Kidzdoc Has 20/20 Vision in 2020, Part 4

  

Shane McCrae is another award winning poet and one of The New York Times' Black Male Writers for Our Time. He was born in Portland, Oregon, and spent much of his childhood with his maternal grandparents in California and Texas. He was educated at Linfield College (BA), the University of Iowa (MFA, MA) and Harvard (JD), and he has taught at Oberlin College and at Columbia, where he is currently an assistant professor in the Creative Writing MFA program.

McCrae was the recipient of the Whiting Award, an award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays, in 2011, a Lannan Literary Award in 2018, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019. His poetry collection The Animal Too Big to Kill won the 2014 Lexi Rudnitsky/Editor's Choice Award, and In the Language of My Captor was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award and a winner of the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.

Currently reading:

  

How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang
Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey
Epidemics and Society: From Black Death to the Present by Frank M. Snowden

Books read in 2020:

January:
1. Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson
2. The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
3. Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World by David Owen
4. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley

February:
5. My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," The Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, M.D.

March:

April:
6. Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johny Pitts
7. Ualalapi: Fragments from the End of Empire by Ungulani Ba Ba Khosa
8. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
9. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
10. Dumba Nengue: Run for Your Life by Lina Magaia
11. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

May:
12. Contagion: How Commerce Has Spread Disease by Mark Harrison
13. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
14. Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
15. Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer's Awakening by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
16. The Heartland: Finding and Losing Schizophrenia by Nathan Filer
17. Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
18. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes
19. Mean by Myriam Gurba
20. Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy

June:
21. The Tradition by Jericho Brown
22. A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson
23. In the Language of My Captor by Shane McCrae
24. Beloved by Toni Morrison
25. Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid by William D. Lopez
26. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
27. The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
28. The Magnificent Conman of Cairo by Adel Kamel
29. March: Book One by John Lewis
30. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
31. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

July:
32. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
33. March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
34. Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli
35. March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell

August:
36. Letter to Jimmy by Alain Mabanckou
37. Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
38. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

20 Classic Works of Fiction by Authors from the African Diaspora from the Shelves to Read in 2020

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa
Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
Beloved by Toni Morrison ✅
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
The Fisher King by Paule Marshall
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin ✅
In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming
The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison ✅
Maps by Nuruddin Farah
Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola
Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ✅
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
A State of Independence by Caryl Phillips
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
Train Whistle Guitar by Albert Murray

20 Non-Fiction Books from the Shelves to Read in 2020

Afropean: Notes from Black Europe by Johnny Pitts ✅
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer's Awakening by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ✅
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
Contagion: How Commerce Has Spread Disease by Mark Harrison ✅
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy ✅
Flesh in the Age of Reason: The Modern Foundation of Body and Soul by Roy Porter
Frantz Fanon: A Biography by David Macey
The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla
The Heartland: Finding and Losing Schizophrenia by Nathan Filer ✅
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi ✅
Journey to Portugal by José Saramago
Letter to Jimmy by Alain Mabanckou ✅
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World by David Owen ✅
Why Niebuhr Matters by Charles Lemert
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom ✅

Black Male Writers for Our Time

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: Friday Black ✅
Jeffery Renard Allen: Song of the Shank
Jamel Brinkley: A Lucky Man ✅
Jericho Brown: The Tradition ✅
Marcus Burke: Team Seven
Samuel R. Delany: Dark Reflections
Cornelius Eady: Hardheaded Weather ✅
Percival Everett: Glyph
Nelson George: City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success
James Hannaham: Delicious Foods
Terrance Hayes: American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin ✅
Brian Keith Jackson: The Queen of Harlem ✅
Major Jackson: Roll Deep
Mitchell S. Jackson: Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family ✅
Yusef Komunyakaa: The Chameleon Couch
Rickey Laurentiis: Boy with Thorn
Victor LaValle: The Ballad of Black Tom
James McBride: The Good Lord Bird
Shane McCrae: In the Language of My Captor ✅
Reginald McKnight: He Sleeps
Dinaw Mengestu: All Our Names ✅
Fred Moten: The Service Porch
Gregory Pardlo: Digest
Rowan Ricardo Phillips: Heaven
Darryl Pinckney: Black Deutschland ✅
Brontez Purnell: Since I Laid My Burden Down
Ishmael Reed: Juice! ✅
Roger Reeves: King Me
Maurice Carlos Ruffin: We Cast a Shadow
Danez Smith: Don't Call Us Dead
Colson Whitehead: The Nickel Boys ✅
Phillip B. Williams: Thief in the Interior
De'Shawn Charles Winslow: In West Mills
George C. Wolfe: The Colored Museum
Kevin Young: Book of Hours

Recommended Black American Women Authors

Elizabeth Alexander
Osa Atoe
Toni Cade Bambara
Gwendolyn Brooks
Octavia E. Butler
Lucille Clifton
Edwidge Danticat
Toi Derricotte
Bridgett M. Davis
Vievee Francis
Renee Gladman
Yona Harvey
Carolivia Herron
Zora Neale Hurston
N.K. Jemisin
Gayl Jones
Tayari Jones
Adrienne Kennedy
Jamaica Kincaid
Ayana Mathis
Shara McCallum
Toni Morrison: Beloved ✅
Harryette Mullen
Gloria Naylor
Lynn Nottage
Morgan Parker
Tennessee Reed
Sonia Sanchez
Safiya Sinclair
Tracy K. Smith
Martha Southgate
Natasha Trethewey
Jesmyn Ward
Phyllis Wheatley

Literature and nonfiction by contemporary Latinx authors, as recommended by Myriam Gurba, author of the memoir Mean:



Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera ✅
Tell Me How it Ends by Valeria Luiselli
Black Dove by Ana Castillo
Bless Me, Última by Rudolfo Anaya
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester
Native Country of the Heart by Cherríe Moraga
A Dream Called Home by Reyna Grande
The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli ✅

Also: Mean by Myriam Gurba ✅

2020 Booker International Prize Shortlist:

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (German – Germany), translated by Ross Benjamin
The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Farsi – Iran), with an anonymous translator
The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Spanish – Argentina), translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Spanish – México), translated by Sophie Hughes ✅
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (Japanese – Japan), translated by Stephen Snyder
The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Dutch – Netherlands), translated by Michele Hutchison ✅

  

Professor Ibram X. Kendi's Antiracist Reading List:

Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy Roberts
West Indian Immigrants: A Black Success Story? by Suzanne Model
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston ✅
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain by Langston Hughes
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley ✅
Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland by Jonathan M. Metzl
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr. ✅
Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition by Cedric J. Robinson
Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America by Peniel E. Joseph
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves, edited by Glory Edim
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

Also:
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Planned reads for June:

Beloved by Toni Morrison ✅
Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama by Tim Wise
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
The Emigrants by George Lamming
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane ✅
Glyph by Percival Everett
The History of the Siege of Lisbon by José Saramago
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi ✅
In the Language of My Captor by Shane McCrae ✅
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison ✅
Lisbon Tales, translated by Amanda Hopkinson, edited by Helen Constantine
Journey to Portugal: A Pursuit of Portugal's History and Culture by José Saramago
Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey
A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson ✅
The Tradition by Jericho Brown ✅
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

>9 kidzdoc: Oh I absolutely loved Beloved. I'll be interested in what you think of it,

>10 AlisonY: Excellent. I'm at the start of probably the longest stretch I've ever had off from work, as I'm not on clinical service until 9 July, and since I cancelled my planned four week trip to Portugal due to the pandemic, and am sheltering in place at home due to the pandemic and the rioting in Atlanta I have plenty of time to read. I should finish Beloved by this weekend.

>9 kidzdoc: I see you've moved The Book of Disquiet to later. I have a beautiful edition that I was SO EXCITED to purchase at the Brooklyn Book Festival three (?) years ago. It is still shrink-wrapped.

>12 ELiz_M: Nice! My copy of The Book of Disquiet is the paperback complete edition that was translated by Margaret Jull Costa and was published by Serpent's Tail in the UK in 2018. I purchased it from the flagship branch of Daunt Books in London this past September. I purchased the copy of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, which I started today, at the same time.

  

I shared um pastel de nata e um bica with Fernando Pessoa at the Café a Brasileira in Lisboa almost exactly two years ago. I look forward to discussing the book with him later this year.

  

Happy new thread, Darryl. : )

>1 kidzdoc: I just started Kendi's How to be an Antiracist yesterday. He is a scheduled speaker here in Portland for Literary Arts, but not until February 2021. I usually like to hear the speaker first and buy their book at the event and then read it, so I have their voice in my head as I turn the pages, but I just couldn't wait.

>8 kidzdoc: I have read 3 of Kendi's suggestions.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley

>11 kidzdoc: Sorry you cannot make Portugal this year, but you are going to have tons of reading time!!

>9 kidzdoc: The History of the Siege of Lisbon is my favourite Saramago (so far!). I thought I'd read The emigrants, but apparently not. In the castle of my skin was amazing, though. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Tyll. I'm hoping to get to The first wife soon...

>13 kidzdoc: A pastel de nata would go down very well just now (morning coffee time here)! Let's hope we can travel again soon.

The New York Times today calls attention to an article written three years ago.

"Three years ago, Ibram X. Kendi, a National Book Award-winning-author and professor, compiled a history of race and racism in America through 24 books for The Times Book Review. He highlighted influential works about the black experience for each decade of the nation’s existence, including the poems of Phillis Wheatley and Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer-winning novel “Beloved.”

Together, he writes, the books 'tell the history of anti-black racism in the United States as painfully, as eloquently, as disturbingly as words can. In many ways, they also tell its present.' "

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/books/review/a-history-of-race-and-racism-in-...

Enjoy your staycation Darryl - time for lots of reading, cooking, snoozing.

Heartbreaking the murder of George Floyd. Good to see that so many around the world are showing their outrage. I'd like to say his loss will not be in vane, but sadly, with a baby in the White House... (sorry babies, didn't mean to insult you).

>14 Berly: Thanks, Kim. I haven't done much reading during my first three days of staycation, but I plan to pick up the pace today, and especially during this weekend's readathon in the 75 Books group. I've read the introduction and first chapter of How to Be an Antiracist, which I hope to finish by Sunday, along with Beloved and two poetry collections, In the Language of My Captor and A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson, a poetry collection by a Black British poet which won this year's T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. I've read the first three poems, which are dedicated to the victims of the horrific and deadly Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 that claimed at least 74 lives, and they were absolutely outstanding. I was in London on the night of the fire, although I didn't see the burned tower of flats until later that year, when I stayed in a hotel in Shepherd's Bush; the Underground trains I had to take from there to central London ran on elevated tracks, which passed a few hundred feet away from the tower between the Latimer Road and Ladbroke Grove stations.

Other than Ibram X. Kendi's two books I don't think I own any others on that list, I'm ashamed to say. I do own several other books that deals with racism in the UK and US, though, and I plan to read Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch, Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga, and Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama by Tim Wise this summer.

I certainly will have plenty of reading time this summer, as I'm off for another 36 days and will have plenty of time off in July and August. I had planned to spend three weeks in Amsterdam and Edinburgh in August, but now that the Festivals (Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Book Festival) have been cancelled I'll stay stateside that month. I hope to travel to London in September and to Lisbon in October or November, though.

>15 thorold: I'm glad that you thought so highly of The History of the Siege of Lisbon, Mark. I may start reading it as early as next week. I have In the Castle of My Skin, so I'll try to get to it, along with The Emigrants, by the end of the year.

The Booker Prize committee announced today that the award ceremony for the 2020 International Booker Prize will be held on 26 August. That gives me plenty of time to finish this year's shortlist, but I'll probably do so at the end of next month, as the Booker Prize longlist will be announced on 28 July.

I had a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and two scrambled eggs with coffee for breakfast, but um pastel de nata e um bica would be a nice midafternoon treat. Hmm...I'll have to see if there are any Portuguese bakeries or cafes in or just outside of Atlanta.

>16 ronincats: Thanks for posting the link to that NYT article, Roni! I'll look at it shortly.

>17 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. Yes, I'll be doing a lot of cooking these next five weeks. I plan to make another chicken and chouriço paella this afternoon, as I now have a bag of authentic Spanish bomba rice to use instead of risotto, and I'll try different recipes in a book that Erik (Oberon) recommended to me, Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes from Spain by Penelope Casas, una española who lives in the US, whose recipes in this book are authentic ones, mainly from el País Valencià, the traditional home of paella. I'll try some Portuguese recipes as well, starting with octopus salad that my lisboetan friend Joaquim sent to me. I'll probably wait to purchase any Portuguse cookbooks, as DB (deebee1), who lives across the Rio Tejo from Lisboa, has one or two cookbooks waiting for me when I finally return there. I'll also start baking bread from scratch, now that I have King Arthur bread flour, Publix all purpose flour, and plenty of active dry yeast. I'll dive into some of the cookbooks I've accumulated over the past few years, especially Ottolenghi Simple, Basque Country: A Culinary Journey Through a Food Lover's Paradise by Marti Buckley, who appeared at the 2018 Decatur Book Festival, and Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat. I also purchased two e-cookbooks for next to nothing earlier this week, LIMA: The Cookbook by Virgilio Martinez, and Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa by Yohanis Gebreyesus, as I love Peruvian and Ethiopian cuisine.

I'm now very hungry all of a sudden...

*eagerly waiting to see what Darryl makes with his yeast*

>8 kidzdoc: Hi, Darryl. That's quite a list from Kendi. I also have read the Thurston and the Malcolm X. And I was inspired by Lauralkeet to plan to read Toni Morrison in order, starting with The Bluest Eye which I found on my bookshelf already! I'm about 2/3 through just now. Lovely and painful.

That's a great list from Kendi. I read his How to Be an Antiracist back in mid-February—it feels like another lifetime ago—and it was very good, really useful for me.

I very much recommend Mychal Denzel Smith's Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream when it comes out this fall. He looks at a bunch of systemic problems that are part and parcel of racism, including capitalism (as it's set up now), sexism, the justice system, and the marketing of the American Dream mythology as this deeply entrenched worship of scarcity. Smart, and he does a good job of making the case for a broad and deep revolution.

>19 SqueakyChu: Ha! I think the first thing I'll do is make another attempt at the New York Times's No Knead Bread recipe. I used a low protein all purpose flour, White Lily, that Southerners swear by, and because it didn't rise the bread was inedible. That was my second spectacular failure with that flour, as I used it to make Southern buttermilk biscuits a second time, after having great success with Publix's all purpose flour, which is a high protein one. The White Lily flour biscuits looked — and tasted — like hockey pucks.

One of my friends at work is a clinical nutritionist who attended a culinary arts school and worked as a chocolatier for Godiva in a previous life, who makes eye popping breads, cakes and other sweets. She posted a link on her Facebook thread to a YouTube instructional video on how to make a sourdough starter, and based on Lisa's recommendation I'll give that a try soon, either this weekend or early next week:

https://youtu.be/sTAiDki7AQA

My second version of Casey's version of chicken and chouriço paella ultimately turned out well, even though I tried to be cute and doubled the amount of chouriço in it, which required me to rescue it from disaster, as my 12 inch paella pan was too full due to the extra chouriço and unusually large chicken thighs. Not surprisingly it has too much chouriço, and I'll take out the extra half, and not mess with her perfect recipe in the future.



I'll probably use the extra chouriço in a recipe from Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes from Spain, or in a couple of Jamie Oliver's Spanish omelettes, which I haven't made in quite a while.

>20 ffortsa: I'm glad that you're enjoying The Bluest Eye, Judy. I've done very little reading this week, due to being still distracted and disturbed by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officers and the aftermath throughout the city, but I am very impressed with Beloved so far. I'm ashamed to say that it's taken me this long to read my first Morrison novel, but I'll read the other two novels in the Beloved Trilogy, Jazz and Paradise, and then go back to The Bluest Eye. Hmm...I wonder if there is a comprehensive Library of America collection of her novels...no, not yet, unfortunately.

>21 lisapeet: I'm glad that you enjoyed How to Be an Antiracist, Lisa. I'm impressed by it so far, and I anticipate making good progress in it, and Beloved, during this weekend's readathon.

Thanks for mentioning Stakes Is High; I'll be on the lookout for it.

Murals of George Floyd around the world

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/jun/05/george-floyd-murals...

>23 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline; those are powerful images. I'll have to look for similar ones here in Atlanta next week.

I've used a photo of the mural in Minneapolis as my Facebook profile cover. In it a young African American girl holds a sign which reads, "PLEASE DON'T KILL MY DADDY."

Hey, buddy. I finally got my act together and found you in Club Read. You have so many good books lined up! I’m sorry you had to cancel your Portugal trip, but I’m glad you have a good stretch of time off. You must be worn to the bone.

I’m reading one you’ve heard of and I think you’d like - The Yellow House. It’s set in New Orleans, which you’ve lovingly talked about, and particularly East New Orleans, where the author’s yellow home was. I’m halfway through her story and impressed both with her writing and her story.

That’s a great mural of George Floyd, and what a heart-breaking sign in front of it. There have been an awful lot of vows to change this country’s racist ways. This time has widespread energy and anger, but as Obama says, it’s got to be translated into action. Our Mayor has ordered that police reforms be implemented over the next 90 days; we’ll see whether that helps any.

>22 kidzdoc: The White Lily flour biscuits looked — and tasted — like hockey pucks.

LOL!

I haven't done sourdough in years. Back in the 60s, I used to do that. It was really fun.

Now, because I have the yeast, I'm having too much fun with yeast doughs. I've moved from bread, which was basically only the challah and 100% whole wheat bread I made to a Peach Cream Cheese Braid, then to cinnamon buns and yesterday to a ring loaf! The first two came out much better because the recipes came from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion\, while the last recipe came from an annual Southern Living cookbook. The sweetbreads take all day to make which is great for passing time on these unending days. They are really not that sweet at all so use much less sugar than regular cakes, and are a very special treat. They are more complicated to make than bread, but in a fun way. None of these have lasted long at all. We eat them up right away! I'll try to post all pictures on Instagram so you can see my results without overwhelming everyone else. :D

At some point, I'm going to try to make some of the yeast breads or sweet breads that you try. Right now I have enough bread as we had 30 pitas home delivered with our groceries, and no extra sweets in our freezer, a very rare circumstance, indeed.

As an added note: my maternal grandfather Adolf, (who sadly died in Auschwitz) was a baker. I hope i inherited some of his baking genes. :)

Your paella looks amazing!

>20 ffortsa: i more or less did this once, read Morrison in order, and found it very rewarding. She was terrific.

>22 kidzdoc: Jazz and Paradise have their fans, but her older novels, with the exception if Tar Baby, are much more universally liked (and in my opinion much better...and I loved Tar Baby too.)

ETA

>23 Caroline_McElwee: >24 kidzdoc: powerful picture. That link, with all those murals around the world, and the multiple meanings implied by each, is kind of beautiful

>21 lisapeet: noting Mychal Denzel Smith's Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream

>24 kidzdoc: Not only am I glad for these murals, but I think this one is particularly well done. Even more meaningful to see the little girl standing in front of it.

I ordered a copy of How to Be an Anti-Racist through our local indie bookstore last week, as they were sold out. I take that as a good sign! It's come up several times on talking heads commentaries this past week. I hope to get it soon - I'm so spoiled by the big name sellers that supporting small indies can be a definite lesson in patience.

Happy new thread!

Enjoy your staycation and your readathon! I have two days left of my two week staycation and then back to work on Monday. I don't feel even a tiny bit rested although I do have lots of summer freckles now. (I don't tan, at all)

Have fun with the Readadthon! My weekend is a little too filled to try and fit that in, too.

What kind of White Lily flour were you using? The all-purpose, or the self-rising? I am not a fan of White Lily, except for their cake flour or the self-rising flour which is what I use for biscuits. I don't like their cake flour, either. White Lily uses soft red winter wheat and that doesn't have enough protein to make good flour. I think the flour doesn't hydrate properly so I don't use it. For baking bread I generally buy flour labeled as Bread flour - or Bread Machine flour. It has the right amount of protein in the wheat to make it work and rise better.

And if it fails again, call the King Arthur Baking Hotline and ask them what the problem might be. you can also e-mail them. I have generally e-mailed them and gotten good advice and help when I kneaded it. (I was trying to make a brioche and failed twice before I got it right. With the help of KAF.)

>25 jnwelch: Great to see you here, Joe! I knew that you would eventually find me. I'm very sorry that I had to cancel my month long trip to Portugal this month, in which I had intended to take a four week course in Intensive Portuguese at one of the universities in Lisbon, meet up with two LT friends who I spent time with during my first visit in 2018, and start to investigate in detail what it would entail for me to retire in Portugal, and where I would like to live in the Lisbon metropolitan area. Needless to say it would be great to be out of the United States during the current crisis caused by the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis Police Department officers.

I read and reviewed The Yellow House earlier this year, and I absolutely loved it. We had a nice discussion about it here, as four of us Club Readers attended Tulane University at different times.

You've seen my Facebook post earlier this afternoon about the unspeakable assault of a 75 year old white peace activist by two officers of the Buffalo Police Department, which was captured on video and is difficult to watch, but also necessary viewing, especially for those who don't think that police brutality is a chronic and serious problem in this country. As I've said ad nauseum, I plan to keep my head down and my profile low until I can retire and leave the United States by no later than 2027.

Actually I am anything but tired, as I haven't worked many days due to being called off from work for 8-10 days due to our low inpatient census as a result of the pandemic (kids are staying home and aren't getting infected by classmates or kids in their churches or neighborhoods), and because I decreased my FTE from 80% to 60% of full time this year, and had a lot of days off starting in April to account for my changed work hours.

>26 SqueakyChu: That sounds great, Madeline! It appears that my local Sprouts Farmers' Market has organic dark rye flour in stock, and once I have that and a digital thermometer I'll have everything I need to make my first sourdough starter, probably tomorrow after my morning shopping expedition. I may make the dough for the No Knead Bread on Sunday night.

I found two paella recipes in the cookbook that I would like to try, a spinach, chickpea and pine nut vegetarian paella, and Arroz con Costra, a crusted paella with pork, chicken, sausage and eggs. I'll make one this weekend, probably the vegetarian paella, and the other one early next week.

>27 dchaikin: Thanks for your comments about Morrison's novels, Dan. I'll definitely read her entire ouevre, and maybe I'll read The Bluest Eye after I finish Beloved.

>28 dchaikin: I added Stakes Is High to my Amazon wish list. The book will be published sometime in September.

>29 Berly: Exactly, Kim. The George Floyd mural is powerful enough on its own, but the girl standing in front of it holding the sign asking the police to not kill her father is arresting.

>30 streamsong: Excellent, Janet. Yes, How to Be an Antiracist has been flying off of the actual and virtual bookshelves during the past two weeks, and when I checked earlier this week Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org, which I've been using lately instead of Amazon as profits go to independent bookstores, were all out of it.

>31 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! I've hardly been outside since I returned to Atlanta in mid-March, and as a result of my lack of sun my skin tone is now lighter than a cardboard box or paper bag*. My parents' Irish neighbor and close friend frequently jokes with my mother (who is lighter skinned than I am) and me that he is darker than we are, as he mainly works outside as a jack of all trades and does tan well, and he may actually have both of us beat at the moment!

*That traditionally has been the measure of acceptance into certain middle and upper class African American social organizations, fraternities or sororities, the infamous Brown Paper Bag Test, which was first used by whites in the post Civil War years to determine who was acceptable as a racial category in between whites and blacks, as they were clearly of mixed race (e.g., mulattos, quadroons or octoroons) and were deemed to be superior to darker skinned blacks. These lighter skinned blacks were allowed to own property, hold certain jobs, and have certain rights that placed them in between the two races. I was unaware of this until I attended Tulane University in New Orleans, and made friends with several light skinned Creole students to the chagrin of my darker friends, who told me that the Creoles wouldn't associate with them. I made the naïve mistake of telling my New Orleanian girlfriend, who was a few shades darker than me, and her sisters one day that I thought that lighter skinned Creole women were especially pretty; none of them spoke to me for about a month!

I hope that you enjoy your weekend, and that next week isn't too painful.

>32 Berly: Thanks, Kim!

>33 benitastrnad: I used White Lily all purpose flour to make the failed biscuits and bread, as I didn't know until I did some research last month that it was different from Publix or King Arthur flour. I'm now well stocked with flour, as I have a 3 lb bag of King Arthur unbleached artisan bread flour, two 2 lb bags of Publix bleached all purpose flour, which I've had good success with, a bag of Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Natural Almon Flour,, a 6.5 oz box of Hodgson Mill Vital Wheat Gluten, and two 2 lb bags of White Lily bleached all purpose flour, which may end up getting tossed. I also have plenty of yeast (14 unopened packets of Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast). Once I pick up Organic Dark Rye Flour from my local Sprouts Farmers Market tomorrow morning I'll be all set to make breads and my first sourdough starter.



Oh, yes...I forgot to mention that I also purchased my first chef's apron last week.

My cellphone's Emergency Alarm has gone off three times within the past 10 minutes, as the nightly curfew in Atlanta this weekend has been moved up an hour from 9 pm to 8 pm for the next three nights. It's now 7:55 pm, and I can hear a police helicopter flying overhead.

Have you heard the podcast Brene Brown did with Ibram X. Kendi

https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-ibram-x-kendi-on-how-to-be-an-antiraci...

It's an hour long, so I haven't yet finished it.

>36 streamsong: Thanks, Janet! I haven't heard this podcast, so I'll listen to it next week.

>35 kidzdoc:
I use the vital wheat gluten whenever I bake bread that has half or more of the flour a dark or whole grain. things like whole wheat, or rye. Vital wheat gluten ups the protein content which creates more gluten strands which helps the bread rise. It makes a softer more "tender" dough. Of course, the higher protein flour (gluten is a protein- I think) also helps with the rising. And with the crust.

For many years it was really hard to get an authentic French style bread here in the US because of the difference in protein levels between European and American flour. I would bet that your next experiment with bread is going to go much better than the past ones. better flour - better bread.

>27 dchaikin: I like Beloved and Bluest Eye the best, perhaps they were more accessible to me? I have also read Song of Solomon, Jazz, and Sula. I have also enjoyed many of her essays and speeches.

Our news has been covering the protests and looting in some US cities but I haven't seen anything about rioting in Atlanta, Darryl. I didn't realize it was bad there as well.

Good luck with your baking experiments and your reading staycation.

All I can say about this is - it's about time!

I came to work here at UA in 1993 and I could't believe that these were in place. I found them offensive, I can't imagine what minority students would have thought about them. I am glad to see them go. Now we just need to rename some of the buildings on campus.

https://cw.ua.edu/65191/top-stories/ua-board-of-trustees-authorizes-removal-of-t...

Darryl, your coverage and recipes of paella made me long for those sultry southern Spanish days in Andalusia when the paella was made in a huge pan on the beach - aroma and flavour perfectly in tune with the locale and climate. Interestingly your inclusion of chorizo would be controversial with certain Spanish traditionalists. The British chef, Jamie Oliver, once made paella with chorizo on British television and actually received hate mail from some culinary conservatives in Spain who thought it a crime for him to have done so. Personally I love chorizo (although these days I have to find beef or chicken based chorizo) and would include it in a heartbeat.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/jamie-olivers-paella-chorizo-bring...

I have only read Sula so far by the late and great Toni Morrison but it was extremely powerful. I have most of her novels on my shelves and hope to read something more of hers this year.

>38 benitastrnad: Thanks for that information about vital wheat gluten, Benita. I read much the same thing this weekend as well. I've had no luck in finding wheat flour or dark rye flour so that I can make my first sourdough starter, so I purchased them from Amazon last night.

The No Knead Bread I made on Sunday, using King Arthur Artisan Bread Flour, was a vast improvement over the one I made last month with White Lily All Purpose Flour:



I made another loaf yesterday, using Publix All Purpose Flour. It turned out just as well, but the taste was quite bland compared to the King Arthur flour. I'm in the process of making one last loaf for the time being, which I'll give to a neighbor this afternoon in exchange for a bottle of wine. I'll post the full recipe in La Cucina shortly.

>39 labfs39: I finish Beloved on Monday, and I thought it was fantastic. I'll start catching up on reviews later today or tomorrow, and collect my thoughts about it then.

>40 Familyhistorian: We certainly had problems in Atlanta with rioting, looting and other property damage last week and the first part of this past weekend. Fortunately it calmed down here starting on Saturday night, and the nightly curfews were lifted here on Saturday. I think we'll find out more in the coming days and weeks, but it appears that much of the damage was due to White anarchists and extreme right wing agitators such as the Boogaloo Bois who wish to see the current structure of government overturned, along with criminals in the African American community. The vast majority of the legitimate protestors behaved peacefully and responsibly. Unfortunately I missed hearing about Friday's White Coats for Black Lives protests that occurred outside of the hospital I work in, and on the campus of Emory University, where I completed my residency. Dozens of my physician and nurse friends and colleagues joined the peaceful protests, but it wasn't until I saw photos on my friends' Facebook and Instagram timelines that I found out about these events.

>41 benitastrnad: Cheers to the University of Alabama for its decision to remove and relocate those Confederate plagues plaques. IMO they have no place in a public university dedicated to the higher education of all of the state's best students. Those Confederate statues and plaques that honor the Old South and the Civil War are akin to seeing similar commemorations to Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain, or Idi Amin in Uganda.

>42 PaulCranswick: It isn't only Jamie Oliver that has gotten into trouble with Spanish culinary traditionalists. Some of them also protest loudly over the incorporation of cebollas, or onions, into tortillas españolas, the Spanish tortillas that are a staple of the country's cuisine. Traditionalists think that tortillas should only contain eggs, potatoes, salt and olive oil, and that the inclusion of onions or other ingredients, including chorizo, is a crime. I make my tortillas with a large Vidalia sweet onion, along with 1 kg of potatoes and eight large eggs, along with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. I like the way mine taste — I had a slice for breakfast not long ago — but I'm sure that many Spaniards would turn down their noses or refuse to taste mine.

I suspect that the traditionalists who protested the loudest over Jamie Oliver's paella are from the País Valencià, the Autonomous Community of Valencia, which is where paella was created. I suspect that they would also protest paella mixta, which contains a mixture of meat and seafood, in the way that many people who grew up in or, like myself, lived in south Louisiana decry jambalaya made with chicken and shrimp or fish (I hate it!). I can't definitely say that I've had it, and since I prefer paella de marisco, seafood paella, but I would bet dimes to dollars that it wouldn't be hard to find paella made with chorizo in other parts of Spain. The cookbook that Erik (Oberon) recommended to me, Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes from Spain, does contain a couple of recipes that contain sausage, including chorizo, that come from Spanish restaurants, although the author, who is a Spaniard, does mention that the use of chorizo is considered "heresy" by traditionalists.

Speaking of paella and this cookbook I plan to make Paella de Espinacas, Garbanzos y Piñones (Spanish Spinach, Chickpea and Pine Nut Paella) very shortly.

ETA: The one thing that drives me nuts is hearing some British people attempt to speak Spanish words. Their pronunciations can be absolutely horrific, like listening to fingernails scraping a chalkboard.

>43 kidzdoc: You are braver than I with the baking! I have a few cakes and cookies I make but generally find myself too impatient for it.

I loved Beloved when I read it a few years back though it was a really difficult read. I haven't gotten back to any Morrison since but maybe I should. I have Sula around here somewhere.

Chicago had much the same experience with the protests. A majority of the arrests for looting and other things were people from out of town or even state. It's mind boggling.

Darryl, I've just read The Bluest Eye and would love to read your take on it.

>45 janemarieprice: Thanks, Jane! I'll admit to being surprised that I'm a braver baker than you are. I don't bake much at all, as I've only ever made three desserts, strawberry rhubarb pie, my all time favorite dessert, South African coconut gingerbread, using the recipe that my mother made for us many years ago, and almond chocolate-chip banana bread a few weeks ago. A friend of mine at work is a clinical nutritionist who attended culinary arts school and was a chocolatier at Godiva before she started working at Children's, and Lisa posts and brings in magazine quality breads, cakes and other desserts; she has been the main spark for my decision to try my hand at making breads, something I've been wanting to do for years.

It took me longer than I thought it would to read Beloved, so I certainly agree with you on its difficulty.

Many cities (Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Nashville, Louisville, etc.) experienced property damage inflicted by out of towners, many toting high powered guns, who were seemingly bent on creating chaos and inciting violence. I think that trump should focus on them rather than the so called "Antifa provocateurs", including the 75 year old man in Buffalo who was seriously injured by two out of control police officers and remains in the hospital.

>46 ffortsa: Excellent, Judy. The Bluest Eye may be the next novel by Toni Morrison that I read, depending on what I can find in my favorite independent bookshops. I bought my copy of Beloved from the branch of Posman Books that opened in Atlanta's Ponce City Market, our version of Chelsea Market a couple of years ago, and now that it's back open I'll go there soon, as it's my favorite bookstore in the city and I want to support it as much as possible during the pandemic and afterward.

I am going to make Boston Baked Beans this week and plan to start with dried beans. This will be another adventure in baking for me. I have not done Boston Baked Beans the traditional way, so this is something new.

I am glad to see the experimentation with bread baking that is going on now. Bread baking isn't rocket science, but it does take some knowledge of flour. I also hope that when people make their own bread that they will become more critical of the poor commercial types of bread that are available in the supermarkets so that better bread will be available for purchase. I want to drive Wonder Bread out of business!

Glad you finished Beloved and I appreciate your brief comment that you found it difficult. (ditto >45 janemarieprice: ) I’m crazy high on that book and convinced myself it was her masterpiece. Bluest Eye and Sula are difficult in different ways (although Sula is, well, a lot of things). Song of Solomon is probably my favorite because it’s much more playful than her other novels, highlighting how dark and angry it is. One thing about Beloved is she hides a bit how angry of a writer she was. It’s there, especially when you stop and think about what she’s doing and saying, but the book is also beautiful. She’s more open about that in many of her other novels.

Hmm. Apologies, I might have gotten a little carried away there. Her novels are fun to think about. I should revisit some of them.

>49 benitastrnad: Bread baking has been my consolation during this pandemic because it takes so long and forces me to concentrate on what I’m doing rather than on my anxieties. Kneading the dough helps as well. I am an advocate of using the best ingredients. I use King Arthur Flour or other flour from small, often organic, mills. I found that good recipes make a world of difference as well. I am so glad that Darryl is joining us for bread baking. I personally haven’t done this much bread baking since my hippie days of The Tassajara Bread Book back in the 70s! :D

>44 kidzdoc: I am interested in your report on the chickpea and pine nut paella.

I understand the idea that the Spanish don't want paella to turn into some sort of generalized tourist dish but I am firmly on the side of experimenting with the dishes and if you like chorizo in your paella, by all means use it.

>44 kidzdoc: I'm interested in hearing how the chickpea and pine nut paella turns out too. My husband just tried a new recipe (I think from the NY Times—I'll have to check with him) for pasta with chick peas, parsley, rosemary, and lemon. The thought of chick peas with pasta sounded kind of weird to me, and I'm a pretty adventurous eater... but it was absolutely delicious, definitely one to make again. We're trying to work our way through some of the canned goods we've stocked up on... preparedness is great, but not when you can't get into the back of the cabinet.

I love paella in general, but I don't eat meat or poultry, so I'm definitely an alt-paella girl. Seafood is always good, and I've made an tomato and rice paella that was really good as a side dish.

>44 kidzdoc:, >52 Oberon: I'm interested in a serving of the vegetarian (?) spinach, chick pea, pine nut paella. ;)

>44 kidzdoc: & >52 Oberon: It seems to be the use of the word "paella" that they are being protective of. Personally I love chicken and chorizo and can see the good sense of putting it in the rice dish, whatever it should be called!

I couldn't pronounce Spanish well either, Darryl, with my rounded Northern vowels. Funny that my Bahasa Melayu is so proficient and reasonably accent free.

>49 benitastrnad: Good luck with making Boston baked beans this weekend, Benita. Please let me/us know how it turns out.

Bread baking isn't rocket science, but it does take some knowledge of flour.

I agree wholeheartedly. I knew nothing about bread until three weeks ago, when I first tried the NYT No Knead Bread recipe using White Lily all purpose (low protein) flour, and after it hardly rose I did a Google search and learned the differences between low protein and high protein flours in making breads. I had an "aha" moment after I did so, as this explained why the wonderfully fluffy Southern buttermilk biscuits I made several years ago using Publix all purpose flour, which has a relatively high protein content, turned out as dense hockey pucks when I used White Lily flour instead. I suspect that the vast majority of novice and casual cooks like myself know nothing about the different types of flours, and I still have a lot to learn!

I also hope that when people make their own bread that they will become more critical of the poor commercial types of bread that are available in the supermarkets so that better bread will be available for purchase. I want to drive Wonder Bread out of business!

Amen to that. There are plenty of perfectly fine breads that are available in any supermarket, particularly Manischewitz's pumpernickel and rye breads, and Pepperidge Farms's white, wheat and multigrain breads. One of Manischewitz's main plants was located in my home town of Jersey City, not far from where we lived, and IIRC the plant had a small store that sold "day old bread", so we always had pumpernickel and rye breads at home, which are perfect for deli meat and cheese sandwiches. When we moved to the Philadelphia suburbs when I was a teenager many people ate Stroehmann's white bread, the local equivalent of Wonder bread, which my family and I called "air bread", as it was incredibly light and utterly tasteless. I would much rather have artisan breads, but I won't turn up my nose at Manischewitz or Pepperidge Farms bread.

BTW, have you been to Buckhead Bread Company, on Piedmont Avenue just south of Peachtree Road? (It's on the right, at the first traffic light if you're coming from Peachtree Road.) It makes fantastic breads, cakes, pies and other sweets made on the premises, and often times if I go there first thing in the morning some of the breads will be just coming out of the oven, and are too hot to put into plastic bags. My other favorite "bread" place in Atlanta is Emerald City Bagels, on Glenwood Avenue just off of Moreland Avenue (barely south of I-20) in East Atlanta, which bakes their bagels on the premises. Their bagels are as close to a good Brooklyn bagel as any place I've found outside of NYC, and they have attracted a huge following in their short existence, particularly from transplants like myself from the Northeast.

I don't know if you read or heard that this year's Decatur Book Festival as we know it has been cancelled. Instead there will be 15 online author events starting in September, and the lineup will be announced next month. My other favorite book festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, will also be a virtual event, but there will be 100 authors who will participate.

>50 dchaikin: Great comments about Beloved and Toni Morrison's other novels, Dan! It certainly was a passionate, vivid and moving masterpiece, and I'll certainly reread it somewhere down the line, probably after I retire and have more time to read.

>51 SqueakyChu: I made one last (for the time being) loaf of No Knead Bread yesterday, which I gave to my physician neighbors in exchange for a bottle of Tempranillo last night. That was the best loaf of the four I've made, and I'm glad that I waited to give them that loaf, as the one I made on Tuesday with Publix all purpose flour wasn't as flavorful as the ones I made on Sunday and Wednesday with King Arthur Artisan Bread Flour. I have the equivalent of a full loaf of bread, so it will be at least a couple of weeks before I make any more.

While it is absolutely the right thing to do, I'm still disappointed that this year's festival is cancelled. On the bright side, this does mean that I have a good shot at having all the books purchased at previous festivals read before the next one!

>52 Oberon: My post in >44 kidzdoc: had a typo; it should have read Spinach, Chickpea and Pine Nut Paella. I did make it yesterday afternoon, and it turned out well.



My 12 inch paella pan wasn't quite large enough to fit the 6 cups of stock, white wine and liquid from the canned chickpeas, so I ended up adding it, risotto style, to the pan as I cooked it on the stovetop before putting it in the oven, and I kept adding stock to the paella until the rice was cooked al dente, then covered it with aluminum foil out of the oven for 10 minutes. The recipe in Penelope Casas's e-book calls for 16 cloves of garlic; does it say that amount in your copy of Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishese from Spain? I adore garlic, so that was perfectly fine with me.

I agree; I see no reason why chorizo/chouriço is absolutely forbidden in paella. It's not as if you're adding whipped cream and strawberries on top!

>53 lisapeet: Hmm...that chickpea pasta sounds interesting. I'll have to look up that recipe...I think I found it, although this pasta calls for spinach instead of parsley:

Creamy Chickpea Pasta With Spinach and Rosemary

I would rather have paella de mariscos or paella negra, both seafood paellas, so I'm with you on that count. I'll look for seafood in my favorite Latino supermarket when I go shopping next week, and I'll find a recipe in the Paella! cookbook to try.

>54 ELiz_M: Come on over, Liz! There's plenty of vegetarian paella for you and Erik. 😎

>55 PaulCranswick: I agree, Paul. Chicken and Andouille sausage (the Cajun version, not the French one, which is somewhat similar to chorizo/chouriço) go well together in jambalaya and other Louisiana staple recipes, so I see no reason why they couldn't go together in paella.

I do want to try an authentic paella valenciana, along with paella de pato, duck paella. I can get duck and rabbit in an international farmers' market just east of Atlanta, and I'll stop there next week or the week after to buy ingredients and try recipes in the cookbook.

It seems that most Americans know how to pronounce Spanish vowels and consonants properly, whereas many Brits apparently don't. I've heard British citizens, television announcers and video bloggers pronounce paella as "pie-EL-uh" instead of the proper "pie-AY-uh", as "ll" is pronounced like the letter "y". (However, the Catalan "l•l", as in the word "Paral•lel", is pronounced like the letter "l", although the "l" sound is lengthened and emphasized more than a single letter "l".)

56 it will be at least a couple of weeks before I make any more.

Like with everything else I make, part of my bread also goes into the freezer. After a bread I make cools, I slice it into sections which will last about two or three days. In that way, I can keep them at room temperature and not allow any of them time to get moldy. Frozen defrosted bread tastes fresh, but not bread put into the refrigerator. We don't have a bread box (nor any room to put one). I always thought that the dark environment of a bread box might make bread mold faster, but I'm not sure. I keep our bread in a plastic bag on our kitchen table.

Like Madeline, I put bread in the freezer quite a lot - even those I buy at the grocery store - because I don't go through a loaf fast enough to keep it out. I'll defrost it as I need it, and can't really tell the difference.

I tried the Tomato-Poached Fish With Chile Oil and Herbs recipe you recommended today, and let me tell you it was fabulous! I'll definitely be making that again and am already looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

>58 kidzdoc: This is the chickpeas and pasta with parsley recipe: Lemony Pasta With Chickpeas and Parsley. But wow, that other one looks delicious. I do love the chick pea and spinach combo in Indian food.

I'll participate in this weekend's readathon in the 75 Books group, and I hope to finish How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi; Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid by William D. Lopez, which concerns an immigration raid close to the campus of the University of Michigan in 2013, and the negative effects that raids like this one have on communities, families and individuals; and The Emigrants by George Lamming, a classic novel written in 1954 about the Windrush Generation, the first group of British subjects from the Caribbean who emigrated to the UK following the British Nationality Act 1948 to seek better educational and employment opportunities in the "mother country", but were subjected to extreme racism, segregation and limited resources. I'll also continue my Journey to Portugal with José Saramago.

>59 SqueakyChu: That's a good idea, Madeline. I may do that once I start making more bread, or even with the loaf I made on Tuesday, which is sitting in a plastic bag on my kitchen table.

I'll probably make another loaf of almond chocolate chip banana bread tomorrow, as I have four bananas that are very ripe.

>60 bell7: I'm glad that you liked the fish recipe! Did you make fish tacos, or have the fish by itself? I'll definitely make more tacos this weekend.

>61 lisapeet: Thanks, Lisa. I'll look at both recipes and possibly try one of them next week.

>62 kidzdoc: I bought soft tortillas and made fish tacos. I'll try to remember to post a photo on the readathon thread this weekend too, since we had talked about it last weekend. Thanks for pointing me to the recipe!

>58 kidzdoc: It seems that most Americans know how to pronounce Spanish vowels and consonants properly, whereas many Brits apparently don't.

Most British people will only ever encounter Spanish-speakers as waiters and hotel staff — they don't tend to correct the customers' pronunciation. It's a bit different if you're regularly working with colleagues who speak Spanish, or go to school with them. You can't get away with not being able to pronounce someone's name correctly.

"Paella" is a word that's been fully domesticated for a long time, anyway, at least since the late sixties: the sort of word where you sound pretentious if you attempt an authentic pronunciation (remember Fowler's comment on correct French pronunciation in English: "it is a feat that should not be attempted; the greater its success as a tour de force, the greater its failure as a step in the conversational progress; for your collocutor, aware that he could not have done it himself, has his attention distracted whether he admires or is humiliated.")

Lancashire version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvLKgFdM_6I (I think this song was written in the early seventies)

I love it that you are baking bread - and soon your bread baking machine will be coming via UPS! You will find that as a bread baker you will fall into two camps of bakers: Those who eat their bread immediately because it is so much better than the bread you buy, or those who freeze their bread because they can't eat all of it right away. Sometimes I am one - sometimes the other. But if I have baked two loaves I freeze one. Homemade bread has no preservatives and so it will get moldy quicker unless it is properly stored. That's why I freeze mine if I have an extra loaf.

Sourdough bread stays fresher longer and doesn't get moldy as fast. Another reason to love Herman.

>58 kidzdoc: I check my copy of Paella! and the recipe does indeed call for 16 cloves of garlic minced. Does seem like a lot of garlic but also sounds like it turned out well.

>66 Oberon: Nothing wrong with 16 cloves of garlic, Erik. Will definitely create a vampire free zone!

George Floyd

What is learnt when the color of skin
Is thought enough to do someone in?

On George Floyd's neck, a knee
"I cannot breathe", was the plea;
But they wouldn't relent
Until a man's life was spent.

For the passing of a small bill
Who thought it right to kill?

We should all stand with our black brothers
So that there may be no others
That die in fear and pain
Just as Abel slew Cain

We must hang our heads in shame -
When shall all men be treated the same?

I've fallen way behind on reviews again. I should be able to catch up over the next 2-1/2 weeks, though, before I return to work on July 9th.

Book #27: The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane, translated from the Portuguese by David Brookshaw

  

My rating:

This superb novel, written by Mozambique's first published female novelist and expertly translated from the Portuguese by David Brookshaw, is narrated by Rami, a modest southern Mozambican woman who has been faithfully married to a police chief in the capital of Maputo for the past 20 years, but is disturbed by the increasing frequency of Tony's nights spent away from home and his inattention to her. She soon learns that he has taken on another lover, which is not uncommon in this patriarchal society that accepts and celebrates male infidelity, permits polygamy as a cultural norm, and looks the other way when wives are abused and beaten by their husbands, while expecting these women to serve their men the best parts of their homecooked meals while kneeling in servitude and gratitude. Rami encounters her rival, and after a violent argument they become allies. Soon Rami finds out that Tony has taken on three other lovers, none of whom are completely satisfied with their lot. After he refuses to give up his lovers Rami befriends these four women, who come up with a plot to confront Tony as one, and shame him into becoming a respectable provider and lover to all of them. Tony, however, has other ideas.

The First Wife portrays the repressed lives of women in modern Mozambican society while also being easily readable and often lighthearted and humorous, and demonstrates the power of collective action of women in a society that falsely claims that it respects and values them. Despite being nearly 500 pages in length this was a quick and very enjoyable and educational novel, and I hope to read more of Paulina Chiziane's work.

HarperCollins’s Amistad Press, the oldest publisher devoted to multicultural voices, issued a challenge to all readers last Sunday to purchase two books by Black writers from June 14-20, to demonstrate the power of particularly Black readership to the large publishers, who historically do not give authors of color the same representation as they do White authors. I have hundreds of books by authors from the African diaspora and Latinx writers, but in support of this worthy effort I purchased books from Bookshop.org writtten by two of my favorite African women authors that will hopefully be chosen for next month's Booker Prize longlist, Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe), and The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia). I'll probably read both books next month.

  

I also purchased two books by leading African American figures last week, Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011-2017, and the Democratic candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2018, who "lost" a very close election to Brian Kemp, who at the time was the Georgia Secretary of State and in charge of elections, who denied thousands of eligible voters, most of whom were African American, from being able to vote in the election for dubious reasons (yes, this happened in 2018, not 1958). Abrams unsuccessfully contested the election result (again, this is Georgia), but has remained in the public spotlight and is (or was) reportedly one of the potential candidates to join Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, along with the Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha-Lance Bottoms, another very impressive leader. I also bought the Kindle version of Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America by Jonathan Scott Holloway, an academic historian who was formerly Dean of Yale College, Provost of Northwestern University, and, as of July 1st, he will be the first African American President of Rutgers University, my undergraduate alma mater, in its 254 year history.



  

Because yesterday was Juneteenth, and given the current climate in this country, I've decided to read several books by African American authors this weekend:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (reread)
Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lorde
Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey
March Book 1 by John Lewis (This is also a reread; I purchased the entire three part set earlier this month, and since I haven't read Book 1 in several years I wanted to give it another go, before moving on to the other two books. Mr Lewis, who has been my United States Congresman since I moved to Atlanta in 1997, is currently battling advanced pancreatic cancer, and I want to read these books, along with his autobiography, Walking With the Wind, this summer.)

My friend Katie (katiekrug) from the 75 Books group posted a link to a list of recommended reads by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library, which I think is a great resource:

Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List

I finished How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, which spoke to me about my own racist assumptions and practices more than anything else I've ever read. It was easily a 5 star read, and since I highlighted the heck out of it I'll go through it again and take notes before I write a review of it next week. I've also read several other outstanding books this month that have earned 5 stars from me, including Beloved by Toni Morrison, and A Portable Paradise, a poetry collection by Roger Robinson that won this year's T.S. Eliot Prize.

Today is also World Refugee Day, and Charlotte (charl08) from the 75 Books group posted a link to a list of recommended Books About Exile from refugeeweek.org.uk.

I love book lists (don't we all?), so i looked through it earlier this morning to see which books I own, and which ones I've read:

Books read (*recommended):
*By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah (I absolutely loved this!)
*Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugrešić (meh)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (I didn't like this as much as most readers did.)
*Small Island by Andrea Levy (National Theatre at Home is currently broadcasting the 2019 production that I saw at the NT last May, and I can highly recommend it as well.)
*What Is the What by Dave Eggers (This autobiographical novel is set in Clarkston, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta, which has a large and diverse refugee population, especially from Sudan and the former Yugoslavia. I spent one afternoon a week in a primary care pediatrician's office in Clarkston during my last year of residency, and routinely saw the children of Sudanese and Yugoslavian refugee immigrants for well child and sick visits.)
*You Must Set Forth at Dawn: A Memoir by Wole Soyinka (I attended a very memorable talk that he gave in Oakland, California in 2006 shortly after the book was published in the US, which was preceded by about 30 minutes of Nigerian music and dancing.)

I also saw the play based on Woyzeck by Georg Büchner at The Old Vic in 2017 that starred John Boyega, but I haven't yet read the novel, along with the play based on Danton's Death by the same author at the National Theatre in 2007 or 2009. Both plays were superb.

Books I own but haven't read:
Aké: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa
Collected Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (I own The Library of America edition and have read Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories so far.)
Dalila by Jason Donald (I attended his talk about the book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2017 and purchased a signed copy of it then.)
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming
Let the Wind Speak by Juan Carlos Onetti
Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
Stick Out Your Tongue by Ma Jian
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The one book not mentioned that I can highly recommend is Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference by Warren St John, which, like What Is the What, is set in the refugee community of Clarkston, Georgia. St John, while a staff writer for The New York Times, wrote an article about the refugee community in 2007 and its youth soccer team, which named itself "The Fugees", which led to further time and interviews and ultimately this book, which was published in 2009 and is apparently available in the UK.

I also own The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller, which may fit into the refugee category.

I already have books that I plan to read for Juneteenth weekend, but I'll see if I can squeeze in Stick Out Your Tongue by tomorrow night. If not I'll plan to read In the Castle of My Skin next month.

>63 bell7: Your fish tacos looked great, Mary! I made ground turkey tacos earlier this week, and I'll finish off the rest of the seasoned turkey today.

>64 thorold: Yikes. The words paella and tortilla have been "domesticated" here in the United States as well, but I doubt that very many Americans, even those in isolated and homogenized communities, would mispronounce the "ll", probably due to the huge influence of Latin America on our cuisine. (If any Americans have heard any of our fellow citizens say "tor-TILL-uh" please correct me!)

>65 benitastrnad: That's good to know about sourdough bread, Benita. The bread maker I ordered from Williams Sonoma in mid March now apparently won't arrive until the end of July, so I probably won't use it until sometime in August. The Publix on Piedmont Avenue near North Avenue, close to the Fox Theatre, had King Arthur unbleached bread and all purpose flour on sale, and since the organic dark rye flour I ordered from Amazon arrived last night I'll make my first sourdough starter, probably tomorrow, and make my first loaf of sourdough bread sometime next week.

>66 Oberon: Thanks, Erik. Even though I followed the recipe and used 16 cloves of garlic it didn't overpower the paella. (Then again I can seemingly never have too much of it.)

I intend to go to a large international farmer's market next week and purchase duck and/or rabbit, so that I can try the Stewed Rabbit Paella and the Duck Paella, Sevilla Style recipes in the cookbook.

>67 PaulCranswick: Garlic is great for the digestive system, although I don't know if I would serve that much of it in a paella I would make for friends and family!

>68 PaulCranswick: Thanks for that great poem. Atlantans like myself are still upset about the senseless murder of Rayshard Brooks by two APD officers last Friday night, which was captured on video camera for the entire world to see. The officer who shot Brooks twice in the back as he was fleeing was charged with felony murder and is in the county jail, awaiting trial; the other was released on bond.

One thing about the protests in response to the latest round of murders of African Americans by police that made me extremely angry is the blame cast on peaceful protestors on the property damage and looting, and the implication that local African Americans are the ones doing it, including the fire that destroyed the Wendy's restaurant in SE Atlanta where the shooting of Rayshard Brooks occurred. Yes, some opportunistic and criminal African Americans who were not part of the protests undoubtedly took advantage of crowds and robbed stores, especially after sundown, but the ones committing much of the property damage have been White agents provocateurs, either anarchists from the extreme left or anti-government individuals associated with extreme right groups such as the Boogaloo Bois, who are heavily armed and wear fire protective gear. Within the past two hours Atlanta Fire investigators identified one of the two White women who set the fire that destroyed the Wendy's restaurant; photos and videos of both women have been circulating since last weekend, but neither was positively identified until today.

Arrest warrant issued for suspect accused of setting Wendy’s on fire

>70 kidzdoc: off to purchase the Stacey Abrams book. I hope she becomes Biden's running mate.

I hope you are well Darryl.

So much on your thread, Darryl, it's tough to keep up even on my best day :-)

>70 kidzdoc: You remind me that I still have the Gappah in the TBR pile.

>72 kidzdoc: A nice list of TBRs! I've read about five of them, and have a few more. Will check back in to see what your comments are should you get to some of them.

You not only found King Arthur Flour, but King Arthur Flour on sale?!? I finally managed to find a single bag of it at a Publix and the person stocking shelves in that aisle told me that I was very lucky to get it.

>74 Caroline_McElwee: Excellent, Caroline. I'll read Our Time Is Now soon, possibly next week but more likely during the first week in July.

My preference for VP is still Kamala Harris, as she was who I would have chosen as the Democratic nominee for the presidency. Assuming that Biden wins the presidency and does not choose Abrams for his cabinet I'd like to see her run again for the gubernatorial race in Georgia in 2022. She narrowly, um, lost to Brian Kemp two years ago, and, given the rapid influx of people to this state from outside the Deep South (a.k.a. "transplants") and the increased growth of the percentage of Blacks, Asians and Latinx in the general population, combined with the increase in voting in the youngest age group (18-25 yo), I think she would have a very good shot at being the first African American female governor in this country's history.

I'm also encouraged that there are significantly more women of color that are making names for themselves in politics, especially the four members of The Squad: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Presley, and Rashida Tlaib. They represent the future of the Democratic Party, and I hope to see them as state governors, United States senators, or POTUS while I'm still alive.

>75 avaland: Hi, Lois! I still need to read Rotten Row, her collection of short stories set in Harare that preceded Out of Darkness, Shining Light. I had a lovely 10-15 minute conversation with her during the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2018 after her talk about this book, as she was very personable and quite funny.

I'll add this list of Books About Refugees and that link to my reading plans on future threads, and try to read at least a couple of the books that I own in the second half of the year.

>76 RidgewayGirl: Oops. I should have said that I found King Arthur flour for sale rather than on sale. I only paid $3.99 for the 5 lb bag of unbleached all purpose flour, and $4.29 for the same amount of unbleached bread flour, and considering that I paid $9.99 for a 3 lb bag of King Arthur bread flour that I ordered directly from the company it does seem as though I purchased the flours on sale.

One of my partners, who lives in Decatur and whose husband also cooks a lot, was amazed that I was able to find King Arthur flour when I posted a photo of the flours on my Facebook timeline on Tuesday. I told her where I found them, but by the time Sarah got there the flour was gone. She eventually found bread flour yesterday at the Whole Foods Market in Decatur, after going to four other stores first.

It's likely that you'll meet Sarah, and possibly some of my partners, during next year's Decatur Book Festival, as she lives nearby and is a fellow book lover.

I am hoping for the 2021 Decatur Book Festival to happen. And $3.99 is the usual price for King Arthur flour at Publix. Yay to both of us for snagging bags!

I was lucky enough to meet Senator Harris during the days before the mid-terms in 2018. I was phone-banking to remind people to vote and with information on the candidates running and she showed up with the SC candidates and gave us a pep talk. It was on her way to a GOtV rally and a wonderful surprise. She's very charismatic in person and also shorter than me. I'll show you the selfie we took next time I see you. Yes, she would be an excellent choice as Biden's running mate, although I'm hoping Stacey Abrams is chosen. My cousin worked for her several years ago and said she was an excellent boss and he'd work for her again in a minute.

>69 kidzdoc: I will definitely look for The First Wife. Another Archipelago Press book on my wishlist.

>72 kidzdoc: I have read some of the books on your list of books from the books about exile list, and I have noted several more to investigate. I'm curious to hear your comments on Herta Müller's Land of the Green Plums. At the time I read it, I had mixed feelings, but reading my reviews of both it and The Hunger Angel I was disappointed for what seemed my facile reasons. Soul Mountain has been on my TBR forever. Perhaps I will be inspired by your comments and finally get to it.

>73 kidzdoc: blame cast on peaceful protestors on the property damage and looting

Similar situation here; we're a mini version of the national news. There were a few violent incidents in the early days of protests (e.g. police pepper sprayed a pastor), but the protests and sub-protests (e.g. an interfaith vigil, white coats for black lives) have been overwhelmingly peaceful, and the visible agitators have been white. A political organization has recruited "legal observer" volunteers to collect video evidence just in case.

>77 kidzdoc: My preference for VP is still Kamala Harris

I'd personally prefer Stacey Abrams, who combines mission with managerial competence and a nerdy twist, but recognize that VP would be quite a leap professionally (not a question of whether she's up to it, but a question of persuading voters).

>78 RidgewayGirl: I also hope that we have an actual, rather than a virtual, Decatur Book Festival next year!

I hadn't purchased King Arthur flour in a supermarket before Tuesday, so I had no idea what the usual price for it was. I didn't look to see how much it cost when I put the two 5 lb bags in my shopping cart, as I was too excited to find the flour to be concerned about the cost, and I had to look at my receipt yesterday to find out how much I spent on them.

I'm glad to hear that about Kamala Harris; based on what little I know about her, and especially following her Instagram thread, she seems to be very personable and charismatic, which would translate well on the campaign trail.

I think that Stacey Abrams would be an excellent choice as candidate for VP. However, as a Georgia resident I would much rather see her run again in the Georgia gubernatorial race in 2022, as she clearly is the best known and most respected Democratic politician in the state, with the possible exception of my U.S. congressman, John Lewis, with Keisha Lance-Bottoms (KLB), the Mayor of Atlanta right behind her, and at the moment she is, in my opinion, the only potential candidate who could defeat Brian Kemp, the current governor, who could easily win reelection if he isn't challenged by a strong Democratic candidate with name recognition and little in the way of negative baggage. Abrams' past role as Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives for three terms would also help in governing a purple state, and I think that she would have more success as governor than someone who didn't have her experience. I'm also a bit less confident in her as a viable VP candidate as compared to Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, and given Joe Biden's advanced age, there is a realistic possibility that he could be a one term president, or fall ill or even die in office. Given that Harris and Warren were my top two choices as presidential candidates I would feel comfortable with either of them as POTUS if Biden was unable to complete his term in office, much more so than Stacey Abrams at this point in time.

>79 labfs39: Archipelago Books is a superb publishing house. I renewed my subscription for one year in March or April, but I haven't received any books yet, so I'll send them an email next month to find out what's going on.

I haven't enjoyed the two or three books I've read by Herta Müller, but one of my closest LT friends encouraged me to read The Land of Green Plums. It isn't high on my TBR list, so I'm not sure when I'll get to it.

>80 qebo: That's also been the case in other cities which have experienced significant property damage or attacks on the police, including the White woman who set fires to police cars in Philadelphia, the White man who set fire to the historic Courthouse in Nashvile, the armed White man who was caught on video breaking windows of department stores in Minneapolis (who also threated a young African American man that pleaded with him to stop), and the fatal shooting of two law enforcement officers in Oakland and Santa Cruz, CA by White men affiliated with the right wing anti-government group the Boogaloo Bois. One of my closest friends from medical school, who seems to have been converted to a Fox News loving Republican by her racist husband, set me off last weekend by implying that African Americans were responsible for the property damage and shootings, and a few other people I know who really should know better also made similar accusations. Many of my physician and nurse friends of all races here in Atlanta have participated in peaceful protests, particularly the White Coats for Black Lives rallies on Emory University's campus and outside of the hospital, and lumping them and thousands of other people who did not incite riots or damage property is maddening and racist, and it conveniently deflects attention away from the larger issues of police brutality against people of color and social justice.

See my reply to Kay in >78 RidgewayGirl: regarding my preference of Kamala Harris over Stacey Abrams as the Democratic VP candidate. Governor Stacey Abrams has a very nice ring to it.

>81 kidzdoc: Archipelago Books is a superb publishing house. I renewed my subscription for one year in March or April, but I haven't received any books yet, so I'll send them an email next month to find out what's going on.

You should get some books soon-ish I suspect. :) They sent me a mail apologizing a few weeks ago (new subscription after a few years, started sometime in mid-March - just when the world went crazy) about being really behind but that they will send the complete set of books when they do. I got some books some time last week so they are working through their backlog.

>82 AnnieMod: Thanks, Annie!

>82 AnnieMod:, >83 kidzdoc: As they are located in Brooklyn, NY, I suspect the mandatory stay-at-home orders for non-essential businesses impeded their shipping operations. For example, the indie bookstore down the street has been allowing curbside pickup for a couple of weeks, but they haven't been able to receive shipments of books, so I can only purchase what is in stock in that location.

>84 ELiz_M: I just searched my Gmail account, and noticed a message from Archipelago Books sent five days ago, asking if I had received my books, as there was a discrepancy in their database.

>84 ELiz_M:

Yeah, I have a few of those cases in my mailbox as well - small publishers, small bookstores mainly but also some bigger operations that got locked away from their books. It had been a crazy spring. And as some of them are across the pond, things are still crazy.

>85 kidzdoc:

Or that, I guess :) Have fun with your books when they finally show up.

>84 ELiz_M:, >86 AnnieMod::I received an email reply from Emma at Archipelago Books this afternoon, who said that she would have my subscription books sent by Priority Mail, so I should receive them this week.

PSA: I donated a pint of whole blood at my local American Red Cross center this morning, mainly because the NPR affiliate for Atlanta reported last week that supplies for blood and platelets are urgently needed, as hospitals are resuming elective surgeries and because the need for donated blood is higher in the summer months, and especially because the Red Cross is now offering testing of serum antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus. Although I haven't developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2, I have taken care of two or three patients who had COVID-19, along with two or three others with Kawasaki disease or multisystem inflammatory syndrome of childhood earlier this year, before we understood that this can be caused by the novel coronavirus, and, given my exposures to patients, my partners and fellow health care workers in the hospital in my which I work, I'm curious to find out if I'm one of the fortunate people who was infected with the virus but remained asymptomatic. There is no charge for the test, and I should know my result on the Red Cross app on my mobile phone in 7-10 days.

A good friend of mine, a fellow pediatrician in metro Atlanta, also donated blood today on her day off, for the same reasons.

More information: Discover Your COVID-19 Antibody Status

They are doing free antibody testing here, but I've seen a lot of stories about how they aren't super accurate. I haven't read any of the stories closely, so I"m not sure what the deal is. I expect the Red Cross will be using the best test available.

>89 katiekrug: In the beginning of the pandemic companies quickly produced rapid antigen tests and far less rapid antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus. As a primer, since we throw these terms around casually, antigens are proteins on the cell walls of viruses, bacteria and fungi that are unique to each organism, whereas antibodies are proteins produced by B cells, a type of white blood cell, that are specific to each organism and block the organism's ability to infect cells, or allow other parts of the immune system to recognize the infectious organism and kill it.



Apologies — and kudos! — if everyone knows this already.

In the beginning these tests varied in their sensitivity and specificity. Sensitivity, also known as the true positive rate, is a measure of whether the person being tested has the infection, whereas specificity, or the true negative rate, measures those who do not have it. Both are extremely important; a test with high sensitivity more accurately picks up patient with the infection, whereas one with low sensitivity misses a significant number of cases, which is known as false negativity, i.e., the person tests negative for the infection but truly has it. Similarly, a test with low specificity has a high false positive rate, and indicates the person has the infection when she really doesn't. Needless to say high false positive and false negative rates are worrisome, as some people who have the infection will not be diagnosed and treated promptly and properly, whereas those who are not infected may be misdiagnosed and given treatment that could be ineffective or even harmful in some cases.

Right. With that background, companies produced tests quickly, and many of them had low sensitivity and/or specificity. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) began to rigorously evaluate these tests, and those with sufficiently high sensitivity and specificity (95-97% or higher) were given Emergency Use Authorization, whereas other tests were voluntarily withdrawn by the manufacturer or were not deemed acceptable. At the moment, if my information is correct, three antibody tests, which are collected from the serum, have received EUA by the FDA, although manufacturers and researchers continue to evaluate antigen and antibody tests.

Rapid antigen tests are performed from nasopharyngal swabs, and are now being done at certain facilities and testing centers, including some sites operated by CVS (there is one here in Midtown Atlanta, on Georgia Tech's campus). Anyone can get the rapid test at CVS free of charge, provided that they meet criteria for testing and have been referred for testing by a health care provider. In addition to the sensitivity and specificity of the test itself there the potential for operator error that can cause a test to be falsely negative. The swab has to be inserted deep into the nasal cavity using a special swab, and it has to be twirled and left in place for perhaps a minute to ensure accuracy. If testing is performed too soon there may not be enough virus present to give a positive result, and the same holds true if it's done too late in the process. Similarly, it takes time for antibodies to be produced, and if one is tested too early they may be undetectable, and for those with milder infections their antibodies can likewise be undetectable weeks to months after they were infected.

That being said, I'm sure that the Red Cross is using one of the FDA approved antibody tests, one that detects the level of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Those people who have sufficiently high levels will be asked and encouraged to donate plasma (the straw colored liquid that is free of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets) to be used to treat patients with severe COVID-19, which is being done in the US and being investigated for use in the UK and other countries.

I expect that my antibody test will be negative, as the severity of the infection correlates with antibody level. I have been more tired than usual over the past month or so, and required far more sleep than I normally do, and given my known exposure to several COVID-19 patients I wouldn't be completely surprised if I tested positive. Needless to say I would be thrilled if I did test positive, as it may mean that I would be one of the fortunate ones who had the infection with few or no symptoms, and probably would not become seriously ill if my antibody level waned and I was exposed to the virus again.

We've learned a lot about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, but there is still so much that we don't know.

Thanks for the explanation, Darryl!

>90 kidzdoc: That's useful information! Thank you.

>90 kidzdoc: Very helpful information Darryl. My boyfriend and I will likely go to donate blood this week regardless but have been wondering if we didn't have the virus early on when we both had what we thought were bad colds with weird symptoms. It would be good to know especially if we could then give plasma.

>91 katiekrug:, >92 RidgewayGirl:, >93 janemarieprice: You're welcome! I'm glad that explanation was helpful. I should have added that people who donate blood during the month of June will also be given a $5 Amazon gift card. I assume that this is done by email, as I didn't ask for or receive a card after I donated yesterday.

>93 janemarieprice: Right, Jane. There is also a need for convalescent plasma to treat seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients, and since there has been a significant increase in the number of patients diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19 there will be an increasing call for these donations throughout the summer, at least. There are a large number of people here and in Europe who had bad colds that lingered for weeks to months, and we think it's likely that they were infected with SARS-CoV-2.

I should have also mentioned that human coronaviruses are a common cause of childhood respiratory infections, particularly strains OC43, 229E, NL63, and HKU1. We can detect those strains and other viruses that cause respiratory tract infections such as influenza, adenovirus and rhinovirus with a routine respiratory viral panel test. That test does not detect SARS-CoV-2, though, and the coronavirus strains in the test do not cause COVID-19 and are nothing more than routine colds in most children and adults.

ETA: We also know that infection with the common strains of human coronavirus does not provide long lasting or permanent natural immunity, as these viruses have a high mutability rate; they mutate rapidly, and these mutations can be so significant that the antibodies against one serotype (a subtype of a particular viral strain, such as the different types of coronavirus OC43) may not be effective in preventing an infection by another subtype. There have been many serotypes of SARS-CoV-2 that have been identified (I think as many as 30, but don't quote me on that), which makes the development of an effective and long lasting vaccine that much more difficult. Ideally this vaccine will induce the production of neutralizing antibodies against the entire coronavirus family, which will also be helpful in preventing future such infections, as a team of US and Chinese researchers found other novel strains of coronavirus in bats in China that could conceivably cause another pandemic. (Thanks to our great president that collaboration was ended earlier this year.)

>91 katiekrug: This is probably relevant in NJ as well:
https://gothamist.com/news/your-guide-antibody-test-locations-costs-and-accuracy...

ETA: well, maybe not. But at least it gives an idea of some chain testing sites and what labs have better tests.

>95 ELiz_M: Thanks, Liz! That is helpful. The article is nearly a month old, which is almost ancient history in the rapidly changing face of this pandemic, so I would like to know how these costs and testing capabilities have changed since then.

Darryl, I have reviewed your lists of refugees and African-American writers, and put most on my TBR list. I have decided I have been lax in this area. My parents carefully taught me not to be racist, and I have only to castigate myself for not staying as aware as I should be, or "woke", as folks seem to be calling it. I appreciate the lists, as I have not paid the attention I no doubt should. It is many years since I could attend a protest, and now my physical problems would prevent me, but my kids do, thank goodness.

I like Stacey Abrams, and she seems very competent and bright, so no doubt she could handle being VP, but I wish she would do the Governorship first and get more of that kind of experience. Warren was my preference in this coming election, and she would be a great choice, but I don't see Biden choosing her. They have such different agendas! I don't like some of Harris' history, but I may need to look deeper. I think Biden is sure to pick her. She seems personable, and is probably able. Frankly, I'm not thrilled with Biden, but he is certainly preferable to Trump.

I'm in the middle of a good book, Krakatoa, written by Simon Winchester, some of whose other books have pleased me. So far the only criticism I have is that he spends too long for my taste on evaluating the likelihood of some possible eruptions during fairly recent historic times. I'm almost half-way through, and we are just getting to the day of the famous 1883 explosion. I don't begrudge the time spent on the spices that grow in that region, or some of the history of colonial Java and Sumatra. Krakatoa, if you don't know this, is in the strait that passes between those two islands.

That's interesting news about the Red Cross conducting antibody tests at the time of donations. It's time I went and donated again, and I have a brother who will want to know. He had pneumonia in late December, and Diphtheria, he was told! He hasn't been able to get the right kind of testing to rule in or out having had CoVid 19, although, of course, that would be very early for this. He is gay, and they are accepting donations from the gay community now, I understand. He has wanted to donate for a long time.

I continue to enjoy your reviews. I took a week off reading posts because I just had so much else to do, and I am spending more time in bed, because I am having a Fibromyalgia flare, and I feel really mashed, and super tired. I also can't think well due to "Fibrofog". Reading genre fiction has served me well this week.

Hi Darryl, I finally got caught up here! Great, informative, reading as always.

>97 sallypursell: Thanks, Sally. I haven't participated in any protest marches, due to my asthma that usually flares up at this time of year, and especially since I want to do whatever I can to get COVID-19. Had I been working that day I certainly would have attended one of the White Coats for Black Lives protests, either the one that took place on the grounds of the hospital I work at, or the one at Emory University, whre I completed my residency.

I got a lot out of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi; it taught me that I have far more racist beliefs than I would have thought! Coming from a middle class suburban African American family with two college educated parents, I, my brother and my close cousins, all college educated as well, held some of the racist beliefs about poorer African Americans that were popularized in the 1980s, most famously in Bill Cosby's infamous Pound Cake speech in 2004, which I largely agreed with at the time but don't as much now, but I would be lying if I wasn't at least somewhat sympathetic to his comments, or at least was until I read Professor Kendi's book. If I could recommend two books it would be that one and the Library of America's collection of Collected Essays by James Baldwin, which includes Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, and Nobody Knows My Name. That book would be an easy choice for the 10 books I would wish to own if I was stuck on a desert island...or quarantined during a pandemic.

I agree. I'm also fond of Stacey Abrams, but I don't think she has enough leadership experience at this point to be a viable VP candidate. If she or Keisha Lance-Bottoms, my city's major, was to become the VP nominee then Georgians, particularly African Americans and liberal Whites in Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs would come on in droves to vote for her and Biden, which could possibly result in enough Democratic votes to flip the two US Senatorial seats from red to blue; both offices here are up for grabs in November, and they will almost certainly be very close contests. If Abrams doesn't run in the 2022 gubernatorial election another viable candidate would be Michelle Nunn, the daughter of US Senator Sam Nunn. She is currently the president and CEO of CARE USA, the American branch of CARE International, and she lost a fairly close election to current US Senator David Perdue in the 2014 race. I absolutely love her, and I would be pleased as punch if she challenged Brian Kemp in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial race.

I donated one unit of whole blood last Monday, and my negative SARS-CoV-2 aniibody result was available on my Blood Donor app on Sunday afternoon. Supposedly the American Red Cross will offer free testing on whole blood and platelet donations through the summer.

I have been particularly bad at posting reviews this year, even though my reading output has dramatically increased in the past two months, and I've read several outstanding books in that time. Must do better...

>98 rocketjk: Thanks, Jerry! I need to catch up with the threads of other Club Read members, which I'll do this week.

Hey, Dr. Darryl.

We sent the grandkids and their parents packing, and I'm finally getting back on LT. Lots of good discussions here, including about covid-19. Debbi is getting tested this Thursday before her scheduled colonoscopy, and I'll copy your comments on testing to her.

I'm actually glad you're not worn to the bone; I thought the pandemic would have the opposite effect on your schedule. Having extra time off probably isn't so bad as you near retirement. We have a couple of friends who've been at home not working and enjoying it, who talk about how it'll be tough to go back to work after experiencing that.

Good to hear your accolades for How to Be An Anti-Racist. Debbi just bought a copy, and we plan to each read a chapter at a time and then discuss it.

I'm with you, as you know, on Kamala Harris, and Debbi favors Stacey Abrams. But around here, anyway, there's lots of talk of Tammy Duckworth "coming up on the outside", as they say at the racetrack. She's Thai, and would be fine, as far as I'm concerned. She gets under Trump's skin better than most, but I'm not sure how much that gets you if he's dethroned. Debbi and I think it would be better for the country right now to have an African-American woman in the VP spot.

Hi, Joe! Wait a minute...I thought that you and Debbi were going to keep the grandkids, and send their parents packing!

I've read much more during the past two months than in the first four months of the year, as I've finished 20 books in May and June, versus only 11 from January through April. My activity on LT has been greatly diminished, though, as I'm spending more non-reading time keeping up with the medical literature on COVID-19, participating in almost daily WebEx meetings about the pandemic in and outside of the Children's system, and reading articles to get adequate continuing medical education (CME) credits to renew my Georgia medical license in 2021, and apply for a Pennsylvania medical license later this year or next; GA requires 40 CME hours every two years, which is easy to get, whereas PA requires 100 hours/2 years, a much greater task.

Sounds good re: SARS-CoV-2 testing and letting Debbi know. Of course, you and she are welcome to call, text, email, PM etc. me at any time about anything, especially about medical questions or information, including SARS-CoV-2 testing. I'll have her in my thoughts today and tomorrow.

I assume that she's had colonoscopies in the past and is familiar with the procedure.

Not only am I not worn to the bone, I'm getting bored with inactivity, as I haven't worked since May 31st, as June is my vacation free month off from work, which I earn by working extra shifts during the previous autumn and winter months from November through February. I had planned to spend the entire month in Portugal, learning Intensive Portuguese and meeting up and discussing retirement plans with DB (deebee1), one of my two original LT friends along with Akeela (akeela), both of whom invited me to join the 75 Books group over a decade ago. Sadly the pandemic caused me to cancel that trip, and yesterday's (correct) decision by the European Union to ban American travelers from entry into its member states, I may not be able to return to Lisbon until next June, which will further delay my retirement, and possibly make it less likely that I will retire there (although I seriously hope not!).

It will be tough to go back to work next Thursday, after being off for 5-1/2 weeks, but within a day or two I'm usually back into the swing of things.

I'm glad that you're both going to read How to Be an Antiracist and discuss it between yourselves. I'm seriously thinking about going through it again as well. If you two are interested in having a third person to discuss it with privately I would be happy to participate with you, but I can also understand if you wish to do so amongst yourselves. Granted, it may be much more difficult to do that online than face to face.

I would be in full support of Tammy Duckworth as Biden's VP choice. She's smart, tough, and may give Trump and Pence a tougher opponent, as Trump would probably be vilified — at least by non-MAGATs — if he chose to say anything about her disability or gender. More importantly, though, I think she would make an excellent POTUS.

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I am not absolutely wedded to the desire to have an African American female VP, although I do strongly agree with Biden that a woman, particularly one of color, would be highly preferable. Having Abrams as VP is now a much more intriguing and desirable choice — not that I'm opposed to her, by any means, but because I'm concerned that she may not be ready to step in if Biden falls ill or dies in office — but because it may be the boost needed to shift the balance in the US Senate from red to blue. Let's see...there are currently 53 Republican senators, 45 Democratic ones, and two independents. The number of Democratic voters outweighed the Republican voters in last month's primary election, and in the 2016 presidential election 2.5 million Georgians did not vote. If Abrams or Keisha Lance-Bottoms are running alongside Joe Biden there is a great chance that both of our current senators could lose their seats after the November election, which is being widely recognized here; I'm listening to NPR Morning Edition now, and at the top of the hour the Atlanta affiliate, WABE, spoke with a member of the Georgia Democratic Party, who also mentioned this possibility of flipping these seats.

ETA: Speaking of COVID-19, how is Chicago and Illinois doing? Georgia isn't doing well at all, especially in the small and rural communities outside of Atlanta.

>100 jnwelch: I should have also mentioned that last month I bought a copy of Stacey Abrams' latest book, Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose and the Fight for a Fair America. I'll read it later this month or sometime in August.

Planned reads for July:

Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present by Frank M. Snowden
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin ✅
Journey to Portugal by José Saramago
March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell ✅
March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell ✅
Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli ✅
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

See if you can view the film " If Beale Street Could Talk" as well- it was an amazing film and deserved more awards that it got!
I really liked The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates I think his first work of fiction?

>104 torontoc: Thanks, Cyrel! I'll be on the lookout for the movie.

Yes, as far as I know The Water Dancer was Ta-Nehisi Coates' first novel. I'll almost certainly read it, probably next year.

It's good to know you are well, Darryl. Are you concerned about going back to work? The uptick in new COVID cases is concerning.

I'm another who is reading How to Be an Antiracist right now, and it is an eye opener.

I love Trethewey's writing. Monument is a good collection.

>106 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. Yes, I am very concerned about going back to work next week, especially because the number of people in diagnosed with COVID-19 and the number of people hospitalized with the infection are both skyrocketing. This is a chart created by Dr Amber Schildtke, an epidemiologist at Mercer University in Macon, GA, that shows the hospitalizations through time for the past two months in Georgia:



That chart is from Tuesday. Her report from yesterday, posted a few hours ago, said that Wednesday was the worst day Georgia has had since the pandemic began, with a record number of new cases in a day (2946), which is considerably higher than the previously daily record (2225), along with the greatest number of hospitalized patients in the state as well. ICUs in Georgia are operating at 78% capacity, and that number is guaranteed to rise throghout this month.

Independence Day is on Saturday, and millions of people throughout the United States will flock to crowded beaches and parks, hold private parties, and visit crowded bars and restaurants, as a disturbingly large percentage of people aren't wearing masks or practicing social distancing, think that wearing masks could kill them or is against the Word of God, don't believe that there is a pandemic or that scientists and medical experts are greatly exaggerating the situation (they frequently point to the declining mortality rate as an indicator of this, rather than considering that the main reason for this is that physicians have learned how to treat and cure many people who would have died in March and April), or believe that they will only contract a mild infection (which is statistically true) and don't consider that they could pass the virus to more vulnerable people for whom the infection could be serious or fatal. Yesterday it was widely reported that students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the main campus of the University of Alabama and several other colleges, were holding off campus COVID parties. According to ABC News:

Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry reportedly said that students had organized COVID-19 parties in an attempt to infect each other on purpose.

"They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense," McKinstry told ABC News. "They're intentionally doing it."

I fear that by late July we will be in possibly the worst health crisis this country has seen since the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, with hospitals that are completely full, especially intensive care units, and critically ill patients unable to get adequate treatment due to a shortage of beds and health care providers. Tony Fauci testified on Capitol Hill earlier this week, and told senators that there could be 100,000 or more daily cases of COVID-19 soon, which is more than double the current rate, and although the vast majority of infected people will experience mild symptoms, hundreds of thousands will require hospital care, which will inundate and overwhelm the US health system. Over 130,000 Americans have died so far from COVID-19, and by year's end that number will double, and possibly triple or quadruple, IMO.

How to Be an Antiracist has revealed more about me and my own racist beliefs than I thought that it would.

I'm also a fan of Natasha Trethewey's work, and I regret not attending one of her public lectures in Atlanta when she taught at Emory, my residency alma mater, which is about a 15 minute drive from where I live.

>99 kidzdoc: I just started How to be an Antiracist Darryl. I suspect like everyone else I will have a lot to learn from it. There is a lot going on about improving our organisation in relation to race at the moment.

>107 kidzdoc: I was wondering when we would get a reaction on here from an American living in a state where the virus could be spinning out of control. I think it is quite clear that in most of Europe the virus is acting at a lower level, but it is still there and we will see rising cases of infection throughout the summer. Where I live in rural France people are being reasonably cautious, but in my opinion there are not enough people wearing masks or keeping a social distance.

As for the UK I think they are on a knife edge they are opening up before the virus infection rate is at a low enough level and I have yet to see a picture of Boris Johnson wearing a mask.

Did you get a chance to watch the PBS two-part documentary titled And She Could Be Next. It was aired as part of the POV program.

I watched it both nights and it was a fascinating look at what it took to get several women elected to congress and state wide offices. Here is the blurb about the documentary.

And She Could Be Next tells the story of a defiant movement of women of color who are transforming American politics from the ground up. The documentary series, filmed from 2018 through 2019, follows forward-thinking candidates and organizers across the country, asking whether democracy itself can be preserved —and made stronger— by those most marginalized. The episodes center individuals at the heart of the movement behind the New American Majority, including: Stacey Abrams (Georgia), Bushra Amiwala (Skokie, IL), Maria Elena Durazo (Los Angeles, CA), Veronica Escobar (El Paso, TX), Lucy McBath (Atlanta, GA), Rashida Tlaib (Detroit, MI) and Nse Ufot, Executive Director of the New Georgia Project.

I was so impressed with these women. They are wonderful. I hope that they can keep their offices long enough to do some good. They made me proud.

Some of the outcomes of these elections weren't positive but all of the candidates faced the results with dignity. In the case of Stacy Abrams and the crew that surrounded her they ended with the determination to keep up the fight. At the end the woman who was in charge of Abrams election campaign said that it was clear that they were going to have to cover the same ground that the civil rights workers of the 1950's and 60's had done as the results of those victories had been allowed to slide. She said that the first order of business was to get everybody in Georgia registered and then get them out to vote in the upcoming elections. The system in Georgia was going to have to change from the bottom up.

It is certainly worth taking the time to watch this documentary.

>108 Caroline_McElwee: Excellent, Caroline. I look forward to your take on How to Be an Antiracist.

>109 baswood: I was wondering when we would get a reaction on here from an American living in a state where the virus could be spinning out of control.

*series of deleted expletives*

I am almost speechless at the inadequate response of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to the pandemic. He, like many other Southern Republican governors who openly support President Trump, knuckled under to public pressure, especially from the Reopen Georgia movement, which promised a huge protest in front of the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta in favor of eliminating the state's shelter-in-place order that was set to expire on 30 April. The day before the protest Kemp announced that he would not renew the order, making Georgia the first state in the country to do so, which led to the cancellation of the protest and actually earned him a mild rebuke from President Trump, who felt that Kemp was moving too quickly. Initially things were going relatively well here, as the number of daily cases decreased during the month of May, but starting roughly one week after the Memorial Day holiday (25 May), as people flocked to crowded beaches, parks and private parties, the number of cases increased dramatically, as far too many people stopped wearing masks, and did not shelter in place or practice social distancing. The Intown Atlantans I saw did an excellent job in practicing these public health measures, but I'm told from others that it was a very different story once you passed outside of the immediate metropolitan area. As a result, the measures taken in March to control the pandemic have gone to naught, as we're actually worse off now than we've ever been, and the situation is likely to worsen even further by the middle of this month.

Kay is from South Carolina, and I'm sure she'll have something to say as well.

Georgia and most Southern states are doing so poorly that their residents, similar to American citizens wishing to travel to the UK, must quarantine upon arrival to New Jersey, New York, Connecticut...and Chicago



I wouldn't be surprised if Philadelphia or Pennsylvania took similar measures soon. I plan to drive instead of fly to visit my parents next month, a nearly 800 mile journey that will take 12 hours if I do it nonstop — which I won't. It would be nice to use my SUV while I'm there, but I worry that, if quarantine rules are in place, that I could get pulled over by local police because of having a Georgia license plate, and possibly fined if I can't prove that I've been in Pennsylvania for at least 14 days. In the ultimate worst case scenario I may have to postpone my trip, although that's the last thing I want to do now.

I think it is quite clear that in most of Europe the virus is acting at a lower level, but it is still there and we will see rising cases of infection throughout the summer. Where I live in rural France people are being reasonably cautious, but in my opinion there are not enough people wearing masks or keeping a social distance.

Here we all knew that a rise in cases after shelter in place restrictions were relaxed was inevitable, but I don't think anyone, even the biggest critics of the "too soon" reopenings, thought that Georgia, and the United States, would be in even worse shape than before. The biggest concern for us health care profesionals, other than getting sick ourselves, is the significantly increased number of hospitalizations, especially in ICUs (Intensive Care Units) that are beginning to fill up with COVID-19 patients. Houston is in particularly bad shape, and I understand that Texas Children's Hospital in Houston is now caring for some adult patients with COVID-19, as the children's hospitals, such as the one I work in, are in much better shape in terms of capacity than their adult counterparts are.

As for the UK I think they are on a knife edge they are opening up before the virus infection rate is at a low enough level and I have yet to see a picture of Boris Johnson wearing a mask.

My British friends, mostly past and present members of LibraryThing who I see at least twice a year when I travel on holiday to London, have made similar comments on my Facebook timeline this week. They are particularly concerned about Boris Johnson's decision to reopen pubs in England starting tomorrow.

>110 benitastrnad: Thanks, Benita! I started watching And She Could Be Next yesterday on PBS Passport, after I saw your message; I didn't know about it, as I almost never watch television, save for the PBS NewsHour, my favorite TV program. I was glad to see Rashida Tlaib profiled first, and I'll definitely return and watch both episodes of this series.

>111 kidzdoc: I for one will not be queuing for the pub at 6am, yup, no typo. If, as we've seen on some of our beaches, some folk can't be trusted to be sensible when they are sober, how the hell can they be trusted when they are drunk?

>111 kidzdoc: I wouldn't be surprised if Philadelphia or Pennsylvania took similar measures soon.
https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/07/pa-officials-say-travelers-coming-f...
This doesn't appear to be mandatory or enforced though I can understand your worry about attracting the attention of police. We're having trouble enough enforcing basic rules for people who live here. Neighborhood forums are rampant with posts about stores where a notable proportion of customers are not wearing masks, even though masks are now required inside businesses and outside when 6' distance can't be maintained. A recent incident at the downtown farmers market: a man walked through and bought a bagel without a mask and with an assault rifle... which is completely legal because the building is owned by the city and is therefore a public space.

>112 Caroline_McElwee: Knowing you personally, Caroline, I have a hard time envisioning you waiting in line to enter a pub at 6 am tomorrow! Do pubs in the UK normally open that early? Do they serve alcohol that early?! (I'm asking the wrong person, correct?)

>113 qebo: Thanks, Katherine. I'm not the least bit surprised that Governor Wolf took that step, especially since NY, NJ and CT did so earlier. As the article mentioned I have no idea how that quarantine directive will be enforced, though, especially for people like me who plan to drive to Pennsylvania rather than fly and have no documented proof of when they left Dixie* or entered the state.

A recent incident at the downtown farmers market: a man walked through and bought a bagel without a mask and with an assault rifle... which is completely legal because the building is owned by the city and is therefore a public space.

SMDH. If that isn't a perfect representation of America in 2020 I don't know what is. Unbelievable. The only thing worse would have been if he threatened people who wore masks with his assault rifle, or massacred them after they refused to take them off.

*I mentioned to the person who originally posted that image in >111 kidzdoc: on Instagram this morning that it looked like the former Confederate States of America finally succeeded in seceding from the North, and convinced Iowa to also become a slave state.

>111 kidzdoc: That map says everything about the state of this country, doesn't it? Overlaid with your gun-carrying bagel buyer. (Not yours)... you know what I mean.

I've seen some social media blowback on How to Be an Antiracist on social media, which I guess isn't surprising because every piece of culture and media is being subjected to such enormous scrutiny and criticism. Which is overall good, I think—sunlight being the best disinfectant etc.—although also subject to the pile-on, plus social media has such cults of personality that you can also get the opposite effect, where people jump on the bandwagon because they agree with the person commenting, rather than the comment. But they did have some points that were worth listening to, which were that this shouldn't be read in a vacuum—it shouldn't be the only book white people read about antiracism and then think their work is done (it's never done, I think), and that it's more of a book of binary definitions: this is racism, this is antiracism. And while I agree on that last point, I think that's very useful. I found a lot in there to think about when I read it in early February, which feels like another lifetime ago. But yeah, not the only book anyone should read on the subject. I would like to read Stamped from the Beginning at some point.

I know we are a bookish crowd here, and I am happy for all the authors whose work has landed on the best seller lists, but some of the answers aren't found in books. They are in observations and in experience. Reading books does allow me to live many different lives through the words on the page, but I sometimes wonder about my academic friends who don't seem to see what is going on around them. Have they never really noticed the militarization of the police? This is something that I remember being written about ten years ago when the military industrial complex started dumping all kinds of military equipment into police units all over the country. My little town in Kansas (population 120) got a HumVee for the Volunteer Fire Department that was not needed. (most of the farmers own their own 4-wheel drive pickups.). They weren't about to bounce around in a HumVee even if it was free.

Then I wonder about all the election problems we have. It is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Even with that in place there was a fight over the ERA in the 1970's and not much has changed for women. Now I am outraged at the gerrymandering and vote manipulation I see all around me and think didn't we take care of that in 1964? I think that Stacey Abrams is right - we have to be vigilante and vote differently or all that work is for naught.

The run-off election for U.S. Senator here in Alabama will be on July 14th and I am appalled at the two candidates. Both of them are over 70. I wonder why we can't get qualified people with different points-of-view to run instead of two old white men who look like carbon copies of decrepitude? That is why I can say that the PBS show last week on the variety of women who were running for office made me think that there is hope. Stacey Abrams may have been the shining star of the bunch, but the fact that women of all kinds were elected to office is a good thing. We need to work as hard on getting people out to vote as we do on getting them to read.

I guess I am a bit discouraged and not feeling that patriotic today. I keep thinking of the July 4th two years ago when I went to get BBQ and was berated by the old man at the cash register for speaking up and saying that Democrats were patriotic too. He was glad to inform me that was not possible and when my 2 pounds of pork was ready refused to serve me. Another person behind the counter had to hand it over to me.

I am burying my head in the sand today and am reading a YA fantasy about elves and goblins!

Jumping in a bit late here, but appreciate all the info and points of view. I am very concerned about Biden's health and his ability to make sound decisions without being manipulated. I hope he selects a strong running mate who could be ready and qualified to step in as POTUS, since that would be a real possibility.

I have been very discouraged about the destruction and vandalism of the Veterans' memorials and VA offices in Washington D.C. that occurred in May. My dad was a WWII Navy veteran and my husband is a Vietnam veteran. I have visited the memorials in Washington D.C. and appreciate that my family is remembered there. Why dishonor those who served so that we can have the freedoms that we do? Those memorials belong to all Americans.

>114 kidzdoc: well, it's true pubs aren't my natural home, though I do like a good country pub Darryl. No, 6am is not the usual opening time. Some central London pubs started opening at 8am to serve breakfast, I've been to one near work, but I don't think they serve alcohol at that time.

How to be an Anti-Racist is something that I have seen recommended several times Darryl, but I have several others on a similar topic to read first: Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire By Akala and How to Argue with A Racist by Adam Rutherford. Actually we had two of the first two titles: I had bought them bought some time ago when they came out in paperback, and then J bought both of them again within the last few weeks! At least it has prompted us to sort our bookshelves so that can see what books we have got!

On Tuesday we have our book club meeting (via Zoom) and one of our members is a senior administrator at the local hospital. Last time we met it was encouraging that she reported that the number of patients with COVID-19 was very much reduced from the peak, and I hope that she Is able to report that that has continued.

>115 lisapeet: That map says everything about the state of this country, doesn't it? Overlaid with your gun-carrying bagel buyer. (Not yours)... you know what I mean.

Right. I couldn't help but notice the use of red and blue colors to represent each state, which, with the exception of California, mirrors the cultural and political divides in this country, and in many cases the political party of each governor's states, especially in the South, where only Louisiana and North Carolina have democratic governors. I would also surmise that the states with a predominance of conservatives, especially loyal Trump supporters, are the ones who are less likely to wear masks, shelter in place and practice social distancing, although Southern states have "spots of blue in a sea of red", cities and college towns that are more liberal, diverse and better educated than in other areas; there's a huge difference between Atlanta, Athens, home of the University of Georgia, and much of the rest of the state, although obviously that can be said for most if not all 50 states.

I'm not the least bit surprised that How to Be an Antiracist has received negative reviews and harsh criticism, and I assume that most of it is coming from far right conservatives who are opposed to social justice, racism and the Black Lives Matter movement, who in all likelihood haven't read the book, although I'm sure there are legitimate criticisms from fair minded people who have read it as well. I certainly agree with the comment that it should not be the only book about racism that any of us reads, and I'll bet dimes, no, pennies to dollars that Professor Kendi would heartily agree. Even if one considers anti-Black racism How to Be an Antiracist doesn't replace the brilliant essays and works by James Baldwin, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, Frantz Fanon and untold numbers of fellow Black intellectuals, which may not be focused specificially on antiracism but add to the collective trove of writings about it. Kendi's book also doesn't delve into the unique forms of racism faced by Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Latinx, Native Americans, and Asians, especially in 21st century America where immigrants of color and religious minorities are vilified and privately and publicly despised based solely on their appearance.

My copy of Stamped From the Beginning is at my parents' house just north of Philadelphia, so I'll get to it when I see them next month — provided that Pennsylvania hasn't closed its borders to us Southern folks by then. 😎

>116 benitastrnad: I know we are a bookish crowd here, and I am happy for all the authors whose work has landed on the best seller lists, but some of the answers aren't found in books. They are in observations and in experience.

Amen to that. It's far easier to hold prejudical opinions about a group of people if you don't work or attend classes with, live next to, shop with, or just see individuals in the group. I was fortunate to grow up in one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and have parents and close relatives who had numerous close friends of other races, as well as myself.

One of my most amusing photos of childhood, which I'll post here once I copy it from my Facebook library, shows me dressed as a very young Black Panther in the late 1960s, wearing a black beret, a (probably faux) leather coat, and, I think, carrying a toy machine gun. The problem with my Black separatist look is that in the photo are two of my White male deputies on either side of me. We joke that this photo was the end of my promising career in the Black Power Movement.

Ah...I found the photo. My mother was furious at my father when she saw it, as she absolutely hated to see my carrying a gun, even though it was only a toy. (And, of course, 12 year ol Tamir Rice was shot to death by a member of the Cleveland Police Department because he was carrying a toy gun. Hmm...I wonder why the White couple in St Louis who pointed loaded guns at protestors marching peacefully past their home wasn't shot to death by police as well. Being the good Lutheran she was she shortly afterward found a large "Toys Not Guns" button that she made me wear, and I never saw that gun, or any other one, again.



Stacey Abrams is right - we have to be vigilante and vote differently or all that work is for naught.

I agree completely. Democrats in Atlanta are still raw and angry over the theft of the 2016 Georgia gubernatorial election by then Secretary of State and now Governor Brian Kemp, and are focused like a laser beam on this upcoming election, especially since the races for the seats of our two Senators look to be very tight. Fulton County residents had major problems during the June 9th primary election, as some — including friends of mine — never received absentee ballots in mail, misread the instructions for mail in balloting and put their ballots in the mail on the day of the election instead of a few days beforehand, and spent hours in line waiting to cast their vote in person. (I did receive my absentee ballot in the mail, posted it to an absentee ballot drop box on the morning of the election, and received online confirmation that evening that my ballot had been accepted.) It was announced yesterday that State Farm Arena, where Atlanta's NBA team plays, will be converted into a polling station for county residents who wish to cast early ballots for the August 11 runoff election, and the November general election.

I remember that shameful episode you experienced two years ago. I would sadly assume that the situation in Tuscaloosa is the same as it was in 2018, and probably worse given the tensions and hardened cultural positions by people this year.

I decided to read books about justice and freedom for people of color this Independence Day weekend, and I've finished three of them so far: If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli, and March: Book Two by John Lewis (my congressman), Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. I'll read March: Book Three today.

>120 kidzdoc: Aww you look so sweet in that picture, Darryl.
I can't remember any toy guns at home, except maybe a very pink, plastic water pistol.

>120 kidzdoc: What's interesting, and the reason I even mentioned the pushback on How to Be an Antiracist is that it was a series of posts from a couple of Black librarians I know who are very involved with—and critical of, in places—the #BLM canon that is getting pushed to the top of reading lists everywhere. I think in general it's a good thing, and so do they, so I welcome their opinions and advice. Their main point is that people shouldn't do the reading and think that now they're woke, that there is no easy way out, and I'm 100% on board with that sentiment.

I love that photo and the story behind it. As a mom who always fought the "no toy guns" fight, I applaud your mom... but boy did you look great.

>117 LadyoftheLodge: I'm also concerned about future President Biden's health, given his advanced age, and I completely agree that whomever he chooses as VP should be ready to lead the country starting on Inauguration Day next year.

I hadn't heard anything about the damage done to the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington until you mentioned it. Fortunately the supposed damage to the Vietnam Wall Memorial and to veterans' gravesites that was attributed to protestors is fake news, as these acts of vandalism occurred in 2016. Regardless, I am completely opposed to the destruction of property, looting of stores, and atttacks on law enforcement officers. However, we have learned that most of the property damage was not caused by the people who were there to protest, but by left wing anarchists, extreme right wing White supremacists and anti-government groups such as the Booglaoo Bois, and criminals in the community who took advantage of the situation to rob stores, although some protestors did commit crimes, in particular the two lawyers who threw a Molotov cocktail into an NYPD squad car and will pay dearly for their action. BTW, the two people who started the fire in the Wendy's restaurant where Rayshaud Brooks was shot to death by an Atlanta Police Department officer were both White women, and not members of the community as critics of the protest movement claimed.

>118 Caroline_McElwee: Several of our British LT friends and I had a lovely Sunday roast in what I would call a country pub in Wenders Ambo several years ago, probably before I met you and Claire at Foyles. I've also gone to several nice pubs in Cambridge with Fliss and Rachael, and with Rhian and her husband in one in Bishop's Stortford. Rhian told me that the pubs I've been to were a bit upscale, as they served very good food, and are not reflective of many pubs.

I would have been shocked if alcohol was served at 6 am, but I won't forget meeting a very friendly but inebriated Scotsman one morning on a 24 bus going from Victoria Station to the old Foyles on Charing Cross Road. He was headed to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, or a similar organization, and he told me that he stopped at a pub for a few drinks beforehand to prepare for the meeting. It was probably 9 or 10 am at the time I met him, so I knew that British pubs started serving alcoholic drinks early in the day!

>119 SandDune: Great list of books about racism, Rhian! I attended Akala's talk about Natives at the Edinburgh International Book Festival two yaars ago, purchased a signed copy of it in the festival bookshop, and read it after I returned home; it's very good. I plan to read Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch this month, and Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga in September or October.

>121 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! I suspect that my father bought me that gun to accompany that Black Panthers outfit, and I'm pretty sure the day that photo was taken was the only one I ever owned a toy gun. I'm not sure that I owned a water pistol, but I would doubt it.

>122 lisapeet: Ah. I see the point of those librarians, and I completely agree with them.

My mother thinks that photo is cute now, but she didn't on the day that it was taken! Fortunately she didn't throw it away, possibly because, IIRC, her mother loved it.

>120 kidzdoc: my brother had a 'cowboy' revolver toy, but didn't look anything like a real gun.

Smiled about the drunk guy getting courage to go to AA.

>125 Caroline_McElwee: The conversation with the inebriated Scotsman on the upper level of that Transport for London 24 bus was memorable and highly entertaining, to say the least. The next time we meet in person I'll tell it to you, as describing it online doesn't do that brief encounter any justice.

>123 kidzdoc: Thanks for your comments. I agree, criminals and other extremists seem to be taking advantage of peaceful protests to turn them into opportunities for their own purposes. I read the story about the two lawyers also. I cannot imagine what they were thinking by destroying the police vehicles. Sometimes people get caught up in "groupthink." I saw it happen often when I was in public school administration, among students and sadly teachers too.

I also grew up in a very diverse city and served in school administration in my hometown. Working with, attending classes with, and living with people of many backgrounds and cultures was just a given.

We just got back from a trip to New Orleans right before all the Covid-19 situation broke loose. I have never seen people with so many skin colors and backgrounds. We loved it there and felt welcome there, besides the appreciation for the great music and food.

Here is the link to the story about the damage to the National World War II monument that I mentioned in my earlier post.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/06/01/national-world-war-ii-memorial-va...

>123 kidzdoc: The two lawyers knew each other, at least, and apparently acted together. That act of disobedience is tragic, as both were well educated, highly motivated to serve the public, and had familial responsibilities, all of which are no longer possible.

New Orleans is a rich melting pot, and although I did poorly in my undergraduate studies at Tulane and had to return home and start over again I made several dear friends who I remain close to (I chatted online with one of them last night, and my old roomie earlier this week), and I learned a tremendous amount about myself during those formative years, not to mention how to cook common Cajun and Creole dishes.

That act of vandalism is absolutely despicable, and I hope that whoever did it is caught and prosecuted. I am completely opposed to those sorts of actions, along with the lawless and mob driven removal of certain statues, which only add to the divisions in this country. Let's discuss their removal in a civil discourse, and vote on their removal, as was done when Mississippi state legislators voted to remove the state flag, the only one that still had the Confederate "stars and bars" on it, and the governor agreed to sign the bill into law this week. That did happen decades too late, but it was done in a manner that no rational person should disagree with. I also fear that White supremacists may decide to strike back and deface or destroy the memorial dedicated to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr or the mural dedicated to John Lewis here in Atlanta. My opinion about the Black Lives Matter movement and the countrywide protests alternates between believing that we should "Keep the Foot on the Pedal", as one of my work partners insist that we do, or back off a bit.

The largest Confederate memorial in the country is probably safe from mob action. That is Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta. It is simply to big to take down. Besides I find it amusing. At the end of the dubious history lesson presented via laser lights and schmaltzy music - Bobby Lee, Stonwall and Jeff trot off of the mountainside while Elvis Presley sings the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

So what is amusing about it? The whole thing. I laughed and snickered through the whole show the last time I saw it ten years ago and when I heard Elvis start signing his rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic I was laughing. Battle Hymn of the Republic was the marching song of the side that won the war! Not the Confederate side. I am sure that few people know that or they would have changed the selection of music. When my friends and I got ready to leave a woman sitting behind us, told me that I had ruined that very fine patriotic presentation with my sarcasm. I didn't reply to her. But to me the performance was little more than sacrilege due to the historical inaccuracies.

Of course, I also regard Stone Mountain as little more than environmental vandalism. Stone Mountain is the world second largest batholith and shouldn't be marred by pictures of ignoble men of dubious character. But I am sure that the good ladies of the United Daughters of the Confederacy thought that a gigantic bubble of pure granite was a surface just waiting to be used to promote their historically inaccurate interpretation of past events. Surely we can overlook the foibles of a group of doddering do-gooders who had nothing else to do with their time and money?

You are so well-friended! You must make friends wherever you go, and very easily. I admire this. I am very bad at making friends and keeping them. My social life is almost completely my extended family, but I do have seven siblings and lots of other relatives. If you ever come up this way I'd like to meet you in person. St Louis is a great city to visit. Do you like baseball? Some other year I'd love to take you. That's a fun outing for a visitor, and I have a sister who goes with me as often as we can--about once a month. Otherwise, we have wonderful museums and a world-class zoo. Most things are free to get into, including our art museum and the zoo. There's a terrific small park downtown to beat our summer heat, with a bunch of fountains of various kinds, most of which are meant to get into. My family is great company, if you just want to eat and relax, and there is famous jazz and lots of good music as well--the symphony and clubs, and opera companies, and lots of concerts, both of great music of the past and hip-hop and barber-shop, etc. My husband gets together with one of my brothers to play electric guitar every Sunday. Sometimes interesting people drop in. One of my brother's is a fine counter-tenor who has been reviewed in the NY Times.

Catching up - whoaa, such a lot of posts here and great discussion!

Reading with interest the comments on books on racism. Like so much of history it's difficult to find completely balanced viewpoints without selective use of statistics depending on the position of the author (you only need to look at the differing reporting positions from various media outlets over the past few weeks to see that so starkly), so I can understand why several people have recommended reading a number of different books on the topic. I also feel that I need to cover different geographies (certainly US and British perspectives, anyway). We've been very busy fighting between Protestants and Catholics in NI for several decades, but now that that bigotry's settling down I guess we'll have to move on to racial prejudice, as it seems we humans aren't happy unless we're hating some group or other.

Well done on the blood donation, Darryl. I used to give regularly and be very much persuaded to do so by the blood service here in NI as I'm O RhD, the easy floozy of the blood groups. I'm no longer allowed to donate as I've had cancer in the past, which actually makes me quite sad as I liked doing my bit (and sitting down with a cup of tea and a biscuit). I don't know many people here who do donate regularly anymore - it makes me wonder how they keep the blood banks filled.

>131 AlisonY: O RhD, the easy floozy of the blood groups
Heh. I always call mine, B positive, the Pollyanna of blood types.

>129 benitastrnad: The Confederate Memorial carved into Stone Mountain cannot be destroyed by peaceful protestors or lawless mobs — I think it's very important to make that distinction — short of bombing it. The state owns the site, and, from what I understand, for it to be changed legislation would have to pass by majority vote through the Georgia House and Senate and signed by the Governor, similar to what was required for Mississippi to remove the Confederate emblem from its state flag. Even if Georgia were to enact this legislation it would be tremendously costly to change the monument, and if that money came from the state government it would likely come at the expense of social support programs, and end up harming schoolkids and poor indiviual and families. Unless an individual or group of public or private donors is willing to pay the cost for the removal of the monument I would much rather let it stay, and I would provide educational materials about the role of the Confederacy and the Civil War in shaping American history, similar to the way that Auschwitz is used to educate visitors about the horrors of Nazi Germany.

>130 sallypursell: Thanks for your kind offer, Sally! I think the most likely scenario for me to visit St Louis is that the city hosts a major medical conference that I plan to attend. I have a dear friend from medical school and a classmate from residency who live and work in or just outside of the city, but neither is active on social media and I haven't been in touch with them for at least a decade, so it would be a bit awkward to go to St Louis for the sole purpose of visiting them. If I plan to attend a conference there I'll certainly let you know!

>131 AlisonY: Hi, Alison! There is a lot of discussion here, but not very many book reviews, unfortunately. Although my reading output has increased tremendously (23 books read since the beginning of May, as compared to 11 in the first four months of the year) I haven't been motivated to write reviews, probably because I've been busy keeping up with the events of a very remarkable year (I think that's the best thing that can be said about 2020), keeping up with the medical literature, participating in WebEx meetings, etc.

I think that an individual's choice of reading about racism should be tailored to her own country, and in some cases it has little or possibly no relevance. Fortunately the UK has several outstanding BAME writers who have written about racism there, as Rhian and I mentioned, which I would think would be much more relevant to those who live there, although How to Be an Antiracist would be applicable to everyone.

There is a chronic insufficient supply of whole blood and platelets in the US, with some times of the year being worse than others, especially during the summer months. The campaign by the American Red Cross to offer free SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing to anyone who donates whole blood and platelets seems to be a rousing success so far. I had to chuckle at your "easy floozy" comment; I hadn't heard anyone use that term to describe type O blood before! I'm A+, and from the standpoint of a former undergraduate student focused on getting the best grades possible in order to successfully apply to medical school, that is somehow very satisfying, the "star pupil" of blood types.

>132 lisapeet: That Polyanna laissez faire attitude won't get one into graduate, law or medical school, though. Work harder!

>133 kidzdoc: I am also type A+, which is probably why I am always an over-achiever, over-worrier, and over-thinker.

>130 sallypursell: My niece lives in St. Louis. I should look you up the next time I visit her there.

Hi, Darryl. I have been woefully hit and miss on LT since February, and especially during June. RL has sent a whole bunch of curve balls my way, but I am hoping I am through the worst of it. Glad to see you are well and loving all the frank discussion of race, politics, monuments, C-19 and books here. Whew! What a year. I am slowly making my way through How To Be An Antiracist and learning lots. (Slowly because I don't want to skim through it, but rather take it in and grow from it.) I am also reading The Shadow King with BLBera -- it's off to a great start. And then I am throwing in some easy ones to lighten the mood! : ) Hope re-entry to work goes well for you. And thank you for the muppet chef in >35 kidzdoc:. I loved him!! Happy cooking...with the right flour.

Just got caught up on all the interesting conversation and book recommendations here. Great review of The First Wife: a Tale of Polygamy, I'm looking forward to reading it.

All the best on your return to work.

Hi Darryl. I thought you might be interested in this. My local doc cinema is now streaming films at home and I just purchased a ticket to this one. Steaming through Hot Docs is only available in Canada but I'm sure the film itself must be available to you if you look around for it. I have so admired this great man and have read his 3-book graphic memoir, March I, II, and III.

This is doc called John Lewis: Good Trouble

Scroll down to read the blurb, and once to the right to watch a trailer.

>137 jessibud2: We're watching that for my book club next week. There's a rainy weekend on the way, so that'll be a good consolation for not being able to garden.

>134 LadyoftheLodge: Ha.

>135 Berly: Hi, Kim. RL has thrown many of us a curve in 2020, so you're far from alone. I'm glad that you're enjoying How to Be an Antiracist and The Shadow King. That reminds me...I should set up a 2020 Booker Prize speculation thread this week, as the longlist will be announced two weeks from today.

>136 tangledthread: Thanks. Our team (General Pediatrics) is still very quiet, as we only need four hospitalists to cover the service this weekend, instead of the six who were on the schedule.

>137 jessibud2: I'm well aware of that documentary, Shelley! I was going to watch it last week, but I decided to wait and see it with my parents when I visit them next month.

>138 lisapeet: Sounds good, Lisa.

>139 kidzdoc: - Hi Darryl. I watched the doc the other day and it was excellent. I wrote a short review on my thread.

Hi, Darryl. Ain't we got fun? I'm watching my Governor consistently refuse to take action while simultaneously wondering why no one is wearing a mask. A few days ago, he finally took decisive action and decided that alcohol should not be sold after 11:00 pm. Apparently, if you cut COVID off early, he goes away? And the first child has died here of COVID, killing the argument that children are magically immune so schools can open up.

The one bit of blow-back to How to be an Antiracist that I've seen was some white guy pundit offended that there isn't a nice continuum of racism so that there isn't so much pressure to actually be against it. Kendi's bar is too high.

Looking forward to your thoughts on Tell Me How It Ends. I recently read it and am still thinking about it and what I want to say about it.

Hi Darryl, glad to see you're enjoying the March graphic novels. I thought they were excellent reads. I got The Lost Children Archive out from the library, but probably won't get to it for at least a week because of some other reads with more immediate due dates, but I'm hoping to jump in to the group discussion a little if I can fit it in.

>134 LadyoftheLodge: Please do!

Wow. Kemp seems to be intent in killing all of you over there! While SC Gov. McMaster declares that there's nothing he can do more than suggest considering wearing a mask, he did back off from forbidding municipalities and counties from mandating masks back in April. I have abandoned my hope that we'd discover the strength of will to get COVID under control before flu season down here. My father is cutting back on the small engagements with the world he'd allowed himself and I'm stuck between the clear fact that sending a child to school is a bad idea and my son's intense desire to have his senior year -- he's the captain of a robotics team that did well at state last year and he is eager to get to work on this year's challenge.

I was sorry to hear the news about two stalwarts of the Civil Rights Movement passing away. Both John Lewis and C. T. Vivian were giants.

A few of your books have grabbed my attention!
I see you have read Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera and Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli since I was last chatting to you on LT. I have read both these as well, and both on my (the?) list of books 'to read instead of American Dirt'. My latest from the list is I am not your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sánchez. I finished this this morning, and I can thoroughly recommend it. It is seriously good YA fiction- with all the rough edges included! Unfortunately I had to take Dominicana back to the library as ran out of time before even starting it! I would like to read Mean by Myriam Gurba next, and will do if I can access it the library system. Also on the list is The Affairs of the Falcons by Melissa Rivero, which really didn't grab me initially, but came good in the second half...

I hope you and your hospital are coping with Covid OK. We may have eliminated it here, but now face the issue of how long we are going to pursue this programme while the rest of the world will still have it. It is simply impossible to think we can keep our borders closed indefinitely, as is the idea of enforcing a 2 week mandatory quarantine. Maybe everyone should now travel by boat- and do the 14 days isolation and testing en route! (Yes, I am talking a luxury cruise here, both ways.)

>140 jessibud2: I look forward to seeing the documentary, Shelley. I guess you’ve heard by now that John Lewis died of pancreatic cancer on Friday.

>141 RidgewayGirl: Ugh. Fun indeed, Kay. We’re seeing many more children who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, although we still don’t have many inpatients on our service. Let’s see...right now only two of the 35 patients on the General Pediatrics service have that diagnosis, although I saw one of them earlier this evening, a 13 day old baby who has multi-system inflammatory syndrome based on his labs, although he looked okay when I saw him with my partner who admitted him to the hospital earlier today. (I’m working swing shift (5 pm to 1 am) this week, and I’m at my desk at the moment.) I also see one patient with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in our PICU. I’m not aware of any pediatric deaths in our system, or elsewhere in the state, but the number of cases statewide is skyrocketing, and there are not many adult ICU beds in hospitals in the state. We’re in Zone D, which consists of hospitals in Fulton County and several adjacent ones, particularly Clayton, DeKalb, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties, and as of today we are in better shape than eight of the 14 zones, with “only” 87.2% critical care beds were in use as of yesterday. I’m sure that you’re aware that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order mandating that everyone in the city wear masks, and that she was subsequently sued by Governor Brian Kemp for doing so; he is encouraging Georgians to wear masks, but believes that issuing mandatory local or statewide orders is “unenforceable”. As one of my physician colleagues bluntly but correctly said, “He (Kemp) has his head so far up Trump’s ass that he doesn’t need a mask.”

Is the White pundit critical of How to Be an Antiracist seeking socially acceptable forms of racism for those who want to hold onto some of their racist beliefs?! SMDH.

I’ll write a review of Tell Me How It Ends this weekend.

>142 bell7: Thanks, Mary. I did enjoy all three March books, and I’ll read Lewis’s autobiography, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, sometime this autumn.

I haven’t started rereading Lost Children Archive yet, and I haven’t had time to keep up with the Valeria Luiselli thread for the past week or so. I’m off for nearly a month after my last night shift this week ends early Saturday morning, so I’ll catch up no later than this weekend.

>144 RidgewayGirl: Seriously! If I was a conspiracy theorist I might think that Kemp and Trump are secretly pleased with the high COVID-19 death rates in African Americans and Latinos. They are both incompetent and clueless.

I was talking with one of my partners a couple of hours ago about the challenge of kids returning to schools. Her son is a 4 yo special needs child, who needs a structured learning environment, and she has a 7 yo daughter as well. She is concerned that she’ll have to quit working in order to provide schooling for her son, and said that whatever she does, it will fall far short of what he needs. A number of my partners are mothers with young school aged kids, and they are all concerned about them.

>145 benitastrnad: Thanks, Benita. Those are two massive losses, especially since both occurred on the same day. Nikema Williams, a Georgia State Senator and head of the Georgia Democratic Party, has been chosen to run for John Lewis’s seat in Congress, which is one of the safest blue seats in the House of Representatives. Her opponent is an African American woman with very marginal ties to the King family (she’s a goddaughter of one of MLK’s nieces), a former reality show star who was sentenced to prison on federal conspiracy charges for her role in a car theft ring, and served two years before Trump pardoned her in February. Nikema Williams should easily defeat her in November, because she is a Republican in the overwhelmingly Democratic 5th congressional district, and because of her numerous homophobic comments and frequent retweets of the QAnon slogan.

>146 LovingLit: Strong work, Megan! I’m going to go into isolation for 12 days after my last work shift early Saturday morning, so I’ll have plenty of time to write reviews of the books you mentioned; hopefully I’ll have the will to do so, which I lacked all of the past month and a half.

We and other children’s hospitals are doing okay in terms of COVID-19. Actually we and my friends who are primary care pediatricians are experiencing the opposite problem: very few parents are coming in to private offices and clinics for well child checks and routine immunizations, and the hospital i work in is seeing far few patients than normal. We won’t get bonuses next year, for the first time in the 20 years that I’ve worked for Children’s, but at least none of us have had to be furloughed — yet.

Hey, buddy. You had asked about covid-19 in Illinois. We have Democratic leadership, so we're doing relatively well. Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot haven't been shy about instituting restrictions. Chicago's beaches have been closed down for quite a while, and Lightfoot just tightened up some more on bars in the city, where most of the continued spread has been happening. We've had over 170,000 cases and over 7300 deaths, although only 1 yesterday. The big problem now is in the 18-29 age group, where the judgment is poorer and the confidence too high (my take on it).

So far they plan to open the public schools upper grades for two days a week, then two virtual, and one for the students to do themselves. Preschools are supposed to be open all 5 days, public and private, and that has Becca worried and us worried for her. They have a good plan at her school, but there's only so much you can do with wee ones. My guess is they'll end up doing it all virtually, but we'll see. If they do have school in-person, we expect covid will show up quickly and they'll have to close down.

The whole CoVid thing is so screwed up, and people have acted so stupidly, that I feel many of us deserve this. Except that goes against my grain, since I can't help but see everyone as a patient or potential patient. I'm glad your own situation is not bad. I know many nurses at my ex-hospital are being furloughed unless they are ICU or Critical Care trained. One friend of mine has a daughter working in a CoVid unit. The friend is older than I, even, and has some health problems. She is not seeing her daughter much, of course.

I know it is selfish, but I am still grieved over missing my grandson's first year. He is 5 1/2 months old now, and I adore that age. I haven't seen him since he was 1 week old. My son says I probably won't see him until he is a year or so. He thinks I should be pacified by the fact that I have seen other babies at that age, but it doesn't work. I am hungry and thirsty for this little boy's global joy upon seeing me, and his mastery of object permanence, and leaning to be a little mobile. I want to hear him coo and warble his practice syllables, too. I am trying to be pleased that my kids want to protect me from any risk. What's bothering you the most?

This year's Booker Prize longlist was announced this evening:



Apeirogon, Colum McCann (Ireland/USA) {currently available in UK and US}
Burnt Sugar, Avni Doshi (USA) {available in UK 30 July; I can't find a publication date in the US)
How Much of These Hills Is Gold, C Pam Zhang (USA) {currently available in UK and US}
Love and Other Thought Experiments, Sophie Ward (UK) {currently available in Uk; I can't find a publication date in the US}
The Mirror & The Light, Hilary Mantel (UK) {currently available in the UK and US}
This Mournable Body, Tsitisi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) {currently available in the UK and US}
The New Wilderness, Diane Cook (USA) {available in the UK and US on 11 August}
Real Life, Brandon Taylor (USA) {currently available in the UK and US}
Redhead by the Side of the Road, Anne Tyler (USA) {currently available in the UK and US}
The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia/USA) {currently available in the UK and US}
Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart (Scotland/USA) {currently available in the UK and US}
Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid (USA) {currently available in the UK and US}
Who They Was, Gabriel Krauze (UK) {available in the UK on 3 September; I can't find a publication date in the US}

Link: https://thebookerprizes.com/booker-prize/news/2020-booker-prize-longlist-announc...

There are several début novels on this list and authors who are completely unfamiliar to me, including two young African American authors, Kiley Reid and Brandon Taylor. I own two of these 13 books, The Mirror & the Light and The Shadow King, and I'll get started on one of those two later this week.

>148 kidzdoc: very few parents are coming in to private offices and clinics for well child checks and routine immunizations, and the hospital i work in is seeing far few patients than normal
This was experienced here as well, during out nationwide 29-day lockdown, people were reluctant to drain the health resources, and/or did not want to potentially expose themselves to Covid-19 by attending to any health care other than what was urgent (people even forewent urgent dental treatment, using pain killers and postponing treatment). Now we are facing backlogs of standard immunisations, and other health checks.

>151 kidzdoc: The only one I have heard of on the longlist is Apeirogon by Colum McCann. I am a little surprised to see Anne Tyler on the list, for some reason I had the impression that her formula is a little worn.

>149 jnwelch: I'd add that the biggest factor in keeping the cases "manageable" in Illinois is that the Gov. and Mayor have strongly encouraged masks since mid-April and made masks mandatory on May 1. At that point the cases started leveling off and slowly declining, because to a large extent, people have actually been wearing them. Our hospitals have been busy, but never overwhelmed, except for hospitals near outbreaks in a couple jails and nursing homes.

But our cases are rising now, although slowly, due in part to the fact that we're surrounded by states that have been exceedingly lax about masks, gatherings, bars, etc. (except for Indiana).

And I believe the Cubs are the only team in baseball to be Covid-free so far, but that will probably not last as soon as they go on the road.

>151 kidzdoc: I've only read three of these, so I have some reading to do! Of them, two are not what I would have thought were suitable Booker candidates. The Anne Tyler was really lovely and I enjoyed every page, but it was not a substantial story and the Kiley Reid felt soap-opera-like, relying on some improbably coincidences to work and it read like a debut novel. Reid is a promising author and I'm interesting in reading more from her, though.

The McCann fully deserves its space on the list and I expect that it will make the shortlist. I have a copy of The Mirror & the Light, but had been sort of thinking of rereading the first two novels, but I think I'll just go ahead and read this one.

>151 kidzdoc: It's a good list, though I'm a little puzzled at Anne Tyler in there (nothing against her, it just seems like a case of one of these things is not like the others). I have five of those--the McCann, Zhang, Mantel, Taylor, and Stuart. Haven't read any of them yet, but they're all up toward to top of my virtual pile--plus the Mengiste, which I don't own but is libraryable.

>154 RidgewayGirl: I reread Wolf Hall in March, planning to reread both of the first two before The Mirror and the Light, and dammit I'm going to stick to my plan and read Bring Up the Bodies sooner than later. It just keeps getting bumped by book club books and library holds.

I'm always a bit shocked when NYC/NYS handle something bureaucratic well--especially when the city and state need to work in tandem--but I guess by necessity New York has done a pretty good job with COVID, especially considering it was pretty much blindsided in April (blindsided considering that the feds should have been much more proactive than they were). My heart right now goes out to every parent who has to decide what they want to do about their kids' schooling come fall. Especially every parent who works full-time--it's an unconscionable situation. I've seen lots of comments around "this is how the Trump administration will do the job of killing Black and brown children" and I don't entirely disagree (about the intention, that is, not the outcome).

>149 jnwelch: Hey, Joe! I'm glad that Chicago and Illinois are doing relatively well in the face of the pandemic. Isn't it surprising that mature and intelligent leadership, which sadly seems nowadays to be limited to Democrats, can make such a difference in outcomes? Atlanta, led by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, is fairing relatively better than the rest of the very red state led by the Redneck in Chief, Governor Brian Kemp, as the hospital zone that includes metropolitan Atlanta has a greater percentage of critical care beds than zones in underserved rural Georgia do, although at last report there were no critical care beds in Grady Memorial Hospital, the massive public hospital in Atlanta (Grady is similar to Cook County Hospital but it's more than twice as large, with at least 960 beds). The other major hospitals in the city, including the three that comprise Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, are in much better shape, and I would imagine that Grady is full because poorer African Americans and Latinos are more likely to contract COVID-19 and become seriously or critically ill from it.

We're also seeing a major uptick in cases and hospitalizations in the youngest adults, both 18-29 year olds and 30-39 year olds. The Republicans blame this on the Black Lives Matter protests, but most of those protesters are wearing masks, and the truth is that these cases are mainly due to people traveling to Florida and Savannah and the Georgia coast once our Governor reopened the state too early, as well as them going to bars and restaurants here and elsewhere in the state, and the "patriots" and Karens who refuse to wear masks in an expression of their "rights". Fortunately many local and national businesses are doing the right thing and barring customers who refuse to wear masks from entering their shops and restaurants.

Thanks in large part to the refusal of Republican governors to accept the maximum amount of Medicaid funding, and to conservative voters who turned down a statewide 1% increase in sales tax that would have provided additional funding to rural hospitals, much of Georgia outside of its major cities remains badly underserved in terms of hospitals, trauma centers, critical care beds and emergency departments, along with urgent care centers and primary care offices; a shocking number of rural counties here don't have a single primary care pediatrician. Yesterday one of these rural hospitals, Southwest Georgia Regional Mecical Center in Cuthbert, announced that it would be closing its doors for good in October due to financial difficulty.

Meanwhile, Governor Kemp is busy fighting the Mayor of Atlanta and other mayors and municipalities who want to protect their citizens by enacting mandatory mask orders, against his will. This is Republican leadership (my favorite oxymoron) at its finest.

>150 sallypursell: I'm sorry that you're unable to see your grandson, Sally; that has to be tough, and you aren't being selfish at all, IMO. This pandemic didn't have to be as bad as it is, and it's little short of criminal that 150,000 Americans have lost their lives so far, due to the spectacular incompetence and indifference from Trump and governors in Georgia, Florida and elsewhere. Those of us who are acting responsibly did not deserve this, including the tens of millions of Americans who are unemployed or underemployed, and I'm selfishly angry and bitter about being unable to travel to Europe this summer, see my friends (who are nearly all past or current members of LibraryThing) who live there, and get started on my retirement plans. Health care workers who have contracted COVID-19, including a good friend of mine who is an LTer, did not deserve to get sick or die because of a lack of adequate PPE, and those who were furloughed didn't deserve that, either. Most if not all of the nurses I work with have had significant cutbacks in their work hours due to the pandemic, and several of them worked in hospitals in NYC for several weeks to months to make up for lost income, especially younger and single ones who are supporting themselves financially. Fortunately no one I know of contracted COVID-19 from working in those hospitals.

What's bothering you the most?

LOTS of things. I just received a call from my father's urologist, who informed me that Dad has high grade prostate cancer. Fortunately it was caught early, and can hopefully be managed with androgen shots and medications, rather than surgery or radiation therapy.

2020 has truly been an annus horribilis.

>156 kidzdoc: Sorry to hear about your dad Darryl, but glad it's been caught early enough not to require surgery.

>156 kidzdoc: I’m so sorry to hear about your Dad Darryl. I agree with you about 2020.

You asked me a little while ago as to whether consultants were seeing patients via video conference and I was not sure, but I have since found out that apparently that is the preferred method of consultation now for everything that does not require someone to attend in person.

>152 LovingLit: Right, Megan. Most primary physicians' offices here in Atlanta were not seeing patients F2F in the early weks of the pandemic, and nearly all are directing patients with any sysmptoms that could be consistent with COVID-19 to our emergency departments. Many have had to lay off or furlough nurses, medical assistants and office staff to stay afloat.

Many of us are worried about outbreaks of vaccine preventable illnesses in children who have fallen behind the recommended immunization schedule due to the fear of parents of bringing their children in for well child checks. I suspect that we'lll have a lighter than usual bronchiolitis and influenza season this year, especially since far fewer than normal numbers of kids will attend day care centers and schools in person, and many kids will not participate in usual social activities such as Mothers' Mornings Out, Sunday school and large birthday parties. If that's the case some physicians — including myself, as I'm now one of the older members of Children's medical staff, and the second oldest in a group of at least 25 — may be furloughed or asked to take early retirement, although I haven't heard anything specific about that. Given my parents' continued health problems and my father's new (but to me, not unexpected) diagnosis of prostate cancer I would jump at an opportunity to be able to spend more time with them.

I've seen some very strange presentations of COVID-19 in the kids I've cared for in the hospital, and now that we can perform rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing in house we're checking most hospitalized patients who have fevers for that infection. Kids are great at, as we pediatricians often say, "not reading the (text)book" in terms of what symptoms they should have for a particular illness or condition, and that's certainly been true for COVID-19, based on what I and my colleagues at Children's have seen and what my pediatrician friends who live elsewhere have reported.

Apeirogon is as interesting to me as any novel on the longlist, and I'll look for it when I go to my favorite local independent bookstore tomorrow or Thursday.

>153 kac522: It's doubly amazing that the simple intervention of wearing masks, along with good hygiene and proper distancing, can make such a huge impact in the spread of the novel coronavirus, and that so many Americans are unwilling to wear them, or are afraid to do so. Although I'm not yet in the clear I would bet a month's salary that I would already be showing signs of infection had I not worn a mask in the room of the young man with COVID-19 pneumonia on Friday night. I hope to stay well, as it's all but imperative that I visit my parents next week and take my father to get labs, imaging studies and go to doctors' appointments.

I haven't heard anything specifically, but I wouldn't be surprised if a sizable number of hospitalized patients at Grady came from the jails in Fulton and DeKalb counties, which would send their patients there.

The Phillies' series against the Yankees yesterday was postponed, as Philadelphia played its first series at home against the Marlins, and half of the Miami club have now tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The Marlins are staying in Philadelphia and won't play again until Monday. None of the Phillies' players have tested positive to date. I would imagine that this scenario will be repeated several more times this season.

There is a cartoon skit in which Bugs Bunny uses a saw to separate Florida from the US mainland, and watches it drift out to sea. I would be 100% in favor of that.

Wow. One of my closest friends from medical school, an adult pulmonologist who still lives and practices in Pittsburgh, posted the following on her Facebook timeline a few minutes ago: "Good news everyone! 2 of my 12 outpatients today explained that COVID was a hoax. I am SO relieved! Now I don't have to stress about it. No joke. They said it. To me."

I asked my friend what she said to these two COVIDiots, who are both Trump supporters. This was her reply:

"I told him I disagreed with him. I told him I had many many Covid positive patients and that it was a very serious disease. I told them about the people whose hands I have held as they died because their families couldn’t be with them. He said, “I know this is your job and all, but it’s just not real.“ The woman just thought there was a real disease but it really wasn’t as bad as everybody said. She said it is being blown out of proportion to hurt the president. I asked her why Japan put off the Olympics for a year. She said, “they don’t like him either.“" One of my friend's friends said "I've heard the same thing from some of our ICU patients being treated for COVID."

Yep. The US is definitely the world's greatest democracy, no question about it. Trump has done more damage to this country that arguably any other person in its history, and he is without question the worst president we've ever had.

>154 RidgewayGirl: You've read three more longlisted novels than I have, Kay! My only disappointment with the Booker Doen is that Ali Smith's novel Summer wasn't selected, and even more so if a novel by Anne Tyler, who I consider to be a literary lightweight, made the cut. I'll read Summer alongside the longlist, and I'll put aside the novel I've barely started, The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, and begin reading The Shadow King today. I'll give up my goal of completing the Booker International Prize shortlist before the prize ceremony on 26 August, and focus on the Booker Prize longlist instead.

I'll go book shopping while I'm running errands tomorrow, and look for the longlisted books at the Posman Books shop in Ponce City Market, or the Barnes & Noble close to L5P (Little Five Points) between Midtown and Decatur.

This is a very US-centric longlist, as nine of the 13 authors currently live here.

>155 lisapeet: I've followed the Booker Prize every year since 2007, and there is always at least one longlisted book which makes you scratch your head at its inclusion. Me Cheeta, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (which should have been named "We Are All Completely Full of Ourselves"), Snowdrops and The Testament of Jessie Lamb come to mind as recent examples.

I gave brief consideration to rereading Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, but my reading has taken a nosedive lately, and I would like to ideally read the longlist in full in advance of the prize ceremony in late October. I have yet to accomplish that goal, although I have finished the shortlist in advance at least twice.

NYC took a beating down heah in the beginning of the pandemic, but it and most northeastern cities and states now look like success stories compared to the Deep South and the Southwest, especially since we now know so much more about SARS-CoV-2.

>157 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. Hopefully my father will have a good response to medical management and not require surgery. His diagnosis did not come as a surprise to me, as it explain why he had severe urinary retention for several months after he nearly died in late January. His urologist confimed my thought and comment to my father this past Sunday that it's very unlikely that he will die due to prostate cancer, as it can likely be kept in check for the next 5-10 years. An arguably bigger worry is an abdominal aortic aneurysm that was detected on a CT scan of his abdomen & pelvis this past Wednesday, which was performed after he fell and hit his head while walking that day, sustaining a nasty laceration that required 16 stitches to close. Dr Yamamoto, his urologist, had to have been shocked to see him earlier today!

>158 SandDune: Thanks, Rhian. 2020 has been the worst of the 59 years I've spent on earth, and it has the potential to get worse, especially if Trump is reelected.

Yes, most physicians here are also "seeing" most of their patients online as well.

Darryl, we will persevere and get through this. I've already started phone banking for SC candidates and will volunteer regularly up until the election. The (admittedly long shot) candidate for my district of Congress, Kim Nelson, has a solid background in public health. I'm hoping that makes a difference.

>151 kidzdoc: I've only read three:

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang and
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

I'll be interested in seeing your thoughts on them as you start reading through the longlist.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad's continuing health issues, especially the aneurysm and needing 16 stitches - yikes! I hope that he's able to manage his prostate cancer without surgery, too.

It's been a very tough year, and if it weren't for milestones like my brother's upcoming wedding and my niece & nephew growing up, I'd happily "skip ahead" to another one. I'm getting really frustrated with people who think we should just open up completely and think I'm overreacting by limiting my social interactions and wearing a mask when I leave the house. I just... I am so tired, and I only have to deal with people occasionally when they're annoyed that the library is only offering non-contact curbside service at this point and "Why can't you be open? The grocery stores are!" (We're looking at reopening in the future, but it will be limited browsing/computer use by appointment, and I have a feeling we'll get even MORE people annoyed they can't have free rein.) I can't imagine dealing with patients telling you its a hoax like your friend did.

I created a longlist thread for this year's Booker Prize, along with threads for each book in the Booker Prize group, as I'm the current administrator of the group. Feel free to join the group and participate!

>161 RidgewayGirl: I think you're more optimistic than I am, Kay. I'm far from convinced that Biden is certain to beat Trump, and even if he does the Senate may still stay in Republican control, especially if Amy McGrath cannot defeat Mitch McConnell and if the two Senate seats in Georgia don't turn blue. Four more years of Trump would mean catastrophic damage to this country that won't be overcome in my lifetime, especially since there is no way that RBG will serve on the Supreme Court until 2024 (how did we let McConnell get away with not allowing Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court come up for a vote?!). Even if Trump loses and is forcibly evicted from the White House (I have a vision of him being dragged out against his will in the manner that Dr David Dao was dragged off of a United Airlines plane in 2017) he'll undoubtedly continue to stoke and influence his flock of believers with daily tweets, and continue to spread false stories and undermine the public's trust in the media, science, public health and other institutions. You may have seen that he is now embracing a completely wack "physician" who has been spreading outlandish theories about the benefits of hydroxychloroquine in tresting and the uselessness of wearing masks in preventing infection with SARS-CoV-2, in a further attempt to undermine Dr Anthony Fauci. I read somewhere that she is a pediatrician, so I'm curious to see if that's so, if she is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP) in good standing, as I am, and, if so, what can be done to disbar her from the Academy. I'm friends with the most recent AAP President, Colleen Kraft, and I've known the current one, Sara "Sally" Goza, for many years, as she's a primary care pediatrician in Fayetteville, GA, about 25 miles south of downtown Atlanta.

>162 bell7: Well done, Mary. How did you like C Pam Zhang's novel? How Much of These Hills Is Gold is one of the novels I'm most eager to get to.

I had a nice conversation with my father late yesterday afternoon, after he, his urologist and I spoke to each other just after noon when my father received the news about his prostate cancer. My father was disappointed but not surprised by the news, and neither was I, as this was a perfect explanation for his severe urinary retention that followed his stroke and seizures in January and continued problems with uronary obstruction. We talked about the possibility on Sunday, and I prepped him for what he could expect to hear from Dr Yamamoto yesterday, which turned out to be generally accurate, in that surgery probably wouldn't be needed, and that the cancer probably wouldn't kill him (he fully recognizes and accepts that he doesn't have many years left, even before this year's health crises, and he's outlived all three of his siblings by more than 20 years). A ruptured AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) is a much more likely cause of death, especially if it is growing rapidly. The first death I saw in medical school occurred during my third year Surgery rotation on the Vascular Surgery service, as an elderly woman suffered a ruptured AAA and died of cardiac arrest on the operating table before it could be repaired, an event which is seared in my brain 23 years later, so I have a healthy respect for that condition.

I agree; it's been mentally and spiritually draining to read about the continued refusal of far too many Americans to wear masks and follow basic public health measures, although I'm fortunate that I haven't yet had to encounter any science deniers at work or out in public (if I'm not working I only leave home once or twice a week to run errands, and other than picking up mail I haven't left since I returned early Saturday morning after my week of night shifts). I wouldn't say that I'm clinically depressed, but I've certainly lost interest in several of my favorite activities, most notably reading and cooking, during the past two to three months, and several of my closest physician friends are also struggling with anxiety and depressed mood due to the pandemic. Hopefully a very enticing Booker Prize longlist will jump start my interest in reading, and seeing my parents next week will encourage my love of cooking again.

>159 kidzdoc: I suspect that we'll have a lighter than usual bronchiolitis and influenza season this year
That is what we have experienced here, from what I have heard. Although, in saying that I am on day 6 of a hard cold- or, respiratory tract infection - and was advised by my doctor (over the phone) to 'self-isolate' until I am 24 hours symptom free. Prior to Covid that would have just been a recommendation to stay home and/or rest, I am sure.

Also, I love the Bugs Bunny gif :)

Hi Darryl - I'm sorry to hear about your father's new diagnosis. He's a lucky man to have your support and love.

My brother is a gastrology hospitalist in the Phoenix/Tempe area. He's of retirement age and having the beginnings of both heart and lung problems. He's consulting on Covid patients with GI symptoms in a hospital stuffed to the seams with such patients. My sister-in-law is a BSN at a different hospital in the same county.

Our hospital workers are heroes.

Our teachers are, too.

Here in militia-mad Montana, all I hear is hoax, hoax, hoax.

ETA: I meant to ask whether you have found any sourdough recipes that you especially like. I picked up some sourdough starter at a farmers' market but have not found any recipes that I am wild about. I used to use it all the time in the 70's for waffles, but I need some whole grain recipes.

>163 kidzdoc: I like How Much of These Hills is Gold more the more I think about it - I had mixed feelings right after reading, but the writing is gorgeous and it's a story that will stay with me for awhile. As it's her debut, I'm really interested in seeing what else she writes in the future. I'm glad to hear that's one you're especially interested in reading, and hope you enjoy it - I think you will!

I'm definitely feeling the stress, and yesterday was a bit of a low point for me. I live with people who are pretty sure this whole thing is overblown and don't like rules about masks, which can be demoralizing when I'm trying to follow guidelines as much as possible to keep myself and people I care about safe. I'm still reading, but waking up tired and not really wanting to add responsibilities to my plate outside of work because my schedule is completely up in the air. We were originally talking about opening by appointment and following guidelines in August, now it looks like September, and we're not really sure when we'll start adding evening or weekend hours. Having my routine completely upended and now unknown is deeply unsettling to me. I need to get back into an exercise routine, as I was really good about it in March-April but dropped off when my hip started bothering me. I hope you're able to find more interest in reading the longlist and cooking with/for your parents. Hope your travels go smoothly!

I’m sorry to hear the news of your father, and I hope you can still go and see them next week. I think many of us are stuck in the doldrums this year, what with our governments, the pandemic, the apparent rise in stupidity, paranoia and ridiculous behaviour. Add that to personal worries and it’s an awful lot for anyone to deal with.

We’ve recently had some bad news as John has been diagnosed with MS, though we’re trying to be hopeful that he has recovered fairly well from a catastrophic first attack of MS which basically paralysed him from the waist down - the low point of that was him having to drag himself to the car and haul himself up into the car by his arms, with me unable to help because of the pregnancy and desperately trying not to throw up. Why we didn’t call an ambulance I’m not sure, just that it was at the end of March and we didn’t want to put any more strain on emergency services.

Anyway, he’s now back up on his feet and, despite some lingering nerve damage in his feet and increased fatigue, we’re well over the worst of this and trying to look to the future and the arrival of the baby in November. At the moment she’s got a hell of a task to make 2020 even a vaguely positive year!

Keep us updated on how your father is coping. How is your mother doing with her dementia? Hopefully things don’t continue to progress downwards for everyone but it’s a struggle to be positive these days.

I'm sorry to hear about your father, Darryl. What a year...

I don't follow the Booker any more (lack of time rather than anything else), but I've read 2 of the longlisted books, The Shadow King, which I loved, more so than others here who've read it (I see you're starting it; I look forward to seeing what you think), and the Anne Tyler, which was a nice story, but not what I think of as Booker stuff, and which I objected to it because it felt like a re-hash of several of her other novels.

I'm sorry to hear the news about your father, Darryl. I hope you can go and spend time with your parents as planned. I'm sure that having you around will do them good both physically and emotionally.

Take care of yourself.

I’m sorry about your father and wish him well.

So much here. I would like to add, but where to begin... or stop!

I’ve started Lost Children Archive twice, but haven’t gotten going yet. (I listened to it this past November)

It was about a year ago we met in Philly and one impact of that was, based on our conversation, I decided to try to work through the entire 2019 Booker Long List, mostly on audio and did complete it in May. It’s longer this year (longer books)! I might have another go. I will start with rereading Wolf Hall, which I own. And plan to try Shuggie Bain as my next audiobook, based simply on the fact that it’s the longest one that is not part of the Wolf Hall trilogy.

I think quite a few of us can identify with you, Darryl, about anxiety and loss of interest in activities we used to enjoy. I play with a local community band, and we have been paused since March and missed three concerts we were supposed to play. We found out yesterday that our director quit, we have no practice space, and at least one member will be moving away. Looks like we are still on hold until 2021. I was looking forward to getting to play again, and now the music is one more thing that we have lost, along with traveling, attending music concerts and live theater, and participating in church. Seems as if there is not much left.

I am sorry to hear about your father's health and do wish him well with his treatment.
My friends in Toronto feel that same way that I do- we are being very careful. Even though the city has reduced numbers of Covid patients, and starting Friday more places can reopen- very few that I know are taking advantage- we all know that we have to be wary of the so-called second wave of infections. Anxious- yes! How to deal with it? Keeping in touch with friends and family. Reading ? not as much as I thought I would do- but I do seem to be attracted to non-fiction lately.
Take Care

>164 LovingLit: I agree, Megan. Unless it's obvious that your illness could not possibly be caused by COVID-19 and unless you've been tested and found to not be infected with the noval coronavirus I think many of us are highly suspicious that any febrile illness or URI/LRI could be COVID-19, as so many people have few if any symptoms of infection.

I have been very tired, sleeping much more than usual, a bit achy and have a mild cough and nasal congestion. I wouldn't give this much thought in any other time, but I'm debating whether I should get tested for SARS-CoV-2 or not. If I was febrile I absolutely would get tested, but my maximum temperature since yesterday is 98.2 F (36.8 C), my blood oxygen level is normal (I have a home fingertip pulse oximeter), and I can taste and smell just fine. I do feel better today than yesterday, but I didn't wake up until 11:30 am, which is highly unusual for me. If I'm still a bit under the weather I may go ahead and get tested tomorrow, and possibly delay my trip to Philadelphia until the weekend after next, if not later.

>165 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. I know that my parents appreciate my support, and are grateful to have a son who is a physician. My father's doctors often call me when he has office visits with them, as his GP called me earlier this afternoon when my father was in his office to get his sutures removed and getting an evaluation of his test results. One piece of reassuring news is that my father had an abdominal aortic aneurysm in 2017, when he had his first seizure, and its size has not changed significantly since then, so he doesn't need to see a vascular surgeon urgently. That's one less thing for us to worry about, which at the moment is greatly appreciated.

Yikes. Can you convince your physician brother to retire?! My one partner who is older than me is of retirement age, but she continues to want to see patients even though she has chronic health problems and is scared of contracting COVID-19. Neither she nor your brother will do anyone any good if they get sick and die due to COVID-19.

Some parents in Cobb County, a suburb just west of Atlanta which is possibly best known as being home to the district where Newt Gingrich served as a US congressman, is planning a protest of the school district there, which has decided to commence the school year with online instruction only. Cobb is much more diverse than it was when Newt "served" his constituents, but it's still much more conservative than Fulton and DeKalb Counties, where the City of Atlanta, Decatur and its much more diverse, liberal and highly educated communities are, and I have a sneaking suspicion that those who are crying the loudest for schools to reopen are the same ones who refused to wear masks in public and carry much of the blame for our significant uptick in cases.

I can't imagine living amongst a large population of COVIDiots, science deniers, vaccine skeptics, and Trump fanatics. I'm sure that I would stand out in Montana like a single raisin in a bowl of cream of rice.

Sadly I have not had the desire to make a sourdough starter, as I did two or three months ago. My bread maker finally arrived a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't yet opened the box in came in, and I haven't made any bread since the loaf of No Knead Bread I made for a neighbor and fellow physician at Children's nearly two months ago, even though I'm now well stocked with King Arthur All Purpose Flour and Bread Flour, along with plenty of packets of Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast. Since I plan to visit my parents on Wednesday I'll wait to make my first sourdough starter until I return to Atlanta on June 19.

>166 bell7: I'm glad that you liked How Much of These Hills Is Gold that much, Mary! Since I'm concerned that I might have a mild case of COVID-19 I've decided to not go book shopping for the time being, so I'll probably order the Kindle version of it, unless the e-book price is close to the price of the paperback or hardback. I'd like to finish The Shadow King by tomorrow, and read four Booker Prize longlisted novels during each of the upcoming three months, which would put me on pace to complete the longlist by the last week of October, when the winning book will be announced.

I'm sorry to hear about the uncertainty of the timing of your library's reopening and the stress you're experiencing. I think many if not most of us are not clinically depressed (I checked the DSM 5 criteria for clinical depression, and my symptoms don't rise to that level), but are certainly more anxious and stressed by the current state of affairs and uncertainty in this country. I often tell worried parents that I think that the worst thing I as a pediatrician can tell them about their sick child is that I don't know at the moment what is wrong with their kid (essentially all of them agree with me on that point), and that's the way I feel about many things at the moment: my parents' health, the pandemic, the 2020 elections, the status of the jobs of me and my partners, given that we're far less busy than usual, my closest longtime friends who are struggling, and my retirement plans, in particular. My inclination is to put my head under the covers and act as if none of this is happening, but of course I can't do that.

You would be correct in thinking that the anti-maskers and the people who want schools to open for full-time in-school teaching are the same. Pattie was telling me about a protest demanding schools open in Phoenix. One speech was by a woman saying (loudly) that masks didn't protect kids against obesity or bullying so it would be wrong to make kids wear them in school. Using that reasoning, I'm no longer wearing a seatbelt because it does not protect me against dry skin or ulcers.

I think that we're all dealing with the effects of having lived with this virus (and the poor behavior of some elected officials and those who listen to them) and are seeing that this is not going to resolve itself in the foreseeable future. Of course we're down! It would be weird if we weren't.

>168 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. I completely agree with your assessment, especially for those of us who live in the UK and US.

Oh, no! I'm very sorry to hear about John's diagnosis. I'll keep him, you and the new baby in my prayers. I hope that the wee one makes up in large part for what has been an awful year so far.

If I'm being honest both parents are going downhill, albeit relatively slowly, similar to a rowboat that is gradually taking on water. My father is vastly better than he was in February and March, but it's also clear that he has not, and probably will not, return to his same level of cognitive and physical function. After many years of being sharp and active well beyond his years he now finally seems like a man who is in his mid eighties. My mother is also on a slow decline, and our usually long and rich Sunday afternoon phone conversations, which typically lasted an hour or longer, are very superficial, repetitive and short, lasting no more than five minutes, although we do much better in person. It's very obvious, even to the two of them, that the ends of their independent lives is steadily approaching, and that we'll have some hard decisions to make within the next year or two.

>169 rachbxl: Thanks, Rachel. 2020 has easily been the toughest year of my life, it's barely half over, and it could get almost immeasurably worse if Trump is reelected.

I'm glad that you enjoyed The Shadow King. I've barely started it, so it will be a challenge to finish it before the end of the month. The Anne Tyler and Kiley Reid novels seem to be the only one that many people feel are not Booker worthy so far, but I'm not dreading reading either book.

>170 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, Claire. I just got off the phone with my father, as we're talking by phone practically every day, and sometimes, like today, more than once a day. I was just talking with him about how I'm feeling, that I may consider getting tested for SARS-CoV-2 before I come up there, and that I may push back my trip by a few days, depending on my test result and how I'm feeling. The CVS pharmacy on Georgia Tech's campus is offering free rapid testing, and since its also located in Midtown Atlanta, where I live, it would make sense for me to go there. I'll look into setting up an appointment after I've finished catching up here.

Darryl, I'm very sorry to hear about your dad's diagnosis and both parents' ongoing health problems. This has indeed been a terrible year and it seems like everyone I know has gotten some other unrelated bad news similar to you. Our neighbor works for the Tribune and has been getting the appointment rapid test about every 2 weeks due to his exposure. It sounds like it's been pretty easy and fast-ish results.

Cases in Chicago have been going up though at a lower tick than some of the surrounding states. My office has returned to in-office working though I don't see much reason to. And like many here, I've struggled to get things done and enjoy things I used to.

Thanks Darryl. All good wishes much appreciated, this is an annus horribilis indeed. I haven’t seen my mum since Christmas and had to tell her about the baby over the phone. At this rate she won’t see me before the baby is born - we’re currently figuring out a 3 week self isolation for her before my due date so she can come and meet her first grandchild, but of course that relies on the baby arriving at the designated time and of course that won’t happen!

I’m glad that your parents are able to see that decisions will need to be taken with regards to their independence, and that they’ve got such a supportive son to help them through the process. We’re very lucky that my FIL is so independent even though he’s 81, but it’s so difficult as declines happen. My mum is a lot younger but in worse health so there are worries on both sides there to add to the new concerns over John’s potential health. What a year.

I hope that you are able to get a Covid-19 test quickly if you feel you need one before going to see your parents, and that your feeling under the weather turns out to be a simple summer cold or allergies rather than anything worse.

An increase in restrictions in some areas of the north of England was announced late last night, with people no longer allowed to meet indoors. The rest of the country is still allowed 1 other household to meet indoors, though with social distancing rules applying. Preposterously, pubs and cafes are allowed to stay open throughout this, though with cursory restrictions of ‘only one household per table’ applying. This is nonsensical as many businesses have admitted they are not policing this.

My disdain, disgust and despair over our government, and towards those people who are selfishly disregarding the rules set in place and acting recklessly and with no regard for others is hard to put into words. Meanwhile John, I and my FIL will stay hunkered within our own bubble, grateful that we can work from home and that we have each other close by for support, with the prospect of the new baby in November to help lift our moods (notwithstanding my constant fears that something will go wrong with the pregnancy).

Take care of yourself.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad's diagnosis, Darryl—I hope it's at least a small comfort to have your medical knowledge to offer. And sorry about your parents' general decline. That's always a hard one. I used a similar metaphor when my mom was in her earlier years of dementia—patching a leaky boat in the middle of the ocean. But patching it is no less a good act of love and caring.

I also hear you on the new worries around cold symptoms or just feeling run down. I realized recently that i didn't even get so much as a common cold last winter—which isn't unusual for me, I can go a full year or more without even a head cold (yes I know, cf gratitude below), and how this will change the experience of just getting a cold, or allergies, to make it a fearful thing rather than an inconvenience.

>175 RidgewayGirl: I agree, everyone is pretty down at this point. I'm a pretty emotionally resilient, non-depressive person, and even I find myself feeling very... flatlined, not really able to wring much pleasure from anything, which is not my usual state. All the bad news has just accreted without a break, like an enormous termite mound (sorry, that's just the first image that came to mind)—a speck here and a speck there and now we're all crushed underneath this ever-growing behemoth of bad news. And, as I've mentioned, I've been so fortunate through all this... but I'm finding even that recitation of gratitude exhausting. Probably a good opportunity to up my meditation practices, since Buddhist thought is all over this kind of thing.

New York has handled everything reasonably well until now, and the school reopening plan is still a hot mess. The teacher's union here, which is strong, is up in arms.

Speaking of students, my kid just took his Step One exam yesterday! That's the big placement exam after you finish your second year of med school, which affects where you're placed for your next two years of clinical rotations. He's hoping for NYC, as am I, for all the obvious reasons. He says he has no idea how he did, but he studied long and hard and he did really well in the last two years, so we'll see.

So sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time, Darryl.

>175 RidgewayGirl: In Massachusetts in the 1980s a radio talker actually managed to get the state's seat belt law repealed for several years. How dare the law take away his freedom of head trauma.

>176 kidzdoc: Is it a problem getting tested, Darryl? Here it is now quite easy. All our employees who are actually physically attending work at the moment are having mandatory COVID tests every 2 weeks on a strict basis - no test no work. And we’ve also put in a 5 day quarantine followed by a negative COVID test result before people can return to work after a holiday of a week or more, no matter if people have gone abroad or stayed in the U.K. Not that many people are going abroad at the moment, especially since they’ve reintroduced the 14 day quarantine from Spain and a couple of other countries.

UA announced this morning that it tested approximately 4000 faculty and staff and had a 1% positive rate - no hospitalizations. We had to be tested before they allow us to go back to work for the start of the fall semester on August 19. Students have to have a test done before August 6 - 14 days before class starts. I am not clear on if you have to be tested if you are doing online only or if that is for on-campus students.

Apartment and house rental leases are traditionally renewed or changed in Tuscaloosa on July 31, so this last weekend was move-in/move-around day in T-town. I had two students move out of the house across the street from me on Saturday and on Sunday 4 boys moved in. All day long there was a constant stream of girls and cars surrounding the property. It continued until around 11 p.m. last night. I don't think it bodes well for my neighborhood. But we'll see.

>177 janemarieprice: Thanks, Jane. It's been a very tough year for my parents, but they are grateful for the support they have received from myself, my brother, and especially several of their closest neighbors, who check on them practically every day and often multiple times per day. If it wasn't for their neighbors they would have to move from their home of nearly 45 years to an assisted living facility.

2020 has certainly been the worst year of my life so far, and I'm sure that hundreds of thousands if not millions of fellow Americans would say the same thing. Fortunately my ability to concentrate and enjoy my most loved activities has started to come back this week, as I've finished two very good books in the past seven days and I hope to finish two more this weekend.

I was completely pleased with the SARS-CoV-2 testing process and quite surprised at how quickly my (negative) result came back. I scheduled an appointment with one of the Intown Atlanta CVS pharmacies for this past Sunday. Instead of getting in a long line of cars in a parking lot I was instructed to enter a lane of the pharmacy's drive thru that was dedicated for SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing. There was only one car ahead of me, and the driver left two minutes after I pulled behind him. A CVS employee, who was well trained, pleasant, and very helpful, passed a test kit to me through a retractable drawer after she took my driver's license and insurance ID card, and instructed me how to properly perform the test. After I was finished I deposited a sealed plastic bag containing the capped specimen tube into a metal LabCorp box, and after I arrived home I followed the email link that the CVS employee sent to me, and downloaded the MyChart app onto my mobile phone (a particularly useful tool, as the hospital system I receive my medical care from also uses MyChart to provide their patients with medical information). The CVS employee told me that it would take 7-10 days for the result to show up in MyChart, but it was there on Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours after my test. When I applied for the test I indicated that I was a health care provider, that I was exposed to someone with COVID-19, and that I was having symptoms (which, in retrospect, was an overcall), and several of my physician friends postulated that my test may have been fast tracked because of the information I provided; my employer would not have allowed me to work between the time of my test and when my result was available, and if I was scheduled to work being out for 7-10 would have been a burden to my partners. I'd like to find out more about the experiences of others who have gotten tested by CVS in Atlanta or the Georgia Department of Public Health, although practically everyone I know here is a health care provider.

You probably know this already, but we make a distinction between SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, and COVID-19, the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2, as a significant percentage of adults and especially children test positive for SARS-CoV-2 but are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. There is now evidence that people infected with one of the four common human coronaviruses may have some protection against SARS-CoV-2, which may help to explain why young children are less likely to become significantly ill if they are exposed to the novel coronavirus. That may also have something to do with the almost complete absence of anyone I know or have heard of here in Atlanta who has fallen ill, as those of us who see pediatric patients are regularly exposed to these common coronaviruses, which cause upper and sometimes lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children.

The number of cases of COVID-19 in Georgia are starting to decline, but the numbers of hospitalizations and especially deaths have begun to increase sharply, as the experts predicted. The hospital beds, especially those in ICUs, throughout the state are beginning to reach capacity, and it's very possible that we may be asked to care for some younger adult patients with COVID-19, as Texas Children's Hospital in hard hit Houston has had to do.

>178 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. I'm sorry that you haven't seen your mum since Christmas, and that she won't see the baby until after he? (she?) is born. Your precautions are very reasonable and sensible.

My prayers go out to your mum and FIL for continued good health until this pandemic is over, or at least is under good control.

Yes, as I mentioned above to Jane I was able to get a SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test this past Sunday, and tested negative. Given how much time I spent within six feet of the man child with COVID-19 pneumonia I now feel safer wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) when seeing these patients.

I'm saddened that far too many European citizens have let their guards down, and that far right protesters in Germany and elsewhere are organizing and holding large scale protests. It's very dispiriting to us physicians and nurses that there are so many science deniers, vaccine skeptics, self centered far right "personal freedom above all else" activists, and, of course, incompetent and spineless political leadership in this crisis. I suspect that it will take another year or two before this pandemic is truly behind us — if it ever is.

>179 lisapeet: Thanks, Lisa. It's been hard to watch my parents' slow decline, and to realize that their ends are drawing closer. My father is dramatically better than he was in early March, he's also nowhere near what he was before his stroke and seizures, both cognitively and physically, and it's unlikely that he will make much more, if any, significant improvement. My younger brother wants them to enter an assisted living facility now; that day will come soon, but it's too early right now.

Hopefully the infrequency of your URIs (upper respiratory infections) means that you have a robust immune system that protects you from respiratory viruses. I get 1-3 URIs a year, but given that I'm exposed to hundreds of sick kids every year that's not bad at all. Many more times than that I have very mild symptoms that I initially can't distinguish from environmental allergies, but typically within 24 hours I feel completely fine, probably because my immune system quickly recognized the virus from past exposures, and eradicated it before a full fledged infection could take place.

Congratulations on your son's completion of USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) Step 1. Hopefully he'll get his result soon. We also took that exam at the end of second year of medical school. I think we took Step 2 early in our fourth year, and we definitely took Step 3 during intern year.

>180 dukedom_enough: Thanks, Michael. Fortunately I'm starting to come out of my mental funk and depressed mood.

>181 dukedom_enough: Yikes. That's absolute madness that a citizen was able to cause Massachusetts to repeal its seat belt law. What is wrong with people?!

>182 SandDune: It was difficult to get SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen and serum antibody testing this spring, but it's now become much easier, quicker, and cheaper. I haven't had to pay a penny for my tests, as my antibody test was performed free of charge from the whole blood I donated at the American Red Cross in June, and my rapid antigen test this past Sunday was completely paid for by Aetna, my health insurance carrier.

Several states, particularly in the Northeast, are requiring travelers from states such as Georgia where the pandemic is much more rampant to quarantine in place for 14 days after arrival, which technically would mean that I couldn't leave my parents' house in suburban Philadelphia after I arrived there. It's a completely unenforceable policy, though, and since I have a negative SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test I won't follow that instruction, although I'll of course follow all other recommended measures.

>183 benitastrnad: Good news about the U of Alabama faculty and staff, Benita. Hopefully things stay under relatively good control there.

I remember you like Sarah Moss's work Darryl:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/09/sarah-moss-writing-about-the-natur...

>187 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for posting a link to that article, Caroline! Yes, I'm definitely a Sarah Moss fan, as I've enjoyed three of her four most recent novels, Bodies of Light and The Tidal Zone, which were both brilliant IMO, and Ghost Wall, which was very good; I own but haven't yet read Signs for Lost Children, the sequel to Bodies of Light. Rachael (FlossieT), my most reliable source of book recommendations, read Moss's latest novel Summerwater two weeks ago, and if I've interpreted her tweet correctly she enjoyed and was quite surprised by it, as she indicated that she planned to start reading it again immediately after she finished it. Based on Rachael's encouragement I read Bodies of Light, so I plan to read Summerwater very soon. It won't be released in the US until 21 January 2021, so I'll preorder a copy of it from The Book Depository sometime this week.

I heard Sarah Moss speak about The Tidal Zone at a brunch for authors whose books were shortlisted for the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize, which was sponsored by 5 x 15 and held at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. It was interesting to hear her inspiration for writing the novel. The following YouTube video, which is just over eight minutes in length, shows her brief talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQwpbXjZ628

>134 LadyoftheLodge: I hope you do!

My husband has a great response to any comments on the horribilis nature of this annus.

And Murder Hornets!

I am sorry to hear of your father's cancer. I have a brother-in-law who is doing poorly with his prostate cancer, but the last Trial he was in has seemed to produce quite a good effect. I suppose it is too much to hope that he should achieve remission. (I wish much better for your dad.)
My brother-in-law has been fighting this for years. Quite a few years. His kids are taking it poorly, so I feel for you as well, although at least I expect you may have some sense of perspective about it.

The widespread unemployment and underemployment is really bothering me too. I have friends who are struggling, and I cannot really help. We used to have real disposable income, but since I retired we are living on less than $4,000 a month. It's not painful, we have simple needs, but we can't help anyone out.

I had wanted to travel a little when we retired, but that's out for now, and we have some debts to pay for my daughter's schooling. (She was very welcome to this, of course.) She made it to the end of her Master's degree in Art History before she had to be hospitalized for the very first time in her life for her mental illness. (Right now her diagnosis is schizo-affective disorder, but she has had symptoms from about 6 to 8 weeks old. Anhedonia then, hallucinations as early as 6 years.) I wish she had been able to write a thesis and nail the degree, but she and her advisor couldn't agree on a topic. They wanted her to write on The Statue of Liberty(!) whereas Mali was interested in post-modern arts and more contemporary venues, like graphic novels and more transient publications. Knowing my daughter, it would have been kick ass. Too bad about the conflict. That was the last straw in her ability to manage her life while coping with constant audio hallucinations. They were never able to find a medication that helped with the voices, except to lower the volume a little. We have not heard from her for six months, and are awfully worried. She manages her life very well, so I'm sure she's fine. I would just like to know that for sure.

My goodness, I didn't expect this post to be such a downer. I wish great improvements for your life and your friends' and family members' lives. And, of course, a waning of CoVid SARS 2. And Murder Hornets!

>174 kidzdoc: Things have resolved in an unexpected way with my brother, the gastrology hospitalist. The partners that own the group servicing the hospital are pulling out. I think if my brother was younger, he would try to stay within the hospital; as it is, he will be going back to the partners' private practice. He is thinking of retiring next summer.

Apparently, Covid-19 GI bleeds are not only putting a strain on gastrologists, but are another reason to keep encouraging people to regularly donate blood.

I enjoyed Ghost Wall. I will definitely have to read more by Sarah Moss. It's the only one I've read.

I need to read faster. :)

>190 sallypursell: You are among friends, so do not worry about the posting.

I am more worried about your father's AAA than his prostate cancer. I have a son with Marfan's, and I worry about that all the time, for no reason at all, because his Aorta is fine, so far. I have some Marfanoid characteristics myself, but I've never had any reasons to seek a workup. One of my great grandmothers was six feet tall in 1900, and I assume she is whom we need to thank for this. I'm only 5' 6", but my son is almost 6' 4", notably taller than the majority of the family.

I, too, have had some depressive symptoms, but that's not unusual for me. I am sorry for yours. It really does sap the energy and the desire to engage in even favorite activities, doesn't it?

I'll be hoping you get better soon, and can keep your plans for seeing your parents. I'm sure that would help. I'll bet it's a little depressing for your father to cope with all this, and yet still to live with a declining wife, no matter how beloved. His own health problems must just seem inevitable to him.

Good wishes to you all and a long-distance hug to you.

Darryl, Pattie and I have decided that we're going to be optimistic and start planning for the 2021 Decatur Book Festival. Can't wait to meet up with you again and revive the tradition! I will relish every single minute (even the ones schlepping from one venue to the other in a hurry in the heat carrying a tote bag full of books).

I immediately thought of how much you enjoy the Edinburgh Book Festival when I signed up for some of this year's online sessions, Darryl. Do you think you will be able to fit any of the sessions in? I was toying with attending the Sarah Moss talk, which sounds interesting but it would be at 3:30 am pacific time. A tad too early for me.

Hi, Darryl. Like Meg, stay in touch with us, please, regarding Edinburgh. We might try to "join you" on one or more.

I hope things keep going in the right direction for your father.

Yay re Kamala! She's got just the feisty energy that campaign needs. Drumpf was unhappy that she was "nasty" with Kavanagh, and I think his saying that probably boosted her popularity. Jesse's godfather in San Francisco just let me know he's friends with her, and helped her campaign in that state - so cool!

Ack. I had written a reply to several messages on Wednesday, but I must have forgotten to post it.

>190 sallypursell: I'm sorry to hear about your BIL's prostate cancer, and your daughter's mental health problem, Sally.

Murder hornets? Bah. I'm not worried about them. Terror crocodiles are a far larger concern to me at the moment.

‘Terror Crocodile’ the Size of a Bus Fed on Dinosaurs, Study Says

I conservatively estimated the chance of a significant resurgence of terror crocodiles in 2020 at 75%. My much more realistic medical school classmate said that the risk is "112% and rising."

My father's urologist just called me, and let me know that his scans showed no evidence of metastasis, and since his DEXA scan showed that his bone density was normal he'll only have to receive anti-androgen shots (Firmagon, IIRC), which was given for the first time this morning, and take calcium and vitamin D3 to prevent or minimize bone demineralization.

>191 streamsong:, >193 sallypursell: I'm glad to hear that your brother will no longer see inpatients, which should reduce his risk of COVID-19.

Sarah Moss deserves wider attention in this country, as she is a very gifted writer whose novels are very timely and compelling, with memorable characters, especially in Bodies of Light and The Tidal Zone. I'm surprised and disappointed that her works have received very little consideration for the major British literary awards, although Ghost Wall was longlisted for last year's Women's Prize for Fiction.

I need to read faster. :)

Amen, sister. You and me both.

>194 RidgewayGirl: Excellent, Kay! I look forward to seeing you, Pattie, Benita and hopefully Lisa next Labor Day weekend here. I'll be sure to request that weekend off from work.

It will be a very quiet and strange Labor Day weekend here, as the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classice college football games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Comic Con, and the Decatur Book Festival have all been cancelled. That will be a huge financial
loss for the city of Atlanta, as hundreds of thousands of visitors won't come here, and hundreds of millions of dollars will be lost as a result.

>195 Familyhistorian: Absolutely, Meg! I've already made a list of over 40 Edinburgh International Book Festival author talks that I would like to "attend" starting tomorrow. Maggie O'Farrell will talk about her novel Hamnet starting at 7 pm BST (British Summer Time), or 2 pm EDT in the US. I'll also plan to watch the "Pseudoscience and Slavery" talk that starts at 4 pm BST tomorrow.

I probably won't be able to watch Sarah Moss's talk about Summerwater, her new novel, as I'm working on the 23rd. Hopefully all of the talks will ultimately be available on the festival's YouTube channel, though.

>196 jnwelch: Absolutely, Joe. I'll type up the list of Edinburgh International Book Festival events I've chosen, and post it here later today or tomorrow. It won't be the same as being there in person, as I was in 2017 and 2018 and had planned to be now, but I'm glad that we'll be able to still watch the authors online, and free of charge.

I hope that you, Debbi & I can attend the festivals in person sometime in the near future, and meet Fliss (flissp, the Queeen of the Festivals), Margaret, and hopefully Rachael, whose son is currently a student the University of Edinburgh. Many of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe performances are held on the university's campus, and I think that you two would have no problem finding events of interest to fill your schedule. My biggest problem in 2017 and 2018 was trying to see as many performances that I could, and deciding which ones I was regrettably willing to forego.

Hi Darryl, don't know if you're a podcast person, but if you are, you should check out Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert. Yesterday's episode is with Atul Gawande. They talk about Being Mortal and one of his older books The Checklist Manifesto. Interesting listen.

>197 kidzdoc: That's great news that your dad is showing no metastasis. Not so sure about those terror crocodiles, though.

Hey, a talk-shop question, if you don't mind. Is your workplace a teaching hospital, and if so are there med students doing clinical rotations there? And if so, do you have any ideas how they're interacting with the people they live with during COVID, assuming they don't all have spaces where they can stay completely separate from roommates or family?

You can guess where I'm going with this, right? My son just got his Step 1 results back (may I kvell? in the 90th percentile) and clinical assignments, which will be in NYC, as he'd hoped—Wyckoff Heights Hospital, in Brooklyn. He was supposed to move into his dad's old downtown Manhattan apartment this summer, but of course a chain of small things have gone awry—his father's subletter lost his job because of COVID and he owed several months rent, and now that he's paid up he still hasn't left the apartment... my ex is not the best at taking care of business in a normal situation, and this is certainly not that. So my son may end up living in his old room for a few weeks, until he can settle things up with his dad or find a roommate situation. And while I'll be overjoyed to have him if he does, I'm curious about what kind of precautions we should all take. I don't doubt the school will provide them with some guidelines, and I didn't want to overwhelm him with questions the second he told me, but I was wondering if you knew anything about what the common protocols are right now.

And I apologize in advance, because I know I'm just doing the "ask you because you're a doctor" thing. It's like when people say "oh, my brother-in-law's uncle's college friend lives in New York, maybe you know him?" Guilty as charged.

>195 Familyhistorian:, >196 jnwelch: Meg and Joe, here is my list of author events from this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival that I would like to watch. I've bolded the sessions that interest me the most. All times are BST.

15 Aug
1600 Pseudoscience and Slavery
1900 Maggie O'Farrell: Hamnet

16 Aug
1300 Five Years On: What Future for the Middle East
1900 Windrush: A Very British Betrayal
2030 Hilary Mantel: The Mirror & the Light

17 Aug
1130 The Soul of Muhammad Ali
1300 Voices of Indigenous Resistance
1430 Marieke Lucas Rijneveld: The Discomfort of Evening
2030 Roger Robinson: A Portable Paradise

18 Aug
1300 Ekow Eshun: Africa Is a State of Mind
1730 Colum McCann: Apeirogon

19 Aug
1130 Shokoofeh Azar: The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
1300 Outriders Africa: Deconstructing the Travelogue
1430 Jennifer Nansubua Makubi: Uganda's First Woman of Fiction
1730 Maaza Mengiste: The Shadow King

20 Aug
1130 Gabriela Cabezón Cámara: The Adventures of China Iron
1300 Yoko Ogawa: The Memory Police

21 Aug
1130 Outriders Africa: Sub-Saharan Swiping
1730 Alain Mabanckou: The Death of Comrade President

22 Aug
1430 Fernanda Melchor: Hurricane Season
1900 Edwidge Danticat: Everything Inside?
2030 Bernardine Evaristo/Nicola Sturgeon: Girl, Woman, Other

23 Aug
1130 Sarah Moss: Summerwater

24 Aug
1130 Tsitsi Dangarembga: This Mournable Body
1300 Daniel Kehlmann: Tyll

26 Aug
1130 Outriders Africa: Cape Town, from Art to Ancestry
1300 Adania Shibli
1600 Wayétu Moore: The Dragons, The Giant, The Women
1730 Douglas Stuart: Shuggie Bain
1900 International Booker Prize Winner Interview
2030 Isabel Wilkerson: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

27 Aug
1300 Mieko Kawakami: Breasts and Eggs
1430 Susan Abulhawa
1600 David Mitchell: Utopia Avenue
2030 Samantha Power (former US Secretary to the United Nations)

28 Aug
1430 Who's Afraid of the Working Class?
1600 Amin Maalouf/Jonathan Sacks
1730 Sebastian Barry: A Thousand Moons
1900 Brit Bennett: The Vanishing Half
2030 Ali Smith: Summer

29 Aug
1430 William Dalrymple: The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
1900 Samantha Irby: Wow, No Thank You
2030 Elif Shafak: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

30 Aug
1900 Paul Mendez/Derek Owusu: That Reminds Me

31 Sug
1130 Outriders Africa: From E to W
1600 Arundhati Roy: My Seditious Heart
1730 Scottish BAME Writers Network Showcase
2030 A Case for Hope (closing session)

>199 mahsdad: Thanks, Jeff! Anything about Atul Gawande's books and other writings is of great interest to me, so I'll definitely check out that podcast.

>200 lisapeet: Although the hospital I work in isn't a traditional teaching hospital we do have fellows, residents, medical students, physician assistant students and PharmD students who rotate on our service. I haven't been on the teaching service since April or May, but when I was the medical students were instructed to not enter the rooms of patients with suspected or proven COVID-19, in order to preserve PPE (personal protective equipment) as much as possible. Some administrator(s) decided to give or sell our surplus PPE to one or more nearby adult hospitals, and thanks to that less than wise decision our stock is tight. I think we're also asking the students to limit participation in any patient care where protective gowns are being used, whethr they have COVID-19 or another infectious illness.

I have no idea what the students, residents and fellows are doing to minimize the possibility of spreading COVID-19 to their families at home. I suspect that most people are showering and changing into new clothes at the hospital or as soon as they arrive home, but I've not spoken with anyone, save for a couple of my partners, about the precautionary steps they are taking.

I already knew about the giant crocodiles, Deinosuchus and Sarcosuchus, for instance, but this is the first I've heard of Machimasaurus. I've been a dinosaur buff all my life, and the first full sentence I remember my youngest granddaughter saying was, "I love dinosaurs."

That's so great about your Dad, Darryl! I can feel very hopeful for him now.

(I should have mentioned that my daughter had another crisis just before her first hospitalization. The U of Illinois had said they were going to discontinue all stipends for graduate students, and Mali was elected to the negotiating committee and the Student Senate as a write-in candidate. She wasn't running, but had made a name for herself as a chant captain during the protests the students had, and had been interviewed by the paper. She is an awesome person, so strong. I had to teach her coping skills as a toddler and pre-schooler, and then she was able to go away to college and finish a double major with honors in studio art in sculpture and Art History, while living on almost nothing, and working a part-time job. There's no way I could tell you how wonderful and talented she is.)

Hi, Darryl. Sorry to hear about your father's cancer and general decline. I hope you feel better and can get out to see him soon. My MIL has taken a sudden turn for the worse and may not be with us much longer and it is making me very sad. I have stalled out about halfway through The Shadow King. It is quite a good book, but I seem to need lighter fare lately. Cooking, however, has been a source of great fun lately. My sister is now living with us, along with her one of her kids, and we are taking turns being in charge of dinner. Tonight is my son's turn. He is doing surf and turf with steak and clams. Yum! I hope you find your joy in books and cooking again soon. Hugs.

>204 Berly: I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, Berly. but the cooking sounds great!

>202 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl. Fortunately NYC is on a major downturn of the curve, and I think the hospitals are well equipped at this point. We've talked a bit about this—he works in a testing center, his girlfriend is a labor and delivery nurse, and their other two roommates also work at the hospital there, and no one's gotten sick, so whatever they're doing hygiene-wise clearly works. Plus our washer-dryer is ten steps from the back door, so he can dump his scrubs as soon as he walks in the house and go upstairs and shower. Anyway, I'll be seeing them this weekend and we can discuss it more. But I'm not super worried at this point.

That's a fabulous lineup for the Edinburgh festival. I haven't been able to check any of the sessions out—will they be available on demand later?

I just got a copy of The Shadow King so I think I have all the Booker shortlist entries I want to read. Now I just need time to read them...

>203 sallypursell: I already knew about the giant crocodiles, Deinosuchus and Sarcosuchus, for instance, but this is the first I've heard of Machimasaurus. I've been a dinosaur buff all my life, and the first full sentence I remember my youngest granddaughter saying was, "I love dinosaurs."

Nice! Like many kids who grew up in the NYC area (my parents and I lived in Jersey City, NJ, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, until I finished 8th grade) my love affair with dinosaurs can be attributed to frequent visits to the American Museum of Natural History. I don't follow them that closely anymore, which means I should visit the museum once the pandemic is well controlled.

Thanks for your concern about my father. He's doing quite well, as he is now driving again, after his neighbor assessed his driving skills at the beginning of the month, although he is taking only very limited and necessary local trips, mainly for doctors' appointments and occasional trips to the supermarket, once or twice a week.

Your daughter sounds like an amazing and talented young woman. I pray that she does well and overcomes, or at least is able to manage, her mental health problems.

>204 Berly: I'm very sorry to hear about your mother in law's decline, Kim. I hope that she is able to recover, but if not I pray that she has a peaceful end to her life.

I won't visit my parents this month, as I had originally placed, as my SUV has a severe chassis malfunction that requires extensive ─ and expensive ─ repair. It's been in the BMW service center for a little over two weeks, and I found out last night that it's finally ready. I did get a loaner SUV from the service center, and I'll pick up my SUV tomorrow morning. I'm off from work for the first half of October, and since my mother's 85th birthday is on the 2nd I'll visit them then.

I finally finished The Shadow King last night, which is the first book I've completed in at least three weeks. I liked it but had a tough time keeping my attention on it, which I suspect has nothing to do with the book itself, as I purchased it before the Booker Prize longlist came out, and more to do with external distractions and worries. I had hoped to read five of the longlisted books this month, and I plan to put my head down and read at least three more of the shorter Booker Dozen novels between now and Monday, How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang, Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler, and probably Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi.

I'm always happy to see younger people, especially guys, take up cooking. That dinner sounds good!

>205 sallypursell: Agreed.

>206 lisapeet: I'm glad to hear that the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC is under much better control, Lisa. I plan to visit the city when I visit my parents in early October, as I would love to go to the Museum of Modern Art, especially since I have a membership there, can visit one hour earlier than non-members, and can purchase $5 guest tickets. It's easy for me to get into the city by NJ Transit, as it takes 15 minutes to drive from my parents' house to the Trenton Transportation Center. Hopefully a few of us can meet up then.

Yes, at least some of the 2020 Edinburgh International Book Festival talks are already available for viewing on the festival's YouTube channel. The 2020 International Booker Prize was awarded to The Discomfort of Evening on Wednesday, and the novel's author and translator, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and Michelle Hutchison were interviewed that evening, as was the chair of judges for this year's prize. The talk was made available as a YouTube video yesterday afternoon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzTr4O3YmDw&t=28s

ETA: this link shows all of the 2020 talks that are currently available for viewing:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxMBYaRc8B-PghQ9LE5pMSQCsi8S7bHdc

I thought the The Discomfort of Evening was unforgettable and superb, and I'll write a review of it next week.

I've had plenty of time to read this summer, and am definitely interested in reading, and hopefully I can pick up the pace starting this weekend.

Time for a new thread...