2020 Category Challenge : Dogearedcopy's "20/T" Cat Stax

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________________________________________Mad Hatter's Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland (by Lewis Carroll; illustration by John Tenniel)

INTRODUCTORY POST

Welcome to my T Party!

This year's theme is the letter T (the twentieth letter of the alphabet) and the number 20!

I'll be posting on a rolling calendar throughout the year with the following categories in mind, which if the past is any indication, will evolve out into something rather different by the end of the year! In addition to listing the titles read in each month, I plan on posting reviews of each work as well :-)

Possible Categories:
• TBR
• Titles that begin with the letter, "T";
• Authors whose last name begins with "T"
• Works created/set in the Tudor Period;
• Tragedies (Shakespeare)
• True Stories (NF)/NFcat2020
• GeoCat2020
• AlphaKit 2020
• SFFkit2020
• Group Reads 2020
• This and That (Long Form Journalism, Theatre plays. Movies based on books...)
...

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________________________________________Miniature/Dollhouse Tea Set, Personal Collection, Saucers measure irregularly at 15mm across

JANUARY 2020

LT 2020 CATS & KITS
AlphaKit2020: A and U
SFFkit 2020: Read what you didn't get to last year
NFcat 2020: Journalism and News
🍵 GeoCat2020: Asia I: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

READ
🍵 Twelfth Night (by William Shakespeare) #TitleT #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project
🍵 Twelfth Night (by William Shakespeare; Directed by Tim Carroll; Starring Mark Rylance as Viola and Stephen Fry as Malvolio) #TitleT #Tudor #DVD
🍵 Dirty Little Secret (Forbidden Desires #1; by Kendall Ryan) #Titillating
🍵 Wednesday (by Kendall Ryan) #Titillating
🍵 Henry VI, Part 1 (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project
🍵 Before Girl (by Kate Canterbary) #Titillating
🍵 A Suitable Boy (by Vikram Seth) #TBR #GeoCat2020 #India
🍵 Henry VI, Part II (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project
🍵 The Boyfriend Experience (by Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde) #Titillating
🍵 'The Neighbor' (by Brighton Walsh) #Titillating

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________________________________________Play Tea Set, Personal Collection, Late 1960s/Early 1970s, Saucers (behind tea cups) measure 88mm across

FEBRUARY 2020

LT 2020 CATS & KITS
🍵 AlphaKit2020: F and B
SFFkit 2020: Transformation
🍵 NFcat 2020: Travel
🍵 GeoCat2020: Europe (excluding Great Britiain)

READ
🍵 Henry VI, Part III (by William Shakespeare) #Shakespeare2020Project #Tudor
🍵 Henry VI, Part I (by William Shakespeare; Hollow Crown TV series starring Tom Sturridge as Henry VI; Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret, Hugh Bonneville as Gloucester and, Ben Miles as Somerset) #Tudor
🍵 Henry VI, Part II (by William Shakespeare; Hollow Crown TV series starring Tom Sturridge as Henry VI; Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret, Geoffrey Streatfeild as Edward IV and, Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard) #Tudor
🍵 "Randomize" (by Andy Weir) #TBR
🍵 "Summer Frost" (by Blake Crouch) #TBR
🍵 Things Fall Apart (African Trilogy #1; by Chinua Achebe) #TBR
🍵 Black Virus (Black Rust #1; by Bobby Adair) #TBR
🍵 Comedy of Errors (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project #GeoCat 2020 #Europe #Greece
🍵 Comedy of Errors (by William Shakespeare; Starring Simon Harrison as Antipholus of Syracuse; Matthew Needham as Antipholus of Ephesus; Brodie Ross as Dromio of Syracuse and; Jamie Wilkes as Dromio of Ephesus)
🍵 Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging (wriiten and narrated by Sebastian Junger) #TitleT #TalkingBook
🍵 Paris in Love (by Eloisa James) #TBR #Travel #NFcat2020 #GeoCat 2020
🍵 Fluffy (by Julia Kent) #Titillating
🍵 Renaissance Man (by Tessa Bailey) #Titillating
🍵 Out of My League (Hope Valley #1; by Jessica Prince) #Titillating
🍵 Charming Hannah (Big Sly #1; by Kristen Proby)
🍵 Billionaire in Her Bed (by Regina Kyle) #Titillating
🍵 The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher (The Witcher #1; by Andrzej Sapkowski)

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________________________________________Through the generations, the family has discreetly replaced missing or broken pieces of the china service with patterns that are close, but don't quite match! So far, I've spotted about a dozen different patterns but all are white pieces with gold trim. Above is a tiny sampling: A Tirschenreuth Colonial tea cup on a Gerard, Dufraisseix & Abbot tea saucer (GDA 34, "Shamrocks")

MARCH 2020

🍵 AlphaKit2020: G and C
SFFkit 2020: Series
NFcat 2020: Biography
GeoCat2020: MENA: Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey

READ
🍵 Rev It Up Black Knights, Inc. #2 by Julie Ann Walker) #Titillating
🍵 Emma (Film based on the novel by Jane Austen; starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn and, Bill Nighy) #ThisAndThat
🍵 Boss I Love to Hate (by Mia Kayla #Titillating
🍵 Paige in Progress (by Brighton Walsh) #Titillating
🍵 How to Date a Douchebag (by Sara Ney) #Titillating
🍵 Running Mate (by Katie Ashley) #Titillating
🍵 Bishop's Pawn (by Suzanne Halliday) #Titillating
🍵 Falling for the Cowboy (by Kennedy Fox) #Titillating
🍵 Floored (Frenched #3 by Melanie Harlow)# Titillating
🍵 Lovers at Heart (Reimagined by Melissa Foster) #Titillating
🍵 Flirting with the Frenemy (by Pippa Grant) #Titillating
🍵 Dark Matter (by Blake Crouch) #TBR
🍵 The Invisible Man (Film based on the novel by H. G. Wells; starring Elizabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen) ThisAndThat
🍵 The Taming of the Shrew (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project #TitleT
🍵 The Taming of the Shrew (by William Shakespeare; Starring Samantha Spiro as Katerina and Simon Paisley Day as Petruchio) #Tudor #TitleT
🍵 10 Things I Hate about You (Starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger) #TitleT
🍵 If You Were Mine (Man Candy #3; by Melanie Harlow) #Titillating
🍵 The Locker Room (by Meghan Quinn) #Titillating

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________________________________________Birds-Eye view of a pink Depression glass tea cup, saucer and, luncheon plate; Hobnail pattern, Hocking Glass Company, 1934-1936; Personal collection

APRIL 2020

🍵 AlphaKit2020: S and T
🍵 SFFkit 2020: Time Travel
NFcat 2020: Law and Order
GeoCat2020: South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, Oceania

READ
🍵 Weather: A Novel (by Jenny Offill) #2020Release #TimesReads
🍵 Next to You (Love with Altitude #1; by Daisy Prescott) #Titillating
🍵 Lies, Damned Lies, and History (The Chronicles of St. Mary's #7; by Jodi Taylor) #AuthorT SFFkit 2020 #TimeTravel TBR
🍵 My Name is Markham (The Chronicles of St. Mary's #7.5; by Jodi Taylor) #AuthorT SFFkit 2020 #TimeTravel TBR
🍵 The Great St. Mary's Day Out (The Chronicles of St. Mary's #7.6; by Jodi Taylor) #AuthorT SFFkit 2020: #TimeTravel TBR

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________________________________________My mother bought these tea cups for my grandmother and, my cousin used to sit with my grandmother and have tea with her; but I don't know much else about these cups other than they were made in Japan and had to have been purchased in the 1970s/1980s. My grandmother passed way in the early 1990s and my mother held on to them until this past Chritmas when she gifted them to my daughter. The tea cups in the back are headed into storage but I think my grandmother's tea cups will get rotated into daily usage. Somehow, that seems fitting :-)

MAY 2020

AlphaKit2020: L and P
SFFkit 2020: Sentient Things
🍵 NFcat 2020: Science
GeoCat2020: Any Place You Want to Visit

UPDATED: 05/29/2020

READ
🍵 Playing with Temptation (A Players Club Novel; by Erika Wilde) #Titillating
🍵 Plus One (by Mae Wood) #Titillating
🍵 Severance (by Ling Ma) #TimesReads
🍵 The Sting of the Wild (by Justin O. Schmidt; narrated by L. J. Ganser) #TalkingBook #NFCat2020
🍵 Y :The Last Man Vol. 1 (by Brian K. Vaughan) #TBR
🍵 Challenge (Harris Brothers #1; by Amy Daws Titillating
🍵 The Passion According to Carmela (by Marcos Aguinis) #Translated TBR
🍵 Titus Andronicus (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project #TitleT #Tragedy #TBR
🍵 Restoration (by Rose Tremain; narrated by Paul Daneman) #AuthorT #TBR #Talking Book
🍵 Restoration (Film based on the novel by Rose Tremain; starring Robert Downey, Jr., Sam Neill, Ian McKellan, Ian McDiarmid, and Meg Ryan)

JUNE 2020

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________________________________________ Iced Tea Set, Recycled Glass, Ordered from Stash Teas; There's another glass in the dishwasher and another one that I broke :-/

AlphaKit2020: K and Y
SFFkit 2020: Aliens
🍵 NFcat 2020: Society
🍵 GeoCat2020: Space: The Final Frontier

READ
🍵 'Seducing the Stranger' (Forbidden Confessions #3; by Shayla Black) #Titillating
🍵 The Subtweet (by Vivek Shraya) #TimesReads #2020Release
🍵 Romeo And Juliet (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project
🍵 'Summer Fling' (Short Stories by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward, L. J. Shen, Willow Winters, Helena Hunting, R. S. Grey and, Sarina Bowen) #Titillating
🍵 Aurora (by Kim Stanley Robinson; narrated by Ali Ahn) #TBR #GeoCat2020 #TalkingBook
🍵 Dr. No (Movie based on Ian Fleming's novel of the same name; Starring Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman, Ursula Andress and, Jack Lord) #ThisAndThat
🍵 How to Be an Antiracist written and narrated by Ibram X. Kendi) #TimesReads #TalkingBook #NFCat2020
🍵 Julius Caesar (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project #TBR
🍵 Wait with Me (by Amy Daws) Titillating

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________________________________________ "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor", 1846 lithograph depicting the 1773 Boston Tea Party; I was desperately trying to find pictures of my family aboard the Boston Tea Party ship (replica) in Boston Harbor, circa 1985, but have been unable to locate the photos-- so this will have to do! :-)

JULY 2020

🍵 AlphaKit2020: J and R
🍵 SFFkit 2020: Space Opera
NFcat 2020: Human Science
GeoCat2020: Central and South America: Mexico, Central America, South America, Caribbean

READ
🍵 Incinerate (Explosive Series #2; by Tessa Teevan) #Titillating
🍵 From Russia with Love (Movie based on the book by Ian Flaming; directed by Terence Young; starring Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Lotte Lenya, and Pedro Armendáriz)
🍵 Goldfinger (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe and, Honor Blackman)
🍵 The Last Days of American Crime (based on the graphic novel by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini; directed by Olivier Megaton; starring Edgar Ramírez, Michael Pitt and, Anna Brewster)
🍵 The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent (by Larry Correia; narrated by Adam Baldwin) #TalikingBooks
🍵 A Murder of Manatees: The Further Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent (by Larry Correia; narrated by Adam Baldwin) #TalkingBooks
🍵 Thunderball (based on the book by Ian Fleming directed by Terence Young starring Sean Connery, Adolfo Celi and, Claudine Auger) #TitleT
🍵 Hamlet (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project ##TBR
🍵 Devolution (by Max Brooks; narrated by Judy Greer, Max Brooks, Jeff Daniels, Nathan Fillion, Mira Furlan, Terry Gross, Kimberly Guerrero, Kate Mulgrew, Kai Ryssdal and, Steven Weber) TalkingBooks #2020Release
🍵 Hell Hole (John Ceepak/Danny Boyle #4; by Chris Grabenstein; narrated by Jeff Woodman) #TalkingBooks #TBR
🍵 'Cruel Temptation: A Dark Second Chance Romance' (Underground Kings #1; by Kelli Callahan) #Titillating #2020Release
🍵 Messinants (Pyreans #2; by S. H. Jucha) #SFFkit2020 #AlphaKit2020 #TBR
🍵 The Boys in the Boat (by Daniel James Brown; narrated by Edward Herrmann) #TBR #TalkingBooks
🍵 The Boys of ‘36 (PBS American Experience)
🍵 Mind Scrambler (John Ceepak #5; by Chris Grabenstein; narrated by Jeff Woodman) #TalkingBooks #TBR
🍵 On Her Majesty's Secret Service (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Peter R. Hunt; starring George Lazenby , Telly Savalas and, Diana Rigg )

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________________________________________ A few hours before the stock market closed because of the coronavirus-induced drop in March, the start up company I worked for was purchased by the NYT! Needless to say, it took them a couple months to get the Welcome Swag out, so I just got it! I was asked about t-shirt sizes, but I guess they changed the order up and, I got a "T" mug instead!

AUGUST 2020

🍵 AlphaKit2020: O and H
SFFkit 2020: Female Authors
NFcat 2020: History
GeoCat2020: Asia II: Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia

READ
🍵 Hard Magic (Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles; by Larry Correia; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) #TalkingBooks #TBR #alphaKIT 2020
🍵 Slightly Married (by Mary Balogh)# Titillating
🍵 Roomhate (by Penelope Ward) #Titillating
🍵 The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes (by Neil Gaiman)
🍵 The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House (by Neil Gaiman)
🍵 A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare) #Tudor #Shakespeare2020Project
🍵 The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country (by Neil Gaiman)
🍵 Diamonds are Forever (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Sean Connery, Charles Gray and, Jill St. John)
🍵 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (by William Shakespeare; directed by Dominic Dromgoole; starring Pearce Quigley as Bottom and Michelle Terry as Queen Titania/Hippolytus) #Tudor
🍵 Sandman (by Neil Gaiman; adapted by Dirk Maggs; starring Riz Ahmed, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Neil Gaiman, James McAvoy, Samantha Morton, Bebe Neuwirth, Andy Serkis and, Michael Sheen; also featuring Simon Vance and Ray Porter) #TalkingBooks #2020Release
🍵 Live and Let Die (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto and, Jane Seymour)
🍵 Along the Tapajós (by Fernando Vilela; translated by Donald Hahn) #TitleT #Translation
🍵 Dirty Dom: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Valetti Crime Family Book 1; by Willow Winters) #Tittilating
🍵 The Man with the Golden Gun (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and, Britt Ekland)

DNF
The Black Tudors (by Miranda Kaufmann)

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________________________________________ So I decided to add to the legacy china and picked the Lenox Trentino pattern. Interestingly, when I turned over the pieces, though all were green-stamped, some were made for Tiffany's and others for Marshal Fields!

SEPTEMBER 2020

🍵 AlphaKit2020: M and E
SFFkit 2020: Theme: International SFF (Non USA/UK)
NFcat 2020: Religion and Philosophy
GeoCat2020: Legends & Myths: Shangri-La, Atlantis, Avalon, El Dorado, Camelot, etc.

🍵 The Map of Time (Trilogía Victoriana #1 by Félix J. Palma; narrated by James Langston) #AlphaKit2020 #Trilogy Talking Books #TimeTravel
🍵 The Dispatcher (by John Scalzi; narrated by Zachary Quinto) Talking Books
🍵 Murder by Other Means (by John Scalzi; narrated by Zachary Quinto) Talking Books #NewRelease 2020 #AlphaKit2020
🍵 The War of the Worlds (by H. G. Wells; narrated by Simon Vance) #Talking Books
🍵 Irresistible (Cloverleigh Farms) (#1; by Melanie Harlow) #Titilating
🍵 Undeniable (Cloverleigh Farms) (#2; by Melanie Harlow) #Titilating
🍵 Insatiable (Cloverleigh Farms) (#3; by Melanie Harlow) #Titilating
🍵 The Map of the Sky (Trilogía Victoriana #2 by Félix J. Palma) #AlphaKit2020 #Talking Books #TimeTravel #AlphaKit2020 #Trilogy
🍵 The Invisible Man (by H. G. Wells; narrated by James Adams) #Talking Books
🍵 Those Boys are Trouble (Valetti Crime Family, Box Set of Five Novels) #Titilating

🍵 The Spy Who Loved Me (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Lewis Gilbert; starring Roger Moore, Curd Jürgens and Barbara Bach)
🍵 Moonraker (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Lewis Gilbert; starring Roger Moore, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel (Jaws!) and, Lois Chiles (Dr. Holly Goodhead))

DNF
The Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison; narrated by Joe Morton) #TBR #TalkingBooks
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (by Erika L. Sánchez) #TimesReads

OCTOBER 2020

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________________________________________We bought our 1954 ranch house from the original owners and much of the architecture and built-ins date from the time. We've added and subtracted mid-century decor in keeping with the style, collecting pieces in this everyday dish ware pattern in the process! (Franciscan Earthenware, Autumn Leaves). And yes, they are staged on a genuine Formica countertop!

🍵 AlphaKit2020: D and V
SFFkit 2020: Theme: Classics
NFcat 2020: The Arts
🍵 GeoCat2020: Great Britain, US, Canada

🍵 The Baby Maker (The Hunter Brothers #1; by Lili Valente) #AlphaKit2020 #Titillating
🍵 Burned Promises (Second Chance Series #3; by Willow Winters) #Titillating
🍵 Hot as Puck (Bad Motherpuckers #1; by Lili Valente) #AlphaKit2020 #Titillating
🍵 The Map of Chaos (Trilogía Victoriana #3 by Félix J. Palma) #Trilogy #TimeTravel
🍵 Mr. Fixer Upper (by Lucy Score) #Titillating
🍵 The Prestige (by Christopher Priest; narrated by Simon Vance) TalkingBooks #GeoCat2020
🍵 The Long Walk (by Stephen King) #TBR #Terror #GeoCat2020
🍵 Unbury Carol (by Josh Malerman; narrated by Dan John Miller) #TalkingBooks #TBR
🍵 The Mist (by Stephen King; narrated by Will Patton) #TalkingBooks TBR

🍵 For Your Eyes Only (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by John Glen; starring Roger Moore, Topol (Columbo) and, Carole Bouquet (Melina Havelock))

NOVEMBER 2020

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________________________________________Every weekend that the weather holds, my husband & I go for a hike! In the mornings, I fill the Yeti 10oz "Lowball" tumbler with green tea and sip the tea as we head out to the trailhead for the day! I live in Bigfoot country so there's a lot of Sasquatch kitsch around: I couldn't resist the handmade BF ceramic mug nor the Min-Lego Bigfoot! :-D

AlphaKit2020: I and Q
SFFkit 2020: Dystopia
NFcat 2020: Food, Home and Recreation
GeoCat2020: Africa II: Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, others not in Africa I

🍵 Othello (by William Shakespeare) #TBR #Tudor #Shakespeare2020 #Tragedy
🍵 The Three Musketeers (by Alexandre Dumas; narrated by John Lee) #TitleT #TalkingBooks #TBR #Translation
🍵 Getaway Girl (The Girl #1; by Tessa Bailey) #Tittilating
🍵 Runaway Girl (The Girl #2; by Tessa Bailey) #Tittilating
🍵 A Gift of Time (by Jerry Merritt; narrated by Christopher Lane) TalkingBooks TimeTravel
🍵 Renaissance Man (The Girl #3; by Tessa Bailey) #Tittilating
🍵 Halfway Girl (The Girl #4; by Tessa Bailey) #Tittilating

🍵 Octopussy (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by John Glen; starring Roger Moore, Louis Jourdan (Kamal) and, Maud Adams (Octopussy))

DNF
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (by Susanna Clarke; narrated by Simon Prebble) #TalkingBooks

DECEMBER 2020

________________________________________________________________________________My mother always had a set of Thanksgiving/Christmas dishes. In her case, they were green-and -white/cream colored with Dickensian illustrations on them. She still uses them so I decided to start my own pattern, one that would compliment the existing patterns I have o fwhite/cream with gold trim-- so that I can mix it together until I have a full Christmas set! I chose Lenox's Holiday Dimension and started off by ordering two teacups with saucers!

🍵 AlphaKit2020: W and N
🍵 SFFkit 2020: Short Fiction
NFcat 2020: Adventures by Land, Sea or Air
GeoCat2020: Catch up month

🍵 I, Robot (by Isaac Asimov) #TBR #SFFkit2020
🍵 A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens; narrated by Patrick Stewart) #TalkingBooks
🍵 A Study in Emerald (by Neil Gaiman) #SFFkit2020
🍵 Shakespeare in a Divided America (by James Shapiro; narrated by Fred Sanders) #TalkingBooks #2020Release
🍵 All I Want for Christmas is You (by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward; Samantha Young; Aurora Rose Reynolds; Lani Lynn Vale; TL Swan and; Natasha Madison) #Titillating
🍵 By a Thread (by Lucy Score) #2020Release #Titillating
🍵 Marley (by Jon Clinch) #TBR
🍵 Mutts and Mistletoe (by Natalie Cox) #TBR
🍵 A Parcel of Patterns (by Jill Paton Walsh) #TBR #AlphaKit2020 #AuthorW

DNF
Until the End of the World (Until the End of the World #1; by Sarah Lyons Fleming; narrated by Julia Whelan) #TalkingBooks

This is a clever idea and very flexible. Happy reading!

Welcome! A calendar arrangement worked well for me last year—I hope you enjoy its adaptability and that you have some great reads!

Fun idea and happy reading in 2020!

I've done a couple of years based on the calendar. I like the addition of the letter "T"

Raising a bone china teacup and toasting your theme for the year!

I love the way you are setting your 2020 challenge up and I am looking forward to attending your tea party!

Enjoying the teacups!

A "T" party! I am looking forward to following your 2020 reading!

Well, something bright and shiny caught my eye which may very well derail my reading plans for 2020!
I had planned on reading Shakespeare's Tragedies this year and when I was doing some googling about the publishing and chronological orders, I discovered the Shakespeare 2020 Project (hosted by Ian Doescher.)This is a rather ambitious reading program wherein all of Shakespeare's works are scheduled to be read over the course of the year. There's a blog which is pretty static, but a healthy 3000-member FB group where everyone seems to be behaving themselves (no politics, as tempting as it may be.) I'm not 100% committed as I'm not sure I can or even want to read nothing but Shakespeare (and supplementary materials) for the rest of the year, but on the other hand, it's an opportunity that I don't think will present itself again. For now, I think I'm just going to take it on a play-by-play basis.

I did read the first play on the docket, Twelfth Night (by William Shakespeare.) I've never been a fan of the comedies as they seemed almost interchangeable and, quite frankly just not very good but this reading changed my mind! It's rom-com in the modern sense of the word with love triangles, pranks gone too far, and genuine "laugh out loud" moments! Granted, while I was reading it, I only smiled but when I watched the Globe presentation on DVD with Mark Rylance as Olivia and Stephen Fry as Malvolio, it all came together magically :-)

I've started reading Henry VI, Part I, a history play and one of Shakespeare's earliest works. This one shows the nascence of the War of the Roses and features Joan of Arc. Good stuff!

I've also started reading Jerusalem (by Alan Moore.) It's the year-long-read-along here on the LT Category Challenge. I figure if I can get through 100 pages or so a month, I should be able to finish by year's end! I just finished the first part, "Work in Progress" and, along with the map on the inside cover, have so far been able to make sense of it though admittedly, I'm rather curious about the dreams. I'm hoping that Moore just doesn't leave it at that and move on!

I'm close to wrapping up A Suitable Boy (by Vikram Seth.) This is taking a little bit longer than I had planned--but I'm hoping to finish it this week!

Finally, I read a terrible "romance" novel, Dirty Little Secret (Forbidden Desires #1; by Kendall Ryan.) It's a third-rate knock off of Fifty Shades of Grey (by E. L. James) wherein the female protagonist is TSTL. Ultimately, it's a bit of porn that ends in a cliffhanger. Needless to say, I'm not going to bite and get the follow-up book.

__________

Why is there no HTML code for a teacup with a handle?!
🍵

>22 Tanya-dogearedcopy: The Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry adaptation was such fun! Especially the revolting yellow stockings, haha. The Shakespeare 2020 project sounds interesting. I may try to time my planned reading of King Lear to their timeline.

>22 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I have tried to find a copy of this on DVD but no luck! But to my surprise and joy, I saw a poster whilst driving through town earlier and guess what our 2020 Shakespeare will be? Twelfth Night! Every year, my small town hosts the Australian Shakespeare Company for Shakespeare Under The Stars in our Botanic Gardens. I will need to read up and watch one of the other performances I could find at the library.

>24 JayneCM: Oooh! That sounds absolutely lovely! I wish I could see it! You must post pictures if you can!

>25 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Good idea! I will take some photos.

I read two books last week:

The first was another romance on the lightly erotic side by Kendall Ryan called Wednesday. Shaw and Chloe grew up together on a small beach island resort. When Shaw returns home from college, he brings with him a wife to whom he is married for a short time before she is killed in a car accident. From then on, Shaw and Chloe have a standing, secret "date" in her tiny apartment has she tries to help him through his grief. Though it was slight better than Dirty Little Secret and a stand-alone, it seemed to be missing text and/or had little or no editorial oversight. I kept waiting for the "big" thing that Sahw was supposed to tell Chloe but it either didn't happen or it happened before he said it would and the sequence was never corrected :-/

I had signed up for a newsletter from a bunch of romance writers which promises to deliver a free story every month, but it looks like they are all pawning off old stories that aren't getting any more traffic. I keep subscribing for a couple more months but if the offerings don't improve, I'll probably just drop the whole thing.

The other title I read last week was Henry VI, Part 1 (by William Shakespeare.) There are two scenes that really stood out for me: The one in which the Houses of York and Lancaster literally pick their colors from the rose garden and; the scene in which John Talbot and his son make a last stand. Interestingly, writing analysis shows that these two scenes were definitely written by Shakespeare whereas the other scenes probably had more than one hand in them! This play is also notable for featuring Joan of Arc, though not as a saintly heroine but rather as a wanton witch. I'm sure it played well to the audience of the time but it feels really cheap now.

On to Henry VI, Part 2 (by William Shakespeare) and, so help me, finish, A Suitable Boy (by Vikram Seth)!

>5 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I had not noticed this before. I have a multitude of this pattern of dishes as well as others made by Anchor Hocking. I live about 15 minutes from what used to the Anchor Hocking plant where this was made. We find a lot of it around her in garage sales and such. I pick it up when I find it cheap.

>28 Tess_W: Wow, lucky you! My mum collects depression glass but it is very expensive in Australia. Not much to be found here, definitely not at garage sales!

>28 Tess_W: >29 JayneCM: I used to collect pink Depression glass! I only stopped when Martha Stewart brought attention to it many years ago and prices skyrocketed. There were also a lot more knockoffs/fakes to wade through. 🙁 But I love what I have, an assortment of patterns and items— though I do wish I had more space to display all of it to advantage!

>30 Tanya-dogearedcopy: The pink is my favourite!

This week, I finahed three books that had been lingering on my night stand a little too long!

A Suitable Boy (by Vikram Seth) - YAY! It took me thirteen months to read this one! The hardest part was reading the final section. I was so annoyed with what happened in the penultimate part that I almost didn't finish; But after 1415 pages, it seemed ridiculous that I wouldn't read the last 25 (pages) or so! It was truly an epic undertaking that covered Indian history, culture, political machinations, and drama. Perhaps it is telling that I was truly upset by Lata's decision as to how invested I was and/or how engaging Seth's writing is!

Before Girl (by Kate Canterbary) - Usually a romance only takes me a day, maybe two to finish but this one took me five days! I've read a couple of Kate Caterbary's novels before and now I see her pattern: The obsessive male and the unlikable female (who I also can never fully understand) work out their HEAs. In this one, a former Army Ranger cum cardio-thoracic surgeon zeroes in on a publicist for troubled sports players. Graphic sex, but nothing particularly kinky and, overall just a mediocre story. I don't really understand Kate Canterbury's characters. I don't know if it's me or the author!

Henry VI, Part II (by William Shakespeare) - Ooh boy! I actually started this one early but then ended up crushing through Acts II-V last night and this morning! In this play, Richard Plantagenet, The Duke of York finally makes his move against Henry VI: He incites Jack Cade's Rebellion, gathers an army of Irishmen and, openly challenges Henry VI's legitimacy in court! Lots of heads literally roll in this one! Tonight I'll read through the relevant sections in The Shakespeare Book-- a DK reference book meant for Middle Graders but which I find to be a great primer before diving into other supplemental material. For the histories, I've got Shakespeare's Kings (by John Julius Norwich) which has the true history and then a chapter about how/why Shakespeare took the liberties he did with characters and/or timelines. I'm really enjoying the #Shakespeare2020Project and, perhaps no one is more surprised than I am! I think it's because the group isn't pretentious. The members all just really love Shakespeare-- so while there are some thought-provoking questions, there are also posts about ephemera or fun things. I guess you could say it's like Bard Fandom! :-D

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Yay, congrats on finishing A Suitable Boy!!

Also good idea to supplement your Shakespeare Readalong with other reference materials. It sounds like fun!

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I am enjoying reading about your enjoyment of Shakespeare. You are inspiring me to read more myself. Whether I do, that is another question!

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Great idea to pair Shakespeare and Shakespeare's Kings! I've got a Shakespeare CAT this year so this will be a great supplement!

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Taking a BB for the Norwich book. Sounds like just the book for me!

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I looked up the Norwich book and saw all his other books. Now I want to read them all!

To date, it looks like I'm averaging about three books a week: One play, one novel and, one romance novel! This may change up to fewer romance selections however as I've been really disappointed with the recent selections coming my way through the newsletter subscription. I was so discouraged with last week's selection of The Boyfriend Experience (by Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde)-- a story about an app-arranged escort for a wedding-- that I opted for a second short called 'The Neighbor' (by Brighton Walsh) which was even worse! The latter wasn't even s story but more like a porn scene/possible teaser for a story yet to be developed. So, I've got a few romances still on the e-reader that, when the mood strikes, I'll read but I've unsubscribed from the newsletter.

To replace the "romance" selection, I'm opting for some of the many other non-romance titles on my e-reader and, the first one I've picked up is Things Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe.) I know, I know! I should have given up on the cheap romance earlier and at least gotten this one nailed down for the "A" part of the AlphaKit challenge last month, but I didn't, so here we are! I originally picked this one up a couple of years ago when my daughter was reading it for class. I intended to read along with her but life got in the way. I decided on reading it now because it's actually very short, and admittedly, I'm kind of tired of seeing it when I open up my "Unread" folder :-D It's the story of an Igbo man, a leader in his tribe for the number of kills (of enemies) he has, his wrestling fame and, his hard work which results in a successful yam farm. Through the lens of this man, we see the life and culture of his community. I'm about a third of the way in and the novel still seems to be mainly expository.

Henry VI, Part III (by William Shakespeare) - Wow! This is longer than Parts I & II; and pretty much action-packed from the opening lines! In this play, we see a compressed history of pretty much the whole actual War of the Roses. Queen Eleanor becomes a force to be reckoned with; Sons are killed in cold blood and, the "head count" continues to rise! It's pretty brutal and, sets the stage for the next in the tetralogy, Richard III. But we aren't going there yet! We are reading the plays in roughly the order they were written and next up is The Comedy of Errors!

I did watch The Hollow Crown episode, Henry VI Part I this morning and plan on watching Henry VI Part II (which I believe conflates the plays 2 & 3) this evening. There are quite a few recognizable names in this one: Philip Glenister, Anton Lesser... but the stand out performances are that of Sophie Okonedo as Quine Margaret (formerly of Anjou), Ben Miles as Somerset (OOOH! A villain you love to hate!), Hugh Bonneville as Gloucester and Tom Sturridge as Henry VI.

One of the reasons I gravitated towards the #Shakespeare2020Project is because I never quite found my tribe here on LT when it came to Shakespeare. There is a group, but it has fairly low membership and activity; And a couple years ago, I proposed a BardCAT but it didn't get much interest/votes. Unfortunately, without a group of some sort, independent scheduling just wasn't working out for me! Reading the complete works of Shakespeare is on my bucket list (much like reading the entire Bible was for me a couple years ago)-- so I'm grateful to have finally found a way to be held accountable! :-)

>38 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I just assumed the Shakespeare group was here on LT and I couldn't find it! Obviously I should have looked further afield! I may have to just go with reading at my own pace as they seem to be setting a blistering pace in their reading - not sure I could keep up and still do other reading! I am very much enjoying following along with you though.

And I would be up for a BardCAT any time!

I started off my Sunday morning by knocking off two short stories that I dnloaded a few months ago. Each was a offered for free for Amazon Prime accounts and, I discovered that there was an automatic dnload of the audio version to my Audible account! "Randomize" (by Andy Weir; narrated by Janina Gavankar) is about how an Indian couple decide to scam a casino using quantum computing. It‘s an okay Black Mirror-ish story (the downside of future technologies) made better by the audiobook narration. And Summer Frost" (by Blake Crouch; narrated by Rosa Salazar) is about a virtual reality game designer who gambles all in developing and value-packing a *character* that has gone rogue... The audiobook narrator in this one nailed the nuances of the game character‘s voice and iterations remarkably well!

I also finished off Things Fall Apart (African Trilogy #1; by Chinua Achebe.) This is the tragic tale of British colonialism in Nigeria, a novella that highlights the disruption and destruction of native culture via the onslaught of well-meaning but no less fatal intentions of missionaries and Western powers.

I also crushed through the last bit of The Comedy of Errors (by William Shakespeare) This one felt a lot rougher in form that Twelfth Night, which makes sense as the former was written later in Shakespeare's career (and was only read first because it matched up with the actual Twelfth Night on the calendar.) I admit there a couple places that I did not understand what was being said (even with the notes); and I was bemused as to why Antipholus of Ephesus was angry when Dromio brought him a rope when it was the same Antipholus who has requested it earlier. Maybe because the need for the bail money was more pressing? I watched the Globe presentation (Starring Simon Harrison as Antipholus of Syracuse; Matthew Needham as Antipholus of Ephesus; Brodie Ross as Dromio of Syracuse and; Jamie Wilkes as Dromio of Ephesus) for more clarity but it. seems that the momentum of comic misunderstandings tends to this gloss over. The show I watched (DVD; but also available on the Globe Player web-site for rental or purchase) presented this as slapstick comedy which smoothed the edges of all the beating both Dromios get in the course of the play!

An finally, I picked Black Virus (Black Rust #1; by Bobby Adair) off of my e-reader shelf of unread titles. I got this a couple years ago but had forgotten why or even what it was about. Perhaps I thought it was a zombie story? Regardless, it was not about zombies but about a prion disease that spreads like a virus. A teenage boy, Christian Black needs to navigate this new apocalyptic landscape to survive... I think this is actually YA with some graphic depictions of violence. The writing is pretty "basic" and, while it's a straight-forward story, there is nothing new or particularly interesting enough to warrant getting the next book in the series.

I've started Paris in Love (by Eloisa James-- a NF book about the year the author lived in Paris and, I'm about to start The Taming of the Shrew (by William Shakespeare.) I'm also thinking I should probably get a few more chapters of Jerusalem (by Alan Moore) in before neglect leads me to shelve it yet again for another time!

I've only finished one book this past week, and that was the short audiobook, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging (written and narrated by Sebastian Junger) which was developed form an article he wrote for Vanity Fair (?) years prior. The premise of the book is that PTSD is related to the lack of true tribalism or community spirit for those trying to re-enter society after a traumatic experience. The lack of a nurturing framework or an adequate support system fails those with long-term PTSD and, seems to be a predominately northern European and American issue with its inherent cultural norms which may actually be at odds with human nature. Junger gives several examples from different nations and from different job backgrounds (soldiers, miners, rape victims...), offering a different way of looking at the issue (of PTSD) but not really offering any viable solutions. Still worth the listen as it does make you think!

I'm a little behind on both Paris in Love (by Eloisa James) - only halfway though and; The Taming of the Shrew (by William Shakespeare) - third of the way done; and I haven't even touched Jerusalem (by Alan Moore)! I hope to finish PIL today and TTOFS by mid-week;, and then start on Titus Andronicus (by William Shakespeare) and The Thing About December (by Donal Ryan) by the weekend. It looking increasingly likely that I'll end up shelving 'Jerusalam' unread for now -- though I'll stubbornly keep it on my bedside table for a couple more weeks to see if I can't figure out a way to make reading room for it!

EDIT: UPDATE: I just finished reading Paris in Love (by Eloisa James), an account of the prolific romance writer's time that she and her family lived in Paris for a year. Following the death of her mother and following her own bout with breast cancer, Eloisa James seeks to reconnect with the the gloriousness of the "now" moments of life by escaping their suburban lives in New Jersey for the the 9th arrondissement. The book is a collection of a few essays mixed with Facebook posts (no pictures) and is surprisingly wonderful tor its slightness and for not being an actual novel. There is definitely an arc here though, a timeline as she and her family negotiate the cultural clashes and, take notice of the little things (food, fashion, the shops, the weather) with a rather poetic eye. I, myself have spent a couple weeks in France, and only a few days in Paris, but now I really want to go back-- this time for an extended stay. This travelogue of sorts has made me somewhat "homesick" in ways that other books about places I have visited have not.

>41 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I am very happy that you enjoyed Paris in Love. I thought she caught the essence of the city and the (mostly) joy that her family felt living there.

I'm afraid this hasn't been a very good reading week for me! Dealing with a sick teen, getting sick myself, losing my patience with someone at work... all these things enervated my reading energy.

The first thing I did was to go through my e-reader and remove several romances that I know that I would not read and/or enjoy: The first type were those that were actually Part 1 of two-part stories. This is a marketing thing that was big a couple of years ago to get the reader hooked on the story (part 1 being free) so that you had to dnload the expensive second part. Worse than a cliffhanger, often the stories were split mid-chapter. Whether the split was done well or not is beside the point, however. I loathe gimmicks like this. So, yesterday, I purged any stories that are Part 1 out of 2 from my e-reader. Then I deleted all the stories that featured high school students having porn-level sex. I'm not so naive as to think high schoolers aren't having sex, but for me, it verges on child pornography, especially if the high schooler is female and she is involved with an older male. I discovered two of these on my e-reader and promptly removed them. If you're wondering why I dnloaded them in the first place, it's because I often take advantage of sales and blindly dnload deals, only looking at the descriptions later (e.g. Am I in the mood for a Billionaire romance? A Rom-Com?) Now though, after reading romances for about 40 years, I feel like the search for a well-written romance is producing fewer satisfactory results. The market is glutted with so much trash and it feels cheaper by the week. I won't say that I'm done with romances completely but that far fewer will make their way into my stacks.

Also, and it's killing me to say this, but I'm going to have to bail on the year-long read-along of Jerusalem (by Alan Moore.) It's been two months and, I've only gotten through the prologue, "Work in Progress." I look at it sitting on my nightstand and, instead of being excited about it and tackling the next 30 pages or so, I find myself dreading it and avoiding it. I don't think it's the writing. It's me. I'm just not in the right headspace for it.

I'm way behind on the @Shakespeare2020Project too. I've only read the Induction scenes for The Taming of the Shrew (by William Shakespeare) while the rest of the group has finished that and Titus Andronicus and is now on Romeo and Juliet! I think this week, I'm just to crush through and try to catch up. There's no deadline, test or anything like that; but I miss not being able to participate in a timely fashion with the group!

OK, I'm off for now. I'm off tomorrow for a day ski-trip to help clear my head. I've got an audiobook that I've started listening for the car ride (Restoration (by Rose Tremain; narrated by Paul Danemen) and, then it's back to the salt mines on Tuesday!

>43 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - Well done on the e-book purge! I am terrified to think of what I have lurking on my ereader, although my last sub-sub-sub par read should be an indication that even "free" books come with a risk. ;-)

>43 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I hope everything takes a turn for the better very soon! Good for you - cleaning out those books that you know you will never read. I used to buy way too many of the "Daily Deals" but then found I really didn't want to read them. I still check every day but I limit myself to buying only what is already on my wishlist or classics that I want to read for the 1,001 challenge.

Sometimes I think there is something seriously wrong with the way my brain is wired! I set down some very specific goals last week, put together my nightstand stack, and, then promptly ignored it! I burned through five romances on my e-reader (It's like I'm on a mission to now to clear my head and e-reader!):

Fluffy (by Julia Kent
Renaissance Man (by Tessa Bailey)
Out of My League (Hope Valley #1; by Jessica Prince)
Charming Hannah (Big Sly #1; by Kristen Proby)
Billionaire in Her Bed (by Regina Kyle)

Only one of the five is worth mentioning, the others being forgettable almost at the point when I finished them! The one that sticks with me is Out of My League (Hope Valley #1; by Jessica Prince). In this story, the hero is an ex-military Marine who sets up an investigative firm that works closely with law enforcement. "She" is the sister to a suspect in a series of burglaries and the target of the bad guys. Using a reverse honey trap (I don't know what it is called in spycraft when the man goes undercover to seduce a woman for information), our Hero falls for the girl. What interested me the most was how she handled herself when she discovered the deception/betrayal. She chose to forgive and be happy. For some reason, this really stuck in my head.

The only other book I read was The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher (The Witcher #1; by Andrzej Sapkowski.) I can see why a TV producer would think this would be good series fodder as this is less a collection of short stories with a common thread running through them than "episodes" of the Witcher Saga- the series about a monster killer and social pariah in a fantasy world of fairy tale characters and dragons.
The stories, originally written in 1993 in Poland, features a hypermasculine Hero, his comic sidekick, and female characters who are matronly, sexual, witchy, or monstrous-- definitely written from a patriarchal context. I have no idea if the TV series has put the women on more equal footing, but given that the poster boy is a broody buffed-up Henry Cavill, I suspect not.The writing is artless, probably at the reading level of a junior high or freshman high school student. I'm not sure if this is because of the writer and/or the translator but I blame both. These stories are pretty linear in plot, have no subplots or nuance, highly questionable fight choreography and, seemingly a missing paragraph or two along the way (There were times I had to double back and check to see if I had missed something. I had not.) There were moments of humor and fun allusions to fairy tales but mostly I felt sad that this hadn't been better developed. If you're used to the epic qualities of Tolkien's stories, the elegance of Shakespeare's Henriad and/or the pageantry of G.R.R.Martin's tomes, you are going to be disappointed here. I watched about thirty minutes of the first episode of the Netflix series and bailed. It felt like I had been sitting there for hours and, I found the production values really cheap, the sound mixing poor (sometimes difficult to understand what the actors were saying), and the acting really bad. I think it's safe to say I'm not a Witcher girl!

And instead of using the challenges to inform my next book, I just picked up something random (that does happen to qualify for the "C" portion" of the AlphaKit2020 Challenge), Dark Matter (by Blake Crouch). I just started this one yesterday. It’s about a man with a family who is kidnapped and wakes up on a lab where he is "welcomed back!"

>46 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I had a similar reaction to the first Witcher book when I read it years ago, so it's definitely the writing and not just sloppy translation. I fail to see why anyone would want to watch this.

>46 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm a bit like that - as soon as I think "I must read that this month" I completely don't want to!

Love your T party theme! I have a category for Shakespeare this year and will be following along.

So, since last I checked in the world has changed! For me not so much as for others since I've been working at home since 2012 and have been something of a "Secret Prepper" since 2001-- but there have been changes nonetheless. Most noticeably is that my husband and daughter are now at home as well. To avoid getting underfoot and on each other's nerves, we've partitioned parts of the house off in terms of workspaces, lean a little bit on the conservative side in terms of consumables, make do with what we have (as opposed to going out to pick something up) and, take hikes on the less traveled trails. We went out to the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge a couple of weeks ago to take a look at the bald eagles hanging out in the marshes) and this past week we hit a couple of easy trails to check out wild flowers (though it's a touch too early,-- so we'll go back next weekend.) So, we're adjusting in small ways and hope to wait this all out...

Reading romances in this new context already has a slightly dated feeling now-- characters are physically close, meet older members of the family, socialize with friends in bars and restaurants... I've read a bunch in the past couple of weeks. The only one that really stood out surprisingly well was How to Date a Douchebag (by Sara Ney.) I thought I had deleted this one from my Kindle app as it features two college students (Young Adult not my jam) but since it had somehow survived, I decided to read through it. The relationship was intense as romances at that age can be. Sara Ney used dreams as a literary device to propel the male's character's interior life forward, which in turn spurned the action plot forward as well. Maybe she was making use of possible plot points, but nonetheless, it was a unique quirk that made it a bit interesting. The only quibble I had was that I felt sort of sad at the end-- Of course, it ended with a HEA but at the same time, "forever" at the age of twenty/twenty-one seems naively optimistic.

Boss I Love to Hate (by Mia Kayla)
Paige in Progress (by Brighton Walsh)
How to Date a Douchebag (by Sara Ney)
Running Mate (by Katie Ashley)
Bishop's Pawn (by Suzanne Halliday)
Falling for the Cowboy (by Kennedy Fox)
Floored (Frenched #3 by Melanie Harlow)
Lovers at Heart (Reimagined by Melissa Foster)
Flirting with the Frenemy (by Pippa Grant)

I did read a non-romance, a SFF thriller about a man who is held at gunpoint, kidnapped and, beaten. He wakes up in a lab-like setting where strangers "welcome his return." Saying much more will spoil this-- but for those who have an infinity for quantum mechanics, it's very exciting and, for those that don't, it's not too "science-y" It's 300+ pages long, but goes very quickly:

Dark Matter (by Blake Crouch)

I'm on a more regular work schedule starting this week, so I hope to update more regularly form here on out :-)

It's good to hear you and your family are safe and doing well.

For many reasons, I had to table the #Shakespeare2020Project for nearly two months. But this past week, I decided to try and catch up a little and managed to finish The Taming of the Shrew. I then watched the Globe presentation and was like, "Wait. They (Bianca and Lucentio) got married?! That was the point of Lucentio and Tranio switching identities?!" I totally missed this while I was reading it. So I decided to re-watch the Globe presentation (starring Samantha Spiro as Katerina and Simon Paisley Day as Petruchio) to see what else I missed and was further shocked to realize that Bianca was in on the scheme! In my defense, I never paid too much attention to the Comedies, but still! I'm laughing at myself, but I'm also recognizing how tired I really am. I'm not quitting the Project, but I will probably not be on schedule for quite some time. To mentally lighten things a bit, I watched 10 Things I Hate About You (Starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger) last night, the 1999 adaptation of the play and had a new appreciation for it :-)

Yesterday, I read the excerpt from Ovid's Metamorphoses, "The Tale of Philomena" in preparation for Titus Andronicus (by William Shakespeare. The Ancient Roman text is heavily referenced in the play, so I thought it would ground me a bit before I dived in!

I've also started Weather: A Novel (by Jenny Offill.) It smacks a bit of experimental writing-- just snippets of thoughts (some funny, some clever, some rather tedious...) of a woman who is navigating her days as a librarian, mother, wife, sister, and personal assistant to a popular blogger. The narrative inches forward, but after the first chapter of six, I'm not sure that this has a point other than to reflect a near stream-of-consciousness of the character. I don't think I would have picked this one up on my own, but it's a workplace book club selection so I'm willing to give it a try! The only thing that really burns me though, is that I've reluctant to receive shipments at the house these days-- so in terms of books, I've been dnloading e-book versions. I cringed a little at the price (US$11.99) for a new-to-me author and a slim work (224 pages) :-/

>52 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I love Ten Things I Hate About You! As a teenager I generally hated movies targeted specifically at teenagers ("Don't tell me what you think I should like based on my age"), but I liked this one. I watched it a couple of years ago and was blown away by nostalgia, mainly from seeing those fashions!

>52 Tanya-dogearedcopy: >53 rabbitprincess: I love that movie too! I own it on DVD - might need to have a rewatch now.

Wow, While everyone else seems to be bearing down on their reading, getting more in these days, I seems to be getting less and less in! Part of it is because my work load hasn't diminished (so no newly added discretionary time for me!) but mostly I suspect it's because of my allergies (which exhaust me every year to the point that I want to hibernate for three months!) in addition to the psychological toll of living in pandemic conditions. We're better off than most and can't really complain but I admit that it's harder for me to focus on reading these days. I did start Titus Andronicus (by William Shakespeare) so there is that!

>55 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm having the same issue of reading less now that I'm stuck in my home alone! I think that, between work being busy and the stress of the pandemic, I'm too drained to focus on anything more complex than light TV.

Well, I finally finished a book, Weather: A Novel (by Jenny Offill). As I mentioned above (see post #52), it smacks of experimental writing-- somewhat akin to a curated collection of text-only FaceBook posts. There are lines that are funny but most are quotidian in nature, unoriginal, and ambiguous. (Maybe if we curated our own daily thoughts, this is what it would look like?) Anyway, they all reflect the existential anxiety of the protagonist, Lizzie. She is a librarian, assistant to a climate alarm-sounding blogger, wife, mother, and the sister to a drug addicted brother. At one point, I asked myself if she was a ghost, or if all the others were ghosts; or if the disconnect between the characters is a point being made my the author. I'm not really sure what the heck the point of any of this book is! The story, such as it is, lacks intimacy, details that would flash out characters, setting, and/or mood and, is inexplicably dived into six chapters. I think I'm being rather generous with three stars, but I'm reserving the right to knock off a star (or upgrade it a star) pending the book club discussion.

Hey Tanya, thought you might like to know that the Stratford Festival is gearing up to offer 12 of its Shakespeare plays for free streaming over the next few months. I'm not sure how well the order meshes with the Shakespeare readalong, but it might be of interest. https://nowtoronto.com/stage/theatre/stratford-festival-shakespeare-film-festiva...

Very slow reading month for me but I finally finished up some a couple titles that had been sitting around on my e-reader for awhile and also met the requirement for a couple of challenges (SFFkit: Time Travel and AlphaKIT: T) :-)

Lies, Damned Lies, and History (The Chronicles of St. Mary's#7; by Jodi Taylor) and the two short stories that follow, My Name is Markham and The Great St. Mary's Day Out. These feature a collection of historians who observe past events in real time, using a pod that looks like a non-descript stone hut that smells like cabbage to transport themselves back to selected time periods. In the novel, a group, headed by Chief Historian, Max heads to Wales and Arthur's cave, the crossing of the Wash by King John, and spend a little time at Stonehenge too! In "My Name is Markham", the POV is from the Deputy of Security as the group goes back to find out if the story about King Alfred burning the cakes is true and; In "The Great St. Mary's Day Out", the whole company heads to the Globe Theatre to watch Shakespeare preform as the ghost in "Hamlet"! The series is fast-paced, fun, and funny and, in the past, I had to pace myself rather than binge them. I hesitated to start the seventh book for so long as the prologue seemed so... depressing; but I should have had more faith! That said, I think I'll stop here with the series. I got a peek at the eighth book and it has, as its premise something that's emotionally too much for me to deal with even in the best of times, and much less nowadays. (The main character is separated from her baby for eight years. )

LOL, This is getting ridiculous: It literally took me three weeks to read a 225-page novel! I'm guessing that "These Uncertain Times" is having more of an impact on me psychologically than I thought. It doesn't help that my work involves pushing news content out into the world--so there's no escaping the news... And ironically, Severance (by Long Ma) - which is a workplace book club selection-- is the story of an Asian-American woman working in publishing (production of Bibles) in the NYC when Shen Fever hits. The fever is a pandemic which originated in China and destroys cognizance in people, leaving them to repeat quotidian tasks until they die. There was a lot that was recognizable to the current coronavirus pandemic: The origin and spread of the virus, the empty streets, the attempts to escape and survive... The scenes where people were performing rote tasks reminds me of The Angels are the Reapers (by Alden Bell) in which zombies continued to do the things that had done when they were alive (The scene with the carousal is particularly haunting. And a moment of digression, this is a gorgeously written novel). Even though I'm not technically Asian-American, nor do I work in Bible production or in NYC; I am Eurasian-American, work in an arm of publishing, and my Zoom calls with my NYC friends and co-workers show me their self-isolation environments and mindsets. Perhaps this book hits too close to home for too many for me to recommend it now; but despite it's open ending and overall subject matter, the writing was engaging. It's probably better than the 3.5 stars I'm giving it now; but honestly, I'm not sure if there will be a time when I can look at pandemic-related novels objectively.

Hi Tanya, I have Severance on my Kindle and have looked at it once or twice recently but decided I will wait for better times before I read it.

I am very late in stopping by. I really enjoy your tea cups.

Three weeks ago, my boss had been working long hours on a project and, when he resurfaced for the All Hands Meeting on Friday morning, he was ridiculously overtired. Somehow, the conversation turned to murder hornets and he went off on this tangent about stinging bugs & insects and, an entomologist named Justin Schmidt who had developed a Pain Index of stinging bees, wasps and, ants. It turns out that Justin O. Schmidt wrote a book called, The Sting of the Wild and, I decided that I had to read it! I actually got the audiobook (narrated by L. J. Ganser) and it was really interesting! It discusses the evolutionary mandates behind bugs'/insects' defenses, their reputations and, their actual effects when they deploy those defensive measures. Sprinkled with personal anecdotes, the science-y part only gets in the way a little bit and, the reading of the Pain Index at the end was worth the prices of the book alone! At first, I was bemoaning the lack of illustrations, but then I googled a couple wasps and was like okaaay, I do NOT need to go there! The audiobook narrator wasn't great, but not terrible either. I gave the book itself a solid 4 stars and the audio 2-1/2 to 3 stars.

Three weeks ago, my boss had been working long hours on a project and, when he resurfaced for the All Hands Meeting on Friday morning, he was ridiculously overtired. Somehow, the conversation turned to murder hornets and he went off on this tangent about stinging bugs & insects and, an entomologist named Justin Schmidt who had developed a Pain Index of stinging bees, wasps and, ants. It turns out that Justin O. Schmidt wrote a book called, The Sting of the Wild and, I decided that I had to read it! I actually got the audiobook (narrated by L. J. Ganser) and it was really interesting! It discusses the evolutionary mandates behind bugs'/insects' defenses, their reputations and, their actual effects when they deploy those defensive measures. Sprinkled with personal anecdotes, the science-y part only gets in the way a little bit and, the reading of the Pain Index at the end was worth the prices of the book alone! At first, I was bemoaning the lack of illustrations, but then I googled a couple wasps and was like okaaay, I do NOT need to go there! The audiobook narrator wasn't great, but not terrible either. I gave the book itself a solid 4 stars and the audio 2-1/2 to 3 stars.

I also finally finished reading Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 ( by Brian K. Vaughan). I picked this graphic novel trade volume up last year after having read and loved Vaughan’s Saga series. Whereas Saga is a fun, albeit sexually graphic space opera, this is about a pandemic that wipes out all but one man on earth. With his monkey, Ampersand, Yorick heads out in search of his girlfriend, Beth. His odyssey becomes a huge cat and mouse game where self-proclaimed Amazons, government scientists, and the Israeli Mossad/Army are the cats and; Yorick is the mouse. This has a vaguely Stephen King feel to it à la The Stand and I can see why King gave it a rave blurb. I started reading this in early March, a touch before the pandemic became manifest in our lives and I've been picking at it ever since. It's a neat concept and the artwork is crisp and expressive; But while I suspect that I would be gobbling up issues/volumes quickly in any other time, this may fall victim to my current fatigue of post-apocalyptic fiction.

>63 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - We all choose to read books for different reasons. I love how Schmidt's books hit your radar screen as a book to read!

I'm cautiously optimistic that my reading slump may be over. I've finished a couple more books that have been sitting in my "Currently Reading" list anywhere from a few weeks to a few months!

The Passion According to Carmela (by Marcos Aguinis; translated by Carolina De Robertis) - This is one I picked on Word Book Day in 2019 and for some reason, decided that I wanted to start three weeks ago despite having a bunch of other unfinished books waiting patiently for my return! It's the story about a Cuban woman who joins Fidel's revolution in the 1950s and, her ascendancy and disillusionment as populist Fidelism turns into dictatorial communism. In tandem with her political awareness is her romantic involvement with an Argentine immigrant whose idealism has lead him to join the revolution. This is a translated work that sometimes seems over simplistic and, at other times just strangely worded (e.g when the gaze between the lovers is often described as a "bridge of glass"). There was something too, about the artless style in which Aguinis presents communism versus capitalism that renders the whole work rather propaganda-like.

Titus Andronicus (by William Shakespeare) - I started this one back in February before anxiety about my job and the pandemic hard on its heels crippled me. I went back and started this one from the top and actually read it in one sitting, staying up late to finish! This is one of the few Shakespearean plays that I have not seen or worked on a stage production of and, the last time I read it was many, many years ago-- So I really didn't know what was going to happen next! It's an exceedingly violent play set in Ancient Rome. Titus returns victoriously from his war campaign against the Goths and endorses the eldest son of the last emperor to take the throne. From there on out it's a story about resentment, revenge, betrayal and lots and lots of and lots of gory death. If you enjoy Quentin Tarantino films, you'll like this. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Restoration (by Rose Tremain; narrated by Paul Daneman) - This is another one that I started in February and left hanging in "Currently Reading" limbo for a long time! I was able to pick it up right where I left off though and, I'm glad I did! This is a story about a court doctor's fortunes and fates during the reign of King Charles II of England. Robert Merivel's friendships and candid self-assessments draw a picture of a very human, ergo very flawed man whose has his loves, but seems never to be sure if he himself is loved. The audiobook is narrated by the late Paul Daneman, a British actor with an "old school" accent (versus a slick BBC modulated one) that I tend to be gravitating more to in the past could of years :-)

I managed to wrap up everything on my nightstand by the end of May!

I've just started by workplace book club selection, The Subtweet (by Vivek Shraya) which I'm honestly not sure about at the moment; but I have not met the Pearl Rule of pages read to disposition it as a DNF yet.

I've also got Romeo and Juliet set aside for the next week or so. I'm just waiting for all the noise in my head to settle down after reading "Titus Andronicus" before I start. I've missed so much of the #Shakespeare2020Project that I won't realistically be able to catch up, so I'm just focusing on the Tragedies for now.

And there's my annual Summer read waiting too, a John Le Carre novel. This one is, The Secret Pilgrim, a follow up to The Russia House and a return George Smiley.

I just have to remember to take care of myself and not try to force any of it :-)

>66 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congrats on busting through your reading slump! As you say, take care of yourself and don't force it.

Glad to hear that your book slump seems to be over, slow and steady seems to be the best approach.

Moved the needle a little bit, getting more read but not finishing:

• The Subtweet (by Vivek Shraya) - Still not loving it but I'll finish it in time for my virtual book club meet-up;
• Aurora (by Kim Stanley Robinson; narrated by Ali Ahn) - Love the story of a multi-generational odyssey of a group of people from Earth searching out an Earth-analog to colonize and; the parts of the audio where (the) Ship speaks. A copper plated mic was use to record those sections and the effect is perfect, conveying the idea of a non-human voice without sounding abrasive. The parts where Ms Ahn's voice is not run through the special mic though, I'm less impressed with. I can't quite put my finger on it, but she doesn't sound "right" for the role.
• Just started Romeo and Juliet (by William Shakespeare) - One of the most popular plays in the Bard's oeuvre, it has been so since the offering was first performed. It's perhaps heresy to say so, but it suffers from overexposure. It's challenging to find something new/fresh in the text.

Instead of picking up The Secret Pilgrim (by John le Carré ), I've pulled another book off of the TBR stacks, Titus Groans (Ghormenghast #1; by Mervyn Peake). This is a fantasy novel riddled with dark, labyrinthine hallways, scuttling servants and guttering candles. The prose is evocative and atmospheric with carefully chosen words and a rich vocabulary. So far, all that has happened is that Titus Groan has been born into a castle that's not much more than a collections of crumbling rocks and rituals. Steelpike, a rat-like kitchen servant, has managed to get a peek of life upstairs... I'm savoring each section so it will probably take me a couple weeks to get through the ~400 pages!

I finished two titles this past week:

• The Subtweet (by Vivek Shraya) - The #TimesRead Book Club picked this title in the context of June being Pride Month. As such, I was expecting some aspect of the LGBTQ+ life to be showcased, but the only thing queer about this story of three insecure musicians who perpetrate acts of passive aggressiveness on social media platforms is the author of the book! Maybe I'm missing something here but it was rather disappointing. Perhaps the discussions at the end of the month will enlighten me.

• Romeo and Juliet (by William Shakespeare) - In Act II, Scene 2, Line 179, Romeo says, "My dear" and there's an endnote! It turns out that the Second Quarto has this has "My neece", possibly a variant spelling of "nyase", a falconry term that would reflect back to Juliet's lines just prior-- which also incorporate falconry terms. In a text so well-trod over the years, I was actually fascinated by this new-to-me little bit!

I'll still listening to Aurora (by Kim Stanley Robinson; narrated by Ali Ahn) and will probably have wrapped it up by this time next week. I just did some extra googling about Alan Turing's "Halting Problem" which has unlocked this book for me! I've only read one other KSR novel (Years of Rice and Salt) but it seems that the way KSR tells his stories is as important as the story itself.

I'm also still reading Titus Groans (Ghormenghast #1; by Mervyn Peake). I'm finding I do need a dictionary at hand while reading this but after looking up a new-to-me word, I'm pretty "wowed" with how perfect the words are!

Next up for me in the #Shakespeare2020Project is Julius Caesar (by William Shakespeare.) Slowly but surely, I'll get to a point where I'm reading the same plays as the rest of the group, maybe by August?

I managed to knock off two more titles last week:

• 'Summer Fling' (Short Stories by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward, L. J. Shen, Willow Winters, Helena Hunting, R. S. Grey and, Sarina Bowen)
This is a short story collection of six titles written by some of the current best-selling romance authors. Light, but all with a level of sex depicted that would make it a no-go who prefer more subtle touches of romance. They were all okay, the last story, "Nine Years" Before" an obvious prequel to Ms Bowen's new release, Sure Shot (May 12, 2020) and good enough that I'm considering purchasing the first in the Hockey Romance series.

• Aurora (by Kim Stanley Robinson; narrated by Ali Ahn)
An epic space saga of a group of people from Earth who have been heading towards a distant star for one-hundred-seventy years. The story focuses on the last generation and, on the whole is an amazing exposition of Turing's Halting Problem. The earlier you clue in to the overarching theme, the more you can to appreciate the meta experience. I loved Ali Ahn when she was voicing Ship; not so much when she was voicing the other main character Freya (POV3 omniscient): Freya's character ages, Ali Ahn's voice does not-- so you have a character who always sounds like she's a young adult, whether she's six-years old or sixty! Anyway, still loved the story and will read more KSR :-)

Next Up:
I've tepidly begun Julius Caesar (by William Shakespeare), but plan to dedicate this week to reading this Classic Tragedy about duly elected head of the kingdom who seeks to consolidate his power and, the Senators who decide to stop him ;-)

I'm still picking on Titus Groans (Ghormenghast #1; by Mervyn Peake). It's simply not a novel I can rush through!

I've also started How to Be an Antiracist (written and narrated by Ibram X. Kendi) for my book club. I decided to get this one in audio as he narrates it, and I thought it was important to hear him speak. A couple years ago, I read and listened to Ta-Nehisi Coates' book, Between the World and Me and, it was a much more impressive listening experience than a reading one for me. Sadly though, IXK is not as good a narrator as I had hoped. It's not always clear when he's quoting someone else or when he's expressing his own thought, so it gets a little confusing at first. I think I've caught on though so I will continue to listen.

I finished listening to How to be an Antiracist (written and narrated by Ibram X. Kendi) - This seems to be the "it" book of the moment and I can see why: Ibram X. Kendi dissects the various forms of racism in our country-- the origins/roots and, the ways it makes itself manifest in our society; examining some of the anti-racist solutions in the past (which did not work) and; taking an unflinching look at his own racism and his efforts to eradicate it. The book provides important context in the discussions about anti-racism taking place in the country and world today inasmuch as knowledge can inspire. Kendi may be a great speaker (I actually don't know) but he is not a great narrator: It was often difficult to discern when he was quoting other people, if he was trying to imitate other people, and why he was being particularly emotive in certain sections. I'm thinking of getting the ebook version for book club discussion.

Julius Caesar (by William Shakespeare) - I read and saw this play last three years ago and, as I was re-reading it now, it occurred to me that in every production, the interpretation has been that Julius Caesar was honorable victim. I tried to read it through the lens of Caesar being a power-hungry would-be king who was nipped in the bud by prescient politicians, but even though I was more sympathetic to Brutus, the subsequent actions of-- and the civil war ignited by-- the (Second) Triumvirate had me wondering if it wouldn't have been better if Brutus has succeeded as leader.

Wait with Me (by Amy Daws) - This is a funny and steamy, contemporary romance novel wherein a romance novelist finds inspiration in a Tire Depot. Using the "Customer Care Center" at a local garage, Kate Smith gets her writing"vibe" going with an infusion of free coffee, pastries, Wi-Fi and, one mechanic in particular. This is based on the true circumstances (sans hot mechanic) under which Amy Daws herself was able to write one of her novels! Then only quibble I have is that the novelist in the book has a fleeting thought about loving the alpha quality of the mechanic despite her feminist reservations. IIRC, this came up in the other Daws novel I read, 'Challenge' (Harris Brothers #1). It always gives me pause and something I need to remember if I should consider reading another Amy Daws story.

I've been making an effort to spend more quality time with the family and this has resulted in a few family film nights! They've been movies based on books so I justify including them on my monthly list but if you're looking for high-brow recommendations, this isn't the place! We've been watching the Bond films from the beginning and will probably wrap up the Sean Connery era this coming weekend and; we watched Cloud Atlas (based on the book by David Mitchell and starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and, Ben Whitshaw. I just didn't care for it. I wasn't confused, just bored and thought every production and talent element was subpar. :-/

I re-listened to The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent and then went on to listen to A Murder of Manatees: The Further Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent (both written by Larry Correia and narrated by Adam Baldwin and, only a couple hours long each).Yes, I know the author is a Sad Puppy and the narrator is of like ilk.... and the material isn't for thin-skinned liberals; but I enjoyed them anyway. They are SFF stories about a dimension jumping insurance salesman whose number one priority is customer service. As far as insurance salesmen goes, he's more on the order of a 1980s action hero! In the first story, Tom Stranger is assigned an intern who doesn't quite measure up-- all the while Stranger attempting to deal with dimensional rifts (and the damage they incur on the insureds' assets) and, competition from Jeff Conundrum. In the second story, a high ranking executive from one of the premier companies that Tom Stranger's company insures, is kidnapped! Oh, yeah-- The executive is a manatee! While there's plenty of snark directed at easy targets (man buns, gender studies degrees, etc.), I felt like the author pulled his punches a bit and the overall effort wasn't as sharp as the first; but the overall absurdity of both stories made me laugh!

I also read Hamlet (by William Shakespeare in my quest to read all the Tragedies this year and, tonight I'm going to dnload the BBC version with David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius!

I have the week off from work as the roofers come in a deal with our house. I've had a roof replaced before and, the noise makes it almost impossible to think much less work from home-- So I'm leaving DH at home to deal with the dust & dirt wile I take my teenage daughter out for some day hikes! I' not sure how much reading will get done, but next up on my list is Othello and, I've started Black Tudors (by Miranda Kaufmann).

It’s been an audiobook week!

I downloaded and listened to Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (by Max Brooks; narrated by Judy Greer, Max Brooks, Jeff Daniels, Nathan Fillion, Mira Furlan, Terry Gross, Kimberly Guerrero, Kate Mulgrew, Kai Ryssdal and Steven Weber)-- in one day! The story is about en eco-friendly community built in Washington state. After the eruption of a volcano, wildlife— including Sasquatch— flees from the the volcano's immediate threat and, in the their path? This isolated community, "Greenloop"— poorly equipped to deal with it all. Told in the form of journal entries and interviews, the story combines elements of superstition, urban legends and, the "reality" as expressed from the POV of Kate Holland (Greenloop resident). Highly entertaining, but a little gruesome in parts. This definitely falls in the horror category. Fun fact: I live in Bigfoot territory and, my current hometown is mentioned (albeit only once and in passing)! The only "weird" and somewhat disappointing thing about the book was that Max Brooks threw some shade on West Coast liberals. Is this a thing now; or have I been oblivious? Anyway, while I expected it from Correia, I wasn’t expecting it from Mel Brooks’ son.

I also listened to an audiobook that's been in my Audible library for a couple years, Hell Hole (John Ceepak/Danny Boyle #4; by Chris Grabenstein; narrated by Jeff Woodman). This is a mystery set on the Jersey Shore with John Ceepak (military veteran) and his younger partner, Danny Boyle from whose POV the story is told. In this installment, an Army veteran is found dead of an apparent suicide in the men's room of a New Jersey rest stop. This series started out as perfect Summer fare, but the last one, Whack-a-Mole and this one are decidedly darker, grislier, and more cynical. After this, I have one more in the series in my Audible queue. I may wait a bit before tackling that one; but when I do, I pretty sure that will be the last one I'll listen to despite there being three more book in the series. They aren't bad books, just not the escapism I crave right now and; not outstanding enough as mysteries go to make them "Must Listens".

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I watched the BBC production of Hamlet (by William Shakespeare; starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart)! At first, I wasn’t sure about it: Set in a decidedly 20th century world (highly polished surfaces, CCTV, Hamlet running around in a t-shirt and jeans) it sometimes felt a little forced; but you get used to the near-black box staging. The screenplay cut a couple of scenes from the play and, the choreography for the fight scene wasn’t “right” (There is quite a bit of notation in the Folger text about it); but in the end, I was crying! That’s the first time that’s happened! So yes, the acting is quite affecting and, in the end, “The play’s the thing” :-)

>74 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - Oooohhh,.... Macbeth production with both David Tennant and Patrick Stewart?! That would be a gem of a production to watch, even if there were some odd bits and some scenes were left out.

>74 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I live in Bigfoot Territory as well and although I don't believe they exist, I would love it if they did. I am adding this book to my wishlist. :)

Ah! Last week cried over Hamlet and, this week it was The Boys in the Boat (by Daniel James Brown; narrated by Edward Herrmann)! 'The Boys in the Boat' is a the narrative non-fiction account of the University Washington Crew (8-man rowing) team that went on to the 1936 "Nazi" Olympics. This has been sitting in my Audible library for years but now was exactly the right time to listen ti it: A well written story about underdogs, hope and, a perfect, hard-won Golden moment in time. The author nods to Seabiscuit and Lou Zamperini, subjects of other narrative NF books, Seabiscuit and Unbroken respectively and written by Laura Hillenbrand) and, if you like either of the other two books, you will probably like this one as well. There's a PBS American Experience Episode, "The Boys of '36" which I've dnloaded and plan on watching later this evening. I was going to start another book, but I'm still basking in the afterglow if this one! The only quibble I have is with the audiobook narration: Ed Herrmann cringingly mispronounces a couple of words, but most notably "Oregon" :-/

I finally finished reading Messinants (Pyreans #2; by S. H. Jucha) and, sorry to say, it just wasn't very good. I've read and listened to more than a dozen of this author's works and, it's time to say "Good bye". I love the Silver Ships audiobooks but the two Pyrean ebooks I have really expose the writing flaws. It absolutely fails the Chekov's Gun test in that he spends a lot of time on meticulously explaining mechanics/technology, economy and deals, etc. that don't advance the plot. I found myself skimming through more than half the book, touching on plot points and vaguely recalling that this is what happened with Empaths, the first book in this series that I read last year. It's a shame, the idea held promise: The Empaths have the ability to send waves of emotion to other people. While therapeutic to the recipient, it also poses a danger when an empath's emotions turn dark. In the first book, one such empath is assaulted and she retaliates, sending her on the run. In the second book, she pretty much disappears as the focus turns to a time/space gate that is accidentally opened and First Contact between two alien species is established. I was hoping to get through the next two books in the series, after which it merges with Silver Ships, but now that I see the writing issues, I can't unsee them :-(

>77 Tanya-dogearedcopy: loved The Boys in the Boat!

Though I have a few print books started, this past week was again more about audiobooks. I finished two titles:

Mind Scrambler (John Ceepak #5; by Chris Grabenstein; narrated by Jeff Woodman) - This is the fifth book in the series about a military vet turned police officer working in a seaside resort in New Jersey. Told from his junior partner's point of view, this is a somewhat grisly, often sordid set of mysteries voiced by the most excellent Jeff Woodman for the audiobook editions. In this story, John Ceepak and Danny Boyle head to Atlantic City to take a deposition and become deputized when a clean, family-friendly magic show turns out to be anything but! The cheap veneer of AC, stage shows and, of the characters is exposed when Ceepak and Boyle investigate the murder of the magician's nanny. There used to be a Yahoo Group called SLAM ("Sounds Like A Mystery" ) which loved this series and even got Chris Grabenstein to participate in a discussion. At the time, I eagerly grabbed the first five titles when Audible had one of their Summer sales but for whatever reason, had only listened to them within the past couple of years. Perhaps if I had listened to them as soon as I had dnloaded them, I would have loved them. The stories are original; The settings and characters are realistic; No sense of the author "cheating" in terms of having the protags go "off camera" and do some mysterious thing or a surprise witness or bit of evidence showing up at the last minute... BUT I can't help but think that I wouldn't want to know the heroes now. Danny Boyle has become increasingly sarcastic and cynical and; John Ceepak merges more and more of his military life (jargon, tactics, mindset) to the point that I'm waiting for the moment when he starts referring to people as "civilians."

Hard Magic (Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles; by Larry Correia; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) - This is the first book in a series taking place in an alternative 1930s US wherein occult magic has been introduced into the world! This is an action-packed adventure filled with blimps, gunfights and, superhero-like characters... but be aware that Correia is a Sad Puppy and he shows his bent a couple times in that his protags decry Roosevelt's New Deal, the Labor movement, etc. Bronson Pinchot narrates but while I usually find his narration mesmerizing, this time it fell way short of my expectations. The narration feels slow (deadly so during action scenes) and, there are times when the a line of dialogue didn't seem to match the tone of the scene or even the other lines that surrounded it. I'm not quite sure how this title ended up in my Audible library: Either it was free or on sale and/or; I thought it was the first in the Monsters International series which seems to be very popular. Whatever, I will not be continuing with this series.

And while I generally haven't been talking about the Bond movies I've been re-watching, I have to mention this one under the category, "What Mad Tanya Cry This Week"! My family and I watched On Her Majesty's Secret Service (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Peter R. Hunt; starring George Lazenby, Telly Savalas and, Diana Rigg) over the weekend. This is the first non-Sean Connery Bond movie and the only one that George Lazenby stars in. Bond develops a relationship with Countess "Tracy" Teresa and uses her father's connection to draw closer to the head of SPECTRE, Blofeld. There are definitely some eye-rolling moments plot- and SFX-wise; but man, that ending gets me every time! Also, Dianna Rigg!

Not a lot of reading this past week! I managed to knock off two romance novels, one of which you may have guessed, made me cry!

Slightly Married (by Mary Balogh) is the first in a Regency Romance series that features six English siblings of noble birth. In this story, the second son and presumptive heir to the Bedwyn estates returns from the Napoleonic Wars. As Colonel, he presided over the dying moments and wishes of one of his soldiers-- that he should protect his surviving sister no matter what. A man of honor, the stern, nearly stoic Colonel Lord Aiden returns to England to break the news to the soldier's sister, Eve. Eve is a Welsh woman with an education, but whose comfort zone is amongst the bluebells in the dell and with her "lame duck" friends. I don't read much Regency Romance material anymore but christina_reads recommended this so I thought I would give it a shot! It was a bit slow for a bit, and the the social mores and customs of the time were clearly researched, so I didn't see the "feels" coming! Though there is a sex scene, this was a more about falling in love (actual romance !) so nothing very graphic.

Since this is the third or fourth week in a row where something I've read or watched has made me cry, I beginning to wonder it it's less about what I'm reading/watching and more about my general state of mind!

>80 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Oh no, I'm sorry my book rec made you cry! My experience with Balogh so far is that her heroes and heroines are often healing after some type of trauma, so the books can get a bit heavy. Luckily, since it's romance, you know that everything will turn out right in the end!

>81 christina_reads: LOL, It's OK! It was a good kind of crying!

It was that scene where they profess each other's love that really got to me... It was just, I dunno, something/everything about the setting, the dialogue... It was a happy cry! :-)

>82 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Phew, that's a relief! :) And I agree -- that was a great scene.

Ah, it's been a couple of weeks! I've been in something of a reading rabbit hole that started out innocently enough with the audio drama, Sandman (by Neil Gaiman; adapted by Dirk Maggs; starring Riz Ahmed, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Neil Gaiman, James McAvoy, Samantha Morton, Bebe Neuwirth, Andy Serkis and, Michael Sheen; also featuring Simon Vance and Ray Porter). It covers the first three comic book collection (written by Neil Gaiman):

🍵 The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
🍵 The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
🍵 The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country

I decided to re-read the comics before I listened to each section-- which proved to be a good idea: In the audio, some relationships and tie-ins that are ambiguous in the comics that are made clear and; in places where the voice enhancement is a bit extreme in the audio, I got the gist of what was going on because I have the print in hand :-)

I was in the middle of the third volume when I came across the take on "A Midsummer Night's Dream"-- which of course meant that I had to read the play! The play was read in the #Shakespeare2020Project group last month, but I had skipped it in favor of reading the Tragedies-- kinda funny how books just sorta "present" themselves in their own time!

I've read and watched A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare) onstage before and I've always been enamored with the dreaminess, the fairy world and magic; but this time it really struck me how badly the women fare. I would even argue that MND is more misogynistic than The Taming of the Shrew!

Yesterday, I also watched the 2013 Globe Theater production of MND (which has a lot of the cast members from "The Taming of the Shew") and enjoyed the different interpretations of the lines I had heard running in my head as I read it and; Pearce Quigley, a great comic actor made me laugh with his portrayal of Bottom. But if anything this stage production highlights even more the power of the men and; I feel like the production really missed some comic opportunities with the mechanicals presentation of their own play-within-the-play. Also, why was there a dead dog?

I'll probably wrap up "The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country" and the audiobook in the next couple of days and then head back to the Tragedies!

I finished reading the comic book volume, The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country (by Neil Gaiman) and listening to Sandman (by Neil Gaiman; adapted by Dirk Maggs; starring Riz Ahmed, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Neil Gaiman, James McAvoy, Samantha Morton, Bebe Neuwirth, Andy Serkis and, Michael Sheen; also featuring Simon Vance and Ray Porter). The third volume is really three short stories which translate into three thirty-ish minute audio chapters. Though neither the comic book collection nor the final section of the audio book present the strongest efforts story-wise or even the most memorable performances, I found myself in a sort of "Midsummer Night's Dream" afterglow and a bit reluctant to start another book or audio right way.

I did eventually pick up The Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison; narrated by Joe Morton). One one hand, I'm thinking that I should have waited a little longer to start this one. I can't say that I'm enjoying it overmuch or even really understanding the story. OTOH, I'm not sure more time would give me any greater insight into the style and plot so far. There are scenes which seem almost like descriptions of performance art and wild flights of prose. As much as I really want to read/her this story of a young unnamed Black man in the South in the Post War period, I'm not sure this is for me. I'll see how I feel about it by the end of this week before I decided to continue or DNF it.

The James Bond movie marathon continues! We've been watching one every Saturday night and, have left the Sean Connery run and George Lazenby's single effort and moved into Roger Moore territory. It's been about nine or ten years since I've watched the early Bond movies. They deviate quite a bit form the novels and, are getting worse re production quality, but it has been interesting watching the acting and plot styles change. My daughter, who is 17-years old, doesn't get a lot of the context, so it's been fun supplying bits of trivia about everything from "The Soviet Threat" to the oil crisis of the early 1970s. We also talk about the locations, the theme music, the Bond women... It is not a quiet audience at our house! :-D

Diamonds are Forever (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Sean Connery, Charles Gray and, Jill St. John)
Live and Let Die (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto and, Jane Seymour)
The Man with the Golden Gun (based on the book by Ian Fleming; directed by Guy Hamilton; starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and, Britt Ekland)

I also knocked of two titles from my e-reader:

Along the Tapajós (by Fernando Vilela; translated by Donald Hahn) - This a pre-reader/early-reader title with double-page illustration spreads and, was offered as a free title by Amazon on World Book Day this year. The story takes place in the Amazon where seasonal floods force the annual relocation of a village. A boy and his sister realize they have forgotten their giant pet turtle! Though the pictures show exotic animals, there isn't any support material to indicate what they are--so if you are a parent reading this to your curious child, you may want to do some research beforehand to explain anacondas, pink dolphins and giant turtles!

Dirty Dom: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Valetti Crime Family Book 1; by Willow Winters) - This is pretty much porn re both sex and violence. Definitely not the sorts of thing to leave you with warm and fuzzy feelings even though there is the prerequisite HEA. For those who might be interested, A bookie falls in lust with a woman who comes in to pay her ex-/late husband's debt. Quite a bit of ansgt but no emotional development on display.

I DNF-ed The Black Tudors (by Miranda Kaufmann) for now. This is a expositional NF title about Black people in Tudor England. It reads more like a thesis and I need more stories in my life right now so I've tabled it for later (2021?)

I'm not sure where I'm heading book-wise next! Maybe Othello (by William Shakespeare)? Maybe The Secret Pilgrim (by John le Carré)? I'm finding it difficult to settle on anything at the moment, but I'm sure something will jump in front of me soon! :-)

>85 Tanya-dogearedcopy: You certainly have been busy! I'm stealing your James Bond movie idea. My husband and I try to have one movie per week we watch together. We've just finished Jane Mirren's "Prime Suspect" which I found marvelous. (Brit Box)

Black Tudors ...I read the first 10 pages and said "no, this isn't for me", and put it back on the shelf about 3 years ago. Still no desire to pick it up again, yet. If I don't pick it up by the next thorough cleaning of the shelves, it may go to the Friends of the Library (who, btw, is not accepting anymore books right now during Covid).

This past week has been pretty light on reading: I was avoiding The Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison; narrated by Joe Morton) for the first half of the week before I decided to abandon it altogether. The writing style is too alien for me to wrap my head around, so it's unlikely thsat I will ever pick it back up.

I picked up another audiobook in my queue, The Map of Time (Trilogía Victoriana #1; by Félix J. Palma; narrated by James Langton). Years ago, I picked the ebook up off of Scribd and had to return it unfinished... but now as I'm nearing the last quarter of the book, I realize I must have borrowed the whole trilogy as one volume all those years ago and read the first book in the set! This means the audio is a "re-read" insofar as covering the material goes, but I think I'll use my next credit to get the next book in the series (which I'm pretty sure I haven't read). 'The Map of Time' is a historical fiction novel set in the Victorian Era and contains three sections with interlocking plot lines. It's fun, with nods to H.G. Wells, Jack the Ripper, Dracula and time travel... It's not easily categorized though I see it's ranked on Amazon as "Historical Fantasy" and "Historical Thriller". The whole of it starts off with a young aristocrat who sets out to commit suicide eight years after his paramour has been ruthlessly murdered. What follows is something of a giant magic trick with other sleights of hands nested within! I'm not crazy about the audiobook narrator (I prefer Old School British narrators like Anton Lesser and Simon Prebble) but I've gotten used to him!

Sadly, that's about it on the book front. I'm still casting about for something in print that will appeal! I feel like The Princess Who Never Smiled! I read a couple of paragraphs of a book and I'm like, "No, that's not it! Next!"

>87 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I borrowed The Map of Time many years ago but never got around to it! Maybe I will have to try it again.

Adding Anton Lesser to my wishlist of audiobooks; I love him as Superintendent Bright in Endeavour. Do you have any particular favourites of his?

>87 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - I read (and apparently enjoyed) The Map of Time when I read it a few years back, but I never got around to continuing with the other books in the trilogy. Glad to see you "have gotten used to" the narrator.... I bailed on the audiobook version of the first Game of Thrones book because I just could not get used to the narrator's voice.

>89 rabbitprincess: I started with Sally Lockhart Mysteries (by Philip Pullman) and fell in love with Anton Lesser about ten seconds in, and have remained steadfast in the narrator love since! The last thing I listened to was A Tale of Two Cities (by Charles Dickens) -- last Summer and, more recently, I believe he had a small part in the Sandman audio adaptation, but to be honest, I couldn't pick him out. Oh! There is also an audio edition of The Reluctant Dragon (by Kenneth Grahame) which is currently available for free with an Audible+ subscription. I also have Tristram Shandy (by Laurence Sterne) on hand but since I listened to Tom Jones (by Henry Fielding; narrated by Bill Homewood) and Restoration (by Rose Tremain; narrated by Paul Daneman) relatively recently, I thought I might give my brain a break from the 18th century for a little while!

>90 lkernagh: Yeah, I mean it's not like James Langton is bad as a narrator, just a bit "floaty" in his style that, upon reflection actually is probably rather on point for the period.

I did wrap up The Map of Time (Trilogía Victoriana #1; by Félix J. Palma; narrated by James Langton) yesterday. You really have to pay attention to the last bit, otherwise you might be a bit bewildered as what just happened?!; but overall the story was entertaining enough to warrant me dnloading the next book in the series The Map of the Sky. Before I start though, I'm listening to The War of the Worlds (by H. G. Wells; narrated by Simon Vance). The Classic tale of an invasion from Mars is central to the plot of The Map of the Sky so I thought I would refresh my memory a bit before diving in!

I also saw that Audible+ is offering Murder by Other Means (by John Scalzi; narrated by Zachary Quinto)-- a short audio follow-up to The Dispatcher. The mysteries are set in a near-future time when murder victims are inexplicably resurrected , naked but fully intact back in their homes regardless of where they were killed. For short stories, Scalzi deftly packs in a lot of information without overtly expositional passages. Quinto is perfect as the audio narrator. I gave the first book 5 stars and the second 4 stars. Why the one-star markdown? Somehow, I didn't feel like the material nor the narration were quite as strong in the sophomore effort. Perhaps the novelty had worn off; Maybe the Irish mobster in the second book sounded a bit too bland-- but I enjoyed both nonetheless!

So, after months of trying to find my way though a pandemic reading slump, work-related anxiety & stress and, the shock of the Alameda Fire here in Southern Oregon (came within blocks of my house), I managed to get back onto my reading groove with Félix J. Palma's Trilogía Victoriana! The plots of The Map of Time, The Map of the Sky and, The Map of Chaos are based on three of H.G. Wells' stories: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds and, The Invisible Man respectively. I've actually just finished listening to The Invisible Man (narrated by James Adams) and started The Map of Chaos. Already I'm intrigued with the promise of more melodrama, Lewis Carroll and, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! This last book in the trilogy however is not in audio, so I'll be reading the 560+ pages instead of listening to 20+ hours of audio, but it all goes so fast!

I may go dig out my copy of The Long Walk (by Stephen King) this afternoon. I started reading and listening to it last year, but that proved to be too cumbersome: I was looking to pick up the lyrics from the book that were not included in the audio, but I got too distracted in reading along!

>92 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I've got the trilogy on my shelves, bought on impulse at Tenerife airport (I think). Should I read the Wells stories first, so as not to miss something?

>93 MissWatson: Though I read H. G. Wells’ stories before each of Félix J. Palma’s books, it was mostly an excuse for me as I had not actually read Wells before! But Palma explains just enough in the trilogy so that even if you had not read Wells, you would “get it”! :-)

>94 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Thanks for the heads-up! Seems like a good excuse to try Wells, indeed.

>92 Tanya-dogearedcopy: glad the slump and the drama have ended. Happy reading!

Sigh. I finished The Map of Chaos (by Félix J. Palma) and, by default the Trilogía Victoriana. Despite its "chunkster" status, I was trying to draw it out as long as possible because I didn't want it to end! This was a little bit more "trippy" than the other two books (think Lewis Carroll) but it tied up all the plots and themes with the same sense of tension, action and melodrama along the way, as well as a couple of laughs!

I've now started by annual Stephen King read, The Long Walk. I started this last year, reading along with the audio, but I kept "proofing" the audio against the text and didn't get very far! I'm taking another run at this tale of a death march of boys who have volunteered with the expectation of surviving and reaping a great reward. But there can only be one winner and the losers, well, lose it all. This doesn't seem to be the kind of fare that King usually writes (tales with supernatural touches) but rather a dystopian tale that could hold its own against the Hunger Games. With the focus and perspective of Garretty, a teenager with thoughts and insights revealed to him step-by-step as he journeys from the Canadian-Maine border to points South, this feels a bit YA but I'm good with it! After this, I have The Mist on audio and, if I have time, The Firestarter in paperback waiting for me! :-)

>97 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - Very happy to see that the entire trilogy was good!

Whoa! Time flies! It's been about three weeks since I've posted-- but I only have a little catching up to do. Reading isn't a mental drag anymore, but I still haven't gotten up to pre 2020 speed!

Since wrapping up "The Map of Time" trilogy, I've cleared a few romance novels from my e-reader deck, listened to The Prestige (by Christopher Priest; narrated by Simon Vance) and picked up, for my annual Stephen King) read, The Long Walk.

Every year for the past couple of years, I've read a King novel or two in October-- seems appropriate! Last year, I had picked up The Long Walk but made the mistake of trying to read along with the audio! I kept "proofing" the audio against the text and didn't get very far; And I really didn't absorb anything I either read or listened to! This time I went with text only. This is the story of a death march that teenage boys volunteer to walk. The lure is the prize: Any and every wish granted to the sole, surviving winner! The tale is set in a slightly alternate version of the US in the 1970s. People are impoverished, living in a dystopian state where martial law seems to frame their lives. This title is an early "Bachman" book (King wrote under this pseudonym for a few years) and is a marked departure from the horror novels he had been writing up until then. This one doesn't have ay supernatural elements or heavy socio-religio pontificating that you might expect. Rather, this is a character study of a young male, "Garrity" under duress. You're with him every step of the way. Only King can and does keep you riveted through to the very last page to find up what happens! Four solid stars.

I then picked up a The Prestige-- a title I had my eye on for a long time and dnloaded when I saw it was included in the Audible+ subscription. Two Belle Époque magicians mess with electricity and each others minds throughout their careers. Tesla has a role in the story and the whole tale veers from historical fiction into some SFF territory with a touch of horror. The meat of the story is terrific, but the framing story-- where modern day descendants meet and dive into the journals, was garbage. The audiobook narrator did a great job of handling characters of different genders and ages. The core story and Vance's narration make this a pick, overriding my disgruntlement of the 20th-century couple and the ending. I watched the movie years ago, but I don't really remember any of it except for a scene with David Bowie as Tesla, holding a lamp/giant light globe that didn't have any connecting leads! I'll probably rent the movie and watch it again. I suspect they ended the story where it should have!

I'm currently listening to Unbury Carol (by Josh Malerman; narrated by Dan John Miller). The premise of a coma-prone woman who is buried alive sends a shiver down my spine; but now that I'm halfway though the audio, it has devolved into fairly mediocre writing. The narrator doesn't do much for me either. It's not bad enough that I'll DNF it, but I just need to manage my expectations. Who knows? Maybe I will be caught off guard and something intense will happen! Or, it may just turn into an off-beat, Sleeping Beauty tale set in the Old West and that wouldn't be the worst thing either.

I've also picked Othello (by William Shakespeare) again! I know, I know. I was behind on the #Shakespeare2020 Project, decided to catch up by just reading the Tragedies and then promptly slid back! I still think I can manage to get the rest of the Tragedies in this year, but I'm kinda just doing what I can at this point. :-)

>99 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Not a fan of the genre, but I do think Stephen King is a very creative writer; so I try to read at least one King book a year. I have not thus far this year, so I'll take a hit on this one!

Ugh! Unbury Carol (by Josh Malerman; narrated by Dan John Miller) was a bust! What an utterly pointless waste of time! Cardboard cut-out characters, incredible build-ups that lead nowhere, and worst, major protagonists made irrelevant by deus-ex-machina. You know, I wasn't all "Ohh" and 'Ahh!" over The Bird Box either. I think I can safely say that this author is not for me. At least the audiobook narrator sounded like he was having fun with character voices :-/

I wrapped up The Mist (by Stephen King; narrated by Will Patton) last week too. This is a novella (5-ish hour audiobook) about the mist that creeps into town after a severe storm hits a rural lakeside resort community. A happily married man, his five-year old son and, his litigious neighbor head down to the town market to pick up some supplies when the white-out envelopes the store. Think I am Legend (by Richard Matheson)-- only in Maine, in a store with people and not vampire/zombies! If I had read this, this might have come across as a bit too campy, but even though I think Will Patton sounds too old to play the POV1 role of the father, he definitely knows how to pace the story and dole out the suspense! This is a three-star story elevated to four stars by the audio narration :-)

Two more acts to go in Othello (by William Shakespeare) and then maybe a comedy? Two Gentlemen of Verona? I have found reading back-to-back Tragedies is not great for my psyche this year.

I've also started Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (by Susanna Clarke; narrated by Simon Prebble). The print edition has been hanging around our house fir years, but I decided to pick up the 32+ hour audiobook instead. I'm really struggling with print these days and moreover, Simon Prebble! I'm a third of the way in and still in the expository stage of the story: Two magicians in Victorian England hope to being true magic back to England and help their country in the war against Napoleon. There is a (sub?)-plot where in a Faerie King has ensnared a couple of people and a couple of magic "tricks" that give the story its Fantasy label but it's all firmly grounded in reality (i.e. We are not in a setting of castles, unicorns and dragons, but rather in London where the realm of magic intrudes). The story is slow to develop and, as I mentioned, Im in early stages so I don't know where this is heading but I do find it kinda funny that I unintentionally picked up yet another book about Victorian era magicians this year! I think this is my sixth!

>100 Tess_W: >101 Tanya-dogearedcopy: In case you're up for more Stephen King, we're doing "Stephen King and Family" for November's ScaredyKIT. I really liked The Long Walk myself; I do find that his books written as Richard Bachman feel quite different from his other books.

I finished up, Othello (by William Shakespeare right now and decided to start Cymbeline instead of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Cymbeline seems to be a banana crazy pants drama with revenge, death, comedy, romance and a HEA. I'll poke through it this week and probably wrap it up next. I fell off the #Shakespeare2020Project bandwagon last March and, despite trying to catch up, I never did. At this point, I'm still trying to see how many Tragedies I can wrap up before the end of the year; but there's a certain pleasure at now being able to take it all at my own pace: extending t in to next year or whatever. What the "S20 Project" has done has made me mindful of keeping The Bard in my stacks :-)

I was about halfway through Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (by Susanna Clarke; narrated by Simon Prebble) before I got bored with it and googled the rest of the plot. Nothing was happening and TBH, after seeing what the end had in store, I'm kinda glad I bailed now. Maybe it's the slow pacing of the book. Maybe my brain is broken. Maybe 2020 just isn't the time to try something like this!

I've haven't gotten very fair with Cymbeline (by Willam Shakespeare) which, while I'll finish before November over, makes me think I won't finish the Tragedies this year, but I'm okay with that! As I mentioned, freed from the #Shakespeare2020Project schedule, I can to roll over and change up the reading order to suit my reading brain :-)

In audio, I've started listening to The Three Musketeers (by Alexandre Dumas; narrated by John Lee). It's been in my Audible library over 4 years and I've finally gotten around to it! A Classic adventure story about 17-th century swordsmen in the service of King Louis XIII (and against the injustices of Cardinal Richelieu and his guard). The story has become such a staple of mainstream culture that I wasn't sure if I had actually ever read it before or not, so this is a great opportunity to experience the story and pick up the nuances of the written word. So far, I'm really enjoying the story and happy with John Lee's narration (sometimes I love his work, other times, not so much) so this is going rather quickly :-)

I finished up The Three Musketeers (by Alexandre Dumas; narrated by John Lee) and loved it! There were sections that seemed so familiar because, "Hello, Hollywood!"-- But the ending took me completely by surprise and was a bit shocking! I won't be diving into another D'Artganan novel quite yet, but I've got my eye on The Man in the Iron Mask and; another Dumas père book, The Count of Monte Cristo.

I also wrapped up the first in the The Girl Series, Getaway Girl (by Tessa Dare). I read the first few pages a couple weeks ago and didn't think I would continue. The male protag is a mayoral candidate and comes from an old-school political family. He's been stood up at the alter and is rescued from the public eye by the heroine, a NYC party-girl who has come back home to wrap the loose ends of her grandmother's Christmas ornament shop. Both the Elijah and Addison know, but chose to ignore, the thing that should have been in their blood: That not only must you avoid doing the improper thing, but avoid the apearance of having done the improper thing. But, I guess you wouldn't have a true romance if common sense prevailed! Anyway, I realized that I had read the third book in the series back in February, Renaissance Man. I might pick up the second in the series, Runaway Girl (about the one who left Elijah standing at the altar) and re-read the third book now that I have added context.

I hope to get some reading/listening in this weekend: We've got a four-day holiday ahead plus, it's too cold and wet to venture far outdoors (plus the coronavirus)... and maybe sneak in the last of the Roger Moore Bond movies, A View to a Kill :-)

>105 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm not a swashbuckler, so the Musketeers were a chore for me to read. However, I loved The Count of Monte Cristo.

I put down Cymbeline (by William Shakespeare) midway through Act I and never felt compelled to pick it back up again. Rather than try and push through, I'm tabling it for some other time. I haven't yet decided how I'm going to incorporate Shakespeare into my reading life next year-- so unless inspiration strikes, I'll probably just play it by ear!

I spent the weekend reading through The Girl series by Tessa Bailey: Runaway Girl, (re-read) Renaissance Man and, Halfway Girl. The first two in the series Getaway Girl and Runaway Girl are complimentary novels: The first about Addison Potts who crashes a wedding wherein the groom has been left standing at the altar. Addison is helps the groom escape the prying eyes os Charleston society. Runaway Girl is about the would-be bride who had left Elijah at the altar... The other two titles int he series are actually short stories with characters taken from the first two books... As for the series as a whole, it's very mush love/lust at first sight, graphic sex scenes (though nothing kinky), and very small timelines. All feature large intimidating men (think Jason Momoa-size, especially as the Runaway Girl protag seems to be patterned after him) and women who need protecting. Honestly, I have no idea why I decided to binge this series over the weekend. It was pure fluff and "C"-grade/3-star material at that. Maybe by reading brain just had a knee-jerk reaction fo Cymbeline?

I also wrapped up an audiobook I start last Monday, A Gift of Time (by Jerry Merritt; narrated by Christopher Lane) - An 80-yr old man travels back in time seventy yrs to correct a mistake. The part of the book set in the Eastern panhandle of FL where the protag is a 10-yo is poignant, tension-filled & well-articulated in setting & atmosphere; But the framing story about time travel technology is the bigger portion of the story and just not as rich. The whole of the book has an oddly weighted, linear plot (sort of like seeing an egg having been swallowed by a snake). I‘m somewhat on the fence about the audio narration too: Christopher Lane chose to perform the character as a Florida “cracker” throughout which intuitively doesn‘t square though I can see the justification. There were a couple places too (very beginning and end) where it sounds like CL‘s voice has been inexplicably treated which is a little jarring. Ultimately, as much as I loved the “egg” of the plot, the issues outweighed the positive points. Mine seems to be an outlier opinion however: I see consistently high ratings and reviews from others on Audible.

I've started another audiobook, Until the End of the World (by Sarah Lyons Fleming; narrated by Julia Whelan). At first I was a little nervous about this one as it starts out with a viral pandemic from Asia raging across the globe! The rabies-like virus zombifies its victims, taking over the major cities within hours. A group of friends, led by Cassie Forrest seeks to escape Brooklyn and head for safety at a remote upstate cabin. I'm at the beginning of the story where the character prototypes of all horror stories are being established: the whore, the athlete, the scholar, the fool , and the virgin... (e.g. Haunting of Hill House (by Shirley Jackson), The Scooby Gang, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, The Cabin in the Woods). Julia Whelan is at the level of audiobook narration where you're like, "Is this only one person narrating? By next weekend, we'll see if the story itself is just another zombie story or something else...

>105 Tanya-dogearedcopy: >106 Tess_W: Just chiming in to say that I also loved The Count of Monte Cristo! It's a huge book, but honestly I found it a page-turner!

I ended up bailing on Until the End of the World (by Sarah Lyons Fleming; narrated by Julia Whelan) half-way through out of sheer boredom. Maybe if I had read this when it was first pubbed and was into chick-lit, I might have liked it; but honestly it didn't bring anything new to the table as far as zombie lore goes. Five long-time friends and co-workers (plus one ex-boyfriend) head out from Brooklyn to seek shelter in upstate New York. The POV is from a young adult female of the group and I can't say I see much in the way of leadership skillz in the protag. As it stands, it's seven years old and I prefer George Romero/Jonathan Maberry/Alden Bell (The Reapers are the Angels) kind of zombie stories.

I did finish I, Robot (by Isaac Asimov) which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's a set of nine related short stories that show the evolution of artificial intelligence from non-speaking nanny robots through to machines that run mankind. Written in 1950, it has a now-retro feel in terms of language and technology (e.g. vacuum tubes) but the underpinning moral dilemmas as postulated by the Three Laws of Robotics were really interesting.

In keeping with the the spirit of the season (ha!) I dnloaded and listened to the Charles Dickens classic short, A Christmas Carol. Oh, my! Patrick Stewart acts up a storm! It was actually quite distracting and I would recommend the versions narrated by Tim Curry or Simon Prebble over this one, but it's one for the collection.

Primed for Victorian Christmas Gothic, I've started reading Marley (by Jon Clinch). I loved the author's dark, twisted take on Huckleberry Finn's father in Finn so I'm really looking forward to see what Clinch does here.

Last week, I saw someone had A Study in Emerald (by Neil Gaiman) in graphic novel form on their wish list and, I ended up buying a copy for myself! I read it first many years ago (online?) and then had a free copy of the audio (narrated by Neil Gaiman) in my iPod library for a long time. It's an alternate reality tale of Victorian England-- one in which a certain detective and his sidekick on Baker Street are entangled in a case very much like, but very different from the A Study in Scarlet. There are elements of mystery and horror involved and, in this case some great artwork (but get Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman out of your head!) It's not a complicated story, but it is one that always bemuses me a bit and I never refuse the opportunity to take another look or listen to it!

I'm still reading Marley (by Jon Clinch) though I haven't gotten very far. Hopefully, I'll be able to really dig into it this weekend!

Late last week, the New York Times published a list of what they consider the "Ten Best Books pf 2020" :(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/books/review/best-books.html

Two of the books are related to Shakespeare: A historical fiction novel, Hamnet (by Maggie O'Farrell) and a non-fiction book, Shakespeare in a Divided America (by James Shapiro). I was very excited to pick up copies of both books and succeeded in picking up Hamnet from an independent bookstore; but was unable to find a print copy at the local indie bookstores, the local Barnes & Nobel, or from Amazon that could be delivered before Christmas. I really didn't want to get the ebook edition (I'm trying to cut down on screen time)-- so, with an Audible credit, I dnloaded the audiobook edition narrated by Fred Sanders). The material itself is fascinating, covering the intersection of Shakespearean and American cultures though U.S. history. Unfortunately, the narrator/production was terrible: stilted delivery, mispronunciations, bad edits... and no PDF to refer to regarding the images discussed in the book. I've actually ordered a hard copy of the book (will arrive sometime in February!) as it is a book that will want to have on hand.

Still making my way through Marley (by Jon Clinch) and deciding what to cue up next audiobook-wise :-)

A few years ago, on a return flight form France, the film, The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story was playing. I only caught glimpses of the movie (I was watching Moulin Rouge, but I've always bookmarked TZW in my mind as something I wanted to come back to and take a closer look at. Today, I discovered the audiobook (by Diane Ackerman narrated by Suzanne Toren) was available via the Audible+ package so I decided to start it! This is actually a narrative non-fiction title (not a historical fiction novel as I had pre-supposed) about a Polish couple who tun a zoo in the late 1930's. During the war, the zoo is bombed out and the couple take in Jewish people trying hide and flee the Nazis. I'm not sure how I feel about the audio narrator dipping into an accent whenever the wife is quoted, but we shall see!

Tonight, the family is watching Shakespeare in Love, which James Shapiro covered in the final chapter of Shakespeare in a Divided America under the heading of, "1998: Adultery andSame Sex Love"! I think the last time I saw this was in 1998, and, I've forgotten pretty much all of it so this should be fun, especially with the background info gleaned from Shapiro's book!

>112 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I liked TZKW when I read it last year.

All the best of the season, Tess!

So I've wrapped up my holiday reading!

Marley (by Jon Clinch) After picking at this a couple pages at a time since the 6th, I finally sat sown and polished off the rest of the novel in a couple of hours! It's a created prologue to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in which we look into the lives of Marley & Scrooge. The plot was very action oriented, detailed and, did not present any continuity errors from this novel to Dickens' short; but somehow it was not very atmospheric and certainly did not get under my skin the way that Finn (by the same author and about Huckleberry's father) did. I might try a re-read next year though before re -reading "A Christmas Carol"-- so overall a, "Pick"!

All I Want for Christmas is You (by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward; Samantha Young; Aurora Rose Reynolds; Lani Lynn Vale; TL Swan and; Natasha Madison) I also picked up a 6-short-story anthology from a bunch of romance writers. I was looking forward to it but they were all pretty sub-par/mediocre. Good thing it was a free offering!

Mutts and Mistletoe (by Natalie Cox) - This was gifted to me last year by my #LitsyGoesPostal Secret Santa and I really wasn't sure what it was. There are two dogs on the cover which instantly made me suspicious (I generally avoid books with dogs on the cover as usually the dog dies) but then the description made it seem like a romance? It's about a woman who leaves London for a couple of weeks to dog-sit at her cousin's kennel. There's a taciturn but hot-looking vet involved as well as a Balkan immigrant, an Adonis-like rich guy as well as seven dogs and two Alpacas! Anyway, it ended up being a cozy equivalent of a romance, more like a novelization of a alternate Bridget Jones screenplay than anything else.

Not Christmas-sy but I read it over the weekend, so...:
By a Thread: A Grumpy Boss Romantic Comedy (by Lucy Score) This is actually an interesting romance in that the female protag is 39-yo and the male protag is in his mid-forties--- so a different set of issues come into play as the relationship develops. Dominic has been pulled into the family business as the creative editor of a high end fashion magazine-- a job he feels ill-equipped for and as a result, he lashes out at the world in general. He manages to get a waitress fired in one of his tantrums. Ally, after having been swindled and saddled with an extraordinary amount of financial responsibility, is nickel-and-diming her way via a series of gigs, including a waitressing job at the restaurant where Dominic and his mother show up...Lucy Score's female characters tend to be a bit air-headed; but Ally was much more grounded and, Dominic more than a waling Versace ad.

I'm currently wrapping up the year with A Parcel of Patterns (by Jill Paton Walsh). This was recommended to me a couple years ago by someone here on LT, after I had finished reading and enjoying Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders. This is a young adult novella taking place in the English village of Eyam when the plague breaks out in 1666. like Brooks' novel, this is based on true, surviving accounts of the people who elected to quarantine themselves from the rest of the world... I've been avoiding plague stories this year, but this I can handle! I'll finish before the new year and write up my last 2020 LT Challenge post over the weekend :-)

I finished reading, A Parcel of Patterns (by Jill Paton Walsh) this morning and that's a wrap for 2020! I loved this story about Mall, a young woman in Eyam (pronounced \EEM\) when the Plague breaks out. If travel restrictions are ever lifted from our current pandemic, I really want to go visit. It's still a thriving village!

This year, what with one thing or another, my reading brain was a bit broken but I pulled my numbers together today-- and while I didn't reach my average of 150 books a year, I didn't totally fall into a slump:

🍵 117 titles
🍵 89 Print and ebooks + 28 audiobooks
🍵 23,997 pages + 263 hours of audio
🍵 Average print length = 269 pages; Average audio length 9.39 hours

Most of my reading/listening was in the Romance (Contemporary Rom-Coms), SFF (Time Travel), and Drama (Shakespeare) genres with Horror (Stephen King), Mystery (John Ceepak series) and a little Non-Fiction both exposition How to be an Anti-Racist written and narrated by Ibram X. Kendi) and narrative (The Boys in the Boat (by Daniel James Brown) showing up in the lists less frequently.

I haven't set any 2021 goals per se other than to enjoy what reading comes my way and not to force myself! Each of the challenges I'm interested in are pretty much on a TIOLI basis on my part and will be dictated where my "reading brain" is at. So 2021 will be pretty laid back I think :-)