to Get Around Buying Books:

1. Be part of Amazon's first reads. I was able to choose a free book today. I technically "bought it" as I put it in my cart but I did not spend money for it. I chose The Birdwoman's Palace as I was intrigued with the focus on food. I receive a cooking email from the New York Times a couple times a week and I have really enjoyed reading it this year. I'm not sure it made me a better cook but it gave me a few ideas and made me think about food as a pass time rather than just something to prepare. I've also been having fun with a new Hello Fresh subscription but that's for another time.

2. Sign up for a course. As I was getting my free book, Amazon suggested I might like to read Lifelong Kindergarten by Mitchel Resnick, one of the leaders of MIT's media lab. Aah, yes, I was sorely tempted. But, I went looking for the course I knew they sponsored last fall and sure enough, the course is out there in the open with links to Resnick's book as well as other seminal articles from people like Seymour Papert.

3. I signed up for the Early Reviewers group and requested a couple books. We shall see what happens. I participated once before and got a couple good books.

Happy reading in 2018!! We are trying to do the same CAT challenges, so I will be checking in to see what you come up with. : )

>29 witchyrichy: Great meme answers!

Happy New Year, Karen. Good luck with all your bookish resolutions this year. I love your list of 2017 favorites. Several of them are on my TBR list. Maybe this year.

>32 thornton37814: I had a great time creating it as I was able to really review my reading from last year.

>33 BLBera: Thanks for the good wishes. My TBR list equals my books on the shelf so I think the resolutions will provide some guidance.

A Mystic Murder

I started a somewhat challenging month of reading with the easiest book on the list. A lovely little cozy murder mystery set in a town settled by refugee witches from Salem, Massachusetts. The main character travels with a cat and dog that seem to carry the souls of her parents. She lives with her sisters in a decrepit guest house where they operate a bakery. Her former job was as a police detective so when a dead body is found in the bakery oven, she signs on to help out the local detective discover the murderer.

There are multiple books in the series, but I don't think I'm compelled to read them. When I went to grab the image, I discovered that I had gotten the book through my Amazon Prime account. I have a couple other cozy series I am following, mostly related to books, and I think I'll focus on working through them rather than starting anew. I'm not sorry I read A Mystic Murder as it has been lurking on my Kindle for awhile. Check off one for the TIOLI challenge!

We woke to six inches or so of drifted snow with some still coming down. Here in central and eastern Virginia that is enough to shut everything down for multiple days, especially with the freezing temperatures. We cancelled the vet appointment we had for tomorrow as it requires us to go over the river on the ferry that is operating "on demand" today.

So...my main job today was supposed to be finishing two months worth of Quickbooks entries and reconciliations for my nonprofit. I did September and October yesterday and just need to finish out the year. It is my least favorite job (I know karenmarie can sympathize) and the fall are our busiest months. Over three hundred credit card charges to enter as well as lots of credits and just stuff. A long time ago, I tried doing an import from my credit card back end to QB and it was a disaster so I do the data entry by hand.

I *should* do at least one month and maybe process the deposit, but since I'll be home tomorrow after all, and we won't be getting to the bank until next week, I think I may declare a snow day!

And...for those of you who thought the farmhouse sounded fun, it is. Except it is largely unheated. We hang out in the den by the wood burning stove and keep the kitchen above freezing. We have some gas logs for other parts of the house to keep some plants alive in small protective greenhouses. I learned my lesson last year when I didn't protect the African violets, and they literally froze in my dining room. This year, the "fun" discovery was the water frozen in the toilet bowl. The pipes were ok but we had a little ice skating pond in the bathroom ;-)

We love feeding and watching the birds:

Hello Karen. You mentioned being a dog lover. I have The Red Collar on my TBR shelves, as well. I'm thinking I'll read it in November (Red month for the ColourCAT).

Stay safe and warm in these next few days.....

>37 EBT1002: >38 EBT1002: Thanks for the tip! We are tucked in by the stove with dogs and blankets. I am all about the hygge!

Hi Karen!

Oooh, I definitely sympathize. I am surprised that the credit card activity was a disaster, but what can you do except hunker down and listen to some good music or the radio while doing the drudge work.

Your birds look like my birds. *smile* We got 4.5" of powder. We're going to try to get out today although the roads in our county are still a disaster until you get to a state road. We have 2 miles of rural roads to navigate, so we'll see.

I don't mind doing the credit card charges except no one ever gives me their receipts so I have to track them down to find out what job, for what client, and is it billable! Sigh. Stay warm!!

>40 karenmarie: I am thinking about getting a lesson from our accountant that does the taxes. I managed to get November done without any issue yesterday and December won't take very long. My husband plowed our long driveway and UPS managed to get through yesterday. We have not been but live close enough to a main road that we can probably replenish the milk supply tomorrow.

>41 Berly: Mine are all charges for events we are having so it's plain old grunt work. I waste more time whining about it than it takes to just do it sometimes.

Sun, warmer temperatures and the snow is finally melting. Spot, the big dog, managed to get out of the back yard yesterday and took off on his tour of the neighborhood. My husband had to take the tractor to find him as the truck got stuck in the driveway. Once home safely with Spot, Bob was able to do a bit more clearing and ran a few errands but came back with the bad news that there wasn't any milk. I had enough for my latte this morning but am in conservation mode.

I'm getting back into motivation mode and looking forward to a long weekend with an old English teachind buddy in Pennsylvania. I'm binge watching the first season of Victoria as we will watch the premiere on Sunday.

Whose Woods These Are is Michael Frome's story of the National Forests. He gives an overview at the beginning and then subsequent chapters feature individual forests. The writing is lovely, with a respect and love for nature. I am looking forward to settling in for an afternoon read in the sunshine as I want to give Frome to my friend's husband.

>43 witchyrichy: I want to complete that title " . . . I think I know, His house is in the village though, He will not see me stopping here, To watch his woods fill up with snow . . ." Scary that I remember that one more than forty years later!

>44 thornton37814: Thank you! Me, too! A favorite that I memorized at some point for an assignment in middle school but was happy I did. I love being to recite a poem!

The book continues to be fascinating and incredibly timely as he spends a fair amount of time describing historic wildfires and the perils of fighting them in the early 1900s. I've been jotting down some of he places, writers and artists he mentions for further exploration:

Places:
Madison Huts, News Hampshire
Bayfield Peninsula, Wisconsin
Trapper Lake, Crow’s Nest Lookout, Wind River Mountains, Wyoming
Earthquake Lake, Gallatin National Forest, Montana

Artists:
Alfred Jacob Miller
Albert Bierstadt, Rocky Mountains (Met Museum of Art)

Writers:
Bernard De Voto, Across the Wide Missouri

>45 witchyrichy: It does sound like a fascinating book.

Hi Karen, just stopping by to say hello as I have been remiss in visiting threads so far this year, sending love and hugs from both of us.

>47 johnsimpson: Thanks for stopping by! Your love and hugs are returned!

Spent the weekend with an old friend. We talked books and she sent me home with a few books:

Frankenstein
A Death in the Family
The Blind Assassin

I finished Whose Woods These Are and left it for her husband who wanted to be a forest ranger in his youth. He ended up working for the railroad but still harbors a love for all things nature.

In a year of fires and mudslides, Michael Frome's history and celebration of the national forests is never more timely. Whose Woods These Are, published in 1962, provides a foundation for understanding contemporary discussions of access to and conservation of wilderness in the United States. After providing an overview of the forest service history, Frome takes a tour of a variety of wilderness areas with rangers and also talks with those who benefit from logging and grazing on the public domain. While Frome is obviously a fan of the forests, he also believes that they can be a place for compromise between those who would protect them from any use and those who would wish that the public domain would be placed in private hands.

Whether you are a conservationist or just a fan of the forests, this book is a lovely read with beautifully written descriptions of forests. And...for those of you who find yourself completing the title with lines from Robert Frost, Frome does pay homage to the poem both in the dedication and the conclusion.

Following Atticus is not a typical read for me...I generally don't like books about animals as I hate to think of them hurting or suffering. But, my mother chose this book for me as a Christmas gift when she was on a trip to New Hampshire and I felt as though reading it helped honor her.

I was rewarded with a wonderful, heart warming story of how a little dog helped a man transform his life. Tom Ryan was a one-man newspaper publisher in a small town. He was overweight and lonely when he took in his first dog. While Max did not live long, he opened the door for Atticus M. Finch, a mini-schnauzer who seemed to carry an old soul with him. Together, they hiked the high peaks in the White Mountains, becoming famous in the process, even as they provided support to each other through some tough times.

I laughed and cried and Ryan's tender story makes me wonder what I've been missing by not reading books about animals.

A driving trip as well as a warning from Audible about losing a credit sent me browsing the book selection. I found A Study in Scarlet Women, the first in a new series by Sherry Thomas, in which Sherlock Holmes is the alias of Charlotte Holmes. The latter, in an effort to blackmail her father into supporting her education, takes a drastic step only to find herself shamed and penniless. Charlotte eventually finds her niche as Mr. Holmes and in the midst of helping people with minor mysteries, solves a larger one related to several deaths.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The narrator was clear and entertaining and it was fun to see the thread of Conan Doyle brought together in a new way. Watson shows up in an innovative way and by the end, there are plans for writing the Holmes' stories.

Not sure I'll stick with this series but the first book was an ingenious take on the original mysteries.

>52 witchyrichy: I've wondered what that series is like. Now I know it's safe to "try" it.

Following along here... Glad you enjoyed the book from your mom so much. And that you didn't lose your Audible credit. : )

Hi Karen! I'm very very late making New Year's rounds but I'm glad I found your thread.

I'm also trying to stay away from the challenges. I've planned the Nonfiction Challenge, ColorCat and RandomCat to help with my stacks, but, in January a whole slug of library books arrived at once, and so I won't be even getting those done this month.

I love the high tunnel. Greens, radishes and beets sound wonderful. I would love to add a small glassed in area off my bedroom for a small sunporch, but fear it wouldn't be worth it, since the next owners might tear down the house I'm in and rebuild it altogether.

Whose Woods These Are sounds very timely.

And I'm glad to hear about a fun dog book (and hiking to boot!). I've added Following Atticus to the list I keep for books I need for a cheer up read.

Happy Reading!

>53 thornton37814: I am making another road trip to Pennsylvania so went ahead and added the second book to the iPhone: A Conspiracy in Belgravia. As audio book fans know, the narrator is an essential part of the experience, and Kate Reading is very good. Hope you like it!

>54 Berly: Thanks for stopping by, Berly. I am working on my challenges and doing pretty well for the first month.

>55 streamsong: I thought of you and another friend who wanted to be a forest ranger as I read Frome's book.

Miller's Valley is a coming-of-age story set in a fictional Pennsylvania town set to be flooded as part of a dam project. Mary Margaret (Mimi) Miller has lived in the valley her whole life, helping her father with the farming and selling corn by the road. She comes from generations of Millers who have lived similar lives. The story takes us from the 1960s through the present, and Quindlen's eye for details had me nodding along with everything from Jean Nate bath oil to patent leather shoes.

The outside world impacts the story. The Vietnam War looms large as she struggles to cope with a brother scarred by his experiences. But it is the world of Miller's Valley that comes to life in this carefully crafted novel. Mim walks a careful line between her mother and her mother's sister Ruth who refuses to leave her house. As many of us do, she learns about friends and lovers through both joy and heartache. Life events come, as they often do, without fanfare, forcing changes in our paths but helping us grow and learn as well.

It is a quiet book. What we might mistake for nostalgia is often overturned by the characters themselves. Mimi's mother, for instance, surprises Mimi (and us) with her ideas about the past and the future. There are powerful lessons to be learned in the seemingly every day events.

Highly recommended....

Lincoln in the Bardo was one of those books I picked up as I had heard wonderful reviews but then dithered about reading as a quick look at the text made it seem difficult to read. I am a little sorry I waited now as I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, I'm not too sorry because I was able to read it through in just one or two sittings, something I recommend if you haven't read it yet. I think that helped me keep track of the story line amidst the sometimes challenging prose.

The story primarily takes place the night after Willie Lincoln in entombed in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown. The "bardo" in the title refers to the place between death and rebirth. It is, in Saunders' novel, a fantastical world that we learn about in bits and pieces from its inhabitants who rise from their "sick boxes" at night to walk and talk amongst the tombstones and mausoleums. Interim chapters fill in the details of Willie's death as well as some historical context including slavery and the Civil War.

I have two books to go on my planned list with a good bit of reading time still available in the month.

Meanwhile, I went to get my library card renewed yesterday and came away with two more books, both by Jennifer Chiaverini. The Quilter's Kitchen is one of the Elm Creek quilts novels and features a variety of recipes. I think it appealed to me as I seem to have a new-found love of cooking in the new year. Mrs. Lincoln's Rival is another of Chiaverini's books about Mary Todd Lincoln. I enjoyed the first one I read and this seemed an appropriate follow up to Lincoln in the Bardo.

Finally, I bought two books about meditation.

I read Dan Harris's book 10% Happier when it first came out and while the message resonated with me--Harris described the voice in my head perfectly--I never took his advice. His new book Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics is billed as the how-to manual. Instead of buying the book right away, I downloaded the app and have been using it for the past few weeks to learn more about meditation and actually meditate. Harris and his team of meditation experts make it seem so easy: sit, breath, and when you get distracted, begin again.

I haven't made it past about 6 minutes but Harris reassures me that it is OK. And the session I listened to this morning made me laugh out loud...it was about how meditation can help with anger. After yelling at my husband for something trivial last night, I was happy to learn that I am not a failure at meditation. It won't make me a dull automaton but, with practice, I might be able to avoid the outbursts that seem to flare up out of nowhere. I appreciate Harris's practical and personal advice.

A video of Harris and Anderson Cooper talking about meditation led me to Jeff Warren's book The Head Trip. Warren co-authored the new book about his adventures with Harris as they explored meditation around the world. It is old so I am going to have to wait for a print copy which I ordered from Green Street Books, a bookstore in California that hires adults with disabilities.

Fits at least 2 KITS/CATS:
Famous Person in Title: Mrs. Lincoln's Rival (February)
Money in the Title:
Originally in a Different Language: Britt Marie Was Here
Unread 2017 Purchase: Brava, Valentine
New to You Author: Lincoln in the Bardo, George Sanders (January)
Autobiography or Memoir:
Published in 2018: Gods of Howl Mountain
Longtime TBR:
Beautiful Cover:
Poetry or Plays:
LGBTQ central characters:
Read a CAT: Whose Woods These Are (January ColourCAT Black)
Rank in Title:
Published > 100 years:
Humorous Book:
>500 pages: America's First Daughter
X in the Title:
Relative Name in the Title:
Pacific Ocean Related:
Set during a holiday:
Something in the sky in the title:
1001 List:
Number in the title:
Story Involves Travel:

Ah, meditation! I used to do that and have fallen off with my practice. Perhaps you are my nudge from the universe! ; )

Congrats on the bingo square!! And I REALLY need to read Lincoln in the Bardo. It has been on my LT list to read soon for months...

>61 Berly: I *just* added the square and am looking forward to playing with it.

Harris was my nudge so maybe I am yours. I just like his practical approach and the attitude of "begin again" that I think could relate to so many of our resolution to do better. We will fall off whatever wagon we've chosen to ride; the key is to climb back up and begin again. Let me know how it goes.

Aaah...threads read, comments left, and Bingo card added.

Time to settle in with Brava, Valentine. I want to get it read by the weekend so I can pass it along to my mother.

>59 witchyrichy: I read most of Chiaverini's "quilt" series although I began to tire of them after awhile. I probably ought to pick up where I left off and finish the series. I don't know how many got marked on LT and how many were pre-LT, so it may be difficult to figure out exactly where I am.

>58 witchyrichy: Good review! It made me consider rereading it, perhaps next time in print rather than audio. (In my experience, rereading in a different format usually brings out more layers and additional insights.) So glad you were able to get into Lincoln in the Bardo and ultimately enjoy it!

Hi Karen. Your thread is so full of riches! I'm adding Whose Woods These Are to the wish list. It sounds wonderful.

Also, the app you describe for learning to meditate sounds like just what I have been wanting lately. I'm reading (and quite enjoying) Why Buddhism is True and it has made me want to try mediation. I'm a psychologist. You'd think I'd have tried this rather than just recommending that others should do so... heh.
Is the app called Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics?

Hi Karen!

>58 witchyrichy: I'm glad you enjoyed Lincoln in the Bardo. It was a I'm-stingy-with-my-stars 5 star read for me. I read it as opposed to listening to it, but our book club chose it for this coming November, so I think I'll listen to it and follow along in the book too. Definitely worth a re-read for me.

>66 EBT1002: The app is called 10% Happier and I think I saw that it is available for all the various devices. I am finding it very helpful as I work through the beginner sessions.

>64 thornton37814: I haven't read that many of the quilt books. I did enjoy The Union Quilters set during the Civil War.

>65 Storeetllr: >67 karenmarie: Now, I may have to listen to the audio. My audio book choices are usually mysteries that have a strong plot to keep my attention. More fluffy than literary. But, I agree that multiple formats can help with understanding and seeing the layers. I'm wondering how the reader handled the multiple voices.

>70 witchyrichy: There are one hundred and sixty-six readers. Yes, 166. Here's a bit from Amazon:

The 166-person full cast features award-winning actors and musicians, as well as a number of Saunders' family, friends, and members of his publishing team, including, in order of their appearance:

Nick Offerman as HANS VOLLMAN
David Sedaris as ROGER BEVINS III
Carrie Brownstein as ISABELLE PERKINS
George Saunders as THE REVEREND EVERLY THOMAS
Miranda July as MRS. ELIZABETH CRAWFORD
Lena Dunham as ELISE TRAYNOR
Ben Stiller as JACK MANDERS
Julianne Moore as JANE ELLIS
Susan Sarandon as MRS. ABIGAIL BLASS
Bradley Whitford as LT. CECIL STONE
Bill Hader as EDDIE BARON
Megan Mullally as BETSY BARON
Rainn Wilson as PERCIVAL "DASH" COLLIER
Jeff Tweedy as CAPTAIN WILLIAM PRINCE
Kat Dennings as MISS TAMARA DOOLITTLE
Jeffrey Tambor as PROFESSOR EDMUND BLOOMER
Mike O'Brien as LAWRENCE T. DECROIX
Keegan-Michael Key as ELSON FARWELL
Don Cheadle as THOMAS HAVENS
and Patrick Wilson as STANLEY "PERFESSER" LIPPERT
with Kirby Heyborne as WILLIE LINCOLN,
Mary Karr as MRS. ROSE MILLAND,
and Cassandra Campbell as Your Narrator

>71 karenmarie: OH, YES! Thanks for posting the list. It will be something like Ken Burns' Civil War Series. And now I'm trying to remember if Lincoln actually spoke in the novel. Don't have the text close by.

I was reminded of an interesting article I read last week about hearing Lincoln's voice. I thought, from the headline, that they had found a recording of Lincoln, even though I was fairly confident that audio recording and playback did not exist during Lincoln's lifetime. But it's more about how to create a voice from written descriptions and I think it is fascinating. I'm no good at impressions so am not sure I would be successful.

And, just in case you're interested: A recording device called a Phonautograph was invented in 1860 but it did not do playback. That didn't come until 12 years later. Finally, CBS News did an interview with Daniel Day-Lewis about his process of speaking like Lincoln. They seem to agree with the Library of Congress that his is the most authentic voicing.

Well...that was a little bit of fun research. And, I have a ten-hour round trip drive to Pennsylvania that starts tomorrow. I had started the second book in the Lady Sherlock series but can put it aside. I listened to the sample and it seems very listenable but I suspect it will take a few chapters to be able to identify various characters without waiting for the identification at the end.

My mother was responsible for leading the discussion about Kiss Carlo in her RL book group. In addition, her group went to hear Adriana Trigiani speak at an annual author's luncheon. She loved Trigiani and I used that as an excuse to buy Trigiani books last year when I found them with the idea that I would read them and then pass them along. I have read a few of her books and enjoyed them. Lively characters, somewhat unpredictable plots, and generally happy endings.

Brava, Valentine was no exception. The main character is 35-year-old Valentine who, as the book opens, is taking over a custom bridal shoe shop run by her family for 100 years. Her grandmother is marrying for a second time and moving to Italy to join her new husband. Valentine is a gifted shoe designer with a small production shop. She has dreams of expanding and we follow her efforts as she moves forward. She is confident of her own creativity and strong in her desire to succeed.

But, she has sacrificed marriage for her work, leaving behind two long term relationships before the novel opens. Now, she finds herself being wooed by an older handsome Italian who writes love letters in fountain pen on onion skin sheets and makes her feel wonderfully loved. I found her reaction to him overly dramatic as she continually accuses herself of being childish because she doesn't immediately dump her whole life and jump into his arms, which is what he seems to not only want but to expect. Maybe I am reading through the eyes of the #metoo movement and a renewed sense of feminism, but I was just put off by the way she put herself down and simply assumed that, because she hadn't been successful in a relationship yet, she must always be wrong.

Otherwise, it was a good read and I learned a bit about shoemaking along the way. I'm intrigued and headed to Instructables to see what kinds of interesting shoes people were making. There is a wonderful range of ideas with step by step directions for making each one. Some describe making shoes from scratch while others hack already existing shoes.

One more book planned for January: Mountains Beyond Mountains. Not sure why I picked it up and wasn't sure I was going to read it but Paul Farmer seems like an intriguing characters and I'm looking forward to learning more. I did a little research about him and his Partners in Health organization. If you check out the link, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to read about Tom White, the funder. He ran a construction company and gave PIH its first one million dollar donation and then basically gave away his fortune.

Oh Karen, here it is almost February and I JUST found your thread! You're reading up a storm already!

Your description of your farm (and farmhouse) make it sound so lovely - I'm tempted to show up some day for a tour of the gardens and a stay in your library (I'm a good cook, BTW).

Hope you have a great day!

>75 AMQS: Glad you found me! You have an open invitation! Good cooks are ALWAYS welcome!

I listened to the audio version of Lincoln in the Bardo and loved it! Not sure if it is better than the book. Reading the text first showed me how the book was structured and I'm not sure how that would have worked out if I had started with the audio. The two complement each other beautifully with the audio exposing some details I had overlooked when I read.

Hi Karen!

I'm glad to read about your experience with Lincoln in the Bardo. I read it last year and will listen to it this year for my November book club discussion.

February Plan:

Finish Mountains Beyond Mountains (It was close enough to January that I counted it.)

AlphaKIT February (P, J):
The Book of the People
How to Be Alone (Jonathan Franzen)

BingoCAT:
Mrs. Lincoln's Rival (famous person's name in the title)
Gods of Howl Mountain (published in 2018)


84, Charing Cross Road

TIOLI Challenge #3: Read A book of which the title contains something that you love
The Quilter's Kitchen from Chiaverini: short story with lots of recipes and I do love my kitchen. (I ended buying the Kindle version so I have the recipes close by. They are all pretty classic but include some surprises like Chicken Satai with peanut sauce.)

TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with a tree or trees on the cover
America's First Daughter (RL book group book) (I'm also counting this as being more than 500 pages as part of BingoCAT.)

I am also diving into The Literary Study Bible and want to work it into my morning routine so it becomes a daily habit.

Books seem to come to me sometimes when I need a better understanding of the world and current events. That was certainly true with Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder's portrait of Dr. Paul Farmer, anthropologist and doctor, whose work has taken him to some of the poorest, disease ravaged parts of the world, with Haiti being a focal point of his life and work.

Kidder gives the larger context of Haiti and its extreme poverty, laying much of the blame at the door of first world countries, most notably the United States. I might have been able to come up with some of the leaders' names, like the Duvaliers and Aristide, but I really didn't know much else about Haiti, its history and its disastrous relationship with our country. It is a violent, sad history in which, no matter who is in charge, the people of Haiti always come out on the losing end.

Farmer fell in love with these people early in his career and has worked tirelessly to control AIDS, HIV and TB, especially the multi drug resistant variety that was actually being encouraged by a standard method of treatment. Partners in Health works around the world with the support of major donors including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Kidder was clearly in awe of Farmer but also provided glimpses of the struggles he endured to make his "O of the P" (Farmer's shorthand for Operational Priority for the Poor) a reality, traveling with broken bones at one point and finding only short periods of time to be with his wife and daughter. There was an edge to Farmer that can only come out of frustration with a world who seems to believe that those born in poverty are some how responsible for their lot. He could be rude and short with people, and yet maintains long term relationships, even with his first love, Ophelia Dahl, who couldn't marry him but is now chair of the Board of PIH. The New Yorker profiled her in December 2017. And, yes, if you think the name is familiar, she is the daughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia O'Neal.

Highly recommended....

>80 witchyrichy: I expected to enjoy that one more than I did. I think it got bogged down in places for me.

>76 witchyrichy: ohh yay, and thank you! You never know when I might come knocking!

>80 witchyrichy: That looks like an important read. I'll add it to my list.

>81 thornton37814: I can understand that. Sometimes I felt like Kidder hadn't quite found a balance between documenting the man and the work so it was hard to follow the different tracks of the tale. And maybe they are to intertwined you can't.

I am finally, blessedly home for a stretch of two weeks. Today was beautiful and I did what work had to be done and then took the rest of the day off. Sat on the back porch with the dogs who were happy to have an "open door day" when they can come in and out as they please. We were just glad that it had stopped raining and the sun even broke through. I put the chickadee bird house up as the chickadees seemed to be calling a reminder to me from the Crepe Myrtle in the back yard.

I got bogged down a bit in the Jonathan Franzen essays. I read and enjoyed The Corrections but haven't gotten to Purity: A Novel yet. Franzen was suitably grouchy about the modern world with its desire for easy reads and fascination with sex scandals. But he can also be self deprecating when he reveals his own preference for popular novels. The most powerful essay for me was a description of new maximum security prisons in which inmates are completely isolated. Franzen lays out the fundamental racism in the system as well as the way prisons deceive the local communities where they build the facilities.

The essays take on the cigarette industry, the postal service, and his father's Alzheimer's. I prefer Franzen when he writes personally. The book includes his famous Harper's Essay, edited and renamed, and I found it long and whiny. Even Franzen acknowledges that he was an angry writer when he produced the essay, someone he doesn't recognize when he revisited the essay for the anthology.

I read two books about famous daughters back to back without planning to do so, but I am glad I did. The experiences of Kate Chase, daughter of Salmon Chase, a member of Lincoln's cabinet who dreamed of being President, and Patsy Jefferson, oldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, were eerily similar despite being separated by a generation or two.



Mrs. Lincoln's Rival and America's First Daughter told the stories of the sacrifices made by these two women, thrust into the political spotlight as they supported their famous fathers. Both are portrayed as politically adept and ambitious, both chose fathers over husbands and both suffered from unhappy, physically violent marriages. They wielded a certain amount of power through their fathers and were able to move beyond the traditional female roles. But the demands of being wife and mother still took precedence, and Patsy Jefferson, in particular, engaged in much more physical work than I had imagined as she struggled to revive her husband's unproductive, dying farm.



Kate Chase lived a somewhat more genteel life, mainly in Washington, DC, but knew her family was not wealthy. She eventually married a rich man but the marriage was not happy. She was accused of infidelity. After the divorce, she lived with her children on an estate and eventually died in poverty, something she also shared with Patsy Jefferson. But before all that, Kate was the "queen" of Washington, DC, and I love the photo of her on Wikipedia:

I received an advance reader's copy of Gods of Howl Mountain through NetGalley. Set in the 1950s in North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains, the novel focuses on Granny May and her grandson Rory as they struggle to come to terms with a traumatic past that has left Rory's mother and her daughter locked up in an insane asylum.

The opening scenes of the novel offer a view of what might seem a stereotypical mountain grandmother, rocking and smoking on the porch of her cabin. But while she does seem to be everyone's granny, offering mountain remedies for ailments and tending to her grandson and his friend, she also wields a shotgun with ease and has her own past to contend with. Plus, she isn't above a bit of malicious fun when it comes to those who judge her.

Rory, her grandson, home from the Korean War minus a leg, works in the moonshine trade, dodging the revenuers and locals in his big Ford. He is a somewhat reluctant participant but it is the work available to him. One night, he stumbles upon a group of frenzied Pentecostals worshipping in an old garage, speaking in tongues and handling snakes. The scenes of the church have a surreal quality as we move into the crowd with Rory, mesmerized by the chanting and dancing.

The novel itself seems to pulse with the life of the mountains and Taylor Brown uses rich prose to describe people and places. It threatens every so often to spill over into excess but Brown manages to keep control, much like his main characters controls the big Ford. His world is one of raw life: violence, sex, love, grief all rolled into complex characters.

I picked up A.N. Wilson's book The Book of the People at Aaron's, a small independent bookstore in Lititz, Pennsylvania. I bought it at a time when I was considering rereading the Bible, a once annual practice for me. I did not so much give it up as just seem to lose the time for the kind of quiet, contemplative reading I felt the Bible demanded. The book went on the shelf and I did not think much more about it. Then, as they often do when we let the universe have its way, threads came together: a LibraryThing friend sent me The Literary Study Bible she had read last year, a wonderfully rich approach to the Bible that gave me the impetus I needed to dive back into this book of books. At about the same time, I did my annual tour of the library to develop my reading list for 2018 and there was the Wilson book with its intriguing subtitle: How to Read the Bible.

I will admit that I did not know anything about Wilson even though, according to the biography, "he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism." He mentions an anti-religion pamphlet that he published, and this article from New Statesman is Wilson's description of his move from believer to atheist and back again. All this I have learned after reading his lovely little book in which he shows how, without quibbling over historicity, we can find ourselves and our lives in the Bible:

"The reason that my book is called The Book of the People is that the Bible has affected human life. It is not proved or disproved by a sceptic poring over its pages in a study. Rather, it is enacted when people such as Martin Luther King or Desmond Tutu are enflamed by it."

The book was quite a romp--we visit Hagia Sophia, dig into the poetry of Wallace Stevens and George Herbert, and rub up against Northrop Frye. There are moments when I felt a bit lost in this literary landscape but then Wilson returned to his fundamental goal: find a middle ground between fundamentalists and securalists who, he believes, are reading the Bible wrong. The Bible is, he argues, "a work of the imagination," recreated with each new reading and understanding.

The book is wrapped in an intriguing narrative in which Wilson describes his friend L. who is considering writing this very book and leaves him her notes tucked in her own Bible. There were times when this story got in Wilson's way but in the end, as he attended a Mass at the convent where she died, it helped think about and connect his various experiences by allowing him to dialog with her over the course of the book. I was put off by the initials, though, as he used them to refer to traveling companions. It was distracting as I found myself wondering who these people were.

The thread continues...I received an advance reader's copy of Rachel Held Evans' new book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again. The blurb indicates that she has a similar purpose to Wilson: finding a way to love the Bible again without committing to a particular tribe.

Hi, Karen! I hope you enjoy your time back home. You've certainly been busy churning out the reviews!! Nicely done. :) Have a great weekend.

>89 Berly: I am loving every minute of being home but just sketched out March. I do get to take another train trip though and I give myself permission to use the whole trip to read since if I were driving, I wouldn't be able to work, right? I finished two books that way during a recent trip to New York.

I am trying to keep up with the reviews even if it means not always getting to other people's threads.

The sun came out and I settled into the old rocker on the sun porch to read. 84, Charing Cross Road was a delight. Helen Hanff is just a hoot and she wins over the more formal, reticent Brits with her enthusiasm and affectionate snarkiness. I laughed out loud when she said it was easier to write to England to order books than get downtown in New York! The original Amazon...

It would be lovely as a story of friendship built through letters but it also provides an intimate view of post-war Britain where powered eggs (!) were welcome as rationing limited access to food. Mostly, as someone who grew up writing letters, I was nostalgic for slower times when part of the joy was in the anticipation.

Wikipedia has a partial list of the books Hanff ordered through Marks & Co.

So...I have finished all the books I had planned for February. My RL book group is reading Home Front by Kristin Hannah and I picked up my copy on Friday. I suspect I will return it on Monday. That gives me four days to read something unplanned or unscheduled. Hmmm...I may dive into the Rachel Held Evans book about reading the Bible. I already like her approach better than A.N. Wilson. I think we share similar experiences of growing up with the Bible and then beginning to question its authenticity and importance.

Hi Karen!

>91 witchyrichy: Good review, I've added it to my wish list.

Good luck picking your next book.

I abandoned my book club's March selection - Plainsong by Kent Haruf. It just never clicked.

>93 karenmarie: I have two more by Hanff: Q's Legacy, about her love of books, and The Dutchess of Bloomsbury Street, about her eventual trip to England.

Sorry to hear about the book. I almost abandoned the Franzen essays but I was rewarded with some good writing. Mostly skimmed the stuff I found too esoteric or angry.

Hi Karen, hope all is well with you my dear and that you are having a good week so far. The snow that has been forecast for us has finally arrived although it only amounts to an inch at the moment but we have more to come over the next few days.

Have a really good week dear friend and I send love and hugs from both of us.

Picking the next book...

I finished Home Front on Monday and returned it to the library where, for some inexplicable reason, I borrowed two books! The books I borrowed are both historical fiction: Fates and Traitors about John Wilkes Booth and The Last Runaway. I started the former last night and think I will stick with it for now. I will also read Rachel Held Evans along with my Bible reading each day.

And then...

I opened the Kindle app on the iPad and discovered a whole slew of books waiting for me to read:

The Grave's A Fine and Private Place
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics
The Bookseller's Tale
Fools and Mortals
The Birdwoman's Palate
Geekerella
The Color of Magic
In Farleigh Field
Journey to Munich
Mark of Fire
Last Train to Istanbul
Jessica Jones Vol. 1: Uncaged!
PS From Paris
Lit Up
Mrs. Saint and the Defectives
The Man of Legends
Old Man's War

I started the Flavia De Luca, of course. And am committed to reading two each month so I finish them up by the end of the year. I'm not sure where they all came from: I know the SciFi is from Tor.com and a couple are the free Amazon Prime books.

I read the first book in Nora Roberts' Cousin O'Dwyer trilogy (even though it seems I did not record it anywhere along with at least one other book I read in late December) and want to read the next two. My library has digital versions and now that my library card has been officially renewed for 2018, they are on the TBR as well.

March Plan:

Fates and Traitors
The Last Runaway

ColourCAT March:
March/Green: The Dragons of Eden

AlphaKIT:
Mar: F, I
The Silk Roads (Peter Frankopan)
Hogs Wild (Ian Frazier)

Hmm...I may have to compare the BingoCAT to the TBR pile. I can't seem to match up any of the Kindle books. I'm thinking I'm going to need some fun fiction to offset the serious nonfiction books listed above.

Kristin Hannah takes on a tough subject as part of her novel Home Front: military families during war. In this case, Jolene, the main character, is a female helicopter pilot with a husband and two daughters who gets deployed along with her next door neighbor and best friend. If that isn't enough stress, her marriage is also struggling as she heads overseas for a year. Michael, her husband, works as a defense attorney and, as Jolene fulfills her military obligations, he defends another veteran whose undiagnosed PTSD led to tragic consequences. His negative view of war and the military begins to change as he works with his client.

The book provides a realistic view of the impact of a military spouse, particularly a mother, on the family. I am glad I read it. That being said, there were parts that I just found annoying including the 12-year-old daughter Becky who is almost a stereotype of a 12-year-old, unable to get out of her own adolescent problems and find empathy for others. At times, the book crossed a line into preachiness and the author herself seemed to have little empathy for Michael. And, it was a little unbelievable that, with a war raging, Jolene and Michael had done no planning for what would happen is she got deployed. In fact, they barely talked at all and I found myself wondering why, besides great sex, they had married in the first place.

This isn't a book I would have picked up myself. My RL book group is reading it and I'll be interested in hearing their comments. I'm not sorry I read it and I feel like I have a better understanding of the military life.

Hi Karen! Wow, you're reading up a storm! 84, Charing Cross Road is on my all-time favorites list. So glad you enjoyed it also!

Have a great weekend!

Hi, Karen. I have some early morning time today ( yes, it is 2:30 AM!) and so I skimmed my way through your first thread, so far, and enjoyed reading about your farm, and your dogs, and your life. I am reminded how much I like Library Thing and how I need to spend more time here.

Hard to believe I'm already in March and find that my reading difficulties have lifted a wee bit and I can say I've read some books this year. Whew. I enjoyed Born a Crime a good deal, and have to say Trevor Noah's sense of humor is good fun. It is a quick read, and if you are looking for something a bit unusual it is a good one.

I'm glad you enjoyed reading Following Atticus, and hope you have time to read Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again. I am touched by Tom Ryan's commitment to treating dogs with dignity and love.

Well, let's say I'm waving "hi" and expressing the hope that I will spend a bit more time here on LT, and will try to keep up with you and your farm. Spring! it will come.

An aside: sorry about the horrific winter weather you on the east coast have experienced recently.

>100 maggie1944: So good to hear from you and to hear that you are getting better!

I enjoyed Born a Crime last year and did the audio book that Noah read. It was terrific!

Will's Read Coat is on my list and a friend shared Tom Ryan's blog with me: The Adventures of Tom and Atticus

I will admit that I have been posting here but haven't had time to visit other threads. I need to carve out some time but probably not 2:30 AM!

The wind has been terrible at the farm but we didn't get the snow. I think that's coming next week.

>99 AMQS: I'm try to do less "mindless" social media surfing. Plus, I think the meditation is helping generally with focus so I can read without thinking of all the other things I should be doing.

I can't wait to read the other Hanff books, too.

Shame on me for just now commenting on your thread! A little late to finally say Happy New Year....how about Happy St Patrick’s Day! :)

So glad you loved Lincoln in the Bardo! And wasn’t 84, Charing Cross Road wonderful?! I need to read it again.

>103 Copperskye: You are welcome to stop by any time! I have been remiss myself in visiting people's threads. Just happy to keep up with mine.

I'm not sure how I missed 84, Charing Cross Road and can see rereading it each year when the digital world gets too crazy!

I didn't realize Fates and Traitors had a subtitle until I added it to my library: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth and the Women Who Love Him. I suppose it helps put the narrative into a bit more perspective. Each section is named after either JWB or one of those women including his mother, his sister, Mary Surratt, and his fiance, Lucy Hale.

While I am generally well informed about the Civil War, this book provided an in depth view of Booth and his famous family. For instance, I had never heard of Lucy Hale or that Booth even had a fiance. He clearly had a place in Washington society.

We get glimpses of the Southern resistance, too, from gun smuggling to blockade runners. Chiaverini manages to include these historical touches as a natural part of the story.

Hmm, I seem to have missed out on reading Jennifer Chiaverini to date. Thank you for your very good reviews of Mrs. Lincoln's Rival and Fates and Traitors which have brought her to my attention!

>77 witchyrichy: Yay! So glad you took the plunge and and listened to Bardo after you read it in print, and glad you got some new insights from it. I will have to read it in print sometime, since I listened to it first. :)

Most people know Chiaverini for her Elm Creek quilt series. They tend to be lighter reading although even in those she ventures into historical fiction. She is particularly interested in the Civil War and some of the quilt books go back to that time.

Her new book, Enchantress of Numbers, is about Ada Lovelace and I am really looking forward to reading it.

I ended up trying a different meditation app, one called Head Space, and I'm quite liking it. It has one 10-minute exercise for helping one fall asleep (a serious problem for me at times) and I love love love that exercise.

I also loved 84, Charing Cross Road when I read it a couple of years ago. And I love your description of sitting on the sun porch (in the sun!) reading it!

>108 EBT1002: I've heard about Headspace and may give it a try, too. I attended a conference last week for school technology officers and administrators and they had a "mindfulness" session at the beginning of each day. Neil Pasricha, the happiness guy, was the keynote for the closing session and I received a copy of The Happiness Equation. He recommends meditation as one of seven things to do to be happy right now. In this blog entry, he recommends Headspace. I could certainly sleep better myself.

Peter Frankopan's Asian centered view of world history is fascinating. I'll be honest...I wasn't sure why I picked up this book and it seemed a bit daunting. But, Frankopan's style is engaging and he has found the fine line between historical accuracy and historical tedium. We learn a lot about the world without being too bogged down in details. The approach of each chapter focusing on a particular "road" helped unify the historical timeline across countries and cultures in the way a typical approach doesn't do. We see how the various groups of people overlap and intersect.

One unfortunate theme was that when countries collide, it is the poorest people who pay the price. For instance, in the contemporary era, the US knew that economic sanctions might kill hundreds of thousands in Iran. But similar events happened often whether it was under Stalin or Ghengis Khan.

By the end, I felt as though I had a much better understanding of the complexity of the Middle East and felt outrage at the way western countries manipulated these sovereign powers, often in bumbling and disastrous ways. So...we supported Saddam Hussein until we didn't. Ditto for Bin Laden.

Highly recommended...

Welcome to Virginia where a few inches of snow shuts everything down. Actually, it hasn't started falling yet but the threat has cleared my calendar for the next two days. I was scheduled to give short keynotes to do different regional library groups on Wednesday and Thursday. Both are being rescheduled.

So, I have worked pretty hard to prepare for these and get some stuff crossed off the schedule as I am away all weekend at a board meeting in far southwest Virginia. Thus, I have some free time!

And after waiting for awhile, I finally received the Kindle version of the new Ken Follett, A Column of Fire from the library. I think I know what I am doing with my snow days.

But, the new Steve Berry also just showed up on the Kindle from my pre-order. Hmm...

>111 witchyrichy: We may get some overnight as well in East Tennessee, and I need to drive north toward Indiana. We only need to make it as far as Lexington tomorrow evening so I'm hopeful.

Hi Karen!

>110 witchyrichy: I bought that book for my daughter for Christmas and am only sorry I didn't buy myself a copy at the same time. Good review.

>112 thornton37814: Hope you made it safely. We ended up canceling the weekend board meeting as well. I spent the days reading Ken Follett and crocheting and watching West Wing reruns.

Now deciding what to read next...the Lovelace book is due back to the library but I am tempted by the Steve Berry.

>113 karenmarie: Thanks!

Ken Follett was an interesting follow up. It was told from a euro-centric view, but there were interesting historical details that connected to Frankopan's book.

>114 witchyrichy: We managed to rush the meeting, cancel the second night of hotel reservations in Indianapolis, and get out of Indianapolis before the snow hit there. It's a good thing too. They had over 10 inches at the airport.

Hi Karen! Great review of Silk Roads which sounds very interesting. At almost 800 pages, it does sound a bit daunting, though.

April has arrived. I made my first batch of hummingbird food and will put up the feeder today for the lead birds. It's always a thrill to see the first one.

It's Easter, too, and we are staying home. I'll do one of our hams in the crockpot along with greens from the high tunnel. I need to get a picture posted...my husband has been disappearing out there every day without much fanfare and yesterday, I finally ventured out to discover greens galore: kale, spinach, radishes, beets (can't wait to pickle them!), and cabbage. We also picked up our pork and beef shares from a local farmer so there is lots of bacon for fried cabbage.

I hope everyone is well and ready for spring. My plan for the day includes digging up a large patch of irises and pulling out the rogue bushes and weeds and then reseating them.

As for reading, well, I fell behind in March and I'm not sure how much plan I'm going to make for April. I started Enchantress of Numbers and it is due back to the library soon. I also have an ARC of Inspired that seems appropriate for Easter reading. And I found Jane Austen: The Secret Radical along with Northanger Abbey upstairs and brought them downstairs.

The news is on and reminding me that it was 50 years ago that Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed. Steve Berry's new book was crafted around the assassination and goes back to the beginning of Cotton Malone's career.

Happy Easter, Karen!

I need to do my hummingbird feeder to catch the lead birds, too. The 2018 Migration map already shows them in Virginia, so you're right on time.

Your Easter plans sound wonderful. I'd love to see a photo of your 'tunnel'. And yay to pickled beets! I had some homemade ones at a teensy little restaurant in Bear Creek NC on Friday and they were perfect.

Its a gaggle of Karens.

Happy Spring. We have some hummingbirds who hang around for the whole winter. It is a thrill to see a wee bird hiding under my deck's roof, next to the feeder. Goes grabs a bit and goes back to rest on the wind chime's frame. I like watching them, and I like hearing them click and scold from nearby tree branches.

Your Easter sounded quite ideal. I drove north to my niece's house and hung out with them. My miniature schnauzer, Gretchen, sat on the floor and stared at the cockatiel bird. (forgive the guessed spelling) We also made plans for the two youngest (10 and 12) to come hang out with me on Friday as it is their spring vacation. We'll swim in our indoor pool, and sit with our feet up and read. The girl, Jocelyn, may use my drafting table to "do art".

As I say: happy spring!

>119 karenmarie: My husband spotted the first hummer today and I have seen him, too. (He is there right now, in fact.) Too windy to get a good unblurry picture but I am happy to see them back. I didn't know about the map...just went a submitted our siting.

>I have another Karen in my life and we exchange homemade postcards! Glad you had a nice Easter. It must be fun to have the hummers around all the time. That's chickadees for us and my husband would love to get them to eat out of his hand. I bought little hand held hummingbird feeders last year but never got one to feed out of it while I held out. More patience is needed on my part.

Have a wonderful visit with your visitors! An indoor pool sounds lovely!

Losing, searching, finding and, ultimately, transforming: these themes twine together in Paris By the Book as Leah and her daughters, Ellie and Daphne, move from Milwaukee to Paris to look for their missing husband and father, Robert. At the beginning, they share a belief that they are following clues he has left for them. But as they settle into life without him in Paris as bookshop owners, Leah discovers that the girls are still actively looking for him even as she begins to learn to live without him as the first anniversary of his disappearance looms.

The novel takes advantage of coincidence that seems to border on magical, a concern addressed in the early page of the book. Robert, an author, uses coincidence in his writing while Leah suggests "it was barely plausible in his novels for kids and wholly out of place in his adult work." The author, Liam Callanan, is being coy, as at that moment, on their last day in Paris, coincidence drives the story, perhaps part of the magic of Paris?

Because Paris is more than simply a setting for the story; it plays an essential role as it was home to Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of Madeline, and Albert Lamorisse, creator of The Red Balloon. Both Ellie and Daphne absorbed the love of these works from Leah and Robert and their Paris experiences are shaped by that love and technical knowledge. And, it is the setting of Robert's next book, although Leah does not know that until after she has begun her new life.

Beyond the fantasy and "vertigo" of Paris, as Leah calls it, this is the story of a family, one that, as Leah is reminded at one point, had memories and dreams. Robert takes to the role of father in creative and supportive ways...when he is home. But his more frequent absences for "writeaways" have begun to fray the edges of the marriage and even the fabric of the family itself.

And at its core, this is Leah's story. She is an honest narrator, willing to share her contradictions and failures, one who, as her therapist points out, uses humor to deal with life. Her fierce love for and pride in her daughters as they deal with their loss and their new found lives is a recurring theme, and no matter what happens with Robert, we know the three of them will be okay. They have allowed tragedy to transform them rather than defeat them.

Oh, my! I am so tempted to run right to Ammy and buy this book.

I woke this morning to a public radio discussion about China's retreat from taking all the recycled plastic and paper the western world, mainly USA maybe, sent them. Reuse, Recycle, what's the third one?

I woke a budding commitment in me to avoid plastic. And avoid "throw away paper".... print books, perhaps. I don't know it may be just an early morning fantasy.

But that said, your review does make me very interested. I'll go see if there is a Kindle copy available.

Happy weekend!

>I think it just came out....I should have mentioned that I got an ARC through First to Read. I had a digital version they provided.

The third one is reduce but you probably knew that. I love my books but have begun to think about reducing my print consumption. Plus, one of my RL book groups friends mentioned that checking the books out from the library helps them justify their budget each year. I've decided to see them as off-site storage ;-)

I live on the outskirts of a very small southern town. Folks tend to be a bit more conservative than I am. This was evident as my RL book group chose a book for April. The librarian was making suggestions and started to read the description of White Houses about Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. When she got to the part about a growing intimacy, the woman next to me gasped a little even as I was just starting to express interest. On hearing the gasp, the librarian, a woman I respect a lot for her work, immediately stopped reading and may have even apologized.

Anyway...we ended up choosing Look For Me, a psychological thriller, not my usual fare. I guess I was the only one who saw any irony in the choice: we'd rather read about child abuse, bullying and murder rather than think about a lesbian relationship.

That being said, much of what we have read has been very thoughtful and relevant: considering I live in the hotbed of the Massive Resistance movement, we have read several excellent books that explore southern history and race relations including Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, Hidden Figures, and Small Great Things. Most of the women in the group are retired school teachers who were in the classroom when desegregation took place. The librarian was in third grade was in third grade and could not afford to attend the private school that opened in the next town. It has been fascinating to hear about their experiences as well as their perceptions about what has changed or not changed.

Look For Me was a good read, all in all. Enough mystery to keep me going although I did figure it out before the detective and an interesting side story of a group of women who have survived gruesome attacks and abductions who work as vigilantes as well as well researched details about the foster care system.

And, thanks to posts on Joanne's thread, I've added three books to my personal reading list:

White Houses
Eleanor and Hick
Undiscovered Country: A Novel Inspired by the Lives of Eleanor Roosevelt

We have hummingbirds all year round so it took me a minute to realize what you meant by "lead" birds. How cool to have them pass through (or do they stay for the warmer months?)!

Your RL book group experience sounds fascinating. I do like (maybe that is not the right word) the irony you note. And hearing about people's memory of their experiences when schools desegregated in the south must be so interesting. I was in fourth grade when our small Florida town made the move and I have some poignant and interesting (to me) memories of the time and my own experience. Of course, desegregation did not mean integration; our schools were still definitely using "tracks" and those amounted to continued separation, for the most part of black and white children. In fifth grade I had my first African American teacher (and also my first male teacher, one and the same). He was awesome and I learned so much from him.

Anyway, White Houses sounds interesting to me, as well!

>126 witchyrichy: Well, there was absolutely nothing explicit (to me, at least) in White Houses and Look for Me will certainly be much more disturbing (I would hope!) to the sensibilities of the group.

Hope your hummers arrive soon!

Fascinating! I was a brand new teacher of 6th grade when the Seattle School District decided to bus middle school kids all over our city to desegregate the middle schools (grades 5-8). I was assigned to a school which was built to be an elementary school and now was hosting 1000 5th and 6th grade kids. Wow! That was a year. I struggled to keep my head above the chaos created by so many kids, and so much controversy.

I think Eleanor Roosevelt's life is fascinating and don't remember the titles but I have read a couple of books about her and her relationship with her husband, and with her other friends.

I'm not seeing as many hummers I would like, but that may be more a factor of my not watching the feeder often.

>127 EBT1002: >129 maggie1944: I love the memories you shared about your experiences of desegregation as both teacher and student. Noting that it was not integration was an important point. Our schools here still tend towards being segregating as most communities still have some vestige of the private academies set up during massive resistance. You were part of history!

>127 EBT1002: The hummingbirds will stay through early October. I've counted at least two now and the population will build until we have about 8 to 10 who stick around our feeders. They will disappear for a bit in May/June as they nest but then will be back in full force for the rest of the summer and early fall. It must be fun to have them all year.

>129 maggie1944: My desk sits between two windows and I have feeders outside both so it's easy watching ;-)

I received a complimentary review copy of Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water and Loving the Bible Again from Rachel Held Evans's publisher through a Twitter post. I am working on reading the Bible this year, and the book seemed a good fit.

Evans frames the book with her own story of growing up with the Bible as a magic book with wonderful stories. As she got older, the Bible became more of a weapon, not to be questioned. But, eventually, she saw beneath the magic to the gritty realism: Abraham willingly tying his son to the pyre, Joshua's army slaughtering men, women and children when the walls of Jericho fall, and God sending flood waters to destroy humanity. Yet, even as she began to turn away from the Bible, its stories continued to surround her. It is a foundational book for Western culture, influencing Shakespeare and Civil Rights activists alike.

Each chapter of the book opens with a story that reflects the theme in the coming chapter. The chapters focus on various types of stories found in the Bible including origin, deliverance, and resistance stories as well as others. She embraces the complexities and contradictions in the Bible, pointing out that it can be used to support almost any point of view:

This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not, what does this say? but what am I looking for? I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, "Ask and it will be given to you; and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)

Evans does not check her criticism of the United States and its treatment of the poor and oppressed. She extends that criticism to the white American church, which she believes has "chosen the promise of power over prophetic voice." She describes modern day prophets who are pushing the church to live a more Christ like existence.

Yet, she also celebrates the God the Bible reveals in the details of the Parables: "I love these details because they reveal to me a God who is immersed in creation, deeply embedded within the lives of God's beloved. Ours is a God who know how to mend clothes and bake bread, a God familiar with the planting and harvesting season, the traditions of bridesmaids, and the tickle of wool on the back of the neck."

I am looking forward to heading back to the Bible with Evans' prose in my mind: looking for my own magic in this book that has been part of my life.

Karen--My hummingbird feeders are happily populated all year round: they never fail to make me happy.

Paris by the Book sounds like one I would enjoy--I'll keep my eye out for it.

And many thanks for keeping my thread warm. : )

>134 Berly: While I love the first sitings each year, I think I could also get used to having them around all the time, too. One of my favorites!

Trying to be a good group member this year ;-)

I picked up The Whole Town's Talking for this week so I can pass it along to my mother when I see her next week. Not sure why I felt like I needed the hard cover edition. Maybe it was supposed to be a Christmas gift for her.

I am also packing up a bag of books to give away to a friend who has a little free library at her elementary school. I'll be heading to Roanoke on Saturday for our first ever Mini Maker Faire on Sunday. We wanted to focus on K-12 makers and we will have a good number of kids showcasing their work with robots and electronics. I'm doing a few sessions as well with friends on building with straws, working with hexbugs and hacking games (ie, making a new game using elements of an old game). For the latter, I'm doing Candyland.

Here's a picture of a hexbug powered drawbot. The bugs have on/off switches and run on watch batteries. Their feet move randomly so they run away. Strapped to the cup, they make it move.

The Amish Mystery Series by Laura Bradford

I picked up most of this series at Aaron's Bookstore in Lititz, Pennsylvania. I like buying regional books in independent bookstores. And, since I grew up in Lancaster County surrounded by Amish, this series had a special resonance for me. The author even mentions Aaron's in the acknowledgements of one of the books.

This is a typical cozy mystery: one or two almost off stage murders followed up by the investigation that includes both law enforcement and civilians. In this case, the law enforcement is a former Amish man who left the community after his baptism, resulting in shunning. His family and friends are not supposed to have anything to do with him even when he returns to become police chief in his home town of Heavenly, Pennsylvania.

The civilian is Claire Weatherly, escaping her failed marriage by moving in with her aunt who runs a bed and breakfast in Heavenly. Claire opens a gift shop that features home made Amish goods. She also employs Amish women and is closely connected to that community, even attending one of their weddings.

And that's what makes this series special: Bradford has done her research and presents the Amish as the human beings they are, strong in faith and family but also grappling with living in a changing world. Heavenly sits between two communities: Amish and English (the Amish word for non-Amish) who live and work together.

Easy reading with a satisfying setting and engaging characters.

>136 witchyrichy: Ok, that's cool! Would be a good intro to the idea of a random walk and how that connects up with atomic/molecular motion, Brownian motion.

>136 witchyrichy: I'm looking forward to seeing your review of the Fannie Flagg book. It's on my wish list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

>137 witchyrichy: I'm always afraid of Amish books until I see reviews such as yours. I will definitely try to pick up the first in the series. My grandfather's paternal line was Amish. The first settled in Berks County after migrating from Saint-Marie-aux-Mines where they went to flee the persecution in Switzerland. They later were in the Mifflin County area and then to the Holmes and Wayne County settlements in Ohio. This sounds like a good cozy series. ETA: I discovered I read the first one several years ago. On to the second. Not sure why I didn't add it to my TBR list. I guess it fell through the cracks.

Hi Karen - Hope you're having a great day!

>133 witchyrichy: Interesting review. I think I'll look for this one when it is released.

>136 witchyrichy: The Mini Maker Faire sounds fascinating. Hacking board games sounds like fun.

I've felt like Lori about the Amish series I've seen advertised. I guess I've wondered if the Amish were shear plot device and not authentic. This sounds good so I've made a note of it.

>139 thornton37814: Oh, Lori! I also have a (Quaker) ancestor on my dad's mom's side who lived in Mifflin Co. back in the late 1700s (born in Chester, PA; died in Mifflin Co. in 1802), and an ancestor on my dad's father's side who was born in Columbiana County, Ohio in 1816. Maybe our ancestors knew each other way back when. :)

Hi, Karen! I see you're having some fun and doing some enjoyable reading. Have a great rest of the week!

>139 thornton37814: >140 streamsong: >142 witchyrichy: I hope you find the series worthwhile.

It would be interesting to think about your ancestors hanging out together in Mifflin County and then maybe in Ohio!

>140 streamsong: You nailed it on the head about Amish series.

>141 Storeetllr: I often wonder just how "different" the Amish were than their "English" neighbors, other than the language, back in the days before more modern conveniences. I'd love to find an "English" diary or letter discussing their Amish neighbors.

>142 witchyrichy: Wouldn't it? However, I suspect the language barrier may have been present.

>143 thornton37814: John Hostetler is, at least in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, considered the expert on Amish and the other sects that came to America to escape religious persecution in Europe. His book, Amish Society, is available through Google and I did a quick search but couldn't find any reference to English writing about Amish. But, his descriptions of the early communities if fascinating as they seemed to be much less connected to the church in those days but moved into other religious groups. I suspect, as modernity moved in, the church became more important to those who wished to retain their practices.

A friend of mine lives in the midst of Amish Country in Chester County, PA, and has friendly relations with them. They come up to go swimming in the summer and my friend and her husband were invited to one of the daughter's weddings. Her description was very similar to the one in the mystery series.

The Whole Town's Talking is a loving snapshot of the rise and fall of a midwestern town through the stories of its founders and their families over the course of several generations. Fannie Flagg moves the inhabitants of Elmwood Springs, Missouri, through the decades, providing glimpses into their lives along the way and providing the cultural context of the time from the music on the radio to the movies in the theater to the breaking news of the day.

Flagg writes from a sense of nostalgia, and there is a sadness to the book as the world has lost something as bustling downtowns are replaced by Walmarts and shopping malls. At least one younger character paints a positive picture of the contemporary world with all its scientific marvels but the reader is well aware that the comment, set against the story, rings hollow. This is not a book for those who prefer to see the past without Flagg's rose-colored glasses. She does not take on social justice issues at all. And, for me, that's OK.

This is a lovely, nostalgic tale with at least one mystery woven through the otherwise sometimes meandering narrative. I think my mother will enjoy reading it! I did...it was a pleasant escape from the sometimes harsh real world ;-)

>138 drneutron: Yes, I was definitely thinking that about the Brownian motion: with maybe a little tongue in cheek ;-) I am a lifelong member of the English major's club who happens to like computers and making stuff. So, I don't always know the science as well as I should. So, is there a good "things you should have learned about science in school but didn't" kind of book out there? It would be cool to be able to sound more authoritative.

>144 witchyrichy: I have his Amish Life book. Sounds like I need to get the one you mentioned.

>145 witchyrichy: I'm glad to see you enjoyed that one. I'll try to get to that one this summer.

I did something today I haven't done for ages: read a whole book. I came home from the Mini Maker Faire weekend just exhausted.

I went to bed yesterday afternoon and woke up this morning feeling a bit better after nearly 13 hours of sleep but still just "off." The rain encouraged me to postpone my trip to the Outer Banks until tomorrow so I went back to bed with Turtles All The Way Down. I had heard an interview with Green about his own issues with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder that threatened to end his writing career so I was prepared for the book.

The book is, in some ways, difficult to read. I flinched at one description of Aza, the main character, forcing a cut to bleed in order to discourage infection. But, the topic is important and my own discomfort didn't keep me from appreciating Aza's story. She is surrounded by loving people who, for the most part, are willing to give her the space she needs.

>148 witchyrichy: Hope you enjoy your trip to the Outer Banks. If you find a library in a lighthouse, I guess it means Eva Gates' books came to life.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book through in one day. I’ll get to Turtles All the Way Down one of these days.

I hope the weather cooperates tomorrow for your trip to the Outer Banks! Lucky you!

Hi Karen!

Sorry to hear that you were a bit 'off', but glad you were able to rest and read.

I really want to read Turtles All The Way Down and am keeping my eye out for a copy.

I hope your Outer Banks trip goes well.

Hi Karen, thank you for your message on my thread my dear, I am hoping that everything is back to normal for me now and I will be visiting threads regularly from now on.

Hope all is well with you my dear and you are well rested, sending love and hugs to you dear friend.

Hoping that your day of reading has rejuvenated you!! Have fun at the Outer Banks.

Hi, Karen - Hope you are feeling better today! I can't think of a better way to deal with an "off" day than stay in bed reading.

I haven't read Green yet, but Turtles All the Way Down is such a great title I may have to get it.

>149 thornton37814: >150 Copperskye: >151 karenmarie: >152 johnsimpson: >153 Berly: >154 Storeetllr: Thanks, all, for the well wishes! It took another day or two to get back to normal but doing it with a view of the ocean was wonderful.

I did something I haven't done for probably 7 years since I took over as Executive Director and sole employee of my organization. I went offline! Put up a REAL out of office message and then forgot about email and work completely. I took my laptop along and never even pulled it out of the bag. And, guess what, the world turned without me for a few days. It took about an hour to get caught up this morning. A valuable lesson for this workaholic.

Had a great visit with my parents and some much needed down time. Plus, thanks to all of you, I can start my new thread tomorrow!