Witchyrichy (aka Karen) Wades Into Reading In 2023 - Thread #2

Welcome to my second thread! I am Karen Richardson, aka Witchyrichy, and this is my 9th year in the 75ers group. I am mostly retired from public life although I do a bit of teaching related to educational technology and instructional design for a few clients. Otherwise, when I wake up on Monday mornings, I can pretty much do what I want. And, often what I want to do is read! Today, May 1, it is setting up my new LT thread for 2023.

I live with my husband of 30 years, Major the beagle and Circe the cat in a 19th century farmhouse on 18 acres in rural southeast Virginia. The picture above is a recent one: Major and I take long ways around the farm. This bit of wilderness is at the back end of the property where an old ceramic silo still stands, albeit without a roof, which lies to the side, the victim of a tornado we were told.

Bottle Tree Farm, as we call it, is our own little bit of paradise and came with a library for my books, which helps make up for the challenges of living in an old house. The books also spill out into every other room of the house. My major goal this year is to read the books I already own (lots and lots of ROOTS) and start clearing the shelves a bit.

Besides reading, I garden, crochet and play music as my main hobbies. I reignited my blog last year when I retired and plan to publish more posts in 2023. My husband and I share a love for the outdoors including birding.

I am looking forward, once again, to sharing my life and reading with this wonderful group of people!

What I Am Reading:

A book about a topic you don’t usually read: Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos
The next book in a series you started: Friends in High Places by Donna Leon
A book that taught you something: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Switched or stolen identities: The Third Girl by Agatha Christie
With a book on the cover: The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels
A book rated above 4 on LT: The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama
Book is set on a plane, train or ship: The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
A bestseller from 20 years ago: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
STEM topic
Inn or hotel: Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jennifer Colgan
Journalist or journalism: Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir by Jann Wenner
Small town or rural setting: The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede
Read a CAT: I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys (January GEOCat)
Title contains a number or quantity: Planning to read 1619
Book by a local/regional author where you live/have lived: The Virginia Plan by Robert Gillette
Author who shares your zodiac sign: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
A popular author’s first book: Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
Art or craft related
Written by an author under 30: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
A memoir: Dinners With Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg
Features a cat (cats) or member of the cat family (leopard, lion, tiger, etc.): The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
Involves an accident: The Endless Beach by Jennifer Colgan
More than 1000 copies on LT: The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
With a plant in the title or on the cover: Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Music or musician

January - March 51

January - 21
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Christmas Shop by Jennifer Colgan
A Murderous Grudge by J.M. Roberts
I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
South to America by Imani Perry
The Third Girl by Agatha Christie
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede
Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan (audio)
Bloodlines by Fred D'Aguiar (analog)
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
The Virginia Plan by Robert H. Gillette
Friends in High Places by Donna Leon (audio)
The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (analog)
I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall
A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon (audio)

February 15

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini
21st Century Balance by Mark H. Law
The Café by the Sea by Jennifer Colgan (audio)
The Killing At Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham
The Endless Beach by Jennifer Colgan (audio)
The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama XIV
An Island Christmas by Jennifer Colgan (audio)
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
The Falcon's Malteser by Anthony Horowitz
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer (audio)
The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

March 15

An Island Wedding by Jennifer Colgan
Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris
Wilful Behavior by Donna Leon
The King's Inquisitor by Tonya Ulynn Brown
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell
A Feather on the Water by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Cogan
Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Uniform Justice by Donna Leon
Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon
The Goddess Effect by Sheila Yasmin Manikar

Apr - June 52

April 14

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
Murder on the Pneumatic Railway by Lisa M. Lane
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness by Jeff Warren
The Book of Esther: A Commentary and History by Benjamin J. Segal
Socrates by Francesco Barilli and Alessandro Ranghiasci (I don't think this one has made it into LT yet so I may need to add it. It is a graphic book from Comixology.)
Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent by Richard Rohr
Blood From a Stone by Donna Leon
Mystic Tea by Rea Nolan Martin
Garment of Shadows by Laurie King (audio)
The Trackers: A Novel by Charles Frazier
Final Chapter by Pam Stucky
Why Woo Woo Works by David R. Hamilton
At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

May 20

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King (audio)
A Conventional Murder by Pam Stucky
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Through a Glass, Darkly by Donna Leon (audio)
Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way,… by Diana Butler Bass
Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom by Sharon Salzberg
Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon (audio)
The Forest Unseen by David George Haskell
Paper Cuts by Ellery Adams (audio)
Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes
The Library of the Dead by Tendai Huchu
The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon (audio)
About Face by Donna Leon (audio)
The Shunning by Beverly Lewis
The Confession by Beverly Lewis
The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
The House At Sea's End by Elly Griffths
The Reckoning by Beverly Lewis
The Medici Manuscript by C.J. Archer

June 18
Soul Boom by Rainn Wilson
Long Summer Day by R. F. Delderfield
Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos
The Matter of Wales by Jan Morris
Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon (audio)
The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King (audio)
Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr
Bees and Their Keepers by Lotte Möller
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Courage, My Love by Kristin Beck
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
Beastly Things by Donna Leon (audio)
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

July - September 39

July 13

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Murderer's Apprentice by Daryl Anderson
The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick (audio)
The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick (audio)
Small Rain by Madeleine L'Engle
Ghosts Walk The Shenandoah by Daryl Anderson
The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick (audio)
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (audio)
Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
The Golden Egg by Donna Leon (audio)
The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy
The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani
Back to Yoga by Steve Kelley

August 14

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Murder in the Book Lover's Loft by Ellery Adams
Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
Fearless Jones by Walter Moseley
By Its Cover by Donna Leon
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemison
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
The Southern Lawyer by Peter O'Mahoney
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gould

September 12

September by Rosamunde Pilcher
Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir by Jann Wenner
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
What Makes Us Human by Jasmine Wang, Iain S. Thomas, and GPT-3
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (audio)
Black Diamond by Martin Walker (audio)
The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker (audio)
The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
The Devil's Cave by Martin Walker
Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg

October - December

Challenge Tracker: May - June

May Opportunities:

Anne of Green Gables: ClassicsCAT, KiddyCAT, GeoCAT
Out of the Silent Planet: SFFKit, SeriesCAT
Inkspell: SeriesCAT
The Matter of Wales: British Author Challenge
A Horseman Riding By: British Author Challenge
Unsolved Mysteries of the Old West: MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT
The Cloisters: AlphaKIT

I am very much looking forward to spending time with Anne.

6/2/2023

May Update: I have started The Matter of Wales and chose A Long Summer Day for the BAC. It is a chunkster! Anne is still waiting for me and I ended up reading Beverly Lewis's Heritage of Lancaster County for the SeriesCAT.

Challenge Tracker: July - September

Challenge Tracker: October - December

I was awake early this morning so finished up A Conventional Murder by Pam Stucky, the second in her Megan Montaigne series. A travel writers' convention comes to town and murder ensues, with the local haunted old hospital the ideal location. Megan gets involved even as her relationship with the town police officer, Max, grows more friendly. A classic cozy mystery with the added element of the Pacific Northwest as a setting. Megan is the library director but doesn't seem to do much library work as she is so busy detecting. It's a classic, well-written cozy mystery series that makes the setting part of the story along with the other typically quirky town folks.

Happy May, Karen. I love the photo at the top! You do live in paradise.

>12 witchyrichy: This sounds like a fun series. I'll have to check to see if my library has copies.

Happy new thread, Karen!

Happy New thread , Karen . Wishing you a good month ahead .

>13 BLBera: It has its moments, especially in spring and fall. I like having a bit of "wilderness" around even if my husband does mow the paths for us.

>14 drneutron: >15 vancouverdeb: Thank you! I am settling in to figure out if any of the challenges speak to me this month while I watch a tennis match. It's gotten a good start since it *is* my birthday month.

Hi Karen my dear, Happy New Thread my dear friend.

Happy new one, Karen.

Love the verdant topper!

Happy new thread!

I hope you enjoy All The Broken Places when you get to it, and The White Lady. With the your screen name of witchyritchy, I'll bet you'll love the new " Witch Lit " genre! :-) The books I've read in the " genre" are somewhat alike to a modernish gothic tale. They are great yarns and I'm having fun reading them in between my more serious reads.

Your May Opportunities look very good!I loved Anne of Green Gables when I read it as teen and my family visited Anne of Green Gables house in PEI when I was 16. A highlight for me and my mom, perhaps not so much for my dad, brother and two other sisters . I also loved the Canadian TV series on Anne of Green Gables, here - https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80136311 . It is a updated version of the story. Not sure if you have netflix or if it is available in the USA right now, but I sure enjoyed on CBC here in Canada some years ago. I've seen The Cloisters around quite a bit, but I have yet to get to it. Thanks for visiting my thread!

Happy new thread, Karen!

>18 johnsimpson: Thanks! Snapping pictures while walking the dog is a challenge but sometimes they turn out OK...I love the leafy greenness this time of year and verdant is a perfect descriptor.

>19 PaulCranswick: Thanks! Hope all is well with the family and you are readying for the big day on Saturday.

>20 figsfromthistle: Thanks!

>21 vancouverdeb: My screen name has been witchyrichy almost since there was such a thing. I created it in 1997 or so when I was teaching in a middle school where we had just gotten early internet access. Everyone on the faculty wanted a yahoo account and needed help setting it up from the resident geek (me!). Anyway, it was Halloween day, I was dressed as a witch, and when I went to create the account, I couldn't find an easy, available version of my name. I looked at my costume and witchyrichy was born.

Thanks for the tip on Anne of Green Gables. I can certainly turn Netflix on again to watch it. I remembering enjoying the series from 1985 although I don't think I watched all of them. Hmm...maybe a marathon of Lucy Maud Montgomery!

>22 FAMeulstee: Thanks for stopping by!

I spent time yesterday playing with the LT wiki and setting up a page to track various series I have been reading. I had created a wiki page in 2010 but just as a proof of concept. I kept that page and then linked to the series page. You can see it and you can also edit it...one of those positive/negative pieces of wiki pages.

Good morning, Karen, Happy new thread!

>1 witchyrichy: It certainly is spring in your neck of the woods. So green! A ceramic silo - is it ceramic blocks?

I couldn't help but notice that you've almost reached the 75 book goal. Wow!! I see there's a Delderfield on your May maybe list. I first read him in the late 70s and just adored his books.

>24 witchyrichy: Thanks for explaining the origin of your screen name, Karen. I am often curious at how people decided on their screen name. My screen name origin in pretty simple. I don't live in Vancouver proper, but part of greater Vancouver. Then my name is Deborah, but VancouverDeborah seemed a bit cumbersome.

I watched the older series from 1985, but I think I enjoyed this newer version on CBC and now Netflix.

>27 Copperskye: The silo is made of blocks, some of which have ended up on the ground around it over the years. I always think it would be perfect spot to hide my moonshine still. Here's a better picture:



And, yes, I have been enjoying reading this year! One of the perks of retirement, I suppose. I spent yesterday morning finishing The Overstory without fretting over all the other things I *should* be doing.

I am a tree hugger at heart and had sort of avoided The Overstory even though I bought a used copy thinking I would read it for the American Author Challenge. I knew it would be a challenge to read about the deceit and devastation practiced in the name of progress that tried hard to wipe out the Native Americans, the buffalo and the ancient trees, just to name a few. As you can see from the pictures I've posted, I live amongst trees here at the farm, and my husband and I own ten acres of wooded land along a creek where we once considered building a house but may now just preserve it from development as long as we can.

It seemed like a natural follow up to At The Edge of the Orchard so I dove in and it was, as I suspected, devastating for the trees and for the activists who try to save them from humanity while trying to save humanity from themselves. It does not, as you might expect, go well for the trees or the people. Law enforcement was often brutal to the protesters when they refused to yield in ways I won't describe here. Oregon Public Broadcasting has a radio series called Timber Wars produced in 2020 that lays out what they call the biggest environmental fight in the US.

The book is the story of ordinary human beings who encounter trees in ways that change their perspectives on the world. Powers masterfully tells their stories from their childhood through adulthood through the perspective of their journey both to and then with trees at the center. Along the way, we learn the stories of trees in America including references the Johnny Appleseed, chestnut blight and seed saving. It did make a nice companion to At the Edge of the Orchard although trees did not form the centerpiece of Chevalier's novel with its focus on family and relationships. But she describes the huge stump where the westerners held dances and it is surprising to think any giants were left for Powers' characters to save.

There may have been an undercurrent of hope in the book that ultimately the trees had a longer timeline than human beings but it couldn't cut through the sense of grief that permeated the book. I don't want to discourage you from reading it as I think it was the best book I've read this year. I'm following it up with a nonfiction, The Forest Unseen, in which David George Haskell spends a year reporting from a one-meter square patch of the Tennessee mountains.

Here is one more picture from the farm: the former owner of the house was creating an arboretum in the front yard and we have some unusual trees including a gingko. The view from the porch shows the old magnolia and willow oak that provide shade and habitat for lots of birds and squirrels. We are thinking about adding a few of our own to the mix including a few disease resistant chestnuts.

Cross posting from the Social Distancing Readathon:

Books read from: Long Summer Day by R.F. Delderfield, Yes, And... by Richard Rohr, Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon (audio)
Books finished: Freeing Jesus by Diana Butler Bass, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom by Sharon Salzberg
Snacks: Waldorf Salad
Non-book activities: weeding and mulching the roadside garden, crocheting and watching the coronation, making an "explosion box" card for my mother and a birthday card for my nephew, binge watching the new season of The Great American Baking Show

Here is the explosion box:

>31 witchyrichy: love that "card"!

>30 witchyrichy: have you read The Trees by Conrad Richter? It's about the early settlers in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. It was a "can't put down" book for me.

>32 fuzzi: Isn't is cool? I did not design it. Lori Whitlock is one of the designers and I love her creations.

I have not read The Trees and will be reading it sooner rather than later. I am on a nature reading binge right now and I keep bugging my husband with passages from The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature. This sounds like the mix of history and nature and how Americans "conquered" the wilderness.

>31 witchyrichy: I used to make cards , Karen, including the exploding box type. A very fun hobby, but I found I only had so much room and time. But one can make sure gorgeous and personalized cards!

>31 witchyrichy: Beautiful!

Hi Karen. I love that picture of Major on the path on the edge of your property. He looks like he's having fun.

>30 witchyrichy: I loved the heartbreaking The Overstory and I love that you sort of have an arboretum on your property. Yay to planting more trees! You live in a really beautiful corner of the Earth. I will also look into the OPB series, Timber Wars although I suspect it will make me angry.

>34 vancouverdeb: I am fortunate to have a studio space in my current house so plenty of storage for the paper that seems to pile up.

>35 Copperskye: Thanks! It is one of those activities that allows me to lose myself in the creation.

>36 EBT1002: "Walk" is his favorite word! And it helps me escape into nature which eases the slow simmering anger I seem to feel a lot these days.

Just back from a lovely visit with my parents. My dad formed a small men's choral group at the retirement community last year, and they sang at a local musical festival on Saturday. We celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day before I headed home yesterday. I need to get caught up on book reviews and make the important decision about what will be my 75th book!

I have continued with the Donna Leon series and continue to enjoy them. Suffer the Little Children concerns illegal adoption with the usual twists and turns. The ending of this one was particularly well-crafted and different from other books in the series. I think that willingness to change up the plot with each book keeps the series fresh.

I have been reading spiritual literature as part of my morning routine. Freeing Jesus by Diana Butler Bass was an exploration of the various roles Jesus plays in the Bible and in our lives. Bass is a progressive theologian who uses her evangelical past to inform her current understandings of Jesus. The book was refreshing and joyful even as Bass grounds her ideas firmly in Scripture.

Sharon Salzberg, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, has written a variety of books on meditation and spiritual life. Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness was written during the pandemic and Salzberg addresses the isolation imposed on us. Salzberg is a natural storyteller and draws from the her own and others' experiences to show us how we can move from fear to joy. While Salzberg is a Buddhist and the appendix includes information on the Eight Fold Path and lovingkindness meditation, she uses The Saturday Night Seder, a YouTube program that began during COVID, as the focus with the metaphor of the Passover journey as a theme. The book celebrate moving from constriction to expansion and I find Salzberg's approach to be comforting.

I followed up The Overstory with The Forest Unseen by David George Haskell. Haskell, a biologist, adopts a meter-wide area of western Tennessee forest to examine over the course of a year. His observations of this world, from the tops of the trees to the leaf mulch and below, lead to detailed and engaging explorations of the natural world. Haskell covered some of the topics the Powers did and lamented man's impact on nature although his book is a bit more joyful. I have added his others books--Sounds Wild and Broken and The Songs of Trees to my TBR list.

One of my favorite cozy mystery writers is Ellery Adams. Paper Cuts is the latest installment of her Secret, Book, and Scone Society series. Set in a small town in western North Carolina where tourists come for the healing springs, the series revolves around a group of four women who connect around their secrets and form a friendship that leads them to support their community in creative ways. Nora Pennington, the main character, owns the bookstore and is known for always finding the right book for the right person. Adams has created a group of compelling characters in a lovely setting and I am happy to sink into Miracle Springs every time a new book arrives. I have taken to listening to these and enjoy the narrator's voice and style.

Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes is this month's book group choice. I enjoyed it and I suspect the rest of the group did as well. The premise involves a pair of unique shoes that lead to an unlikely friendship between four women, each struggling in their own way. Nisha, once known as Anita, left behind her former life and best friend to marry the egomaniacal Karl, who is now ready to move onto a younger model. Meanwhile, Sam is struggling to support her family as her husband sinks further into depression. Through these challenges, both women, with the help of their friends, find inner strength. Nisha is a bit overdone as the vain, wealthy woman, but we her eventual transformation is authentic. I found Sam's story the most compelling as it seemed a more realistic story.

>42 witchyrichy: You might also like Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake, an interesting read about the life beneath the surface.

>42 witchyrichy: hmm, possible BB...

>31 witchyrichy: I love that! How fun.

I also love the Donna Leon series, Karen. I recently finished Trace Elements. Great comments.

I've never read Ellery Adams, but I will add her to my list.

>45 FAMeulstee: Thanks for the recommendation! It sounds like a great follow up as Haskell devoted a chapter to fungi and other soil dwellers.

>46 fuzzi: If anything, it was an easy read that you could pick up and put down. Haskell made the science accessible, integrated as part of the story of the forest.

>47 BLBera: My next project is making hand bound books. I'm taking an online course this week but have been too busy to actually get started.

I posted my reviews and then went mostly offline again. This time, I was busy putting in the rest of the summer garden including beans and okra in the few days I was home last week. Last weekend featured a quick trip to a good friend's housewarming in the northern Shenandoah Valley. There were several other good friends there and I had a lovely time. It was also an excuse to stop at The Green Valley Bookfair. I restrained myself to just a few books having filled a crate at the retirement community's thrift shop earlier in the month. I'll post the lists of my acquisitions soon. For now, I want to update my reading list. I have made it to 75 books much earlier than ever before.

I visited The Treasure Trove, the thrift shop at my parents' retirement community. I bought a few bits of clothing and then hit the books. Last time, they were clearing the shelves so they were $1/bag. This time they were back to their regular prices, which our still reasonable. I bought a convertible crate and filled it. When I went to check out, the clerk reminded me that they were no longer $1/bag. I assured her I understood. Here's the take including a pile of books that I didn't know Madeleine L'Engle wrote:

An Acceptable Time
The Small Rain
A Severed Wasp
A Live Coal in the Sea
Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage

Russka: The Novel of Russia by Edward Rutherford
Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg (Paperback boxed set of the three volumes)
Arkansas Traveler by Earlene Fowler
How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove
The Heart of the Lion by Jean Plaidy
Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Green Valley Bookfair is located just south of Harrisonburg, Virginia, close to Route 81. It is a book warehouse with a wide selection of books at good prices. I haven't been since COVID and it was wonderful to be back. I was very frugal and stuck with a few that are all about women, something I don't think I realized at the time:

Courage, My Love by Kristin Beck
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams

The Library of the Dead was my 75th book. And what a fascinating book. Future Edinburgh after some disaster that has left the world in chaos. Ropa carries message from ghosts to the living, often helping them finally transition to the world of the dead. She struggles to keep a roof over her head and that of her grandmother. When one of the ghosts--a mother--asks her to locate her son who she believes is being used by an evil being, Ropa moves deeper into a world of magic and mystery. Tendai Huchu captures Ropa's venacular and syntax that conveys her character. She is rough and street savvy with a tender spot for her fellow sufferers. I was immediately hooked on this strange but engaging tale.

Road trips mean audio books for both the drive and the daily walks I take on the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail that runs directly behind my parents' townhouse in Cornwall, Pennsylvania. I managed to get through two more Donna Leon books: The Girl of His Dreams and About Face. The latter, especially, was fascinating in its focus on a wealthy Venetian woman who is friends with Guido Brunetti, our intrepid Commissario. The former book deals with Roma, who some characters insist on calling gypsies and their role in Italian society.

The Kindle has ongoing challenges that last for three months at a time. They track the number of books and days that you read. They also require certain categories with suggested books to read. A recent one was page to screen, and after browsing their suggestions, I decided to try out Beverly Lewis, who was born and grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, not far from where I grew up. Her Heritage of Lancaster County series tells the story of an Old Order Amish community located in the fictional Hickory Hollow. In The Shunning, we meet Katie Lapp and her family, friends and community members as they prepare for Katie's wedding to the church bishop, the man with ultimate authority over the community. Katie's discovery of a small, satin baby's dress changes everything. The story continues in The Confession and I am looking forward to the third book, The Reckoning.

Lewis creates an authentic picture of Old Order Amish life. Her descriptions of Lancaster County capture its landscape of rolling hills and neat farms. She obviously respects and loves the Amish people, getting beyond the stereotype to show their human struggles, even as she is critical of the strictures placed on them by their leaders that are not always Biblically based.

6/9/2023 Update:

I read The Reckoning, the third book in the series, and it provided a satisfying, not completely predictable, ending.

>54 witchyrichy: I could have sworn I'd read at least one of Beverly Lewis' books, but both works listed in my library appear to be unread.

I am not sure who recommended Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway mystery series but I checked it out from the library and read The Crossing Places, the first book in the series. Ruth is a forensic archaeologist called in by the local police to investigate some bones; the police chief is hoping they belong to a young girl who disappeared some 10 years ago. Soon, another girl disappears and Ruth must confront both her ex-lover and mentor as she works to find the killer. The ending was a surprise twist. I will probably go ahead and read more of this series.

6/9/2023 Update:

I read the first three mysteries as the book from the library was an omnibus and included all three. I enjoyed them, especially the way the characters grew and changed. Ruth and her friends have authentic relationships that move the story forward in each installment.

>52 witchyrichy: Many years ago, maybe 20 years or so, I used to volunteer at my church as the Librarian. It was a lot of fun! I don't recall reading anything by Beverly Lewis at the time, but she was certainly a popular author with many of the patrons. I've read several of Elly Griffiths books, but I think I prefer her Harbinder Kaur series. What a fabulous time you must have had camping in Banff ! I was never that brave , being concerned about the bears But it is such a beautiful place. We always spent the night in a motel or hotel. Nothing fancy, just what we could afford. It's been a long time though, I hope someday to get back.

>52 witchyrichy: Congratulations on reaching 75, Karen!

>55 fuzzi: I have not read much, if any, Christian fiction but found I liked it, or at Lewis's version, probably because of my knowledge of the Amish. I worked for several summers as a tour guide at the Amish Farm and House near Strasburg, PA. My sister who was also a guide can still recite much of the tour.

>57 vancouverdeb: I went looking for photos but they must be on an older backup. I do remember that we stayed in one of the parks so I wasn't as concerned about bears although we saw a few on the back roads. I know we would LOVE to get back there!

>58 FAMeulstee: Thanks! Already working on the next 75. As I move further away from my public life, I am finding that I am more likely to pick up a book rather than my phone these days.

I made a quick trip to the other side of town to get fresh eggs from a neighbor. I discovered two books I picked up on Monday at Goodwill still in the car:

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

I bought the Berendt because I want to learn more about Venice now that I am mired in the Donna Leon mysteries. I also have The Venice Sketchbook close at hand.

Congratulations on reaching 75, Karen. Nice book haul. The Library of the Dead sounds interesting. I'll look for that. I hope you'll post pictures of your hand-bound books. You have such great craft ideas.

I enjoy the Ruth Galloway series. I just read the last one.

Congratulations on already making it to 75, Karen.

Congratulations on reaching 75 books, Karen! I enjoyed Redhead by the Side of the Road, so nice find at the Goodwlll. I purchased a book for $1 at my local library a couple of days ago, The Western Wind . At $1 for a book, you can't go wrong, whether you read it or not.
After chatting with people on LT about the beauty of Banff and Lake Louise, I found myself planning a trip there after Dave retires, not that I have told him yet. I think we would take two days to drive there, instead our 10 hour one day driving trip that we could do when we were younger. I think that would make for a long trip now that we are both in our 60's.

>63 BLBera: Thanks! It is finally, blessedly raining so no gardening. I will be bookmaking while watching the French Open.

>64 PaulCranswick: Thanks! It is early for me and will only get better as summer settles in and I get to spend afternoons reading and floating on the pool.

>65 vancouverdeb: I am *so* excited for you and your trip to Banff and Lake Louise! I am going to dig around on some backups to see if I can find my pictures.

I am with you on the driving part: Bob and I are also in our 60s, and those long drives have gotten to be too much for us. Plus, it's fun to make the journey part of the trip rather than hurrying to get somewhere. I went to Nashville last year for a conference and took two days for the drive so was able to stop and have lunch with a friend or two along the way.

I am part of a loosely organized collaborative group that has been around for a long time on the internet. The Collaborative Learning MOOC explored the idea of massive open online courses in the early days of web collaboration. Now, they mostly do art project including creating and sending snail mail postcards to each other. I used my topper to create a postcard under the wide open theme of human connection in an AI-infused world.

>68 witchyrichy: I may post this on your thread, too. Thank you for prompting me to find my photos from our 2007 trip. We started in Seattle and visited old friends. Then ferried to Victoria where we took a whale watching tour and went to Butchart Gardens. From there, we headed to Vancouver for a conference for a day or two then on to Banff and Jasper. Our last hotel was in Kamloops and then we tent camped (with an inflatable mattress) for at least a week. I was younger then.

Click to see all the photos. The first one is us in Victoria. I really was younger ;-)

Oh! Those are fabulous pictures, Karen! I found myself ohhing and awwing to myself as I clicked through the pictures. You have seen so much of beautiful BC . I’ve never seen a wolf or bear so close up ! I occasionally see coyotes in my area when waking my dog , and that is scary enough . You and or your husband are wonderful photographers ! Well, I’ve yet to introduce the idea of the Banff trip to Dave , so I’ll see what he says . But I would love to go . He works shift work , 9 :20 am until 8:30 pm, 5 days on , 5 days off , and he is on right now , so I have not had time to suggest the idea to him
. He has long days at work .

>71 vancouverdeb: I just posted them on your page. You will know when the time is right.

>65 vancouverdeb: I enjoy shorter driving days now that I'm older, plus I opt for traveling secondary roads instead of the nerve-wracking Interstates.

Hi Karen!

>31 witchyrichy: I love the explosion box card for your mother. It’s beautiful and I love the colors.

>52 witchyrichy: Congrats on your first 75 of the year!

>56 witchyrichy: I do hope you continue with the Ruth Galloway series – a lot of us here in the 75ers have avidly read each new book as it came out once we got hooked.

>70 witchyrichy: Fabulous photos. I was going to say I loved the butterflies best, but then I saw the Bald Eagles, then the moose pic, then other wildlife, then I was going to comment on your obvious joy at the crab dinner…

>73 fuzzi: I am definitely the long way home kind of girl! I *could* take interstate 95 to Pennsylvania to visit my parents and it promises under 5 hours. Or I could hop off to the west side and cruise up Route 15 which goes through lovely Points of Rock, Maryland, and borders the Catoctin Mountains. I often stop in the little town, which has seen its share of floods, and take a walk in the park. Sure, it adds time to the trip but it means I arrive a bit more rested and chill. The bridge spans the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland.

>74 karenmarie: Always happy to have you stop by. I started the second Ruth Galloway last night and plan porch reading today.

Dungeness Crabs are amazing, different from anything we get here on the east coast, and eating one over the Victoria Harbor was even better.

>75 witchyrichy:

Point of Rocks is our go-to spot for biking on the C&O Canal. Head down river on the road along the MARC train station about two miles - fantastic dairy with fresh-made ice cream. Or upriver to Brunswick - there’s a great little cafe called Beans in the Belfry downtown in an old church along the river.

Yeah, we bike to eat…

>77 drneutron: I checked out the map and would love to bike the trail sometime. Meanwhile, I will check out the two restaurants via car. I have grumbled that Point of Rocks could use a coffee shop and then it would be perfect.

Hi Karen my dear, congrats on reaching 75 books read for the year so far dear friend.

>79 johnsimpson: Thanks! It has been a great reading year so far. I am reading a chunkster right now by R.F. Delderfield.

Congrats on reading 75 books already, Karen!

I loved the photos of your trip!

>80 witchyrichy: It's been literally decades since I read anything by Delderfield but I remember loving getting lost in his books. I picked up a used copy of God is an Englishman at the TC last year. I don't remember if I've read it already or not but I couldn't not buy it - I rarely see his books. It is a brick, however. :)

>80 witchyrichy:, It is a bit of a chunkster my dear, i love his books and still have one or two left to read.

>81 Copperskye: Thanks! I have been sinking into Delderfield.

>82 johnsimpson: I may work on the full trilogy this summer.

Congrats on your first 75!

I was so intrigued by your review of The Forest Unseen that I ordered myself a copy. It may be a while until I get to it, since the pile from the library is towering.

I read the first The Crossing Places not too long ago. I'll also go on with the series, although at a much slower pace than you.

I have always enjoyed working with paper and have made a few simple books using paper with either regular or Japanese binding. But, I haven't tried anything with multi-signatures and a wraparound cover. Ali Manning, from Vintage Page Designs, teaches a week-long course every now and then and hosts an online bookmaking community. I haven't joined the latter yet as it's $25/month but I may try it out as they explore lots of different types of books. But I did take the course for just $10 (don't ask me how much I paid for the supplies). If you follow along every day, you end up with three books at the end of the week. I was too busy to do that but did finally settle in to make the first book. It is a chain stitch binding with a cork paper cover and four signatures. I am pretty pleased with the result. I have the signatures and covers cut for the other two. They each different a different type of binding stitch.

>84 streamsong: Thanks!

I only read the first three right away because the digital version I checked out included all three and I, of course, had to finish it. I am going to add the series to my wiki and get back to it at some point. It is a continuing story so I am realizing that reading them in order will be important.

Hi Karen my dear, i love your bookbinding cover my dear, i love my notebooks and have got a cork cover that holds three B6 slim notebooks but the notebook paper doesn't suit all inks, i prefer Tomoe River paper for notebooks that i carry around.

>87 johnsimpson: I used sulphite 80 pound drawing paper that the teacher recommended. I went with cork for the cover because leather is *very* expensive and I wanted to practice before I tried it.

And since I had leftover materials, I made a Japanese binding book with a few whimsical and interactive pages. Click to see the whole album.

>89 witchyrichy: Wonderful! As is the explosion box, which is a lovely gift for your mom!

>89 witchyrichy:, That is lovely Karen my dear.

Wow! I'm so impressed with your bookbinding. They look both stunning and professional.

I'll have to keep my eye out for a beginner's class in this area.

>92 streamsong: Thanks! The class I took was online. She had video tutorials and then twice daily meetups during the week where you could ask questions. There was also a Facebook group for the course where people shared and asked questions. It was very well done.

The book binding is beautiful, Karen! I have not congratulated you on reading 75 books, so congratulations! I hope you enjoy The Murder of Mr Wickham when you can bookhorn it in, as Mark says.

Way behind, but congrats on 75 already and BIG kudos for the really cool paper projects! So fun. : )

>94 vancouverdeb: Thanks! I have lots of bookhorning to do but I finally finished the BAC for May--two chunksters--so can revisit the list. Maybe make it a Jane Austen summer as I've been thinking about rereading Austen herself and then the various pastiche.

>95 Berly: Thanks!

The Medici Manuscript is the second book in the Glass Library series by C.J. Archer. I read this rather than listening and it was another fun fantasy romp with a little romance on the side, this time focusing on an old manuscript that Sylvia finds in the library attic. The clasps are magical silver and she hopes to break the code and learn more about her own family and possible connections to silver magic. The relationship between Sylvia and Gabriel Glass strengthens even as Gabriel struggles in her personal life. A nice balance of story and mystery. The next one comes out in September.

Rainn Wilson, best known for playing the uptight curmudgeon Dwight on The Office, is a very spiritual guy at his core. He started a company called Soul Pancake that produced feel good, spiritually focused content that Wilson couldn't sell to Hollywood. Soul Boom, his new book, makes the argument that we need a spiritual revolution in the world, one that pulls the foundational, shared lessons from all religions (ie, the Golden Rule and take care of the poor) and use them to craft something that gets beyond your god versus my god. I enjoyed it: Wilson has a freewheeling style of storytelling that makes his message more compelling. He himself is a lifelong Bahá'í, a relatively new religion that basically preaches what he writes about in this book. He demonstrates a wide ranging knowledge of the world's religions and their connections. It will be interesting to see if interest in Bahá'í grows as a result.

I have a copy of his memoir, The Bassoon King, on my shelf and am adding SoulPancake to my TBR. It was refreshing to read something upbeat and inclusive about religion and spirituality.

R. F. Delderfield was not on my radar at all but I dove into Long Summer Day for the BAC. It was just a wonderful, sprawling novel about England at the turn of the century. Paul Craddock is home from the Boer War, healing from a leg injury, and wondering what to do with himself when his father's partner in the scrap iron business arrives to take charge. Craddock ends up as Squire of an estate in rural Devonshire. From there, life unfolds for Paul and the families that work the land. The story basically moves from the coronation of Edward VII to that of George V. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next two books in the series as my own long summer days spread out.

I have not traveled very much oversees but did have a lovely trip to England and Wales with my parents about 15 years ago. I fell in love with the country via Sharon Kay Penman and visited a few Llewellyn the Great sites along with the coffin of Joan, his wife, in Beaumaris, Anglesey. (There are questions about whether it really IS Joan in the coffin that was once used as a watering trough.)

Jan Morris's book The Matter of Wales has been on my shelf since then...I think I bought it in Hay on Wye. I read it slowly and savored Morris's intricate prose, part history, part travelogue, all written with a love and respect for the Welsh people. It is an old-fashioned kind of travel book, I think, and, of course, somewhat outdated as it was written in 1985. I noticed there is a revised edition from 2000 so that would help with some of the political and economic information. There was a sense that Wales had a high point in the past, perhaps, and was struggling to maintain its identity at the time of publication. I have a sense that is changing.

I was looking for a book to fill in the first Bingo space: something I don't normally read about. I pulled a few pretty heavy looking science books off the shelf but wasn't really in the mood to dig into gene splicer and DNA sequencing. But, Alex Bellos's ode to the magic of mathematics seemed just right. Alex's Adventures in Numberland takes us through the history and mystery of numbers from figuring out pi to understanding infinity. Along the way, he tells stories and introduces us to interesting people. I don't claim to understand everything he talked about but he did remind me that I used to do Sudoku and loved playing with magic squares when I was a kid. So, i downloaded a Sudoku app and have been having fun!

I read this one slowly as each chapter is mostly self-contained and took some time to digest. He does refer back sometimes mostly because he references a lot of historical figures who were involved in various mathematical discoveries.

Listened to the next book in two different series: Drawing Conclusions from Donna Leon and The Marriage of Mary Russell, a novella from Laurie R. King. This one goes back in time to the very beginning of the series and describes the actual wedding of Russell and Holmes. I continue to enjoy both series.

Phew! All caught up!

Congrats on reading well past 75 books.

>97 witchyrichy: This one looks familiar. I have to see if I read the first in the series. Sounds like my kinda read.

>102 witchyrichy: I really like this series.

>85 witchyrichy: Oh wow! Looks like a fantastic class.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

I really need to get back to Delderfield!

>103 figsfromthistle: Good for you! Thanks for visiting and for the congratulations. Loving settling in with a book the way I used to.

>104 Copperskye: It is a commitment but one that is well worth it. I do want to find out what happens to the Squire and everyone in Shallowford.

Sad news: our beloved dog Major died in our arms on Sunday evening after suffering a stroke. We were shocked and devastated as, after struggling with some health issues through the spring, he had seemed so much better: we took our long walk on Sunday morning, he ate a decent breakfast and seemed just fine. The end, blessedly, came quickly and peacefully; he seemed to just fall asleep in his bed. I can't say much more as I am just so sad...he features in a lot of my pictures and here is one with Bob from April on our last camping trip, something he loved doing with us along with one of my favorites from his puppy days. He didn't let diabetes or blindness slow him down. We're taking some time off to process the grief of losing him and being without a canine companion for the first time in almost 30 years.

Oh, I’m so sorry! What a great dog, and you took such great care of him! I hope your great memories will bring you some comfort.

Karen O

Oh, Karen. I’m so sorry for your loss. 💔 He looks like such a good dog, and I know you’ll miss him dreadfully now that he’s crossed over the rainbow bridge. So glad he didn’t suffer and you had a lot of good years together. {{{hugs}}}

>107 witchyrichy: What an incredibly sweet face he has! I'm so glad he didn't suffer and that you were with him - I believe that brought him great comfort.

>108 klobrien2: >109 Storeetllr: >110 PlatinumWarlock: Thanks for the support and kind words. He was a great dog and we were fortunate to have him through his whole life and comfort him in the end. It's been a tough week without a dog to anchor my morning and afternoon schedules.

>107 witchyrichy: So sorry you lost Major, Karen.
(((hugs)))

So sorry for the loss of your beautiful friend, Major. It's so heart breaking when we lose our beloved fur babies. (((hugs))).

I'm so sorry for Major's loss. It sounds like he had a wonderful day and a wonderful life.

Hi Karen my dear, i am so sorry to read the sad news that Major has passed away and in your arms. What a lovely dog he looked and so lovable, it is hard when we lose our animal companions, Leo, our second cat had a stroke and we were devastated as he had overcome the loss of his sight in both eyes and was doing really well.

We both send our love and hugs to you and Bob at this sad time for both of you and you will miss your routines that you had with him. Major will be looking down on both of you from doggy heaven, knowing that he had a wonderful life with his humans.

>112 FAMeulstee: >113 vancouverdeb: 114 Thanks for your kindness. Being able to share the loss with others has helped.

>115 johnsimpson: Your story of Leo really resonates. I think that's why this was so much harder than losing our other pets: Major had been doing so well after struggling this spring so we weren't prepared for the stroke.

Oh Karen, I am so sorry to hear about Major. What a lucky dog he was, and lucky YOU to have him for as long as you did. I am so sorry. It is so hard to lose a beloved companion.

I think I am caught up here - I've enjoyed my catch up until your sad news. Your trees are wonderful and I love how you feature them here. Your photos of travels in the NW and Alberta are just stunning. I am a bit of a Canadaphile and want to travel there more. We're taking an anniversary trip to Nova Scotia next month and can hardly wait! We're doing probably a quarter of the things I really want to do - I just felt that less is more, and not scheduling so heavily will give us time to explore, try things, and take the back roads as you love to do.

Congratulations on reaching 75, and on your bookbinding success - everything is beautiful!

>117 AMQS: Thanks for the kind words. Major was a wonderful companion who came into our lives soon after we moved to the farm and, like all furry friends, enriched our lives immensely.

We adored our trip to Canada. And, I agree with your philosophy of travel. Back roads, poking around and time to relax. We try to do what we call 4:00 coffee, taking time to relax while exploring. Nova Scotia is definitely on our list. And, I really want to take the Three Pines Tour of Quebec, featuring various settings from Louise Penny's books.

I spent a lot of time reading last week, escaping into books. The weekend was devoted to the Ken Follett novel I found on the bedroom bookshelf. Not sure where it came from but it was the prequel to the Kingsbridge series, which I loved. The Evening and the Morning takes place in the town that will eventually become Kingsbridge, during the late Dark Ages, 997 - 1007. Viking raids play a key role in the plot as well as the somewhat loose hold King Æthelred, known as Æthelred the Unready, had on England. The bad guys in this book are a family of three men who basically control the church and the judiciary in the area around Kingsbridge, ignoring any fines from the crown when they break the rules. Of course, there is goodness as well but Follett manages to twist the plot so you wonder if good actually will triumph this time. It was a well-told story and a nice diversion from our grief. It also spurred me on to read some of the other chunksters on the shelf like The Luminaries.

>119 witchyrichy: Looks good! I’ll try it!

Just making rounds to leave comments and try to "catch up" by ignoring the last 3 months of posts since I'd never be able to catch up if I read them all! Hopefully I can do better from here on out.

Karen, I am so sorry to hear about Major.

I love your bookbinding photos. What a wonderful hobby. They are beautiful.

Good luck with the chunksters.

>121 thornton37814: Thanks for stopping by. I am also hopelessly behind on thread visiting.

>122 BLBera: Thanks for the condolences. I have two more books ready for binding when I get home.

Life has really been throwing some curveballs our way! Bob and I took our first canine-less vacation in almost 30 years with a trip to southwest Virginia last week. I had a workshop to do on Friday, and we spent the rest of the time poking around the mountains, including driving past the entrance to the Devil's Bathtub, which featured in Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. My local friends said it was almost unknown until then, but now the parking lot was full with tents pitched all around and a steady stream of people walking up the road to the trailhead. Locals are *not* happy!

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, my 88-year-old father fainted in the grocery store and was rushed to the hospital. After three days in the hospital, a whole battery of tests and suggestions about potential gallbladder surgery, they really aren't sure what happened. He thinks he had an infection and was dehydrated. My sister came up first, and now I am in place this week to help with various appointments as dad doesn't think he should drive. He is doing just fine and we had a lovely lunch today and ran some errands. They are also talking about moving into an apartment on the campus of their retirement community. Big changes! I am glad to be able to be here; it's part of the reason I retired from the non-profit job. Bob is holding down the fort at the farm and dog sitting for a friend so he won't be lonely.

Curveballs indeed, Karen. I'm sorry for the loss of Major, and now your dad fainting in a grocery store. I'm glad you had a holiday away and saw the entrance to the Devil's Bathtub. I also read Demon Copperhead in January. I'm glad your dad is doing fine and I hope that will continue to be the case. So you dad and his partner are planning a move to the a retirement community? Big changes indeed. My mom is 81, and gave up driving when she turned 80. In her case, she is very hard of hearing and also she was never much of driver, so I don't think she misses driving too much. I convinced her to try driving when I was 20 , and I think it was me who gave her the driving lessons . She was not keen to drive, and I think she found my dad more intimidating to learn from.

>125 vancouverdeb: Thanks for checking in. My parents have lived at the retirement community for almost 20 years but in a condominium off the main campus. They are thinking now may be a good time to get on a list for an apartment on the main campus. And it looks like dad is going to end up having his gallbladder removed. We are talking with his doctor later this week. I am *so* fortunate to be able to be with them. Bob is holding down the fort at home.

Lots going on. My mom lived in a retirement apartment and loved it with the community meals and help with housekeeping. I hope things go well with your Dad. I'm glad you have the opportunity to help them and I'm sure they appreciate it.

Hi Karen my dear, i am behind on visiting threads but should be back to stopping by more often now that things have quietened down and i have celebrated my 60th birthday and had our trip up to Seahouses. Sending love and hugs to you, Bob and Circe from both of us my dear friend.

I hope all goes well with your dad, Karen. It is great you are able to be there.

>127 streamsong: For now, my parents are pretty independent but it's a comfort knowing they can move into an apartment and assisted living when needed. They are going to wait to make decisions about moving until we get Dad past his surgery.

>128 johnsimpson: You are always welcome! I turned 60 last year and it wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be.

>129 BLBera: Thanks for checking in. We meet with the surgical team later today and will know more then. Meanwhile, it's nice to just hang out with them: we play games and are currently watching Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman together.

I received an early reviewer copy of Ghosts Walk the Shenandoah in return for an honest review. I had not read The Murderer's Apprentice, the first book in Daryl Anderson's Murderer's Apprentice series so went back to fill in the beginning of main character's Dara Burke's story. I was hooked and headed right into Anderson's second book.

Burke is a feisty girl in the first book and has grown into a somewhat sullen but still feisty teenager in the second. In this book, Dara finds herself far away from her beloved Baltimore, visiting the small town of Black Springs, West Virginia, with her aunt to attend a family wedding. Pretty quickly things turn ugly as Dara meets the wild, somewhat strange daughter of her aunt's fiancé. When he is murdered, Dara moves into detective mode, drawing on what she learned three years before when she solved a series of grisly murders in her hometown, including the ability to commune with the dead. As before, Dara finds herself and her family in grave danger.

The supernatural elements add an element of deeper mystery to this story that had me turning pages as trying to work out the murderer and the other secrets that haunt Black Springs. Dara is a fearless and fascinating young woman and we also get in depth looks at the other characters as well, especially her aunt who travels with her. I only figured out the big twist a page or two before the ending.

Dara is growing up in the 1960s and Anderson's attention to detail brings that era alive from the food to the television shows.

I can recommend the series and suggest reading them in order. In terms of Dara's life, the book ends with a cliffhanger so I'm eager for book three.

>131 witchyrichy: These sound good, Karen - thanks for the BBs!

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig! I spent ten days with my parents as we made the rounds of doctors and groceries and hung out at home playing games and watching Dr. Quinn.

Dad’s gallbladder surgery went well and he has little pain. I came home yesterday, fell asleep at 7:30 and woke refreshed and ready to settle into summer life on the farm. The corn, tomatoes and beans are coming so we will feast and freeze.

I discovered Phaedra Patrick by accident. I was going to listen to the next Donna Leon Guido Brunetti mystery via Hoopla but they changed the narrator again. David Colacci is the usual voice and I have gotten used to his interpretation of the various characters. I checked and Colacci is back in the chair for the next book so I will be reading The Golden Egg as an ebook.

Meanwhile, I needed an audio book for my drive to Pennsylvania and the daily walks on the rail trail that runs behind my parents' townhouse. Patrick showed up in the recommended books and I enjoyed The Little Italian Hotel, the story of a middle-aged woman who finds herself in Italy with five strangers struggling to understand how her life got so complicated. Next up was The Messy Lives of Book People. Liv Green dreamed of being a writer but life has other ideas and she finds herself cleaning offices and houses along with caretaking her family. Then, she is asked to do something she could never imagine and her life is never the same. I just finished listening to The Library of Lost and Found, which has a similar theme of a woman who loved to write as a child only to lose the urge when life hands her sorrow and struggle.

I have enjoyed all of them. Patrick creates complex characters and plots and has an eye for details and descriptions as well.

I have found a welcoming spiritual guide in Richard Rohr. I used his Lenten guide this year and found his message to be one of love, peace and acceptance. Everything Belongs" The Gift of Contemplative Prayer continued that message, focusing on prayer as a means to settle the mind and speak with the creator. His message has so many connections with the meditation teachers I follow, most of whom are Buddhist. Rohr is a Franciscan priest. I subscribed to the daily meditations from the Center for Action and Contemplation and he often includes passages from those outside the Catholic and Christian traditions.

I read Yes, And..., daily meditations drawn from Rohr's other writings, most mornings.

A couple books about Venice:



Donna Leon brings Venice to life in her Guido Brunetti series and I wanted to expand on that knowledge. John Berendt's ode to Venice, The City of Falling Angels, has the same tone as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, gossipy journalism that reveals the underside of the elegance and old money world of Venice. And, I liked it very much! The book focuses on the fire at the Fernice Opera House, the setting of Leon's first mystery.



Rhys Bowen's The Venice Sketchbook tells a dual timeline story of a contemporary woman, Caroline Grant, and her great-aunt, Juliet Browning, who connect across time when Browning leaves a bequest for Grant. Grant is struggling with her personal life as she faces divorce. Meanwhile, Browning faces her own challenges and decisions during her time in Venice. I enjoyed the story and the portrait of Venice.

Everyone I know has recommended Small Things Like These and I was thinking I would read it as part of my Christmas reads. But, I needed an audio book to listen to as I gardened this morning and it showed up. What can I say? Just a quiet, bittersweet story of love and hope and, while it sounds cliched, the true meaning of Christmas. Bill Furlong has built a solid life for himself and his family despite not having a father. He is a thoughtful man who wants to understand the larger themes of the world, including helping those less fortunate than him. When he discovers the injustices at the heart of the local convent, a Magdalene laundry for unwed mothers, he follows his heart even though he knows the penalties may be great. Author Claire Keegan dedicates the book to all those young woman forced to work and then relinquish their babies.

One thing I wanted to do when we came to the farm was try beekeeping. I kept bee hives for a few years and managed to harvest a little honey. I kept them just long enough to know that I wasn't going to be a long term beekeeper: it is hard, expensive and often heartbreaking when bad things happen to the hives.

Bees and Their Keepers by Lotte Möller was an homage to the bees and those who devote their lives to keeping them. She echoed a truth that I had learned when I took a local class: if you ask a question about beekeeping, you will get as many different answers as there are beekeepers in the room. They can be a disagreeable lot when dealing with humans but love their hives, tending them with loving care.

The book is organized in two sections. Part I moves through the year, giving seasonal information and providing details about bees and beekeeping in general. Part II focuses on the present state of beekeeping including the story of the bee war on the Danish island of Læsø.

Lovely, funny, insightful: you don't have to be a beekeeper to enjoy Möller's ode to bees.

Oh, Karen, I'm so sorry to see your sad news about Major. My heart breaks for you and your husband. Hugs to you.

I am glad to see that your father's surgery went well and hope his recovery continues to go smoothly.

>139 Copperskye: Thanks for checking in. We are learning to live without a dog. Meanwhile, Dad continues to do well although they are a little bored as he is taking two weeks off from driving, and they were used to going out pretty much every day even if it was just for a latte at Starbucks.

I have been home for a week and enjoying farm life. I put in a big vegetable garden this year and the green beans and corn were coming in just as I got home. I've been freezing one or the other every day. I have a second stand of corn coming up and am going to do a second round of green beans.

Meanwhile, I get a break to move on to pears. We have six trees and after almost no fruit last year, they are loaded this year. I am going to make jam as the pears don't have to be perfectly ripe or pretty. If I can get some to ripen nicely, I may do a few jars of pear halves, too. They are a nice treat in the winter.

When I'm not in the kitchen, I have been reading either on the front porch or at the pool.* Mostly easy stuff like Maeve Binchy and Adriana Trigiani.

*My husband bought the above ground pool at least five years ago as an anniversary present knowing how much I enjoy being near and in water. (We just celebrated 31 years on Tuesday.) While I was in Pennsylvania, the fabric frayed and the whole thing just gave out. Bob immediately ordered a new one, and we christened it Monday. I think I'll keep him.

I haven't posted for while so this gets long as life got a little busy.

My work life has heated up after months of being quite retired and happy with it. I knew the fall semester was coming but was comfortable that it would be pretty easy to get my two classes up and running as I have taught both of them for many years. I always tinker with the course readings and activities but didn't anticipate big changes. August would be easy, I said to myself.

Then, my colleague at Old Dominion University asked me to teach a different course as she got a fancy directorship and was giving it up. I agreed and discovered it had never been setup in Canvas and hadn't been taught for a year or so which meant the edtech content was outdated. I knew I had to add in AI and also wanted to pivot away from academic papers as assignments. I dug in and got a lot done last week. A few more hours of work along with an intro video as it is an online, asynchronous course. I may make a few more if I have time and energy.

Then, a good nonprofit client contacted me with a very short deadline for rolling out a new version of an online course we do about creating online courses. I couldn't say no but now I have two videos to create and make. That's today's priority.

Then, University of Richmond contacted me to let me know that if I was able to put together a portfolio by this coming Friday, I was eligible for a title change and a small raise as part of the adjunct program. That's what I did this weekend once I realized that it wasn't that difficult. My supervisor said it should take 2-3 hours to complete; I ended up taking about 8 but that included pulling together the students evaluations and artifacts and writing some commentary. I stayed up late last night to get it done...yay! I started teaching the course, which focuses on edtech for K-12 administrators, in 2015 and it has changed a bit over the years. Less tech focus and more content, I think, as the students become more tech savvy. I am also adding an AI component to this course. I got the updated schedule done last week so just need to get Blackboard updated. Putting together the portfolio was actually fun and I was reminded of some great students and the artifacts they created.

Phew...I also need to get our tax stuff to the accountant before I head back to Pennsylvania at the end of the month for my mother's 88th birthday.

But, through it all I have been reading! Finished Murder in the Book Lover's Loft, which is probably the last in Ellery Adams's Book Retreat series. Also finished Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy. Working on Fearless Jones by Walter Moseley and now need a new analog book for pool side. I tossed The Fifth Season in the bag but didn't start it yesterday.

Hi Karen my dear, you have been very busy of late, what with all the different projects to get ready, i was dizzy reading about it all. Hope all is well with you, Bob and Circe, we are both fine and Felix is his usual crazy self although more fussy since we got back from our holiday in Scotland.

Sending love and hugs to both of you and of course Circe from both of us and Felix says hi, my dear friend.

A story of World War II from the perspective of artists in the Bauhaus as the Nazis take power. In The Porcelain Maker, Sarah Freethy has captured the sense of freedom as artists moved into abstract expressionism but it is tempered by the coming darkness. Her descriptions of how nationalism intertwined into all parts of life including the arts were chilling. She portrays a frightening world of casual evil and widespread, often random violence where any nonconformity is seen as unpatriotic and subject to eradication.

The story is centered on two artists-Max and Bettina-who find themselves caught in the net of Nazism. Max is arrested and sent to Dachau where his skill at porcelain making saves him while Bettina risks her life to free him. The story unfolds as Bettina's daughter searches for the identity of her father, uncovering family secrets and historical horror.

The story had some basis in fact as there was a porcelain factory in Dachau. I requested the book because it portrayed a different perspective on the Holocaust.

I received an advance copy of The Porcelain Maker from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

>143 johnsimpson: Hello, John! Thanks for stopping by. After writing that long post, I put my nose to the grindstone and managed to get a bunch of work done. I wasn't sure I still had the ability to focus after so much fun being mostly retired but it all came back to me.

>142 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! Thanks for sharing about your current projects. As a tech-savvy person and (briefly) a former educator, as well as someone who has taken a number of college classes online over the years (and as the mother of a student who is still doing so), I'm intrigued by what it means to "add an AI component" to a course. I had a chat with a girlfriend recently who mused about all of the ways AI will change - and eliminate - jobs in the coming years, which I find both scary and fascinating. Fortunately I am past that stage of life, but I do wonder about it for my son, who wants to be a musician after school - I gather it's increasingly easy to have AI create music, so what does that mean for musicians? (Fortunately, I guess we'll always need performers!)

Also, happy birthday to your mom. 😊

>142 witchyrichy: You don't sound very retired, Karen! Reading about your class prep made me miss those aspects of teaching. I always enjoyed the start of the school year.

THe Porcelain Maker sounds good.

>146 PlatinumWarlock: Since AI is *so* new but also being adopted into the mainstream so quickly, I can't hope to offer any real advice or expertise to my students, who will be primarily working in K-12. The answer to your question about musicians (and writers, and computer coders, and painters, and so forth) is that we really don't know.

My plan is to explore the technology together to see how it can support our work and how we can work with it alongside our students. The real skill of using AI is something called prompt engineering: learning how to create scenarios and ask questions that get to the heart of what you are looking to learn and explore. Meanwhile, if you haven't played with it, it's fun: I had it create a week of healthy meals, then write out the recipes, nutrition and grocery list. You can do travel planning and, of course, potentially write book reviews on LT.

Dan Harris interviewed Iain Thomas and Jasmine Wang about their book, What Makes Us Human: An Artificial Intelligence Answer Life's Biggest Questions for his Ten Percent Happier podcast. They trained an AI using spiritual texts from traditional books like the Bible and the iChing to works by Maya Angelou and Leonard Cohen. I haven't been able to find a list of all the texts they used.

Then, they asked it questions like what is the meaning of life. And the answers it created, while they have a new-agey vibe, are actually quite poetic, thoughtful and inclusive. And it turns out the Beatles were mostly right: all you need is love. I am reading through the book now and enjoying it.

Sorry so long...I'm mired a bit in this right now.

>147 BLBera: I *was* feeling very much retired, especially when I was hanging out in Pennsylvania with my parents. I knew I would be teaching this fall but wasn't too concerned: I love the courses and have taught them for years. I hate to give it up as it forces me to keep up with stuff like AI. It is the extra stuff I wasn't prepared for. I managed to find the energy and focus and mostly everything is done. A few video introductions and some online course cleanup and life will be good.

I feel far enough along that I am leaving for Pennsylvania early to visit with my old English teaching friends. They have a book group and I just finished The Violin Conspiracy. It was so good: a fast-paced mystery set in the world of professional musicians written by someone who obviously loves music, especially classical. The descriptions of the compositions told from the point of view of the violinist playing them were just exquisite.

>148 witchyrichy: No apologies necessary, Karen - that was a very interesting post, and I appreciate your taking the time. And particularly, thank you for both mentioning and defining "prompt engineering"... there have been times in the past that I've coached my son on the idea that having the entire Internet on the phone in your pocket isn't very useful if you don't know how to find what you're looking for; prompt engineering sounds somewhat like the AI equivalent of knowing how to do a really precise Google search, but with higher stakes.

Thank you, too, for the mention of Thomas and Wang's book - adding it to my list right now! (As well as Harris' podcast... like I need anything more to listen to!)

>75 witchyrichy: sorry for the late reply!

I've been known to go home to NC from Ohio by way of Connecticut, hahaha.

There are so many neglected sites that are "off the beaten path". I try to find them.

>99 witchyrichy: that's a wonderful series. My mother loved Delderfield, so I recall seeing his books sitting on the table by her armchair.

And I'm very sorry to hear about Major. Our Cleo has aging issues and I appreciate every moment I can spend with her.

>151 fuzzi: I am hopelessly behind on threads myself.

Thanks. We are slowly getting used to being without a dog. Sending best wishes for your Cleo.

August has been busy getting ready for the fall semester. Classes start next week. But, I managed to get enough work done to be able to come up to Pennsylvania for the week, visiting with friends and now my parents. My mother's 88th birthday is today, and my sister will be coming up tomorrow so we can celebrate together.

Meanwhile, I am behind on updating my book list, writing reviews and visiting threads. I am ready to settle into fall. At least I have been reading!

I was a little tired of Donna Leon's mysteries so started listening to Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police series. I enjoyed the first book and meeting the various characters in the small town of St. Denis in the South of France. The first book reached back in time to World War II revealing the various conflicts that continued to impact town members even decades after the end of the war. I have moved on to the second book which is all about wine making. The narrator is excellent and I will continue listening to the series.

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor was a rolicking action adventure story of historical time travelers. Madeline Maxwell, known as Max, is a new recruit who discovers that the past can be a dangerous place. It was reminiscent of The Doomsday Book that I read earlier this week but with a snarkier, more upbeat prose style. I plan to continue this series.

I picked The Southern Lawyer off a list of Amazon series to meet one of the Kindle challenges. It is the first in a series that focus on Joe Hennessy, a lawyer who turned to wine making after a family tragedy. He is back to practicing law in Charleston to help save his winery. The first book finds Hennessy defending a local mob boss from the one crime he didn't commit. In addition, he is working to free a young woman accused of killing her boyfriend. Author Peter O'Mahoney weaves the two stories together and we discover the connections right along with Hennessy. The book is billed as an epic legal thriller and O'Mahoney does provide lots of details of the trials, which form the center of the narrative.

I read The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb for a book group and was thoroughly taken in by this story of a violin and the trouble it causes. Ray McMillan, a young black man, is a virtuoso violinist in a family that does not appreciate his talent, only his ability to make money. His grandmother is his biggest supporter and gifts him her husband's old violin, something no one is concerned about until its history is revealed. Slocumb does a great job balancing the action with beautiful descriptions of the music and how McMillan experiences playing the violin. The book also explores issues related to racism, especially in the world of classical music.

Science fiction is not my regular fare but a friend recommended The Fifth Season. It was excellent! N. K. Jemison has created a compelling world called Stillness where its inhabitants live through what is known as a fifth season that occurs after earthquakes and volcanic eruptions lead to widespread devastation when dust covers the sun. The world is organized into communities where different people have different roles including that of orogene, one who can control the tremors. Jemison masterfully weaves together three stories. I have the rest of the trilogy on my Kindle ready to go!

Another friend recommended Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. As I mentioned, science fiction fantasy is not my usual fare but Yarros's story of dragon riders who face death every day beginning with their admittance to the school where they will learn is an exciting adventure. Violet Sorrengail wants to be a scholar but because of her family ties, she ends up in the dangerous Rider Quadrant where she must battle her fears to succeed. She uses her brain as she doesn't have any brawn to get through her first year, growing stronger in body and mind. The story twists and turns with a major cliffhanger at the end that I won't get to pursue until November when the second volume in the Empyrean series arrives.

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik has been on the shelf for awhile. I picked it up to complete a bingo square as it was a bestseller in 2003. It was a wonderful, bittersweet tale of a group of women in Freesia Court who form a book group in the 1960s and stay together for decades through happiness and sadness. I loved it and immediately loaned it to one of my lifelong friends.

I practice yoga regularly, both on my own and with a coach. I am always looking for ways to enhance my practice and Steve Kelley's book, Back to Yoga, was a perfect way to do that. Kelley provides an overview of the history and varieties of yoga along with its health benefits. He also suggests ways to incorporate yoga into your weekly routine, providing a 30-minute routine with easy to follow, illustrated instructions for yoga postures with tips for beginners and advanced practitioners. In addition, Kelley offers pdfs of the illustrations and the routine by request.

I enjoyed learning more about yoga and, as I hoped, the book helped reignite my excitement about my practice. Kelley's approach is supportive, especially for beginners.

I received an early reviewer copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

My resolution for the rest of the year is to review each book immediately after I read it. For now though, I'm working my way through July and August books before starting a new thread in September.



I listened to three Donna Leon books: Beastly Things, The Golden Egg, and By Its Cover. I enjoyed all of them and look forward to settling into Venice and the lives of Guido Brunetti and his family, friends and colleagues. I listen to most of them but only if David Colacci is the narrator. I will get back to them at some point but have taken a break. Beastly Things was the most challenging as it included pretty horrific scenes in a slaughterhouse.

I do have My Venice and Other Essays on my Kindle and am looking forward to reading Leon's nonfiction.

Lessons in Chemistry pulled me in and held me for the time it took to read it. I adored the main character Elizabeth Zott, struggling to be a scientist in the 1960s. When she gets pregnant, she is fired from her laboratory job and ends up hosting a cooking show but doing it in such a way that she subverts the usual thinking about women in the kitchen. There is a very fun dog named 6:30, too, who plays a major role in the book. I laughed out loud even as I was shaking my head at the misogyny of the 1960s.

in Courage, My Love, Kristin Beck tells the story of two women fighting the Nazis in Rome after the fall of Mussolini. The women come into the resistance from different families and perspectives and learn how to navigate the frightening dangerous world. I learned about a part of World War II history through Beck's well-written historical fiction.

I have never read Zane Grey and didn't know what to expect from Riders of the Purple Sage. I was surprised when the villains were the Mormon elders who are working to "break" a woman who refuses to marry again and give her up ranch. She is saved by an unlikely hero. I enjoyed Grey's sprawling story and descriptions of the Utah/Arizona border.

>155 witchyrichy: Just One Damned Thing After Another sounds great! It’s now in my mountainous TBR. Thanks!

Karen O

>166 klobrien2: I have the second one on my Kindle but think I should read some other older things off my TBR first.

>163 witchyrichy: that was a good read for me as well.

>157 witchyrichy: That sounds like an interesting one. I am going to put it on my list

Happy Tuesday!

>168 figsfromthistle: Same to you! Thanks for stopping by. Once I get past tonight's first class, I am hoping to visit threads myself again.

Back to reviewing books in anticipation of a new thread this week:



I read a couple by Maeve Binchy: Firefly Summer and Light a Penny Candle. Both were wonderful novels full of life in all its ups and downs. The latter book was Binchy's debut novel and tells the story of a lifelong friendship between an English and Irish woman, forged during World War II when the English woman was sent to Ireland during the Blitz.



Firefly Summer is another early Binchy, her third, and is set in an Irish village facing change as an Irish-American business man returns to his ancestral homes with plans for a resort that may or may not help the villagers. Within its larger theme of change are the stories of the people themselves and Binchy creates a bittersweet world for villagers and visiters alike.

I read a couple books related to the Trojan War.



Elektra by Jennifer Saint tells the story from the perspective of three women: Elektra, Cassandra and Clytemnestra. These are all tragic stories and the book drips with their anguish, whichever side they were on. Women were prizes to be won and either enslaved or killed.



The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller was another version of the story, told from the perspective of Achilles' best friend, Patroclus. There was some happiness and joy in this tale but the forces of the outside world via the divine and the temporal world were against them. Miller is a masterful storyteller and while I didn't think this was as good as Circe, I did enjoy it.

I read Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Armin around the same time I was listening to The Little Italian Hotel by Phaedra Patrick and found lots of similarities despite different eras and characters. Both books feature characters who escape to Italy in the face of life's challenges. In this story, four women--strangers to each other--spend a month together in the castle of San Salvatore. All of them struggle to find the peace they desire despite the beauty of the Italian countryside. It was a quiet tale that focused on the women's inner lives and thoughts. I enjoyed the story and its lovely style.

I bought quite a few books by Madeleine L'Engle at the thrift shop. The Small Rain was her first novel. It is the story of Katherine Forrester, daughter of a famous concert pianist whose career is cut short after a devastating accident. Katherine also has great talent and despite tragedy in her life, she always finds solace in her music. This is the first book in a two-book series and we leave Katherine pursuing her musical career in New York City. L'Engle has crafted a compelling story of a young woman coming of age and learning how to let her spirit live. The story continues in A Severed Wasp, which is on my shelf waiting for its turn.

When I want to read a big-hearted story of family and community, I reach for Adriana Trigiani. The Queen of the Big Time is set in the real town of Roseto, Pennsylvania, and based loosely on family stories. The main character, Nella, grows up on a farm outside of town. She eventually ends up in town working at the sewing factory where she is able to move up to leadership, an early career woman. Her teenage boyfriend disappears only to reappear years later just as she is ready to wed another. As with all of Trigiani's books, there is a mix of joy and sorrow, with tragedy leading to decisions that alter lives. No matter the sadness, however, the characters find love and support from family and friends. Roseto was founded by Italians who came from the same small village in Italy and has been studied for the health of its inhabitants.

I enjoy Ellery Adams and have read three of her cozy mystery series. Murder in the Book Lover's Loft is part of the Book Retreat series, set at Storyton Hall, a reading-themed resort in western Virginia. Jane Steward and her fiancé Edwin are planning to head out of town for a visit to Oyster Bay, North Carolina. The town was the setting for another of Adams' series, and she has integrated Olivia Limoges and her dog Captain Havilland, the main characters is that series into this one. They have appeared in two of the books.

I had a sense that this was the last book in the Book Retreat series and Adams has confirmed that she isn't planning to write any more. There was a sub story about a secret library that moved through all the books and that thread essentially came to an end. Adams also ended the Books By The Bay series with just five books. I am sorry to see them end but in both cases, it made sense as the story tying them together came to an end.

Books about books are always a favorite and The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis did not disappoint. In this case, the books are discovered by Ashlyn Greer, a young antique book dealer who is able to feel the vibrations and emotions of a book's past owners. She finds the two beautifully bound, evidently self-published books in a box and becomes obsessed with discovering the truth behind them. The books tell the story of a tragic love affair, each book written by one of the lovers. Davis masterfully weaves the three stories together: Ashlyn's search for the truth along with the two competing narratives from the lovers as they pursue forbidden love and experience deep betrayal. It was excellent.

Carter Beats the Devil is a marvelous, rolicking, sometimes frightening novel set in Prohibition era San Francisco, mostly, with occasional jaunts across the country and the world. Carter is based on a real magician and the acts he and fellow magicians who make appearances in the book including Houdini are based on those performed at the time. Glen David Gould hinges the story around the death of Warren G. Harding and also manages to involve Philo Farnsworth who invented television. I loved it from beginning to end.

The Luminaries reminded me a bit of Umberto Eco with intricate threads of narrative that wove together to create a mysterious, compelling tale set in New Zealand during the gold rush. Eleanor Catton uses astrology to form the foundation of the book and I am not sure I completely grasped those links. The book revolves around the murder of a man and, of course, a fortune in gold. It is huge and Victorian and I enjoyed it. Two interesting tidbits: John Mullan in The Guardian compares it to Wilkie Collins The Woman in White which I read and enjoyed this year. Mullan also comments that the many characters, false identities and post twists means that, while it will take some time to read, you may also have to reread parts to refresh your memory when you come back to the book. I had to do that early on and then just decided to keep reading.

I added Walter Moseley to my list as part of a challenge at some point, then started and stopped Fearless Jones a few times. It wasn't that I didn't like it, just wasn't ready for it. When I was, I thoroughly enjoyed the tale of Fearless Jones, told my his friend Paris Minton. Minton is unwittingly pulled into a criminal plot and, when his bookstore is burned down, thrown onto his own to figure out what is going on. He is joined by Fearless who has been in jail and the two of them work together to save the day. Set in 1950s Watts, the story captures the lives of black people during that time as Fearless and Paris navigate the world of criminals and the police. I have the next book on my Kindle ready to go.

have read quite a few of Lillian Braun's cat mysteries but mostly those written after Jim Qwilleran moved to Pickaxe in Moose County. This book filled in a Bingo card and introduced me to the series as The Cat Who Could Read Backwards was the first book, published in 1966. There are two more from the 60s then a huge gap util 1986 when Braun starts the series in ernest and publishes a book almost every year.

I enjoyed the inaugural book as we are introduced to the Siamese cat Kao K'o-Kung and learn how the curmudgeonly journalist came to adopt the intelligent feline.

Hi, Karen! Your schedule is pretty busy for someone who’s retired. Glad you’re able to carve out time for reading!

>154 witchyrichy: I really enjoy the Bruno mysteries. The descriptions of the food and wine though!

>158 witchyrichy: Also enjoyed this trilogy.

>163 witchyrichy: I couldn’t get past the first chapter on this one, the misogyny infuriated me so much. I plan to get back to it when I’ma bit calmer.

ETA the film adaptation of The Enchanted April is as wonderful as the book!

You have really been reading a lot , Karen. I recall how much I loved Maeve Binchy when I was in my 20’s or 30’s . Maybe I’m due a re - read of one her books . So engaging and comforting.

>181 Storeetllr: I have been thinking a lot about what retirement means these days for someone like me who mostly worked as a consultant or part-time teacher. I have continued to teach as I love doing it and it forces me to stay up-to-date with technology and education.

Thanks for the tip on The Enchanted April. I am looking for quiet, easy entertainment these days, I think. I watched and then re-watched with my parents Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. I haven't read the book but plan to soon.

>183 witchyrichy: While I am still technically working, none of my jobs are pressing enough to require first-thing-in-the-morning work so I try to start and then end the day with a book along with snatching bits and pieces of time during the day. I have gotten over the "guilt" of daytime reading when I felt like I should be doing something else. Also, I listen to about two books a month, more if I am traveling.

And, yes, to Maeve Binchy being both engaging and comforting but without being too sentimental or maudlin. Her characters suffer real tragedies that often threaten to overwhelm them.

>176 witchyrichy: I’ve got The Echo of Old Books requested at my library. Looks really good! Thanks for the reccie!

Karen O

Hi Karen my dear, you have got some quality reading done of late, whereas i have completed a measley two books in August to go with poor three i read in July. I feel as if my mojo is back and am hoping for a good final third of the year with the books.

>186 johnsimpson: I was mostly home and able to read by the pool almost every afternoon. You had a fabulous trip to Scotland! I loved hearing all about it. Best wishes for the rest of the year.

>185 klobrien2: Happy to help. I was sorry to pummel everyone with all the reviews. My resolution for the next thread is to review them when I read them. Even just a sentence or two. I can always go back and add to it, if I get inspired.

What great reading, Karen! I have a few of these on my list. I love Donna Leon and also liked the first Bruno book. I kind of forgot about that series. I need to get back to it. The Violin Conspiracy sounds really interesting. I'll add that to my WL.

I hope the start of school has gone well.

>189 BLBera: I am already on the third book of the Bruno series thanks to my road trip and more book listening when I'm working around the house. This one focuses on archaeology.

My plan was to make a new thread but then the mean people hacked LT. I think I'll wait until the weekend to make sure things are settled. Thanks to Tim and the whole team for working hard to get my favorite website back online.

Meanwhile, talking about the various series: I know LT shows you which books you've read or own on the series page, but I needed one place to track all the various series I start. I often take breaks from the longer ones and wanted a place to go to quickly look at all of them. I used the LT wiki and it was fun and reasonably easy to setup! I need to add the Bruno series as I just started it.

Hi Karen. It’s been way too long since I’ve visited.

>107 witchyrichy: I’m sorry to read about Major’s death in June. We do love our furry children, and I’m sure you still miss him all the time.

>141 witchyrichy: Belated Happy Anniversary.

>142 witchyrichy: Too in demand for being a retired person. I hope the projects are fun and/or satisfying enough to break up all the Retirement Fun Stuff.

>153 witchyrichy: I’m glad you still have your mother and father. Congrats on your mother’s 88th birthday.

>156 witchyrichy: Imagine my surprise to see that The Southern Lawyer is available on Kindle Unlimited. I just borrowed it – we’ll see if it intrigues me enough to interrupt my obsessive reading of MM romances. *smile*

>158 witchyrichy: I loved this first in the series but haven’t opened The Obelisk Gate yet, and after waiting so long I’ll need a refresher course in this one!

>164 witchyrichy: I loved this book too, and it was my book club choice for our August discussion. I already loaned my copy to one friend, who also loved it.

>165 witchyrichy: I have 4 books by Zane Grey and haven’t read any of them so far. Sighg. Last ‘Western’ I read was Lonesome Dove.

>178 witchyrichy: Sigh. The Luminaries is on my shelves, just waiting for the right time.

I need to revisit The Luminaries soon too, Karen. I will read her book Birnham Wood first though. I was a little surprised to see her book nominated for the Giller Prize and hadn't realized Eleanor Catton was born and brought up in Canada.

>192 karenmarie: You are welcome any time! Now that the semester has begun, life is getting a bit more relaxed. I have one more course to set up that starts in October, but the previous professor was kind enough to share her course so I think it will be easy.

>193 PaulCranswick: I will get definitely be reading more Catton. Just read the description for Birnham Wood and it sounds fascinating.

>154 witchyrichy: I've been enjoying Saint Denis and Bruno in our group read with Benita. We're supposed to be reading the latest this month, but most of us are on wait lists for it at our libraries.

>162 witchyrichy: I mistakenly listened to one where Colacci was not the narrator. It was dreadful.

>175 witchyrichy: I've only listened to the first one in that series so I have three more to enjoy!

>180 witchyrichy: I enjoyed that series, but the last two or three installments showed major deterioration in quality

>195 thornton37814: I agree about the cat series. I listened to many of them during my commuting days and seem to remember the last one seemed to just end abruptly almost without solving the mystery. The quirky town and its oddball character became more important than the plot sometimes.

I am working on Ellery Adams newer series--the Secret Book and Scone Society--set in Miracle Springs, North Carolina. There is at least one more book to come in the series and perhaps, if Google is to be trusted, three more.

I guess I am waiting until October for a new thread. Life got busy with teaching and also great gardening weather! I've been weeding and moving perennials every day. I'm also tending fall vegetable plants but the bunnies chewed on them before we could fence so I'm not sure what will survive of the various lettuces and cabbages. The only green they didn't like was bok choy so I may plant more of that.

I have been listening to Martin Walker's Bruno Police Chief series. I enjoy the descriptions of food, wine and local scenery, but--not sure this is a spoiler as much as a trigger warning--Walker has killed off beloved dogs in three of the four books I have read. I know it's a weird quirk of mine that I can read about grisly murders of humans but hate hearing about someone killing an animal.

The Murmur of Bees has been on my Kindle for a long time. I was prompted to finally read it as part of the Kindle challenge for Hispanic Heritage Month. And what a book: historical fiction set during the Mexican Revolution, focusing on the time period when Mexico was also ravaged by the flu. It is the story of the wealthy Morales family struggling to keep their land and farm as the government closes in to take over. It opens with magic as an old grandmother leaves her rocking chair and brings back a baby covered by bees. The infant is disfigured, seems unable to speak, and while the family welcomes it, others in the community believe it is a demon. And thus the tragedy is set from the beginning. Magical elements were woven throughout the tale and I was mesmerized.

>197 witchyrichy: Yes, I found that difficult to deal with too. In fact, I think I stopped reading the Bruno series at that point. I may pick it up again sometime, but I don’t want to read about animals being killed. (Like you, I don’t mind when it’s a human. I think that’s because animals are always innocent; humans, not so much.)

>199 Storeetllr: This time it was a horse! I think I am done.

The bingo card asked for a book set on a boat, plane or train, and I found The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith. It was set on a cruise ship where the main character, Greta James, joins her estranged father along with family friends on what was supposed to be her parents' anniversary cruise. Her mother's death has been a blow to both of them and over the week of the cruise, the story unfolds, moving between past and present. Smith crafted a quiet, lovely story of family and friendships and how complicated we sometimes make our lives.

I rarely read books that end up in the news. I blogged about Jann Wenner's memoir as I had just finished it when his NYT interview dropped.

Here is the post:

I had just finished Jann Wenner’s memoir when the news of his interview with The New York Times broke. I was six when Rolling Stone was first published and had a print subscription for a long time. I decided to read the book less because I interested in Wenner himself as I was in the time period and culture in which he created the magazine: the music, the people, the events. There were lots of good stories that fostered my own memories.

The memoir was long and seemed to drag at points. Wenner was clearly a proud man who likes being rich and well-known and dropping lots of names. It was very different from Elton John’s funny, often self-deprecating story of his own life that I read last year.

And then, just after I finished the book, the interview dropped where Wenner pushed back when asked why all the “masters” featured in his new book were white men. Women and people of color were not articulate enough; they weren’t the philosophers of rock and roll, according to Wenner. Seriously? The interviewer was shocked and mentioned a long list of musicians like Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder, all of whom Wenner brushed aside as not meeting the lofty criteria for his book.

And then came the real ugliness, the view into Wenner’s soul: he guessed he should have picked a woman and a black man so he could have avoided these kinds of questions even though they would not have measured up to all these amazing white men. Oh, FFS.

The rest of the interview isn’t much better: Wenner should be proud of his work, but his pride spills over into arrogance. He seems incapable of self-reflection.

The repercussions were swift. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that he co-founded kicked him off the board immediately, and a literary festival appearance was cancelled. After a day, the inevitable apology was offered. He spoke badly chosen words, he said, and accepted the consequences.

Craig Seymour, writing in The Guardian after the interview and the apology, reviewed the sexist, racist history of Rolling Stone and rock journalism in general, the not-so-secret history that Wenner “let slip” in the interview.

For me, it’s the apology that continues to wrankle. He is sorry he said what he said. Why? He made it clear in the interview that he knew exactly what he was saying. Even doubled down on it when the interviewer pressed him. So, why apologize? Why not be honest about how you feel, that you wrote the book so you got to choose, and you stand by your statements as horrible as they are. Because, I’ll be honest: I don’t think he is sorry.

Rebecca was another reading choice based on the bingo card. Daphne Du Maurier is a Taurus. I thought I had read this novel at some point but didn't remember the details. And what a novel! From the majestic Manderley to the scary Mrs. Danvers, to, of course, the mysterious Rebecca. Du Maurier is a mistress of the Gothic novel, intertwining dread and suspense, using the dramatic and lonely Cornwall landscape masterfully. The young woman who narrates the story, marrying the wealthy Maxim de Winter early in the story, is known only as the second Mrs. de Winter. My copy of the novel is included with two more of du Maurier's novels and I am looking forward to reading them.

I had pre-ordered The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman and was pleasantly surprised when it showed up in my Kindle library. I, of course, read it immediately ahead of other current reads. I was not disappointed although it had a more somber tone than previous books. It may be because I listened to the other books. It was nice to be back with the elders of Coopers Chase and good to see Joyce move out from Elizabeth's shadow. The mystery was a twisty tale with an extra comical layer.

Dinners With Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg was another bingo book: a memoir. I had read an earlier book about the women of NPR--Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie--so was familiar with Nina Totenberg in a more personal way than just from her journalism work. She is, by all accounts, the tougher, feistier friend in the group so I am not surprised that she and RBG became lifelong friends. Totenberg uses that connection to move outward to other friends as well from her NPR colleagues to Supreme Court Justices. While there were plenty of juicy details related to the Court, including the Anita Hill case that is arguably Totenberg's biggest story, it was the personal reflection and insights into the lives of these women who were shattering the glass ceiling.