Mdoris (Mary) reads in 2017

Welcome to my thread of reading for 2017!

I am now in my 6th year with LT and sing the praises of it to anyone who will listen. I love looking at the group read threads but I do not join or plan my reading in advance but like all of you I have a list of future reads as long as many arms! I am reading more non fiction than I ever have but still have a good balance with fiction too.

While I am a very committed member of the 75 ers, it is unlikely that I will ever achieve reading that many books per year as I am a slow reader. I hover around 50 but have yet to be "kicked out" of this amazing group.. I love this group for its kindness, its patience, its diversity and its vast knowldege and love of books and the international locations/countries of it's members too.

I guess I am an old fashioned girl as most reads are hand held paper ones. I ❤️ the library and buy few books. I do buy cookbooks though.

I live in beautiful British Columbia and have recently had a move from Vancouver (after 36 years) to Vancouver Island.
Quite the adventure!

FAVOURITE 2016
Fiction
Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao- Junot Diaz
Hag-Seed Margaret Atwood
All Quiet on the Western Front-Erich Maria Remarque
My Name is Lucy Barton-Elizabeth Strout
English Creek-Ivan Doig

Non Fiction
Evicted Poverty and Profit in the American City- Matthew Desmond
Nordic Theory of Everything in Search of a Better Life-Anu Partanen
The River- Helen Humphreys
Big Magic- Elizabeth Gilbert
Toxic Oil- David Gillespie (there will probably always be a "food' book on the best of list!)

First book of the year!



This is a riveting and troubling book, a well told story that reflects a shocking part of Canada's recent history . The tiny book has lovely ink illustrations of the creatures who tell the sad story (spider, beaver, sucker fish, crow, hummingbird, owl, mouse skull, pike, wood tick, snow goose rabbit, lynx).

AUTHOR"S NOTE
P. 99....The real life Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack was forcibly taken from his parents and his sisters and his home in Ogoki Post, Northern Ontario in 1964 when he was nine years old. He asked his siters to please look after his two beloved dogs until he returned from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School over six hundred kilomentres away in Kenora. None of them knew how long he'd be gone. Chanie came home two years later in a casket.

There have been very recent news challenges concerning Boyden and his declared and perhaps erroneous native heritage. I have been following the news feeds with interest at the varied points of view. I'm not sure that it matters. Men tell stories as women, women tell stories as men. What is critical is that the stories get told! But perhaps it is good to be honest about who were are from the beginning.

Snatched on the libary's 7 day loan "express reads" shelf!

Happy reading in 2017, Mary!

Bingo! I've been looking for you, Mary. I love Joseph Boyden's books. The Orenda made my Top Ten list. It's a travesty how children were forced from their homes to attend white schools. I may have to read this one, though it sounds like a heart-wrencher.

>4 FAMeulstee:, >5 Donna828: Thanks for the visits Anita and Donna and the good wishes too. Donna, I think my favourite of Boyden's is still Three Day Road.

Delighted to find you, Mary! I loved Wenjack too. Troubling, yes, but so well told. So much impact in so few words. I've been following the Joseph Boyden issues too. I'm not quite sure what to think, but the man can certainly write about native heritage, no matter what his background might be.

Love your top 5 fiction novels. Lucy Barton was one of my favourites too , and in past years, so was All Quiet on the Western Front.

Big news for 2016.
Ryan Peter born (Dec. 28th) to daughter #3 in Denver to join big brother Erik (4). Isn't he a cutiepie!

Here's my local cutiepie Maggie (sub) standard poodle, now 11 1/2 (origins Mississippi-Hurricane Katrina).
"SNOW!!! I bet it's way warmer where I was born!!"

>8 mdoris: Congratulations Mary. You are spot on of course, Ryan Peter is a cutie and proof that wearing hats is going out of fashion!
My twin brother's name is Peter and his only son is called Ryan, so I will always remember his names at the very least.

Great to see you back for 2017.

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Happy New Thread, Mary! And Happy New Year. I love your Best of List. Evicted was at the top of my list too. Like you, I love my NF.

Congrats on your first book of the year. I like Boyden too.

Tracked you down, Mary! I love the topper photograph ... isn't that perfect! And I also love Ryan Peter, very handsome, and your very own Maggie ... also beautiful, and I had no idea she was from New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina. She is enjoying her snow, then!

Great list of Bests, too! I've seen Lucy Barton on a few of these lists. That's a must read for me this year.

>10 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul for the visit and the personal approval of the names of our new grandson. I can hardly wait to get my mitts on him! Love your celebration of LT 75s too. I agree whole heartedly....>11 PaulCranswick:

Congratulations on the new addition to the family. I'm sure he's not that peaceful and quiet all the time!

I also love the topper image. Perhaps that way I could get to the library and back more quickly?

>3 mdoris: Sounds great. Hoping it will be available here too.

>8 mdoris: Congratulations!

>9 mdoris: Maggie looks adorable, Mary, older dogs are special!

Welcome to another year of reading, Mary.

Love the happy bookish photo in the top.

Oh, Ryan Peter zzzzzzzzzz....shhuuuuuusshhhh. Congrats.

Looking forward to follow your reading this year.

Happy New Year, Mary and congratulations on the birth of your newest grandson. He's adorable!

I am hoping to fit Wenjack in this month and your mentioning the illustrations really helped as now I have a TIOLI Challenge to put it in.

>17 ctpress:, me too for following your reading Carsten.
We will get our mitts on the wee babe on Thurs. Can hardly wait. Trouble with North America....... it's just too damn big!

>18 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, yes, Wenjack is a quick read so could slip in between BIG reads. I would love to know what you think about it.
I see you have already had a 5 star read. Well done!

Congratulations on your new grandson, Ryan Peter! What a darling! Such a cutie! Maggie is a darling too! Does she enjoy the snow? Poppy does, even if I do not, but dogs vary in their reaction to snow.

Glad to hear that you will be able see Ryan Peter in real life on Thursday , so exciting!

I am looking forward to your comments on Wenjack, Mary. The Orenda was my favourite book of 2016.

>22 PaulCranswick: That is wonderful that Orenda was such a favourite for you! I think you might appreciate Wenjack too.

Scratch Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun and Totally Delicious
I am a bit of a sucker for cookbooks. I love them! I guess I love food too but I love following trends and ideas around food so this is such a good time of year as there are so many cookbooks published for Christmas giving. I reserve them at the library and love pouring over the pictures and the content. Normaly I do not put them on my thread or count them (maybe I should to boost my numbers!!!) but this one is particularly wonderful.

Maria Rodale's grandfather was considered to be "founder of the organic movenent in America" and now Maria is the CEO of the world's largest independent publisher of health, wellness and environmental content. This is an outstanding cookbook. This is about REAL food, simple and nourishing and delicious. I might have to buy this one and have it be more than on an ornament on a shelf!

Glad you enjoyed Scratch Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun and Totally Delicious. Your husband must be a lucky fellow, living with your wonderful healthy cooking!

That sounds like a fabulous cookbook, Mary! I may need to check my library for this one, too. Generally, I cook from recipes I find online, but a good cookbook would be a lovely change.

HI Deborah and Nancy, I will make us a fabulous recipe from the book, we can sip tea and discuss books. Good idea?
I just started reading I am David by Anne Holt a book that Carsten enthused about ages ago. Fun to see you have all been reading the same book at the same time.

>9 mdoris: Aww! What a cutie!

If I had listed one more book in my favorites of 2016, it probably would have been English Creek. I also liked Oscar Wao.

Glad to hear you're reading I am David, Mary. Hope you'll enjoy it. It did make my top ten from last year - remember it as a suspenseful children's book and of course with the added interest of it being a Danish author - and a boy who wants to escape to Danmark.

Happy healthy cooking, Mary :)

I am David by Anne Holm



This novel was first published in 1963 by a Danish writer. It is a Childrens/YA novel about the escape of a young boy from a concentration camp and his heroic story of finding his way back home, to Denmark with many hardships through many European countries. It was highly recommended by a fellow LT reader and I can see why as it is full of human emotions, dilemmas, physical and emotional challenges and conclusions for living morally. At times it felt a bit stilted and abrupt but there were wonderful descriptions of the boy's first time exposure to beauty, music, paintings, good nourishment, the things we all take for granted. I liked it!

Mary, that is an enticing review of I am David. Sounds like an exvellent read.

Excellent review of I am David. That is one I might look for at my library. Just the fact that it was published by a Danish writer makes it interesting. Sounds very good.

>31 lit_chick:, >32 vancouverdeb: Thank you Nancy and Deborah. Carsten had a wonderful review on the book page.

Just out book shopping (yes Deborah, splashing out....so fun!!.) as we go tomorrow for a Denver visit to see the new baby Ryan Peter and of course had to buy some books for big brother Erik (4). Purchased the new Chris Hadfielld picture book which is stunning and wonderfully written and thought a very good thing to buy as it is Canadian and with Hadfield's history (Canadian Astronaut), he amazes of course. Have you read his books? I'll see if I can find a link to this beautiful book.

The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield

Good thoughts on I am David, Mary. I'm glad you liked it. And for the same reasons I did. I thought it fascinating that he had a very limited experience of the world at large, and all his first impressions and trying to figure out what was going on around him were told very well, I think. Some rather improbable coincidences at the end, but all in all I loved it.

>30 mdoris: I read I am David as a child Mary, and was very impressed back then...

>34 ctpress: ,>35 FAMeulstee:, thanks for the visits Anita and Carsten. I think it will be one of those books that stays with me for some time. Quite atmospheric and somewhat different!

Swing Low, A Life by Miriam Toews



I have read other books by Miriam Toews and thought they were exceptional especially All My Puny Sorrows. When I read about this book which is a loving tribute to her father I knew I wanted to read it so it has been on the TBR pile for some time. Mel Toews was diagnosed with bipolar at the age of 17 and medicated thereafter but perhaps treatment in small town Manitoba was not the best!. He was an accomplished teacher, community member and a devoted church goer however he had frequent and severe bouts of depression that greatly impacted his life and relationships. There is a great deal of personal family history described from living in a small and tight Mennonite community. Miriam Toews wrote this intimate book from copious notes her father had left trying to sort through his challenges. Miriam Toews is such a good writer!

For me it is a bit of a strange image on the cover of the book as young Mel Toews worked hard for his father's egg business which he hated doing, so while the image might reflect for some new life/goodness/nourishment, it was really the worst image for young Mel Toews and really meant an obligation and duty to his family which was a struggle for him. So I don't understand the thinking behind the cover choice!

In November 2016 Toews was awarded $ 50,000 from the Writer's Trust Fellowship. CBC reporting about this award said.....
"Toews is known for her moving, poetic novels that explore the complicated binds of family life, infused with a hilarity that often ensues from tragedy.........Toews is the second Canadian writer to receive the prestigious award. The Writers' Trust plans to award three fellows over a period of three years in the run-up to Canada's 150th birthday in 2017. The inaugural recipient, named in 2015, was Michael Crummey, author of Sweetland and Little Dogs."

>37 mdoris: Very enjoyable review, Mary.

Have a great weekend.

>38 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul. I have "Pearled" a book since I did this review and it is sometimes hard to start a new book after you have so appreciated the last one!
Hope that you have a wonderful weekend too!

The Gutsy Girl, Escapades for your Life of Epic Adventure by Caroline Paul.

This was a very interesting book! I am trying to figure out what "category" it belongs to and I am making a decision!
I think it is a "personal development" graphic novel.

I have 4 grown up daughters and I must admit they are ALL VERY Gutsy Girls so maybe that is why I was drawn to this book. So it's a bit of a recipe book for "dealing" with fear and setting goals and then reaching them with some fabulous examples of women who have done just that (i.e. Lynne Cox who is a personal favourite, a long distance ocean swimmer of huge distances and challenging circumstances, yes we are talking about the English Channel amongst other amazing swims...Antarctic!) There are places (lines for making notes) for goal setting and brain storming for personal planning. Age group for this? Older children, teens and up....... forever!

A Brain Pickings favourite!

Happy Saturday, Mary! Hope all is well. I also really enjoyed All My Puny Sorrows. Glad to hear that Swing Low, A Life is a good one too.

"Personal development" graphic novel. I think you just coined a new literary genre there, Mary. It sounds very inspiring. I have to say you're reading impresses me - very varied.

I'm not the target audience here, but I do love the subtitle: "Escapades for your Life of Epic Adventure".

>41 msf59:, Thanks for the visit Mark.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday time in Arizona ( lots of RRR-rest/relax/read). We have been there a few times and had some great adventures and memory makers. I remember reading about some GREAT birding areas in southern Arizona, with some great b&bs nearby.

We are definitely doing some hiking while we are there. I will have to look into the birding before we leave. I am debating whether to bring my binoculars.
I don't want to be too geeky. To late?

>44 msf59: For sure pack the binocs!
I was trying to remember the area as it is now a few years ago but for sure in south Arizona (near the border), maybe Ramsey Canyon.
But here is a link I found and it sure makes me want to go back and explore.
http://www.arizonabirder.com/birding-in-se-arizona/arizona-birding-accommodation...
Conchise area was fantastic!

We will be in Good Year, which is west of Phoenix. So that is SW, right?

>46 msf59:, Mark I believe Phoenix is way north of the area I was are talking about. The area I'm talking about is south of Tucson almost at the border with Mexico. For sure you will find some wonderful spots where you are going. Look forward to hearing about it!

Great reviews, Mary. Love that your daughters are all Gutsy Girls! Thumb up for your comments on Swing Low. Must admit that I am not an enamoured with Mariam Toews ... I've read A Complicated Kindness and All My Puny Sorrows and enjoyed them but not nearly so much as many have. That said, Swing Low sounds very good.

... I'm back, LOL. Are you going to post your review? Say yes!

>48 lit_chick:, Hi Nancy, thank you for your comments. I have been a bit of a bad girl and not posting reviews at all but just rambling thoughts of mine on this thread so thank you for the encouragement to post. I will on this one, Swing Low, A Life.

You are doing better than me with your reviews, Mary! I've been just reading without posting much about it, so far. Great review of Swing Low. For whatever reason I am not enamoured of Miriam Toews, at least not yet. I've tried, but perhaps having a mennonite background, the tone does not strike me as right. But everyone's experience is different. I did not grow up Mennonite, but my best friend was Mennonite and her family was nothing like Miriam Toews describes, nor her extended family. I think that has an influence on my take on Miriam Toews. The Gutsy Girl sounds very intriguing.

Enjoy your trip to see your new grandson!

>50 vancouverdeb: Hello Deborah. Hope you get to celebrate your birthday in high style once Dave is off his work rotation.

I have read other of Toews books and they did not inspire so I know what you are saying, something just seems to ring true sometimes. We are back from our trip to Denver to view/cuddle/wonder about the new grandson. He is a keeper but just so far away for us.

How do you like the Denver snowman?

>48 lit_chick: ... and thumbed!

LOVE the Denver snowman, LOL!

>52 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy! It was the best snowman making snow and the next day so slippery but home now and had a great day here of sunshine.
Spring is coming!

Looks like a very contended Denver snowman, Mary :)

Yes, Carsten, he looks like he has been taking happiness lessons in Copenhagen...maybe?

Darling Denver Snowman, Mary! We've had couple of days of sunshine too, which is lovely! Went out to dinner in Steveston and enjoyed that. Yes to splashing out for books! :)

I'm afraid that I am awfully slow to polish off the novel I am presently reading but I will add it to my thread soon.
We have joined "Film Circuit" in our new community. It is a ssociated with TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) which has satellite film groups across Canada in many communities. How great it is to get some wonderful films locally! So the one we saw recently was Denial based on a riveting true story and with exceptional actors. It is the story of a university professor in the U.S. who wrote about a Holocaust denier in her book and then was sued and had to defend herself in London. Great movie/great story!



Other EXCELLENT movies viewed this year!

The Eagle Huntress
The Dressmaker
Genius
Into the Forest
Hevn (Revenge) Norwegian
Love and Friendship

yet to come
Little Men
Maliglutit (Searchers)
Jean of the Jonses
Moonlight

Every time we go for a short drive we see these gorgeous huge birds in the nearby fields and marshes.

Trumpeter Swans.

Okay so this is the one I struggled with recently, LaRose by Louise Erdrich.



I was going to do a "Nancy Pearl" and ditch it at about page 60 but I had loved her previous book The Round House so I decided to continue (stick it out!!). The story opens with a huge tragic accident, the shooting death of a young child in one family and the long term "loaning" of a son of the perpetrator's family to the affected family and all the challenges that that would entail. I have read stories of childhood tragedy that amazed such as A Map of the World Jane Hamilton so it is not that the theme didn't work for me. So there are many themes in this book; family love and commitment, lust, revenge, jealousy, growing up pains of teenagers, how a community works, spiritual aspects/history of native culture ( and lots more). Simply put, I just didn't engage! I felt it was sloppy, choppy and disjointed. So yes, maybe I should have "Pearled' it! It was a bit of a slog.

Oh a film circuit in your new community! Bravo Mary! Sorry you did not enjoy / pearl rule LaRose, but I confess I've yet to read anything by Louise Erlich. She is not grabbing me either.

Film Circuit sounds wonderful, Mary! What a great way to meet sone like-minded people in your new community.

Genius and Into the Forest are on my watchlist. They both look interesting. A quality selection there, Mary. What a good idea with a film group where you can watch movies together.

Thanks for the visits Deborah, Nancy and Carsten.
Off for a dog walk on this gorgeous day and what did we spy with our little eyes? Two mature eagles side by side who were surveying the locale. Can you believe the blue sky? No touch ups, honestly!

Love the eagle photo, Mary. Great timing.

I really enjoyed birding in Arizona. There were still a few birds I could not identify but it is a learning process.

Sorry, LaRose didn't ring your bells. I wanted to read that one.

>64 msf59: I know Mark, when you are a slow reader you just want every book to be a 4 to 5 star one! Oh well!

Well, I hope your next read rings all your bells.

Amazing photograph, Mary!

>63 mdoris: I would love to see those on a walk with the dog, Mary, and indeed incredible blue sky. Over here it was cloudy and cold on our morning walk.

This is what I got to see on my morning walk today. This is for you Charlotte! Ooops, maybe there is only one now after my lunch today!

Gorgeous picture, Mary! Out in Delta, apparently they have huge numbers of Bald Eagles. They always have them , but this year, somehow there is bigger food source in Delta ( rotting organics? )

Darling cookies! I'll take one please :)

>70 vancouverdeb: Ooops, Sorry Deborah, I guess I had better get out shopping again for penguins. Somehow they disappeared!

As for the eagles, I am wondering if they are a mating pair. Do they mate for life? I will have to research this.

About to start Nutshell: A Novel by Ian McEwan. Have you read it? I am also reading (bit by bit )Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. It is wonderfully heartfelt advice from a smart person and great writer! Really it's more memoir than anything.

This is the brave little soul that I noticed today on my back deck. The poor little thing has been pummelled by frost, wind, rain and freezing temperatures non stop for months, a most unlikely Vancouver Island winter, but he has triumphed. I am hoping that he can convince his pals to brave the elements too so he/she is not so solitary. Be Brave little ones!

Ooh! A winter pansy has raised his head! Beautiful looking, Mary. No, I've not read Nutshell. Maybe one day. Ian McEwen and I are not big fans of each other. I read Atonement and really disliked it, and I read The Children Act , and that I did not mind. Overall I'm not a big fan of Ian McEwan. But a winter pansy! That something I can love.

Oh, what a wonderful sight: a winter pansy! Brave little soul indeed, given the uncharacteristic winter you've had.

Thanks for the visits Nancy and Deborah. Huge dump of snow today, perfect for a day of reading but I 'm feeling sorry for the poor little pansy. He won't be happy!

So this fellow is perched outside our windows right now, looking for an early supper. There is lots of snow today which is very uncommon.

Wow! That's cool! There's one on the river where we kayak that we see pretty often, but never very close.

Whoa! Great photograph, Mary!

Great photograph, Mary! I'm leery of those Bald Eagles ever since we got our Poppy and the lady we got her from told us that a couple of small pups had been picked up by bald eagles as prey and to watch out for them! I had never thought of such a thing! At 15 lbs I think Poppy is safe now, but I keep a sharp eye on those bald eagles :)

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

What a wonderful book this was! It felt clever, mischevious, almost perverse fun in the telling of a most bizarre story. What a crazy point of view to have the narrator be an unborn baby telling the story of the demise of his parents marriage. What a great and interesting writer McEwan is. He manages to inject all sorts of thoughtful ramblings/opinions into his story, telling it with fabulous vocabulary, literary references ( I wish I knew them all!!) and expressing all sorts of ideas about i.e. politics, poetry, world tensions, gender musings, love/lust/hate, the list goes on and on. This felt like such a unique and creative book, more like watching a play than reading a book! So glad I read it slowly so I could get the "music" of his writing.

>79 vancouverdeb: Deborah I think you are very wise to be concerned and vigilant about eagles and your fabulous pup Poppy.

>77 drneutron:, >78 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy and Jim. Must always go on my dog walks with the phone/camera. Today I saw a what would be a perfect picture of a heron surrounded by ducks with a backdrop of snow. Darn....no phone!

Like the eagle spotting, Mary :) oh, to miss a good shot, I know the feeling. Darn....

Wow, what a "point of view", an unborn baby...."perverse fun in the telling of a most bizarre story" - sounds like a unique reading-experience.

Hooray for brave little souls, bald eagles & Nutshell! It was such a good book!

Morning, Mary! I hope the week is going well.

Love what you've written about Nutshell, Mary. It felt clever, mischevious, almost perverse fun in the telling of a most bizarre story. And onto the list it goes!

Totally weird and Wonderful Words by Erin McKean



What a fun book this is! It is a dictionary of lost words illustrated by Roz Chast (a WONDER and great personal favourite of mine) with a forward by Simon Winchester (how can you go wrong?). It is full of the most luscious words with the most bizarre meanings. This is a keeper and I may have to order it.

You are going to love this!

P 112 Kakistocracy- The government of a state by the worst citizens. A 1876 citation :
Is ours a government of the people, by the people, for the people or a Kakistocracy rather for the benefit of knaves and the cost of fools?"

Kakistocracy - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakistocracy
A kakistocracy (English pronunciation: /kækɪsˈtɑkɹəsi/) is a state or country run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. The word was coined by English author Thomas Love Peacock in 1829.

Just saying.......

In the mail for the grandies....lovely books. ❤️


I Carry Your Heart With Me by e.e. cummings


In My Heart A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek

Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings (a biography) by Matthew Burgess

I read about this book as it was highly recommended on Brain Pickings. Brain Pickings an Inventory of the Meaningful Life is a wonderful newsletter that can be delivered by e-mail and covers wonderful thoughtful content and makes great book recommendations. This book was recommended as a "best of."...for children's books in 2015.. I certainly have a weakness for kids books/illustrations so I happily followed it up.

https://www.brainpickings.org

>85 lit_chick:, Thanks Nancy. Hope you like it as much as I did.
>84 msf59: Hi Mark, Very glad that you liked it too. It was a gem! Nutshell
>83 ctpress: Carsten, missed the shot so took the phone the next day and of course no heron! Such is life!

Guess what? It's snowing again. A big snow fall is forecast. Yikes!

Got the herons this time x2!

Maggie, i think that's a grin on her face or maybe it's snow beard!

Hooray for Maggie & the Herons! Sounds like a rock group.

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

I have you to thank Mark >92 msf59: for the recommendation of Ghosts and for getting me interested in graphic novels to begin with back in 2014. I read lots to begin with and not so many recently but intend to pull up my socks!

This was a good story about sisterly love, challenges with cystic fibrosis and moving cities to support health challenges. The illustrations were fabulous. I will search out more of her books!

Addendum.....reading about the controversy about this graphic novel concerning it's insensitivity to history/language/historical dominance ..of indigenous people. Happy ghosts?, I think NOT! Very interesting and I see where these concerns are coming from.
(Followed over on Mark's thread! (Chapter 5, #236))

>91 mdoris: Looks like Maggie has a grin and a snow beard on the picture ;-)

In our area we can go years without a flake of snow falling. Guess things can change.



Snow on a birdbath.

>94 FAMeulstee: Thanks for the visit Anita. Do you have snow? What are you reading?

>96 mdoris: Yes, we have snow, Mary! About half an inch and it is already lasting 3 whole days ;-) Most winters we have no snow at all, so we are very happy with it, especially our Pekingese dog, Ari, he loves the white stuff.

I just finished Walden & On the duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and loved it.

Hi Mary, love the cover of Enormous Smallness, and I love your snow photos too ... if nothing else, Maggie certainly seems to be enjoying it : ).

Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

I am not quite finished reading this book as I am only reading a few letters and advice responses every time I pick it up as you get "full" and the format is repetitious. It is a wonderful book! It has been referred to over and over when looking at readers' recommendations and so it has been on the TBR pile for a long time.

With some fear and trepidation I read her Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail book. It was so crazy popular that in a perverse way I thought I would not like it. But what's not too like! Strayed is a great reader and IMHO a great writer, very real and very personal. She does makes some boo boos in life (who doesn't!!) but bless her, she wears them on her sleeve and is ultra frank about them.

So this present book! It is a collection of letters and replies that she made as an advice columnist as "Sugar" but more so, it is a memoir as with every inquiry she has a personal counter story. She solidly comes from a place of compassion, strength, courage and bravery and good sense with some humour thrown in. It really is like taking a Brene Brown course as it is advice given that is so wholehearted and positive and leads the way to a good place but often comes from a dark challenging one. It made me think constantly of RESILIENCE. What is it? Where does it come from? Why do some people have it and others don't and need guidance. Is it a grounding of great love? Is it intelligence of a practical nature ( head screwed on right)? Is it being able to learn from the school of hard knocks? Is it self preservation? Is it wrapped up and then arrested in the throws of strong secondary gains so cannot proceed?

Okay I'm going on and on. But this book was very interesting for me.........

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

This was a very interesting book. I saw this book on the 7 day "speed read" shelf at my library and grabbed it as I had read lots of discussion about it and it is on the list of 6 books for the group read on LT to "explain" the Trump victory!

It was an interesting book to read after the Strayed book (above) as it was another look at resilience and gave some answers about how to survive challenges, especially hard core challenges of childhood. Vance has straddled the 2 cultures of working class poor (and many of the aspects that it entails) and an upper/middle class professional adult life and he does a good job sharing his transition and experiences and the knowledge he has gained in doing so. He is a good writer. Most of the book is his personal story with few research statistics. When they did occur I greatly valued them i.e. p. 226 discussion of ACEs.

ACE=adverse childhood experiences

This book made me think of the fabulous book I read The Nordic Theory of Everything as the challenges and culture of the working poor don't seem to exist at least not to the same level and degree in the Nordic countries. How do they do things so differently to avoid these traps of dysfunction? Please read the book!

More power to Vance for his great success, being able to be compassionate, being in a long term loving relationship, being independent and self supporting, climbing out of the hillbilly pit! It took courage to share his story!

Excellent reviews of both Hillbilly Elegy and Tiny Beautiful Things. I'd like to get to Hillbilly Elegy. It is on my mental TBR list. I love the picture of Maggie! What a darling looking dog. Catching the herons is no small feat either! I see them often our on my walks with Poppy, but my Iphone is not good enough to catch the herons if they are at any distance. I hope that your snow is gone? There is still some frozen snow around here, but the streets and walking areas are pretty much clear now. Enjoy the weekend!

Thanks for the visit Deborah. I look forward to your opinion of Hillbilly Elegy.

Yes snow is going and the heat today was amazing in the sun. Sunset after 5 p.m. and at 5:40 there is still lots of light in the sky. Hurrah, spring is coming! Quite correct, Maggie is a dreamboat but losing her steam, now over 11 1/2! Hi to Poppy!

More great review, Mary! Keep them coming! I'm one who has steered away from Strayed's Wild ... perhaps I need to reconsider.

Hi Nancy, Thank you! I know what you are saying about Wild. I put it off for a long time. She does some pretty goofy (not to be copied!!!) things, (unwise choices) but she is a smart survivor and wears her heart on her sleeve. The book felt a little bit like a pilgramage and I admired her for it. All the way through she give book references so that always lures me in!

Gosh, I seem to have picked up several bbs this visit, Mary. I love ee cummings so think I will treat myself to the picture books. And your description of the Strayed book makes me want to read it. I saw the film of Wild and loved it. The scenery alone was beautiful, but Witherspoon made the character believable, honest (for me).

And snow! None here, so far.

What I Hate from A to Z by Roz Chast.

I love Roz Chast comics and drawings and humour and got on to her by reading the New Yorker magazine. I think she is fabulous. I want to get my mitts any books that she has illustrated. I read her GN Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant about her aging parents and her role to play there and I loved it! In this one admits to having ongoing anxiety and trouble sleeping and what she does is she goes through the alphabet choosing various categories to try and drift off to sleep. So this book is an illustration from a to z of things she is afraid of or anxious about. It is hilarious. Oh how we worry!

>105 charl08: Thanks for the visit Charlotte. Oh boy, I get lots of BBs from your thread so it's nice to share from time to time.

Happy Valentine's Day ❤️



I love this mag cover. It was done by William Steig one of my all time favourite kids author/illustrator. I think he did 168 New Yorker covers in his lifetime. Can you believe?

WOW, Mary! You have been doing some great reading. I am so glad you enjoyed Ghosts. It is a gem. And I LOVED Tiny Beautiful Things. Strayed is amazing.

I am also a fan of Hillbilly Elegy. Glad you got to it.

March Book One by John Lewis
This is a fabulous graphic novel about the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement, the non violent sit-ins in North Carolina at the Woolworth lunch counter, 1960. It is based on Dr. Martin Luther King's non violent preachings and told as John Lewis's personal story.

>109 msf59: Thanks Mark. I sure get lots of reading ideas from your wonderful thread! Glad that you liked the Strayed book too. I want her to write a new one soon.

#100: You've made me push this op to the top of my TBR-pile, Mary. I bought it after the US-election as I read it was an important book about America - I'll get back to you on my thoughts about the differences in Scandinavia as you pointed out.

>112 ctpress: I will be very interested Carsten in your opinions about the book!

Saw Manchester by the Sea last night. It was an amazing movie. The acting was superb and the story was such a tough one.
Some of what life deals you is impossible.

Sweet Thursday, Mary! Hooray for March!

Good to hear about Manchester by the Sea, Mary. Have been thinking it might be a movie I would like.

Okay, so I'm a lucky ducky. I want to show you what is blooming in my garden!

SNOWDROPS

AND PRIMULA

AND HELLEBORE


Started pruning roses today!

Happy Saturday, Mary! Hooray for snowdrops! It was 70 here today. Freakish, but very sweet.

BTW- I did answer your Michelle Williams question, over on my thread.

Oh, spring flowers! Thanks for sharing.

I'm glad you enjoyed March. Onward to the next ones which are just as good!

>119 streamsong: Yes Janet I'm looking forward to the other 2 March books. I am on the wait list at the library so it might take a bit of time.

>118 msf59: Mark, with 70 degree temps you will be having spring flowers soon there too! How unsusal though.......

Spring flowers, Mary! Yay! They are lovely.

>122 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy. Yard work is calling and may slow down the book completions and we have another move in a couple of weeks. Yikes.

Lovely gardening shots. The hellebore in my garden is the same shade but the flowers look much less enthusiastic, sadly.

I didn't know Roz Coast had another book.out, so will look for that. Sounds like fun!

>124 charl08: Hi Charlotte. I love Roz Chast . She has such a wicked sense of humour. So I did a search at the library and got any books that she had witten or illustrated. There are some very interesting ones.

Totally weird and wonderful words (which would be a dream book for Scrabble lovers).
The African svelte : ingenious misspellings that make surprising sense fun for those people who get the auditory parts of words mixed up. (I have a friend who struggles with this and pops all sorts of incorrect words into a conversation).
and more........

one of my favourite Roz Chast cartoons.

That reminds me of the book It's on the Tip of my Tongue by Diane German. You or your friend who mixes up the auditory parts of words might find it interesting. The author is an SLP who developed the Test of Word Finding, BTW.

>126 karspeak: That is very interesting Karen. I am a retired SLP and used the Test of Word Finding in my work with early elementary kids. It is very interesting that "word retrieval" business! Research showed that challenges were predictive of some early reading disabilities (along with some other challenges). So in a very postive way, kids could get help before they experienced failure which always made great sense to me. And right now for me it is predictive of galloping OA (old age). Yikes.

It's been a while since I have posted a beauitful painting by Abbey Ryan but I can't resist posting this one titled "Cairn".

Love the Ryan painting, Mary, and the cartoon, too. LOL.

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

This is one of the most unique books I have read in a long time and I was hugely impressed. The language is glorious and the story and themes are HUGE. It is the story of 2 men, a couple who move around the U.S. over time as soldiers for the government (fighting the Sioux) and then fighting as Union soldiers in the Civil War and then as prisoners of war in the south and then as actors in local productions in towns where they lived between soldiering. Themes are of love, family, survival, revenge, heart of darkness (many dark deeds), allegiances, commitments. There is movie style panorama of brutal battles and fighting with massive hardships, slaughter and heartaches and the undercurrent of love and commitment of the couple to one another thrown in! It’s just a BIG book but short, only 250 pages! The language is simply stunning and could be quoted over and over of how the author gets things said perfectly, said and felt. It reads like music and words needed to be said aloud to self while reading, to hear the fabulous writing and dialogue. Oh but Barry takes on a bleak period of history.

Sebastian Barry is Irish and considered to be one of the best contemporary writers right now in Ireland. He started out as a poet and then playwright and novelist and has been short listed twice for the Booker and twice won The Costa Book of the Year award. His son is gay and it is from his son’s telling that he developed the wonderful relationship in this book between Thomas and John. (Wikepedia)

p. 232 (on a train) Out front the snow-guard parts the snow just like a ship through blustering foam. The snow thrown up pours back across the roofs and in it comes through glassless windows to be brother to soot and sister to choking smoke. …..We go so fast I believe we leave our thinking parts back the line, only our battered bodies hurtling forward. Dizzy and frozen.

This is what the Costa Award judges said "“A miracle of a book – both epic and intimate – that manages to create spaces for love and safety in the noise and chaos of history.”

I loved this book too. That Costa quote catches it perfectly. I liked how Barry wasn't afraid to deal with some pretty grim parts of US history, and how his characters were touched by those events.

>131 charl08: GLad that you liked it too Charlotte.

>128 mdoris: Oh, like it, a whole lot.

>133 weird_O: Thanks for the visit Bill. Abbey Ryan is a marvel! Yes I could happily look at that one every day for the rest of my life!

Mary, thumb up for a wonderful quote of Days Without End. Fabulous quote you've included! The man can write!

I couldn't resist, found this in my travels today.

MOVING DAY.....SO FUN!

>137 mdoris: I don't envy you!

>137 mdoris: Good luck!

Hi Mary. I haven't read anything by Sebastian Barry in a long time. He is a very good author. I need to check at my library and see what I need to catch up on. Days Without End looks great!

So, where are you moving to? If I were you, I'd go to Denver to keep tabs on the cute grandson of yours! I'll be there the end of March for a Hope fix.

>130 mdoris: Good review, Mary! Thumb! I am really looking forward to Days Without End. I also have it on audio, so I hope to get to it soon.

Good luck with the move!

Hope the move is going (has gone?) well. Love the penguin family picture. The fluffy babies are just adorable. I've been watching a documentary about a vet centre that rescues African penguins. My favourite bit is when they let the babies out to the Wild (and into the water) for the first time. Such a result for their hard work.

>138 thornton37814:, >139 FAMeulstee:, >140 Donna828:, >141 msf59:, >142 charl08: Thanks for the visits Lori, Anita, Donna, Mark and Charlotte.

Oh boy, yes we had another move after a full move last June. We were in our "strange" house in our new smaller city for about 6 months. Strange, as the yard has a filled in swimming pool with gravel which needs to be removed, a house that housed 37 rescued cats over 10 years. So there will be a pretty major renovation that will take about 6 months so we will be vagabonds for a bit but will get to move back into a pretty nice place afterwards (hopefully). Meanwhile we love the swimming pool in the new community, and a great library system and lots of local food growers who take food growing seriously! We are in a valley surrounded by mountains and blocks from the ocean. Upwards and onwards!

Just on the final stretch of The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. What a great book.

The cover of The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan tells a story in itself. What you see is the most enormous cloud full of topsoil/ dirt that leaves behind sterile sandy soil and deposits this moving cloud as far away as New York City. This is what the dirty 30’s was all about! . This is a book about the drought in America's High Plains (625,000 sq. miles) trying to create farmland where only bison had roamed in the past. It is the story of the catastrophic mismanagement of the environment, of greed and such hardship for the people who "bought" the dream of cheap supposedly viable farmland. It is about dashed eternal hope of farmers pitted against drought, wind and extreme temperature in a vast area made sterile and into desert. It is about the massive reduction of the aquifer that took thousands of years to create from melting glaciers (underground water table). Egan tells individual stories and the political environment of the times that allowed such things to occur.

There is reference to an artist of the times who depicts these struggles, Alexandre Hogue.
There is also reference to a famous documentary which can be located on youtube "The Plows That Broke the Plains".

This was a very interesting and well written book!.

Painting by Alexandre Hogue.

Great review of Days Without End, Mary ! I've put a hold on it at my library and I am waiting in the queue . The Worst Hard Time sounds excellent too. I think I've read a Canadian book perhaps of a similar nature, Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell. It was the story of immigrants to Canada, homesteading on the cold prairies and trying to survive during the 1920's - 1930's. I read a few years ago, but it still remains in my mind as to how challenging homesteading must have been.

Oh dear, still remaining vagabonds! You are a brave woman, Mary! Perhaps akin to those homesteading the 1920's! :)

>145 vancouverdeb: Hello Deborah. You made me laugh with the comparision to my present vagabond "homesteading". Pretty soft touch homesteading, I should say. Maggie has to sleep on her comfy cushion and not a sofa. Poor thing! Thank you for the recommendation for Under This UnBroken Sky. I will follow that up. What a life they lived back then, very tough times. I have read some nature books about the prairies and I can see how you can be captivated ( Sharon Butala books).

Great review of The Worst Hard Time, Mary. Not sure why, because the stories sound quite different, but I am reminded of Of Mice and Men.

>147 lit_chick: Thank you Nancy. I wanted to read it before Grapes of Wrath, (which is on the list soon......)I guess for the same reason as you suggest Of Mice and Men. I have loved looking at the art work of Hogue and marvel that so much is avaiable for viewing in the web. Quite extraordinary!

>145 vancouverdeb: Am disappointed Deborah as the library system on V.Island does not have the book you suggest. argh.

Hi Mary! When my book club read The Worst Hard Times a few years back, Mom joined me and shared stories of her childhood in the Dakotas during that time.

The painting in >144 mdoris: is beautiful - it looks quite prosperous to me.

>150 streamsong: Hi Janet, I know it does look prosperous but I had a wonderful time looking at his paintings on line and there are some very tough ones that I didn't want to post (might scare people away). I did watch the YouTube documentary which was very interesting and showed some very tough times.

What a wonderful memory you must have that your mom was able to share her childhood stories in the Dakotas with your book pals.

>144 mdoris: Great review, Mary. It is such a terrific book and I hope you inspire a few more readers, to pick it up.

I also really like the Hogue image you shared.

>152 msf59: Thanks Mark. Off to catch up on your fast moving thread.

The Tournament of Books starts officially tomorrow for 2017.
http://themorningnews.org/tob/

history of the tournament
http://www.themorningnews.org/article/a-brief-history-of-the-tournament-of-books
With a link to David Sedaris reading "The Rooster" about his younger brother. Very funny!

past winners-started in 2005
http://www.goodreads.com/award/show/8875-the-rooster---the-morning-news-tourname...

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 2005
The Accidental by Ali Smith 2006
The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2007
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 2008
A Mercy by Toni Morrison 2009
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 2010
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 2011
The Sister's Brother by Patrick deWitt 2012
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson 2013
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride 2014
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel in 2015
The Sellout by Paul Beatty 2016

Thanks for explaining your recent move, Mary. Enjoy being a vagabond. It would make an interesting chapter if you ever write a memoir.

Oooh, loved the graphic of the Bailey's Books. I'm glad that the fat Proulx book is under my belt. I really enjoyed it but don't have that kind of time these days. I've also read Do Not Say We Have Nothing. It looks like I have plenty of others to choose from. Maybe I will wait for the short list.

I love the Tournament of Books. The reviews are so well-written and it's definitely a fun way to come up with a winner. Hmmm, I've read all of the winners except for last year's. Oops, also need to read Oscar Wao…I've contemplated it so many times that I feel like I've already read it.

HI Donna, thanks for the visit.

I have read only one of the Bailey's (Hag-Seed, which I thought was very clever) and must admit that I ditched a second one but will try it again if it gets on the short list Do Not Say We Have Nothing. Would you suggest that I persevere?

I love the chattiness of the Tournament discussions and really appreciate the history discussions about prizes. How can you identify "A BEST? " But it's great they go ahead anyway!

Hope that some day you will get a chance to read Oscar Wao. I was amazed by it and it is such a currrent topic of people trying to fit in from other countries and coming from places of hardship. Diaz is one of my favourite writers.

I have only read 2 of the previous tournament winners. I had better get cracking!

Enjoy those grandkids visits!

>144 mdoris: Beautiful painting, Mary, thanks for sharing!

>151 mdoris: I looked up some more paintings by Alexandre Hogue, indeed some are tough, but beautiful anyway.

>158 FAMeulstee: Thanks for the visit Anita. Wonderful that you looked up Hogue's paintings. I guess the one I posted in >144 mdoris: was done because I love that colour of blue of the mountains. It is a favourite! Hogue received criticism from the locals at the time for painting things as he observed them. The locals wanted a rosier portrayal.

According to Wikepedia....
"Hogue chose to blame humans instead of evoking sympathy for them in his work. According to Hogue, people were at fault for the Dust Bowl because of their maltreatment and disrespect towards nature."

I love your image of the Bailey's Women's Literary Prize, Mary! I'll have to look more fully into The Tournament of Books. I've only read one of the previous winners and that what the The Sister's Brothers. That was one of the most wonderful , genre bending books I've ever read , and for me, laugh out loud funny. It is violent at times, but it is a "Western Cowboy" story of sorts. That is a genre I never read, but this was so satirical it really had me laughing. Maybe satirical is the wrong word, but bleakly funny?

I've read Do Not Say We Have Nothing and while I enjoyed it , I had to create a map of the characters to keep track of it all.

Thanks for pointing me to The Mistletoe Murder, Mary! I really enjoyed and I have you to thank!

>160 vancouverdeb: Hello Deborah. The sun is pouring in and it is glorious but we had snow yesterday and power outages last night. Oh the wonders of a rural life! I read and greatly enjoyed The Sister's Brothers several years ago too but must visit some of the other tournament winners. I did love the Diaz book and he is now one of my favourite writers. It is fun to follow the daily chat about the books as they fall off or proceed in the "competition".

Nope, not me! I didn't suggest the P.D.James stories but sounds like I should read them!

Hello, Mary!

>162 alcottacre: Hello Stasia, Thanks for the visit!

>154 mdoris: I love the Bailey's Books image up there. Sadly, I have only read Hag-Seed out of that bunch. I want to read Do Not Say We Have Nothing and I have Barkskins waiting for me on shelf.

Ooh, The Sister's Brothers. Big fan of that one.

Happy Friday, Mary! Hope you have a nice weekend planned and it involves books.

Hi Mary, I love the Bailey's image, too! Another one I think I'll read: The Lonely Hearts Hotel ... I read Lullabies for Little Criminals some years ago and it was very good.

>164 msf59:, >165 lit_chick: So Nancy and Mark what part of the image do you like in #154?
a) the lovely liquid in the glass
b) the wonderful books waitng to be read
c) perhaps all of the above
"C" choice sounds pretty good to me!

Nancy, have a wonderful time away on your spring break! I look forward to your review of the Lonely Hearts Hotel. I never did read Lullabies for Little Criminals

Mark glad that you were a fan too of Sister's Brothers.

>154 mdoris: A longlist and something to help us all through it!

Have a great weekend, Mary.

Sorry I mistook you for the the person on LT who made me aware of The Mistletoe Murder. I don't know who did, then, so I'll give you the credit. As for the photo, I don't actually drink, never mind a liqueur like Bailey's , but lately my husband has been enjoying a drink of Bailey's with ice in the evening. I've told him, do you know you are supporting a the Womens Literary Prize with that? I don't think he cares on way or another :)

So for me, it is "B" that appeals.

“Can’t you spring it forward another thirty-five thousand and sixty-four hours?”

Good cartoon for daylight savings today.
(NYer daily cartoon.)

>166 mdoris: C for sure! Big grin...

Hope you had a fine Sunday, Mary!

>169 mdoris: LIKE!!

I really enjoyed this book The Hidden Life of Trees, What They Feel, How They Communicate. It is smallish in size and for some reason I always like small books and it has a lovely cover showing the interconnectedness of three beautiful beeches (I think). It is written by a German forest specialist and although there is not a lot of new information for me it is packaged in a way that is very pleasant, enjoyable and insightful. He loves trees and the woods and the general environment around the forest and he does know his trees and the ecosystem well. I live in a rainforest and it's pouring rain right now for goodness sake! But this book has sharpened by observation abilities hopefully, answered some of my questions and reinforced why I love the woods so much. Question/answered i.e. ivy and honeysuckle/ good or bad....BAD! Honeysuckle that twines around a tree trunk to the canopy robs the light and harms the tree. In my neck of the woods that honeysuckle can grow as fat as wrestler's wrist and is a major strangler. Fact.... In the Northern Hemisphere honeysuckle twines clock wise. I've checked this out and he is correct! I want to know if it does counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere? Anybody know?

The author Peter Wohlleben is all for natural forest management.

How to Hygge, The Nordic Secrets to a Happy Life by Signe Johansen (Hygge pronounced hoo-ga)
Johansen is a food anthropologist and a chef. She grew up in Norway and presently lives in London.

On the back cover of the book is written........ " Hygge is a word that translates as "coziness" and implies warmth, conviviality and kinship. Hygge is also about finding solace in nature, taking pleasure in outdoor activities and celebrating the simple things in life. It's about being able to make a few useful things. And it's about everyday acts of kindness both to yourself and others."

There are many delicious looking recipes included and good references for general reading, food and cooking and nordic resources. Enjoyed!

Love the sounds of How to Hygge, Mary: coziness, kindness, and comfort. I'm about to do some of my own hygge ... officially on spring break now, thank goodness! Burned out!

>173 lit_chick:, Nancy, I'm sure your time away will do you the world of good. Maybe you will find lots of 'hygge' in Nova Scotia!
Thank heavens for spring break. But where is spring? 🌷

>171 mdoris: As a tree lover all of my life, I had to add that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Mary!

Happy weekend :)

>175 alcottacre: Stacia, hope that you enjoy Hidden Life of Trees as much as I did!

Indeed, Mary, where is spring? Poppy ( the dog ) is getting very weary of her rain coat and she flinches when she hears the velcro of her raincoat. But she really needs here exercise. It is quite a job to corral her for the raincoat and then get her dried off and all of the rain gear. I can take the rain, but Poppy has had quite enough.

Great review of The Secret Life of Trees . It sounds very interesting. By now, you must be quite an expert at Hygge, Mary. Perhaps in your new community, you can host a hygge evening. It would be lovely!

>177 vancouverdeb:, Hello Deborah, you make me smile......a hygge evening indeed. The book has scrumptious recipes and reminds us to treat and be kind to ourselves and throw away the scales, all in moderation of course. I really enjoyed the philosophy parts of the hygge book and the pictures were fabulous, really treats too. You might like it too with your Icelandic genes.

Just having a talk with my P. about sheep. He has been reading The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks and there is reference to Beatrix Potter. I'm sure you read lots of Peter Rabbit series books to your boys when they were little. Squirrel Nutkin we haven't forgotten you! I have not seen the movie about Potter so just put it on reserve at the library. I LOVE the library! ❤️

Please give Poppy my condolences and assurances that spring is coming soon but perhaps not today, (another grey and cloudy one). Tell her we have to be tough here and accepting of gortex and velcro.

>178 mdoris: One of the things I am most looking forward to on my return to the UK is to make use of the library system more. There isn't one really to speak of here in Malaysia.

Have a great weekend, Mary.

Poppy has had a couple of lovely days without her raincoat, and she thanks you for your good wishes! I do love the Vancouver area, but sometimes somewhere like Denmark or Iceland sounds just wonderful. Prior to my son's trip to Iceland I had not realized how small the population is in Iceland! About 320,000! That is hard for me to imagine. I know Canada is not the most populated place by any means, but 320,000 people making up a country really supervised me.

Yes indeed, I read my boys Beatrix Potter, and I even has the Beatrix Potter Dishes growing up, as did my children. So darling!

>179 PaulCranswick:, i am sure there will be many, many things you will greatly miss after your move but having access to the library in the UK will be a big plus no doubt. I am a bit of a library addict. There were 10 holds waiting for me yesterday and I started His Bloody Project which I am really enjoying. It was a finalist for the Man Booker in 2016. I recently read an article about Anthony Bourdain (quite the character!!) and there was a suggestion for a short story of his in Medium Raw that was greatly recommended "My Aim Is True" about an amazing fellow from the Dom. Reb. who filets fish for a high end restaurant and of course has never eaten in the restaurant. So that came in too! Looking forward to my reads!

>180 vancouverdeb: Oh Deborah. How wonderful to have the Beatrix Potter dishes growing up. I can imagine the fun you must have had with those.
Windy and warmer here and Maggie was jumping about like a puppy. Some rain but few drops and saw a wonderful rainbow this morning.

Yes , I was quite lucky! When was allowed to use them, my mom would urge me to finish my soup/ cereal/ whatever it was to see the picture on the bottom . Having a sister just 10 months younger than me meant that we both had the fun of seeing what was on the bottom of our respective dishes. A good way to get young children to " eat up." :)

HI, Mary. Good review of The Hidden Life of Trees. It looks like something I would like.

I really enjoyed His Bloody Project. I hope you feel the same way.

Hope the week is going well.

>183 vancouverdeb: Deborah in addition to the 10 holds at the library for pick up Tuesday, I also "splashed out" (your great term!) at the wonderful bookstore in my new little city. Purchases....
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. Thank you Smiler!
Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Like a kid in a candy store.

Ooh, I just read Lab Girl last month and I loved it, on many different levels. Enjoy!

>184 msf59: Mark I bet I got the idea of His Bloody Project from your wonderful thread. It is very hard to keep track of where the bb(s) come from!

Stopping by with hellos Mary. I have been rather abysmal about visiting threads this year (my bad). I have been taking notes on a number of your reviews for books I want to read, like the Boyden, Toews and McEwan books.

Love all the wildlife pictures and the long awaited signs of spring!

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

I'm not sure where I got the expression "splashed - out' , but I do agree it's a fun one! Ten holds at the library! That is amazing, Mary! I sometimes get two holds in on one day, but never 10! I'm delighted that you have a lovely bookstore in your new town to " splash out " in! Nice haul , Mary! I have far too many library books and too little time to read , lately! It is always feast or famine :)

>186 raidergirl3: Hi Elizabeth. Glad that you liked Lab Girl. I have heard good things about it. So much pressure from library books that purchased books seem to join an unread stack.

>188 lkernagh: Hi Lori, thanks for the visit. I will visit your thread too very soon! Hope all's well and yes we are having to be very patient about spring's arrival. Argh.

>189 vancouverdeb: Well Deborah, it's not that I am greedy (well maybe I am!!) with the library holds. It's just that there is no predicting (as you know) when books will appear and somehow the library gods decide to choose a certain person and I happened to be that person this week. Yes, 10 holds arriving at once. I am a slow reader too so more pressure!
I think it might be a Poppy raincoat day.

Our pals visiting us today!

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet



Great book (fiction) about a murder trial in the 1860''s Scotland. I kept reading it thinking that is where some of my genes were from, the small labouring croft inhabitant owing much to the laird of the land. It is a good story showing the underbelly of bullying and misuse of power.

This book was short listed for the Man Booker in 2016.

Hi Mary! A lovely sunny day here today! Great that your humming bird feeder is attracting humming birds! His Bloody Project is one I am hoping to get to yet. I know just what you mean about not being able to time your holds. I have weeks where I get 2 in one day, three the next day etc. And then I only have three weeks to read them, if someone else is waiting in the queue. Yesterday was a Poppy rain coat day, and the poor old dear shook like a leaf at the prospect of putting her raincoat on. I feel so badly for her. It is nice and sunny right now, so I'd best be off to walk her. Have a lovely weekend .

>193 mdoris: Love the bird feeder pic. I've just replaced one that fell apart with a rather swish one with different sections. Hoping it lasts a little longer than its predecessor.

>194 mdoris: Some of my family had a similar background. I don't think I'd have lasted long with those working conditions.

>194 mdoris: Yep, I liked it too. It seems the author used to work in Waterstones bookstores in the UK and I remember buying it in York (or Leeds?) and the staff being quite excited because it had just been announced that he'd made the shortlist.

Have a lovely Sunday.

>197 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Glad that you liked it too. It is the sign of a good book as today I wanted more of it, and my brain is still very much there!
Promise me you will try St. Agur cheese when you get a chance!

Hi Mary - Totally relate about the library addiction. I currently have ten out, and with my slow reading right now, that is probably several months' worth of reading. Three of them are new books - The Blood of Emmett Till, The Stranger in the Woods and Born a Crime - which means I only have them for two weeks and no renewals. :-( Most of the books I request are mailed from other libraries, so I hate to return them unread.

That's an interesting bird feeder - I don't think I've seen one like that before. How does it work?

This is a stained glass window hanging in our window. What it says is a good reminder I think!

>200 mdoris: - Beautiful!

Hi Mary, enticing review of His Bloody Project.

I have a Netflix rec for you: Paranoid. It's set between London and Düsseldorf and is a thriller built around big pharma. Excellent!

Gorgeous stained glass window, Mary! One day I hope to get to His Bloody Project.

>202 lit_chick:, Please "bring on" the recommendations Nancy. Watched Paranoid in early winter and thought it was wonderful. Do you have Acorn Media? I was just recommending to daughter #1 '800 Words" a series set in New Zealand. In a few weeks she is escaping from her 3 kiddies and doing masters basketball in N.Z. So fun for her! We love Acorn Media and having an easier time finding things to watch there than on Netflix.

>203 vancouverdeb:, >201 lkernagh:, Glad that you like the stained glass window Lori and Deborah. I gave it to a wonderful elderly friend who was an awesome gardener, knitter and bird lover and when she died I got the window back. It has a special meaning for me because of my pal. She always said to choose friends about 20 years younger and now I see what she meant!

>204 mdoris: I don't have Acorn, Mary. But I'm glad you enjoyed Paranoid. Seems we have similar tastes in TV.

>204 mdoris: - Another Acorn Media fan here!

>207 lkernagh: Lori, did you ever see the Miranda (Miranda Hart-who is a gem!) series on Acorn? Can't believe they took it off but maybe they will put it back on again. Hope so!

>206 lit_chick:, Yes Nancy I think so!

>208 mdoris: - No, I missed the Miranda series. Miranda Hart played one of the nurses in Call the Midwives and I thought she was wonderful in that series!

>210 lkernagh:. Lori, perhaps the library system has it. It is wonderful, very fun, very funny. Hope you can find it! If you liked "Chummy" on Cthe MW, then I think you will like it. On Acorn it was "buried' in the comedy section. I love the mystery section so hardly venture forth but that time I did!

This prize is "news" to me. I have never heard of it before but it is about books that are my cup of tea (historical fiction) so I will explore further. There are quite a few short listed for the present season that I think sound wonderful. I really liked Burial Rites but so far the library does not have The Good People.
http://www.walterscottprize.co.uk
Founded in 2010, 25,000 pd prize (UK)
Is open to books first published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. Reflecting the subtitle ‘Sixty Years Since’ of Scott’s most famous work Waverley, the majority of the storyline must have taken place at least 60 years ago.

short list for 2017


previous winners/short lists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott_Prize

>213 charl08: I'm reading The Good People, want to read The Vanishing Futurist and have read and liked all the others - great list!

>194 mdoris: I just got my copy of that book the other day. I need to get it read soon-ish, which probably means in the next 5 years, lol.

I'll have to look further into the the Walter Scott Prize. Right now I am on the waiting list for The Gustav Sonata , Days Without End at my library. I read Burial Rites but though I enjoyed it, it was very dark. Eventually I'll make my way to The Good People . I do love a list as a jumping point for my reading, so thanks for sharing it, Mary!

I followed the Tournament of Books which is an annual event sponsored by Powells Book Store. It happens at the same time as "March "Madness" and has the playoff format and is fun to follow and read about. A long list (18 books) are nominated and then 2 books at a time are judged and one is eliminated and one continues until the bitter end. So this year the bitter end was between The Underground Railroad and Homegoing with UR the winner!
http://themorningnews.org/tob/

What an interesting link , Mary! I've not read either Homegoing nor The Underground Railroad, so despite the book that won, I wonder how I'll feel about each book. I'm quite certain that Nancy has read both of the books - so she might be a good source an opinion . Have your read them both, Mary? What is your verdict?

>200 mdoris: I LOVE this window, Mary. I want one of these.

What kind of birds were those at your feeder up there?

>217 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah, Yikes another raincoat day for Poppy!
No i have not read either book but did purchase Homegoing (but somehow the library books seem to trump the purchased ones.....) and have heard such good things about it. Sounds like there have been some concerns on LT about The Underground Railroad but if was on the instant grab shelf, at the local library, I'm sure I would pounce.

>218 msf59:, Glad that you like the window Mark. I thought of you when I took the picture for LT as I love following the "bird talk" on your thread. We have a store here Wild Birds Unlimited and I found it there years ago and gave it to my my bird loving friend and since her passing it has found its way back to our place.

The birds are hummingbirds and my P has to now fill the feeder daily. They are in a frenzy as we think maybe the babies are about or needy eggs and the temps are still very chilly. We were away for about 36 hours so had to take it down as we knew it would be empty and they would be greatly discouraged but the second we got home, up it went. It took a bit for the news to hit the street but they are feeding again. Thank heavens! It is cold, rainy and grey and not good if you live in the hummingbird world IMHO. They must be very tough little creatures!

Some of my 13 holds (as mentioned to Deborah....aka Lone Ranger) are A Gentleman in Moscow, The Bird Detective Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds and of course many food ones.....top of the list..... Bacon Freak. I will be having fun!

>216 mdoris: Interesting posts on the Tournament of Books, Mary! I've read both The Underground Railroad and Homegoing, and I think both deserved to be in the tournament to the bitter end. But I liked the latter a bit more than the first. So my verdict would have been a different one ...

>221 lit_chick: Oh good Nancy, Deborah and I were both hoping that you would comment as we thought you had read them both. Now my "work" is cut out for me and I had better get reading.

The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from and Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks.

I have been reading this GOOD book slowly because it is taking me to the stunning, weather beaten hills and valleys of the Lake District in Northern England.
I have been sitting in the pocket of a passionate, multi-generational sheep farmer/shepherd who is also a good writer. Rebanks tells his story of his family history, the captivation of being held to the land, the temptation of the alternative culture of education (which he did at Oxford). He brings in past, present and future. He takes you through the weather cycles, the season cycles, the great responsibility and loving care of animals and the great challenges of farming in the present. It made me think of some content from Hillbilly Elegy, how there are stereotypic associations to a lifestyle that are incorrect and some learning that needs to be done once stepping outside of a lifestyle.

My SIL gave me this book to read and I was looking at a sub-site ( the main site being a fav. of mine!) that showed me other books in a category labeled "Natural Curiosities".

http://www.powells.com/natural-curiosities/?
utm_source=specials&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spec_nature&utm_content=Browse%20Titles

I have loved other books mentioned so thought it would be a good one too.
Hidden Life of Trees, H is for Hawk, Landmarks, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education.
I think I could "work" my way through all these books on this site quite happily!

>223 mdoris: Good review, Mary, not a BB as it is already on my TBR. The other books sound good too, off to check that site.

>200 mdoris: Mary, I love your stained glass birds with the trees showing through in the background. That was a bittersweet story behind it. I'd better start making some younger friends!

>212 mdoris: That prize is new to me, too. What a great lineup of books. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have The Good People. On the bright side, I just reserved The Shepherd's Life which you made irresistible by your lovely review.

>225 Donna828: Oh Donna, you made my day with your wonderful response. Thank you!
What a gorgeous day it has been here today. Spring is coming!

I have had great fun doing a follow up about Beatrix Potter after reading the Shepherd book >223 mdoris:
as she is so greatly revered in the Lake District area for her Herdwick sheep breeding reputation, her community leadership and her amazing 4000 acre donation to the National Trust to keep a way of life going. We watched the "Miss Potter" movie so gained more infomration about her amazing life and great artistic abilities. I have always loved her books (she wrote 30) and will go and get them off the "kiddie" home shelves again and re-read! Her drawings amaze and here is one that was published in the 80's with 5 other paintings with a Christmas theme. They are celebrating her birth of 150 years ago and oh boy, I would love to see those exhibits in the London area! (V&A and River and Rowing Museum.)

I do love to read about food, from many (all) points of view…nutrition, food politics, ethnic foods, cookbooks, food anthropology, food memoirs (you name it ) so this book I found very interesting. It took me into a world of top chefs, food personalities, politics and economics of the Food Network, personality wars between restaurant reviewers/critics and chefs, sitting in the pockets of diners at “top” international restaurants while they ate, examined, contemplated and then collapsed after a huge multi course (30) meal.

So this book is written by Bourdain who above all is a character. He has long experience in the food world as a chef, a food traveller, a food writer and documentary maker. He is a good writer, a very good writer and rough and crass and clever and fun and insightful and topical and perhaps jaded and sometimes scathing. Did I mention rude? There is frank personal information included…..heroin/cocaine….yikes! The book is a series of 19 thoughts, opinions and emotions and insight pieces into the food world, his food world.

There was a recent NYer mag. article about Bourdain (Feb. 13, 2017 Moveable Feast), that I found very interesting and thought I would like to read more. It referred to a piece in Medium Raw titled “My Aim is True “and suggested it was one of the best written articles about food (ever). It is the story of a man, Justo Thomas, from the DR who prepares over 700 lbs. of seafood daily for the restaurant Le Bernardinin NY. and what a greatly skilled person he is. It did not disappoint.

I liked this book and in time will read more of Bourdain!

Roz Chast just gets better and better.

Happy Sunday, Mary!

Oh I so understand the cartoon @ 229 . It is a beautiful sunny day here, but I've still got to get out for my walk with Poppy! Once I am out , it is great, but you know how a body at rest tends to stay at rest. I'm glad you enjoyed
The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from and Ancient Landscape. I have HillBilly Elegy waiting in the wings. Happy Sunday, Mary!

>229 mdoris: This was me leaving the office today and heading home instead of to the pool....

Love Roz Chast.

>232 charl08: RL has been busy and sad. Just back from a C of Life for a very dear friend who was the most fabulous swimmer. She could easily do 3 km. no equipment and lovely, long easy strokes. We were friends for 37 years, our husbands great friends, our daughters great friends, even our dogs loved each other. I am swimming tomorrow and will do some lengths for my wonderful pal Lois.

Glad you loved the R. Chast. She is presently my favourite!

What a wonderful book this is! It is very small in size (a little bigger than the palm of my hand) and has such a strong lovely cover in colour and design to complete its strong and wonderful messages/ideas within the pages.

It should be required reading for ALL but especially perfect for new parents to help them along a good path for child rearing ideas.
Highly recommended!

A good website for parents
http://www.amightygirl.com

>233 mdoris: So sorry to hear that. Sounds like you have some wonderful years of friendship to remember. My mum was very sad about her brother today. All I can do are hugs rather than the right words. So virtual hugs being sent your way.

Re the shepherd book, I wondered if you had come across the Hannah Hauxwell books. I have no idea if they were still in print - my aunt loved them, so when we got her book collection I read what she had. Just a different world from my very suburban one. But Yorkshire rather than Cumbria, I'm realising rather belatedly.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/homes/the-exclusive-inside-story-on-the...

>235 charl08: Hi Charlotte, virtual hug gratefully received!
i will check out Hannah Hauxwell. Thank you!

Happy Easter, Mary!

Oh, I am very sorry to read about your friend, Mary. Big hugs. Happy Easter weekend, and I hope you enjoy your spinach souffle!

>238 vancouverdeb: Oh thank you Deborah. All hugs gratefully received. And sending hugs back to you!

I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend.

I enjoyed your review of Medium Raw. I'm also a bit of a foodie - becoming more so all the time. My new low carb diet makes it a bit of a challenge, though.

I'm listening to My Life in France by Julia Child for the NF hobbies thread. And I've also just started the Lucy Knisley 's graphic memoir Relish: My Life in the Kitchen.

>240 streamsong: Thank you Janet for your expressed concern.

I realize that I have not followed the T.V .Bourdain so I am slowly watching some on Netflix of his internatiional food programmes on Netflix, A Cook's Tour. So happily for me the first one was following a high end sushi chef through the massive fish market in Tokyo and then watching him as he prepares the purchases and then the delicious meal.

Daughter #1 had a stint in Tokyo for volleyball so we did visit. We loved Japan and so mad at ourselves that we did not explore more, stay longer. We did go to the Tsukjii Fish Market and I will never forget it. At the time the tuna sales were closed to the public. Fine with me as It would have been hard/awful to see.

According to Wikipedia.... Overall, more than 700,000 metric tons of seafood are handled every year at the three seafood markets in Tokyo. Can you imagine?

Also watching Cooked by Michael Pollan (my hero!!). There are 4 episodes.

PLease let me know when you come across a great/good food book! I am surrounded this weekend with 8 cookbooks from the library and re-discovering Dorie Greenspan. She is a marvel! Good idea to listen to My Life in France, onto the list it goes. I have read/looked closely and enjoyed the GNs of Lucy Knisley. Must check if there are some recent ones I haven't seen.

>241 mdoris: Have you read any Ruth Reichl? I really enjoyed her Garlic and Sapphires several years back.

Happy Easter, Mary!

>242 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. Nice to see you visit! I have Reichl's The Gourmet Cookbook and have the page set to Irish soda bread which is delicious (p 602). It is an enormous book and I'm sure all recipes are very good. I have not read her other more memoir books so will put them on the list.

Oh to roll back the wonder of time if only for a day.....these are some of my favourite Easter books!



Now that was fun!

Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life by Marta McDowell
and
The Art of Beatrix Potter by multiple authors

I have had fun with these books and will now launch into 11 of her kid's books that have been sitting on my shelf for awhile. We are planting a veg garden and first have the deer fence up but the plan is to make a Peter Rabbit scarecrow. Fun thing to do I think!

Wonderful Easter Books, Mary! I recall I am A Bunny and The Golden Egg Book, but the rest are new to me. I'm not sure if I read different books to my kids, or what was around in my day! :) Beatrix Potter, that was around. Have making your Peter Rabbit Scarecrow! I was just at the store and Kin's Farm Market. I have to say that the fruit and veggies available lately aren't up to much. I'm looking forward to some nice sweet blue berries, plums, fresher oranges, and the list goes on! Just try to find and B.C. grown cherry tomatoes! Sigh!

I'm craving a nice prepared fruit salad, Mary, but I'm to lazy to go back the store and concerned about the cleanliness of prepared fruit salad from the deli. It seems to me that we hear of so many recalls on pre-made fruit salads, fresh spinach, etc and even things like flour.

>246 vancouverdeb: Deborah, when the kids were little I had a lot of fun and interest in their books especially the seasonal ones so when those special times come around I often think of the wonderful books.

I know what you are saying about the recalls and the prepared foods. Here on our island a friend makes a tiny loaf of bread everyday that he makes from starter and grinds his own wheat. I haven't gone that far......yet but the bread is superb and you know it's real food! I love a fruit salad and it seems when I spend ages making it from real fruit it just gets inhaled so quickly. Oh well.

I could cheat and count all the B.P. books that I read today, all 11/22 of them then I might make my magic 75 at the end of the year so I could be a REAL member of this amazing group! I had never read this one before The Tale of Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter. It is full of such fun and humour and triumph over "evil". BPs books are full of "turns" of every day life with good types and bad types and then a little moral of the story to polish it off. There are still 5 that I don't own or have never read so I will hunt them down.

Why would that be cheating, Mary?
A book is a book and you count what you want to count, and you are a real member, reading 75 or not!
I loved the Beatrix Potter books when I was young.

Wow! What a lot of work, making a loaf of bread everyday! I'm sure it is delicious. Yesterday I stopped into a couple of second hand bookstores and saw a small pile of second hand Beatrix Potter books. I found some other books to purchase, but I might as well wait for some grandchildren , or least some signs of one!

>249 mdoris: If it is between covers, it counts - so count them all!

>250 FAMeulstee:, >251 vancouverdeb:, >252 alcottacre: Wonderful to have you visit! Anita and Stasia thanks for the counting support. I am not going to count the large number of B.P. books I have just finished but I sure had fun on my Beatrix Potter reads. Deborah, funny that you should have seen the wee B.P. boks in the second hand bookstore. There are so many editions, some with reduced drawings, some with reduced print. I am not sure how that works because if I was a writer/illustrator I think that would be upsetting to me as I'm sure in a creative work you work and work until it is just right and then someone comes and makes changes. Somehow that's not a good thing!

I thought of you right away when I saw the BP books at the till. I think they had them " featured" at the till since it was recently Easter . Just the sort of books parents and children might be looking for. Later on, I'll list my " haul" from the second hand book store.

How wonderful that you have a neighbour/friend grinding his own wheat and making bread every day. I'll bet it is fabulous! I love fruit salad, too. That's summer fare for me : ).

I love blue flowers and have this book waiting for me at the library. I will pour over every page!



In my previous garden I crammed as many blue flowers in as I could. Blue flowers in nature are quite rare, they sometimes say they are blue when in fact they are purple but there are some true blue flowers and they are fabulous!

Mary! I love blue flowers too! What a fabulous book! In our townhouse and due to our dog, I don't have a garden, but when I get planters for the summer, I always seek out blue flowers!

Deborah, please take a picture of your planters when they are in their glory.

>256 mdoris: I like my garden many colored, blue included. I just planted some Lobelia erinus in the front garden, they have blue flowers.

I love blue flowers too three!

How about this my friends.(NOT FROM MY GARDEN)....just hoping!

It is a anagallis "gentian blue' an annual.



and this one...anchusa azurea, a perennial

I love the blue flowers! 💙

Thanks for visiting my thread, Mary. Looks like a lively thread over here and a pretty one with all those blue flowers.

>256 mdoris: how fascinating. I hadn't realised that blue flowers were so rare. My Nan had some (probably not) blue big flowers growing up her driveway and I have strong memories of brushing past them as I went down to her back door.

>264 LovingLit: Megan, in a way blue flowers can be pretty common as they are often wild and invasive like flax or forget-me-not but cultivated blue can be harder to find. I did find a gem yesterday a blue corydalis and now I have to figure out just the right spot in the garden to pop him into! I wonder what your Nan had by her back door and up her driveway? Now I'm curious!

Mary, I can't believe I am only now finding (and starring) your thread!! Better late than never, I suppose. I will come back later and add some comments but right now, I have a long distance phone coming in in a few minutes.