2020 3: LizzieD's Reading Hope Springs Eternal

Sensitive Plant or Briar blooming in July

Books Read

READ IN JULY
32. Golden Hill
33. The Rook
34. Artificial Condition
35. The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft
36. Winter's Heart
37. The Night Circus

Into the House in July
87. The Glass Hotel
88. Between Mountain and Sea - Kindle freebie
89. Portrait of a Novel - Kindle deal through BookBub
90. The Family Plot - Kindle deal through BookBub
91. Coming Home - PBS
92. Spying on the South - Kindle Daily Deal
93. Silver in the Wood - Tor freebie
94. Too Much and Never Enough ✔
95. Girl, Woman, Other - Kindle Daily Deal
96. Georgette Heyer - AMP

READ IN AUGUST
38. Conspiracy in Death
39. The Lantern Men
40. *American Follies
41. Time Was Soft There
42. The King of a Rainy Country

Into the House in August
97. The Knight of Cheerful Countenance - Bonanza!
98. Glitter of Mica
99. Another Time, Another Place
100. Playing the Harlot
101. A House in the Country - Kindle
102. Hackenfeller's Ape - Bonanza again!
103. Everything is Nice
104. Borderline
105. Hungry Hearts and Other Stories
106. The Diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner
107. Selected Stories
108. Bodily Harm
109. A Stricken Field
110. Winged Seeds
111. Ann Veronica
112. The Quest for Christa T.
113. The Golden Arrow
114. The House in Dormer Forest
115. Seven for a Secret
116. The Daisy Chain
117. John Brown's Body
118. Guards! Guards! - Pratchett Lover
119. Hudson River Bracketed - Bonanza
120. The Fruit of the Tree
121. The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
122. Edith Wharton ✔ - AMP
123. The Secret Chord - Kindle deal through BookBub
124. No Man's Land - Same
125. The Cloister - Yet again

READ IN SEPTEMBER
43. A Killer in King's Cove
44. Too Much and Never Enough
45. The Wizard's Butler
46. The Fifth Season
47. *Hieroglyphics

Into the House in September
126. The Gods Arrive - Bonanza Box
127. The Aloe
128. Barren Ground
129. Curious, If True
130. Nobody's Business
131. The Seventh Horse
132. Afternoon of a Good Woman
133. Maurice Guest
134. The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen
135. A Little Love, A Little Learning
136. Collages
137. The Four-Chambered Heart
138. The Other Woman
139. Diana of the Crossways
140. The Dancing Girls
141. Three Weeks
142. Jonah's Gourd Vine
143. Hamnet ✔ - Kindle -$5.00 deal
144. Their Eyes Were Watching God - back to the Bonanza
145. UTOPIA AVENUE ✔ - ER!!!!
146. Hieroglyphics ✔ - ER!!!!
147. Her - Bonanza Box
148. Tell Me a Riddle
149. Dust Falls on Eugene Schlumburger / Toddler on the Run - last of the Bonanza
150. The Wizard's Butler ✔ - Kindle
151. Another Life Is Possible - ER
152. Mornings on Horseback - Kindle Deal
153. The Obelisk Gate ✔
154. St. Peter's Finger - Kindle cheapie

READ IN OCTOBER
48. Crossroads of Twilight
49. Quarter Share
50. Half Share
51. Full Share
52. *Utopia Avenue
53. Double Share

Into the House in October
155. Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human - ER!!!!
156. The Lois McKendrick Omnibus ✔ - Kindle - Birthday $
157. Double Share ✔ - Kindle - Birthday $
158. Children of Earth and Sky - Kindle - Birthday $
159. The Debatable Land - AMP
160. Lords of the Horizons - AMP - Birthday $
161. Captain's Share - Kindle - Birthday $

Out of the House
Mine ~ 9 Wards'~4

* Review on book page

Open for October Reading



(Just because they're open doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to get to them this month or next month or December. *sigh*)

Memorable in the First Quarter!
The Silence of the Girls
Cesare: A Novel of War-Torn Berlin
At Home
Tracker
*IN DEATH*

Memorable in the Second Quarter!
*RUTH GALLOWAY*
Second-hand Time
Tombland
Dead Wake
The Old Ways
Isaac's Storm

Memorable in the Third Quarter!
Too Much and Never Enough
Time Was Soft There
The Wizard's Butler
The Fifth Season

Hi Peggy. Happy new thread. Happy 4th of July.

Welcome, Beth! Enjoy the 4th of July yourself - everybody has one.

Happy New Thread, Peggy!

(((((Roni)))))

Happy new thread, Peggy, and happy quiet Fourth of July!

I heard some fireworks last night and anticipate hearing some tonight, but we never go to venues so this year's lack of same doesn't bother us.

Gentle hugs to your ma, kind regards to your DH, and lots of hugs to you!!!

Happy new thread!

happy new one!

Hi Peggy. What Ruth Galloway did you last read??
I see in >4 LizzieD: something was memorable. I'm still waiting my turn to borrow the eBook of Lantern Men. Yes, it might be fun to "read together". What exactly does that entail? I haven't joined any group reading before. In fact I didn't know it was a 'thing' until this year when I paid more attention on the 75-book group talk.

I hope you are having a nice weekend and steering clear of celebratory crowds. I see US news photos of beaches and open streets full of people. Scary! Be safe, be well, as they say up here, north of the 49th.

(Edited, because I checked the earlier thread and saw your lovely suggestion).

Happy new thread, Peggy!

Happy new thread, Peggy!

In this difficult year with an unprecedented pandemic and where the ills of the past intrude sadly upon the present there must still be room for positivity. Be rightly proud of your country. To all my American friends, enjoy your 4th of July weekend.

The best thing about starting a new thread is the visitors! Thank you for stopping in, Paul, Anita, Sandy, Anita, Susan, and Karen! Please come back!
We had a very quiet 4th except for the neighbors' fireworks. They have some really LOUD bangs that scare the cats and that even deaf May can hear and be startled by. The last one was before dark, so I'll be an optimist and think that the pretty ones that they're setting off now are the only ones they have left.
Paul, I'm thankful to be an American, but I can't say that I'm very proud of us at the moment. I'll correct that. I'm humbled by and proud of our health care workers and those who stand up to the present administration and its supporters.
Sandy, my last RG was The Stone Circle, so I'm ready for The Lantern Men. Reading with me means simply that we'll comment to each other as we go along. It doesn't much matter to me whether we are in sync all the way through the book. If you want me to join you, let me know when you get the book!

Happy new thread, Peggy. I spent the day with my daughter's family, including two teenage grandchildren. A lot of fun and then fireworks!
I have to say I agree with your comments about being thankful to be an American. There was a time when I was proud and I hope we return to that some day, showing our better selves.

Happy new thread, Peggy! Have a peaceful Sunday and a hopeful week.

Thanks for visiting and speaking, Jan and Gail!
Wishing everybody a safe, sane, hopeful week!

Happy New Thread Peggy!

>16 LizzieD: This sounds fun! Thank you so much.

It will be possibly 12 weeks, though for me to receive the loan, because there's only one copy available via e-Book. I am 4th in line so unless people are considerate and read and return it quickly, patrons are allowed a 3-week loan!

I also requested the physical book (at least 8 months ago!) when it was first listed as a pending purchase but I don't see any indication they've processed the hardcover.

I've pasted the link to this conversation in my TBR notes.

Happy new thread!

Rhian and Jim! Happy to see you here, and thank you for the visit!
Sandy, you know you're always welcome!!! I'm betting that people won't need the three weeks to read Lantern Men. Maybe they'll also be considerate and pass it along quickly. I'll be ready when you are.
About the most significant thing of the day is that I have misplaced my copy of the M. Wollstonecraft bio. I read the first chapter yesterday, but today I can't find it. When I'm home I feel as though it's at Mama's and vice versa. I've looked in all the logical places. Oh dear. Oh dear.

I hope you find the M. Wollstonecraft bio soon. It's frustrating to lose something - I sometimes do it with books but more with my cellphone. At least I can call the cellphone from the land line - wouldn't it be nice to be able to call up our books?

I hope you have a great day. Don't forget to tell your DH to get some cherries!

We had cherries for breakfast, YAY!!!! I also found the book - between the mattress and the bedstead where I apparently dropped it before I went to sleep completely. If I were not dropping things this morning, all would be well. Well --- I asked for plain bagels (or everything) and got Hawaiian sweet ones, which are not good with onion and chive cream cheese, but next week is another week!
Off to make potato salad, fry chicken, and eventually read!

I had a peach for breakfast, a gift from my mom. I am famous for being unable to buy peaches that are not rotten in the middle, so she kindly brings me good ones.

I was waiting for my ER copy of the new David Mitchell, but it never came. :( You?

Hi, Beth. Happy peach to you! We've had one or two so far this summer. Yummy!
As a matter of fact, I reported my copy of the new DM as not yet received again yesterday. I'm now waiting for three from ER unless one came in the mail today.

Hi Peggy! I'm glad you had some cherries. I bought more and have been eating them like crazy.

So ambitious. I admire it. I've never fried chicken. I've cheated and 'oven fried' chicken but never oil in a pan on the stove fried it. I do make potato salad, though, even though Bill won't eat it. Sigh.

Happy Saturday to you, your mom, and your DH.

Hey, Karen! Glad to see you!! We're eating cherries like crazy too. I do look forward to them every year.
Fried chicken is not hard, and I can't see that it's any worse for you than any number of other things if you use a good oil and drain the pieces thoroughly. DH won't/can't eat potato salad either, and Mama doesn't love it, but I do. I found the Betty Crocker recipe early in my marriage and have never regretted it. (The secret is to marinate the potatoes and onions in oil and vinegar for at least an hour or two before adding the other veggies.)
Happy Sunday right back to you and Bill and Jenna!

THE ROOK by Daniel O'Malley

This is such a fun book! Myfanwy Thomas wakes up in a public park in London in the rain, with no memory, and surrounded by dead people wearing protective gloves. She learns that she has been one of two Rooks in a secret agency, the Checquy, which defends Britain against hostile paranormal attacks. (15% of men who wear hats in London are hiding horns, for instance.) She is said to have amnesia, but it's more than that. Myfanwy 2 is a completely different person from Myfanwy 1, who was mishandled as a child at the Estate, the Checquy's education facility, and who rose in the organization more for her administrative talents than for her supernatural abilities. 2's task is to find the traitor who wiped her memory while doing her job. 1 has left her extensive letters and a notebook that teaches her the job. The narrative moves a chapter of present action with 2 to a letter from 1, and this worked well for me.
I confess that I did tire of the adventure parts after the first one, but never enough to give it up. It's smile-funny and intriguing and well done.
I will read book 2, Stiletto but not right this minute.

Hi Peggy! happy newish thread! I listened to The Rook some years ago and agree with your review. Like you, I plan to read the next book... at some point. Enjoy those cherries!

This morning I had peaches and blueberries on my yogurt, knowing I also have fresh local raspberries waiting for later and thought of how I love all the choices one has for delicious fruits this time of year!

I think I'll pass on The Rook!

Welcome, Anne and Lucy. Fresh fruit gets all my fingers and toes up. It's time for local melons, and I'm ready!
We're agreed. *Rook* is just the thing if you like that kind of thing; one to avoid if you don't.

Hugs, Peggy. Costco had cartons of Rainier cherries last week when we were there. I eat those like crazy for the whole short time they are in season.

ah, fruit! I've been getting blueberries and strawberries from Trader Joe's (not as expensive as elsewhere), and I can't wait for the local peaches to come in. Yesterday I bought 4 New Jersey beefsteak tomatoes. How is it that I haven't eaten them yet?

Hi Peggy! Loving the fresh fruit discussion. Recently, my CSA has given me one type of lovely seasonal fruit every week: blueberries, cherries, and peaches so far, and blueberries are back this week. Generally speaking, they need to be consumed as soon as possible and, generally speaking, I do that by baking with them. Blueberry muffins and peach crisp were the high points; my cherry clafoutis left something to be desired but the cherries were not to blame.

Between this and finding sourdough religion, I've been a veritable baking machine of late. It's brought a glimmer of happiness to the lockdown.

I love the cherry love too, Roni, Judy, and Laura. We eat them so quickly that I generally don't have any to bake, but I was thinking to try a good cherry recipe. I'd never heard of cherry caflutis, so thank you for that, Laura. If I can remember to put almonds on the grocery list, that's in our future.
I always think that I'll have a wonderful Sunday reading afternoon. Somehow, I rarely do. I'm not sure where the time went but certainly not into any sustained reading.
There's always tomorrow.

Since I still have the URL from posting on Karen's thread, I'll add my recommendation for Cherry Chocolate Cookies. Made them with pecans yesterday, and they're good. They'll be better with some cocoa though.
As for reading, I got through the Perrin/Faille beginning sequence of Winter's Heart and am happier with Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, so that's all that I've been into. I will get back to M. Wollstonecraft today, I hope. I'd love to finish her this month. I've also started The Night Circus, and I think it's going to work for me.
Happy Day, y'all!

Hi Peggy, I guess the fruit indulgence is going on from coast to coast. I'm a cherry lover too (can't imagine anyone who isn't) and blueberries and peaches are fantastic. I have to eat it all before it goes bad so that means something at every meal. Not complaining...

I'll be interested to hear what you think of The Night Circus. Happy reading.

Hi, Jan! Not only cherries and peaches and blueberries, but melons!!!! I hope to get some next week.
I confess that I can't think about *Night C* yet. I didn't do anything but Wheel today. It's #9, and after a couple of hundred pages of poor Perrin petrified that his wife is in the hands of the Shaido, some things are finally moving. Elayne now has her second warder, and that menage a quatre is a done deal. Women are sniffing a lot less frequently; that's going to save at least ten pages. They do continue to smooth their skirts and cross their arms under their breasts. (Does anybody do this? I'm just curious. I don't think I ever have. O.K. I just tried it. One arm under and the other over.)
Off I go to read a bit more.

Ha! Yes, I have crossed my arms under my breasts, but don't smooth my skirts because I don't wear them! I liked Night Circus a lot.

Good to know about you, Roni! *grin*
I WILL read something besides *Wheel* today. I will.

I requested Night Circus some weeks before the pandemic was declared and our libraries all closed.
They've just reopened and when I picked up some holds (curbside), I was told that any holds from out side our local system won't be filled. So boo. I was really looking forward to that novel.

In other reading, I just finished The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Alix Harrow). It's my best read so far this year. I'm running around the threads to say so, because she has such an amazing way with words.

I borrowed it from Overdrive but I liked it so much, I'm going to look for the title on sale. As a physical book.

Wow! You really make me want to get to the 10,000, Sandy. Karen already had me primed for it. It was a deal for Kindle when I got it, and I expect that I won't want another copy. I think I got my *Circus* from PBS, so you might want to check there.
I'm hopeful that at least the second person in line is now reading *Lantern Men* so that you'll be able to get it soon!
Today I was finally able to read both the Mary W. bio and a bit of *Murderbot 2*. I sort of needed something that I can finish quickly.
Mary Wollstonecraft was quite the woman! I have her in Paris during the Terror. She could have gone back to England, but chose to stay. Incidentally, I had no idea that Wordsworth was such a supporter of the French Revolution, nor Coleridge for that matter, at least until they executed Citizen Capet. I'm always amazed at what I don't know.

Hi Peggy! Happy Saturday to you, your mom, and your DH.

I've started reading February's ER book received in March - Wild Dog by Serge Joncour. so far so good.

Hi Peggy! Happy you're all well. Did you find the Wollstonecraft?

>37 LizzieD: I believe I will be trying this recipe, but I agree that they need to be chocolate cookies with cherries in them.

>43 LizzieD: What you said! (I'm hopeful that at least the second person in line is now reading *Lantern Men* so that you'll be able to get it soon!) ~ I wish!

Here's what the library shows (tonight) for The Lantern Men on my e-Book hold:


That's me, #3

And here's the view if I click that question mark in the blue circle:


In my location, there's only one copy available on Overdrive, but I also had originally made a hold request for the physical book late last year when I knew the novel was being released in UK. Our library had it listed as 'on order'. I am hoping that I'll work up that queue faster, except, with the staff only just returning this month, I expect the processing is way behind.

>43 LizzieD: Yep the Old Romantics were supporters of the French Revolution although they did get something of a check when the King's head rolled off and the Committee of Public Safety brought terror to the streets of Paris.

Hi, Karen and Jenn! My next baking project is homemade fig newtons, for which I found a recipe online. I'll let you know. A friend just brought Mama a lot more than she can eat, and I don't like them fresh. In fact, I dislike them a lot; texture + taste = unhappiness in my mouth. My DH believes that I cursed our fig bush to death, but really, I just backed his 2-ton truck over it (NOT on purpose!). I am reading Wollstonecraft and enjoying the experience. Hope you like the cookies, Jenn. Ours are nearly gone.
Sandy, I'm awfully sorry that the RG is still so far from your eager eyes. I'm betting that people will take way less than six weeks to read it. I may have to go ahead though because I need something light. I will finish *Murderbot 2* first though. I started sneak-reading it yesterday. Good stuff! I see that you can get a used copy of The Night Circus for about $6 if that appeals to you. I forgot that I need to read that one too, and American Follies because I owe Bellevue Literary Press a review of it. All good stuff!
Hi, Paul. Live and learn!

Good luck, Peggy. I am also waiting for The Lantern Men.

Happy Sunday to you, Peggy! We're definitely related, because fresh figs = unhappiness in my mouth, too. However, fig newtons are another beast entirely and I wish you well. You've reminded me of something that I used to be able to find but haven't seen in years - Sunshine Raisin Biscuits. Some quick research shows they're defunct, although I could buy Garibaldi biscuits from Amazon. However, they are made with currants and would taste a tad different. I've found a recipe online for homemade raisin biscuits and may make some one of these fine days. I'm still trying to overcome laziness and make a white or yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.

My friend Rhoda has just discovered that there will be a 13th Ruth Galloway, published in England in February 2021, in the US in June 2021. It's called The Night Hawk but there's no touchstone for it yet. She says she's going to get hold of it in February and loan it to me when she's done.

>50 karenmarie: And yet another sisterly sign! I also loved Sunshine Raisin Biscuits - just the right level of almost sweetness - and was thinking about them as I looked for the fig newton recipe. Oh well.
I believe my friend has also remarked about another RG coming fairly soon. Maybe she'll get it and let me have it. Meanwhile, hi, Beth! Glad to see you! I have my borrowed copy that I can read, but I really, really, really need to finish one thing first, even if it's only *Murderbot 2*!
Relax into Sunday afternoon, friends!

>50 karenmarie: ooh, another Ruth Galloway! That's exciting news, Karen, thanks for spreading the word.

>48 LizzieD: I may have to go ahead though because I need something light.

That's totally understandable, Peggy. I-myveryown-self would find it hard to hold off, so if you want to forge ahead, by all means.

Hi, Laura and Sandy! Good news, eh?
Sandy, I can't forge anywhere yet. I'm still Wheeling (enjoying being back with Mat, although he's not my favorite character, in case anybody knows whereof I speak) and moving on a bit with Murderbot.

Fresh Fig Newton Recipe

I haven't made it yet, but this is the one I'm using minus the orange zest because I don't have an orange. I guess I won't use grapefruit, but I might put in another touch of lemon. Hmmmmm.

>55 LizzieD: YUMMY!!!!

I downloaded the recipe. Now to search for fresh figs...

Winner! Winner! Forget the chicken dinner! Just eat the fig bars. They are very, very tasty. If I ever make them again (buttering the parchment paper is the most challenging part), I'll use less sugar in the dough.
Hope you find figs and enjoy, Sandy.

ARTIFICIAL CONDITION by Martha Wells

Murderbot Diaries 2 does not disappoint. My only complaint is that it's so short.
It's hard for me to think of Mb as an it. Does anybody else yearn to assign a gender? (Sort of feels female to me)
I also press on in *Wheel* and *Mary W*.

I'm glad the fig bars turned out so well. The best and only good use for figs, eh?

Hi, Karen. They taste a lot like Mama's fig preserves with lemon, the only other good use of figs that I can think of. I've never eaten figgy pudding although I've sung for it often enough.
My friend is making M. Trump's book available. I don't know whether I can read it or not. Maybe I should try it only when I'm getting rid of frustration on the exer-cycle. Also, Tor is making available free copies of Silver in the Wood before the release of the next one, The Drowned Country, which is also available for $3.99 right now. I haven't heard of Emily Tesh, but these look pretty good.

>59 LizzieD: Awesome message Peggy!
The book looks really interesting, so I did join up for the download.
Thanks for posting the info.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT by Claire Tomalin

This is one of CT's first biographies, originally published in 1974 (my copy being a revised edition from 1992). Her research is phenomenal and the level of detail is perfect for my taste. I read this for Suzanne's non-fiction challenge and would have given it five stars except that CT quotes a fair amount of French without translating it. I guess in 1974 her readers were more likely to be better educated. My French would certainly have been better then.
Mary was an amazing woman for any era, daring to think, and act on what she thought. Although the English sensibilities were tending toward Victoria by the time of her death, she perhaps had an easier time being a radical than she would have if she had been born at the turn of the century. Her family was not poor, but her education was not particularly good. When she moved to London, having been a companion, and then a governess in Ireland (the Kingsborough family wanted her to tutor their children in French, which she didn't speak, so she bought books and taught herself before taking the job), she moved into a group of Dissenters, read a lot, and took her place among them, supporting herself by writing reviews and books. These were the people she joined in Paris in 1792, escaping a failed love affair. Frightened by what they saw of the Revolution, they came back home. Mary stayed and moved in Girondist circles, where she met an American, Gilbert Imlay, who protected her during the Terror by claiming her as his wife, and who fathered her daughter Fanny. Not one of the people she loved was ever able to return the passion she felt, and Imlay abandoned her and Fanny for England and another mistress.
She made her way back home, and after trying to reunite with him, going on a trip to Scandinavia for his business (and taking Fanny with her), and two suicide attempts, she finally let him go.
Her next step was to pursue William Godwin. He married her when she was pregnant with their daughter Mary. He was better to her than Imlay had been, but his real devotion to her started after her death. That death has haunted me since I read about it. She delivered the baby ("the animal") with the help of a midwife but failed to expel the placenta. These details are sick-making, so read at your own risk: A doctor poked around her uterus with non-sterilized hand and gave her septicemia. She lived from Wednesday to Sunday with breasts so engorged - they didn't express her milk - that they put puppies to suck, which stimulated more milk flow. Godwin published a memoir which was honest but did her no favor at that time. Readers were scandalized by her life and disgusted by her feminist concerns. Fanny committed suicide in her early twenties. We know what happened to Mary.
I seem to have written a review without mentioning her work and while giving only the slightest idea of her self-confidence and nerve; sometimes that nerve served her well, but other times it hurt her and the people she loved. I likely won't read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but I'll honor her for having written it and for having lived as though those rights were acknowledged in her time.

>61 LizzieD: Compelling review. I might try her opus, but then, I would probably only say 'of course' all the time.

Thanks, Judy. You're a better woman than I am. I think I've read enough for now. Aren't we happy to be able to say "of course" as much as we can?!
My little reading today was spent Wheeling and with The Night Circus. *NC* is pleasant reading. I'm not completely enchanted, but it's certainly no chore!

>61 LizzieD: Outstanding review, Peggy. This is a book I’ll actively be looking for.

Have a peaceful and happy week.

Thank you, Gail. Anything by Claire Tomalin is going to be superior!

'Morning, my dear.

I have one more serving of fresh cherries in the refrigerator, which I will thoroughly enjoy today. I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow and will see if they still have any.

Hot nasty weather. I just refilled the birdbath and that's probably it for my adventures outdoors today.

I hope you have a good day. Kind regards to your ma and DH.

>63 LizzieD: Oh, I anticipate the 'of course' would mean my agreement, not the way of the world. Social revolution is glacial.

>63 LizzieD: That's how I took it, Judy. Women have made progress of the sort that MWG envisioned in the past 200 years.
>66 karenmarie: Good morning again, Karen! We were able to get another bag of cherries, which we can eat by the handful. We have more figs, but I was able to forestall the addition of even more figs.
We are staying in. Riding the exercycle isn't even as good as walking, but I try.

WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan

Polished off another one. YAY!!! As usual, RJ combines pages and pages (and pages and pages and pages and PAGES) of too much background and pointless encounters (although you can't tell ahead of time what's pointless and what's not) --- any way, he combines all those pages with plot twists and solid developments and real steps forward. I keep needing to look online to keep characters straight since the glossaries have stopped keeping up with new ones. That means that I often read facts that I don't need to know yet, but I'll get there.
On to BOOK 10!

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

I liked this one very well, especially the circus itself. I'm not normally a great fan of description, but I would have read about even more tents without complaining. I was less charmed by the story, but I never really let go or fell in love. I imagine that I'm about the last person to read *NC*, so I won't bother to write a real review. I'd say that it's worth your time.

>69 LizzieD: Not quite the last. there's me.

Ah. Are you tempted at all, Judy? It's more a fantasia than a fantasy.

Today was a fun reading day. I dipped into several new books and chose three at last. I had decided to read the *Letters* by Nicholas Basbanes because it's shorter than Patience and Fortitude, but then I found that I had read it already in 2012. I hope I would have realized that tiny fact if I had read a bit further. I was attracted because he refers to The Pleasure of Ruins in the preface.
I also got my copy of Jennifer Kloester's Georgette Heyer - at last! It's calling to me, but I'll put it aside for right now.
AND I picked up Life: A User's Manual again tonight. I am enjoying it although I'm not sure why. There are a lot of lists, and I don't like lists. Doesn't matter.

Hi Peggy! Happy Saturday to you.

I read The Night Circus in 2012, rated it 4*, but bookmooched it away. I remember being somewhat let down by it after all the hype, and am surprised with my 4*.

I have the Jane Aiken Hodge biography of Heyer - The Private World of Georgette Heyer, still tbr.

Hi, Karen! Happy Saturday right back to you!
This woman says that JAH gave her all of her research, and that she was also able to copy a huge amount of Heyer's correspondence which hadn't been made available before. It's sort of urging me to read.

>171 Oregonreader: Oops. I missed your question. I am tempted, mostly by people who've read it, including Jim, who has the paperback on the shelf.

The Heyer bio does sound interesting, Peggy. I'll watch for your comments.

Well, Judy. I hope that you'll read it eventually. I'm not sure what your mood should be, but I'd say that you needn't be in any great hurry.
Beth, I'm glad you have plenty to do besides wait for me to pick up the Heyer bio. I do look forward to it.
Meanwhile, I think I'll concentrate on The Lantern Men and read the N. Lock as I can.
We're as battened down for Isaias as we can be. It's supposed to come through here tonight. I just hope devoutly that it will move quickly. All good wishes for everybody else in line for this storm.

O.K. Here's some fun from American Follies. First, here are a verse and refrain from a suffragists' song that E.C. Stanton and S.B. Anthony sing to our narrator:

"Is it because you can drink
More whiskey, beer, and wine,
And not get drunk, and seem to think
Your majesty divine?

Talk not of freedom, equal rights,
Cold hearted, selfish knaves,
While in our land, around our hearths,
Dwell twenty million slaves."

They talk about Adam and Eve for a bit, and Elizabeth concludes, "'You must believe that words can change the world, ... if not for the world's sake, then for your own. The fruit of which Eve ate was a book.'"

Love it!

Stay safe, Peggy - quickly is the operative word. No lingering, Isaias!

>78 LizzieD: I always thought that of Eve. You could say she chose time, history and knowledge. Boredom didn't suit her.

Hi Peggy, I was happy to read (over on Karen's thread) that the storm was a non-event for you. These things are always so worrisome.

Thank you for the good thought, Laura!
Very perspicacious of you, Judy!!
Thank you, as always, Karen!

CONSPIRACY IN DEATH by J. D. Robb
If this isn't the best in the series so far, it's #2. It may be #1. I thoroughly enjoyed it and lapped it up as quickly as I could. JDR ignores her formula (Eve latches onto a suspect early, and in looking for evidence to convict, exonerates and finds the real culprit at risk of life and limb) for a better one. We meet one who I hope will be a continuing character in Dr. Louise Dimatto. While we don't learn more about Eve's past, she remembers being in Chicago as a child. This one is a real page flipper, but I'll try to wait a bit for number nine because I have a LOT that I need/want to be reading right now!

>82 LizzieD: The Eve Dallas series is definitely addicting. I've read (gulp) 43 of them so far.

Glad to know that you're a member of the club, Judy. You are getting there, but nothing like Stasia who rereads the whole series every time a new one comes out. Really!

Hi Peggy!

I love the Eve Dallas series but have only read it once. Book 51, Shadows in Death will be released on September 8th, and I pre-ordered it from Amazon in March. Now that I'm caught up, I need to stay caught up!

High but not vicious heat, but I'm still not reading in the hammock. *smile*

Hi to your ma and DH, many hugs for your own sweet self.

>68 LizzieD:, >70 ffortsa: And me.
It was on my WL request list for holds, weeks and weeks ago, because the library wasn't doing anything about pick ups. I just got it yesterday!

I was never attracted to The Starless Sea, but I have some hopes I'll enjoy this book. I haven't read any reviews other than seeing it on LT-75ers' lists.

>72 LizzieD: I also got my copy of Jennifer Kloester's Georgette Heyer - at last! .

Edited to say, oops! I was mixing this book (Kloester's Georgette Heyer's Regency World) with The Private World of Georgette Heyer. I thought I'd edit my post instead of deleting it.

I did read both these books in previous years. Jane Aiken Hodge's book was excellent. I 'moderately' liked Regency World, but it was indeed a handy source of Regency sayings, manners and details about historical nuances in the day.

Hi, Sandy! I'll stay tuned to see how *Night Circus* hits you. I will read *Starless Sea* sometime but not right now. I know that Stasia loved it more than *NC*, so that's a good recommendation for me.
Hmmm.. I have a copy of *Reg. World* on my Kindle, but I've only dipped into it looking for specific explanation of things. The Kloester bio is calling me, but I'm not answering yet. I have quite a number of things started as you see up on my "open" list.
It's *Lantern Men* again today with a nod to both American Follies and *Wheel 10*. I can't quite get into the latter, but I think/hope it's maybe the last really bloated one.

As of yesterday (I check frequently!) I'm #1 on the copy of The Lantern Men that is available on overdrive.

I had the physical book on request since last year but I have no idea what's happening there. One way or another, I'll eventually have a chance to read it. How is it going for you? Enjoyable Ruth or a lot of eye-roll scenarios?

Sandy, I'm happy to hear that *LM* will soon be in your hands! I'm loving it!!!! I'm trying to stretch it out because I know I'll have a long wait until the next one is available. It's good. Definitely enjoyable Ruth!
Meanwhile, I have traded the huge Basbanes (I don't know what I was thinking) for the more manageable Time Was Soft There for Suzanne's nonfiction challenge. I hope it has a lot about bookselling.

WHOA!!!! 5.1 earthquake in northwestern NC a bit after 8:00 this morning, preceded by a 2.1 one in the wee hours. I didn't notice anything, but people did east of here and south into Georgia.

>91 LizzieD: Okay, I just asked on Karen's thread if either of you had felt it. Since they said it was felt in Georgia.

>91 LizzieD: I just read that on line and wondered about you and Karen. Exciting times?

I didn't feel it because I was sleeping, but Bill did. Jenna called and my friend Karen in Montana called. My aunt in CA texted. There just aren't that many earthquakes in NC, are there?

Glad to hear that y'all y'all are well and no 'quake damage!

Thanks for concern Roni, Judy, and Sandy. You're a bit closer, so I'm not surprised that Bill felt it, Karen.
I can't find the website now, but there used to be a log of seismic activity in NC, and there's more than I would have thought. Of course, 99% of it is very, very minor. I do remember a tremor from SC that I felt many years ago. I was stretched out on the sofa reading, and the couch trembled for maybe ten seconds. That was the biggest (as far as I know) until now.
I'm now not rereading Walter Jon Williams's Rift, an apocalyptic thriller about a quake on the New Madrid fault. I thoroughly enjoyed it the summer I retired.

THE LANTERN MEN by Elly Griffiths

I do love Ruth and Nelson and Kate, and Cathbad and Judy, etc. They keep me happily reading, and I can hardly wait for #13. That said, this mystery struck me as overly convoluted and contrived. I enjoyed the journey more than the arrival.
If you're already a fan, it's a must-read!

>97 LizzieD: Wow there is 12 of them already?! I just read #2 and am surprised actually that she has managed to find enough plausible scenarios to justify 12 books but I do like the characters.

Hooray for cross posts, Paul! Some of the 12 are wonderful; some, less so, but Norfolk provides plenty of believable scenarios for a mystery writer.

>99 LizzieD: Oh, I love the locale. The area she describes near King's Lynn and Hunstanton is an area I am familiar with and love.

>97 LizzieD: I can't wait to get to the new Ruth book, Peggy. I am #2 on the library waitlist, so it shouldn't be too long.

Earthquakes!

>97 LizzieD: Hi Peggy.
Finally I was able to borrow The Lantern Men.

I'm probably going to rip right through it, too! Waited soooo long.
I loved the beginning ~ I'm about 100-pages in; wonderful Cathbad character, as always. Ruth seems in a good space. The twists at the start seem a bit confusing and as you say, suffers a bit from being a tad convoluted.

I'll post a review probably by Monday... I have 2 other library books I'm enjoying too and need to get those finished but I started this RG mystery right away.

Oh, Paul, I wish I were familiar with Norfolk!!!!!
Sounds like a good weekend for you, Sandy! I'm happy that you rose to the top of the list at last!
Enjoy when your turn comes, Beth! I think that most people will plow right through it, so your time should come soon!
Happy day of reading for me. I'm very near the end of a most strange Norman Lock *American Novel*, American Follies, which is dealing with E.C. Stanton & S.B. Anthony's suffragist concerns and race relations in 1880s America. The narrator was a secondary character, who seemed normal in his Feast Day of the Cannibals, but she is a most unreliable narrator for this one. I'm also enjoying Time Was Soft There, mostly about the characters the author met when he lived at Shakespeare & Co., the Paris bookstore, in year 2000. My happiness today came from the arrival of R.W.B. Lewis's bio of Edith Wharton. I'll be ready for it soon.

It's been a month (!!!!!!) since I stopped by here -- you were all delighting in the fresh fruits. Our peak season is JUST HAPPENING now -- plums, blueberries, melons, peaches . . . apples soon. I'm almost overwhelmed. But loving it.

You do tempt me with that review of the Wollstonecraft bio. What a sad ending though. Makes me think of Margaret . . . ack! The name will come! the American intellectual who drowned only a hundred yards from land. These 19th century women lived bold lives, out there and so vulnerable in every way - as dangerous as can be.

A little bit of Norfolk for your Sunday, Peggy.

Thank you for Norfolk, Paul. My home is that flat, but nowhere near the sea, so no fens, only swamp.
Welcome back, Lucy. No Margaret springs to mind at the moment --- somebody's daughter, maybe, traveling back up the coast from a visit in the South? Now who am I thinking of?
Yours is Margaret Fuller????? The Barnum & Bailey "little person" in my N. Lock was named for her. (Family joke --- My cousin-in-law's maiden name was Midgette. When her parents moved to a little town nearby, Mama was telling a former resident which house the Midgettes had bought. A few weeks later the friend asked, "Have the little people moved into the ____ house yet?")

AMERICAN FOLLIES by Norman Lock

I had my copy of this as an ARC from the publisher, so my review is on the book page. Lock translates life for women and black people in the late 19th century into a fever dream. It's dark with some comedy that isn't actually a relief. (E. Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony bicker like an old married couple and then join forces to do what has to be done.) The author writes a note to the reader to explain what he's about. I had sort of gotten it, but I really didn't like the necessity of that note, and apparently several LT readers didn't get it even with the help. It's not a book for everybody, but I will eventually read more of Lock's American Novels.

'Morning, Peggy!

Funny story about the Midgettes.

Excellent review of American Follies, a book that doesn't appeal to me at all. You really captured the flavor in your review.

It's overcast this morning, with possibly some thunderstorms. I'm glad the high's only going to be 82 since I have to run some errands this morning.

Thanks, Karen. I don't know that I would have been attracted to it either, except for the suffragists on the 100th anniversary of their victory and the fact that I thought his first book in this series, The Boy in Winter, was brilliant. I ended up liking the other one that I've read more than liked a lot of the reading of it. Lock, btw, apologizes to the suffragists in his afterward.

TIME WAS SOFT THERE by Jeremy Mercer

I really enjoyed this quick little book. Mercer spent a fair amount of time as a resident of Shakespeare & Co. bookstore on the Left Bank of Paris across from Notre Dame. He became a close friend of George Whitman, proprietor, who died in 2011, and writes mostly about the other denizens of the store during his stay. In Y2K Mercer still had a pretty Bohemian experience: no money, not a lot of food, a lot of beer and wine, too little sleep, filth, and reading and writing. He was not a sterling character, and he doesn't pull any punches. He did, however, have a talent for friendship and a solid work ethic, and those make him a personality that I could read about with enjoyment. I was hoping for more about the books, but the books were mostly remainders. On the other hand, there was the library for the use of the residents and not for sale. Residents were expected to read a book a day and help to run the store, and Mercer did both.
Four Stars from me!

I realised, Peggy, that my old version of Safari on my MacBook Air was the problem so I am switching to Google Chrome occasionally to see all the pictures - including your swamp one!

Have a lovely Sunday.

Hi Peggy! How are you? Looks like there has been some good reading. I enjoyed The Lantern Men, although the continuing unresolved relationship of Ruth and Nelson bugs me to no end. We were without internet for 5 days. It's amazing how much reading happens when there's no internet and the kids are using my phone for hotspot to do their school work. Lol
I can feel summer coming to an end. I am ready for a long, lovely fall. Wouldn't it be nice if we got one?

Hi, Jenn! I'm sorry about the Internet. Five days is an eternity and has happened to me only in the aftermath of hurricanes when we had plenty else to do to keep us going.
A long, lovely fall. I don't believe I've ever had one. NC typically goes from extreme to extreme with only a week or so if we're lucky. I'd like it.
I do wonder how Griffiths is going to resolve the Ruth/Nelson situation. I don't see anything for it but for Ruth to leave. Sorry, but that's what she should do.

>113 LizzieD: I am going to have to catch up that series a little, Peggy!

(((((Peggy)))))

'Morning, Peggy!

I can't wait for fall but you're right - it's usually extreme to extreme. I'll take what I can get, though.

I've been reading a series in which the star-crossed lovers separate forever but then the wife dies. I'm not sure how I feel about it beyond screaming "Deus ex machina".

(((((Roni)))))!
((((Karen))))! I think and certainly hope that Griffiths is too smart to dump that kind of cheesy solution on her faithful readers. She certainly had the opportunity when Tim was killed, and she rejected it then.

>113 LizzieD: This is an interesting thought. I'd like to talk about ongoing series with The Lantern Men, but I don't want to ruin the novel for those who have yet to read it.
Hopefully my spoiler tags will help, but be warned, I might not effectively conceal everything...

In my review of the continuing saga of Ruth Galloway, I wrote that I'm was a tad bored with Nelson; the Ruth persona has outgrown this as a tension/suspense/romance angle. I like the character that Griffiths developed for Ruth. I'm sticking with this series because of Ruth. Not because of her love life with a married man. It's become something of a lame trope.

The development with Frank and moving to Cambridge was nice to see, but didn't engage me much because the author leapt two-years forward, and everything was fait-accompli. This doesn't allow the reader a chance to enjoy the progression to a new place and development in Ruth's life.

I wonder if Griffiths ( in her own mind) couldn't make the new location/relationship work, because it sounded like Ruth was going to go back when her old boss, Phil, left? This last hinted development left a rather negative effect on my reading enthusiasm.

>103 LizzieD: We will be spending a week on the Norfolk coast in October. Lots of walking along the edge of the marshes planned.

>119 SandDune: It is amazing along the coast. We only visited 2 days in the area. i hope I get back sometime.

Hi, Rhian and Sandy!!!! I'm happy to have you here, and I envy you your acquaintance with Norfolk. Two weeks in October sounds phenomenal!
Sandy, I care about Nelson a lot more than you do. I don't see how he and Ruth could live together for very long though. She would not be interested in taking care of him the way that Michelle has, and he doesn't really have time to take care of himself, given the nature of his job. Nor could he leave Michelle and George.
I'm more out of countenance with the way that Ruth is universally seen as sexually hot stuff. Think about it: Nelson, Frank, her first lover (Pete?), her friend whose diary we read several books ago. At least Nelson likes to watch her work. I do enjoy Kate and seeing her develop character traits from both parents as she becomes her own person.
I agree that I'd like to have seen a little more about those two years that we missed. Anyway, I will jump all over the new one when it comes out in hopes that something definitive happens - even if it's that Ruth decides she can be satisfied with what little Nelson can give her. Hmph.

>121 LizzieD: I'm at it again, Peggy. Referring to Elly G's series:
I like your thoughts on the RG saga. I do like the Nelson character when he's being a cop, but do you think his place in the story has become a tad contrived, or at least a sticking point for the narrative? I also find it annoying that Ruth has to be "rescued" every 2nd or 3rd book along and usually by... yup, Nelson.

Like you, I'll probably read on... which is unusual in my case. Over the years, I have abandoned just about every series before it finished, or I quit looking. Usually due to the equivalent of "same old, same old" - the stories become written to the same recipe, with just a change of names.

How are you doing for wind and rain? I hope that this Laura storm isn't harassing you or family and friends.

Hi, Sandy!!!
You know, I generally tire of our women being saved by our men, but really... If Ruth will involve herself in murder investigations without any experience or training in keeping herself safe, I'll just have to be glad that Nelson is there once again to save her. I hate to think how many mystery series I have abandoned for all practical purposes and with books yet to read. So sue me, Universe.
Meanwhile, I confess that I'm reading along bit by bit in *Wheel 10*. I think that this is the last awful one, so I'm reading and hoping eventually to get to the better last ones.
I had hoped to finish my Virago today, but I'll probably fall asleep tonight before I mop up the last 20 pages. It's been a good one though, The King of a Rainy Country, just what I'd expect of a VMC from the mid-50s.

THE KING OF A RAINY COUNTRY by Brigid Brophy

This is exactly what I was hoping for when I chose a VMC written in the mid-50s. It's smart, original, replete with that mid-century London/European vibe, but not too smart nor too obscure.
The first person narrator (whose name we hear only once at a crucial meeting, but for convenience, I'll call her Susan) lives with, but is not sexually intimate with, Neale, the man whom she loves. They share sensibilities as well as their London flat. Susan is working as assistant to a seller of mild pornography when she sees a picture of her school friend Cynthia, whom she loved passionately and unsuccessfully, featured in one of the books for sale.
In a chance episode of getting out of the rain, she and Neale take a job as tour guides in Italy, where they have learned that Cynthia is, for a group of Americans. Like everything else in their lives, they let their flat go and head for Rome almost on the spot. The Americans are uniformly awful, but dodging into a hotel doorway in Venice to get out of rain again, they spot Cynthia in the lobby. Complications ensue as Cynthia introduces them to Helena, a gracefully aging opera star, and her platonic friend Phillip.
The writing is literary without being flashy. Rain is obviously significant to the work as is the concept of being backstage at a performance. It's very good middlebrow fiction, and I recommend it enthusiastically.

Hi, Peggy, I'm stopping by to say thanks for visiting my thread during my long absence. No excuse for the absence, just a nice long vacation with all my children, then some health problems. No connection there!

The Brophy book sounds just up my alley and I'm adding it to my list. I haven't read the latest RG book but plan to. I agree with much that you've said about Ruth and Nelson. I sometimes get annoyed but keep returning for more.

>124 LizzieD: Rats. I was trying *not* to add to my WL/TBR stack.

Wonderful review Peggy.

Jan, I'm pleased to see you here and relieved that what kept you away was mostly a nice long vacation with all your children! I hope that the medical issues are resolved!!!!!
Hi, Sandy! I'd love to see what you and Jan both think of *Rainy Country*. Oh the dangers of the wish list!!!!!
I had fun today dipping into this and that, including more *Wheel*, which is unending and Becoming and the bio of Edith Wharton. I expect that I'll get back to my little Canadian mystery tomorrow. I don't think I've added it to my current list, but I am happily reading A Killer in King's Cove. I'd love to finish it before the end of the month.

Hi Peggy!

I hope you get a minimal amount of ‘weather’ today. We’ve already had one power blip and it’s windier than usual.

>123 LizzieD: I’m getting impatient with the series I’m powering through right now – the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series – because among other things Clare is heedless of her personal safety and well-being. I’m over halfway through book 7 of 9 and will continue on, but sometimes I just want to smack her.

>127 LizzieD: I'd love to finish it before the end of the month. Yikes. I'd like to wrap up a couple of books by then, too.

Hi, Karen. Nothing here in the way of weather yet although it's a bit breezy. I had thought that today would be a bit cooler and drier, but that's apparently tomorrow. Good luck to both of us!

>130 ffortsa: i was just compkaining about Clare Ferguson to a friend for the same reason.

Hi, Judy! Clare F. is sounding very like my V.I Warshawski. I keep reading her, but I'm not sure I could take two of them. (Vic knows when she's putting herself out there, but she can't do otherwise for integrity's sake.)
I was hoping to finish my mystery, but I started The Fifth Season tonight, and I may not be able to put it down. I don't know why I've put it off for so long.

Happy Sunday, Peggy!

We had no weather yesterday, which makes it a cert that Bill will be able to mow today.

Hi to your ma, kind regards to your DH, and many hugs for your own dear self.

All the same back to you, Karen, my friend!

Could you folks send some of the warmth up here?
We're forecast to go to a low of 2 oC tonight. That's about 35 or 36 oF, so such an insult when it is still August. There's about a 100 pounds of tomatoes out back, all green-as-grass!

Meanwhile, it makes it easier to sleep at night now... always some silver lining somewhere...

Holy Moly, Sandy! That's winter weather!!!!! I do wish we could combine to make a happy medium for both of us.
100 pounds is a LOT of tomatoes. Fried green tomatoes are good a time or two, but that's a sadness to have so many. Hope you were able to cover some of them or whatever you do.
Sleep well!

>135 LizzieD: Grilled/griddled green or nearly green tomatoes are fabulous with sausage and toast for breakfast. And easier than breaded and fried for sure

Will stop off to share the tomato love, Peggy. One of my favourite foods.

Hi, Paul and Susan! The taste of summer = mater samwidges with Duke's mayo on homebaked bread. YUM!!!!!

So it went to +5 (41 oF) and the covered plants look fine. Still, we will pick lots in the next days and ripen them in the basement.

Lots of love for tomatoes amongst our friends. We swap for what we haven't grown ~ last night we had the most delicious beets I've had in years.

Although I can't imagine it at the moment, I know that 41° isn't bad, Sandy. I'm sure that you are most popular among your gardening friends!
(I'm afraid that I will never voluntarily use "delicious" and "beets" in the same sentence - except like that..... Glad you enjoyed them.)
Meanwhile, excitement reigns in my heart. I love and adore the cello and have always wanted to play. Just lately, I've been watching tutorial videos on YouTube. There are an amazing number of them for beginning cellists. I could take a cello to my mother's to play with as I can't take the piano. Long story kind of short: a friend has lent me her son's very cheap cello for as long as I want it. Son couldn't keep it tuned, but that may be more a function of impatient 12 year-old than hopelessly slipping pegs. I'll see. At the very least, I can get a feel for the instrument.
AND I have another bonanza of books on the way to arrive late this week.
This is all amazing. Now all I have to do is keep us healthy if I can and cultivate patience.

>140 LizzieD: ooh, cello! That sounds like a fun challenge, Peggy.

I played violin from age 8 to about 30, and haven't touched it since. I'm sure we could play some mighty fine duets. 😀

Hi Peggy!

Yay for the cello.

Yay for the book bonanza.

You are doing a marvelous job of keeping you all healthy with the sacrifices you're making. Patience is another matter. Hang in there.

Cello! Good for you. I would suggest you get some beginner lessons in person, however. Bad starts can really inhibit the joy of playing a string instrument, as I know personally.

As for tuning, make sure the pegs are pushed into the scroll all the way, so they grab. Strings probably need to be tuned every day, especially if the weather varies or the cello is really cheap.

If I were starting a string instrument now, I'd probably choose the cello, for the sound and the more direct way of holding the instrument. My sister played when she was younger and has a newish cello now (her old one was stolen). So that's more her territory than mine. I'm still plugging away at the fiddle - and I've been invited to play with some people right in my area on Thursday. I hesitated, considering the virus, but it's just two people and the space sounds large enough and well-ventilated.

Good luck with your new adventure!

Thank you, Laura, Karen, and Judy!
This is a very cheap cello, Judy. The varnish dried in a smear, for example. First session was today, and I don't much think I have the strength to push the pegs in all the way. DH is happily researching the problem now. I would love to have in person lessons, but there isn't anybody here who can do that. The strings teacher for the local school system is doing her individual lessons on Zoom, and I'm sure that she doesn't have time for anything else. I suspect that the same is true for the university.
I could take the whole thing being off pitch since I won't be playing with anybody else. and I don't have perfect pitch. But, of course, strings are not flat to the same extent. I guess I have some hubris about my musical ability and flexibility.
Meanwhile, enjoy your group, Judy. I'll never get to chamber music level on the cello at this point, and anyway, I'd want to play the piano if there were anybody here organizing a group.

>113 LizzieD: and >118 SandyAMcPherson: Oh my. This is exactly my feeling. Something went wrong in the story line and the author is struggling to figure out how to put it right. I was so glad when Ruth left - but not totally convinced by the new relationship - and completely frustrated by her going back. Sometimes I like that Ruth is desirable, but I also think it's a bit fat-girl fantasy (as a curvy girl myself, I feel I can say this in the nicest way possible) and when she passed on the opportunity for Nelson to sort out his relationships when Tim died, Ruth needed to just go. Also, this emotional sex after a near-disaster is never a good idea. Next thing you know Ruth will turn up with a menopause baby. Just makes me nuts.
That was a bit rambly and hurried. I'm off. *grin*

Jenn, I agree completely!!!!!!! Not rambly nor hurried in my book.

>140 LizzieD: Wow! You will be busy!

>145 nittnut: Great commentary and I agree, it was a rather poor turn of events, imho. And I like rambly thought processes. Thanks for expressing this sentiment.

Hi Peggy! As >147 quondame: says, Busy! #staysafe

Hi Peggy! Buckle up for the three-digit heat index for the next three days. Sigh.

I've been having (literally) rotten luck with cantaloupe lately - I don't feel like I should pick 'em all up and squeeze and smell them (and masks are NOT good for trying to smell a melon) and most of them are tending to be more overripe than I can tell when first putting them into the cart.

But besides that I'm starting a new book today, The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson.

>144 LizzieD: Oh, I didn't mean 'all the way' - just in enough for the peg to hold. IF that makes it hard to turn, you can use a little bit of wax, but then of course you might have to push it in more!

I completely forgot the pandemic when I suggested you find a teacher. The good thing about Zoom, though, is that you might find a Zoom teacher out of your area. Or one who would teach on Skype, the way my violin teacher does. At least you would have someone look at how you are holding the instrument and bow, etc.

Love Visitors! Thanks for coming by, Susan, and this is a busy-ness I can enjoy. You too, Sandy!
True for us, Karen. I'm just not asking my DH to buy fruit any more (except grapes, and Monday he brought home seeded ones: oh well). The last watermelon fizzed like an opened soft drink when I cut it. It was beautiful and fermenting. The last cantaloupes were either never going to ripen or already mush inside. Even the grapefruit have been off. Blueberries from Canada were O.K.
Hi, Judy. By "all the way" I meant enough to seat the peg so that it held a reasonable length of time. I can maybe ask my musical friend in the Triangle to give me an intro to a teacher.
Today a friend is coming by for a distanced visit in the yard for as long as we can tolerate our triple digit heat index. The Bonanza Box is supposed to arrive too, days before I was expecting it. Wow!

A KILLER IN KING'S COVE by Iona Whishaw

I thoroughly enjoyed this little mystery (although 410 page is not really little) about a former British intelligence agent in WWII, who relocates to a small community in British Columbia after the war. The pace is leisurely, and I'm not sure I would have liked it so well if I were not in Covid isolation. I am in Covid isolation though, and this non-demanding pace, coupled with a sure sense of place and a pretty nifty mystery, suited my mood completely. Thanks to Beth, I have a copy of #2 in this series, and I look forward to it but maybe not immediately.
The minuses are some unnecessary repetition and some pervasive shifts of limited third person POV. I'll bet that Whishaw has learned from the first book and expect #2 to be shorter and more polished!

(Bonanza Box arrives tomorrow! I looked at the tracking after midnight and read "today" as Tuesday rather than Wednesday.) Whenever!!!

>152 LizzieD: Very insightful review Peggy. I think we both thought similarly. I hope the series is rewarding for you as a counterpoint in these anxiety-laden times.

Glad you agree, Sandy. I think Whishaw deserves a larger readership.
Meanwhile, I'm back to getting on in Mary Trump, but it's hard to read about that much dysfunction, both for the persons themselves and for the impact of DJT on the rest of us.
Otherwise, I'm waiting for the Bonanza with bated breath and picking up and putting down four BIG books: the E. Wharton bio, Hudson River Bracketed, *Wheel 10*, and *5th Season*. Oh! I'm also trying Guards! Guards! because Lucy says I should. (I haven't read much of it, but I don't actively hate it yet. I'm pretty sure I hated Rincewind at this point)

Okay, I'll finally bite - what, exactly, is the Bonanza Box? I know it's books, but from where and do you already know what they are?

By the way, the 4th cantaloupe of the season is a serious winner. We had some tonight with dinner. So sweet...

Hooray for your cantaloupe, Karen! Our first one was really good, but DH is not going to the farmers' market or fruit stand, so we're not getting much local produce.
Ah.... If you look at my list of books into the house, you'll see the first Bonanza Box. A friend is downsizing her Virago library and has generously sent bunches to me. I can't believe my good fortune. I did get to look at the ones she culled so that I could take the ones I wanted.
Speaking of luck, I've been promised a copy of Another Life Is Possible: Insights from 100 Years of Life Together from ER. I don't remember asking for it, but it looks like something I'll enjoy. I do hope it comes. My last two never showed up.
More Mary Trump. I'm too far in to stop, but I grow more and more depressed. Just finished her father's death. Not quite human all the way around!

I'm not going to the produce stand or farmer's market, either. Amazingly, I got this one at the Food Lion in town.

How lovely for you to get your friend's books.

The Trump book is depressing, but it described such awful people that I was compelled to continue reading about them.

I like the sound of that Bonanza Box! Or should I say boxes ... you are a lucky lady!

>157 karenmarie: The Trump book is depressing, but it described such awful people that I was compelled to continue reading about them.

For some reason, this made me laugh... "compelled"? I get that - a serious omg, I can't believe it moment?

Box is here and books will be appearing in the list a few at a time as I fondle and gloat. You're right, Laura. I am more than happy in my friends!
Hi, Karen and Sandy. I'm surprised at how little I read at a time. Amazon says the book is only 240-some pp, and I feel more like 240 so far, and I'm not all that far.
Sandy, here's how horrible the family was to Mary, as an example of their dysfunction. She was at boarding school when her father died. A teacher came up to her and told her to call home. No answer at home (calling on the pay phone in the hall of her dorm), so she called her grandfather, who said that her father had had a heart attack, was in the hospital, her mother was on the way home, and that she should call her mother the next day. Mary called home again and her mother eventually blurted out that he was dead. She took a bus home. Her mother and brother did meet her at the bus station. The funeral was planned without listening to the three of them, and she doesn't remember Donald even being at the service. Just horrible!
She says her uncles always called her "Honeybunch." She wonders whether they remembered her name.
Sandy, it's a serious omg, I do believe it book.

Congrats on new books, Peggy. I'm glad you liked KiKC.

>160 LizzieD: I've been listening to her on Rachel, Peggy. Scary stuff. And she's so calm and matter-of-fact about it.

Hi, Beth! Thank you for spurring me to get a copy of KiKC and for #2. I'll get back to Lane & Co for sure!
Roni, it is totally scary. I think LBJ is our only President who came even close to DJT, and his particular obsession was for the good of the country. It is really hard reading. MT's only misstep so far is a snarky quoting of her Uncle Donald referring to his "prota-co-share" at Mar-a-Lago. I can forgive her for being a little mean, but it just struck me wrong as undermining her credibility by yielding to bias.
Meanwhile, I had a lovely day examining the Bonanza and fooling around a bit with the cello. I could be doing a lot more with the latter and look forward to tomorrow.

TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH by Mary Trump

I finally finished, but it was painful reading. I think I've already written enough about it. The thing about DJT is that there's nothing there except maybe a scared three year-old. I'll say again that if we were not at his non-existent mercy, we could pity him in the same way that we pity a mad dog - a sadness to see nature so warped.

>160 LizzieD: >164 LizzieD: Well said and thanks for your insights. Mary's book isn't on my WL, but I'm benefitting from LTer's reviews.

Thanks, Sandy. I was bound to do it, so I'm glad I added to your insight.

Hi Peggy--I saw you stopped by and I wanted to come over and say that I'm back, again, and hope to finish the last quarter of the year with a strong presence here!
>164 LizzieD: I also read Mary Trump's book last month and your brief summary sums it up well. I was taken aback by a fleeting feeling of pity in the opening chapters--but in the end I feel sorrier for the mad dogs.

Anne, what a fine thing that you're here again!!!! Thank you for the visit.
As we learn more and more, my pity shrinks and shrinks. I've never thought anything other than that the sooner he's out of office, the better for the world.
I know that most of my friends here, who think as I do, are already following Heather Cox Richardson. If you're not, you should sign up for her daily e-mail.

Hi Peggy!

>164 LizzieD: I agree 100% with your comments.

I'm beginning to see yellow leaves on the trees. The male hummingbirds haven't been around for a week, and I haven't even seen any females today. My favorite season is around the corner!

Hi, Karen. A little yellow on trees here too, but it's been very dry. We got some small soaking rain this afternoon though and hope for more. I saw a female hummer working a common hedge shrub here that I thought was privet but isn't. Funny how I can be wrong about something that simple for a lifetime.
Meanwhile, HOLY MOLY!!!!!! I had long given up on having ER's offering of an ARC copy of Utopia Avenue. Today I received a first edition signed copy. Way to come through, Early Reviewers!

Hi Peggy, I'm stopping by to say I am back for awhile. RL has kept me so busy, I have put things off. My family is in the midst of fires here. Many friends and family have been evacuated. I am safe from fire but the smoke is so heavy, I can't go outside and have to keep my doors and windows closed. My poor dog misses his walks.

But I'm still reading. I just finished The Dutch House and found it very interesting. Patchett has long been a favorite of mine.

Relieved to hear from you, Jan. Thank you! You and your dog fellow stay safe!
I'm half through *Wheel 10*. I'm not sure that I could continue if I were not assured that the next books are better. Never mind. I would read it because I'm so heavily invested in the drama at this point, but it surely isn't moving at all. Of all those books listed above on my current list, I'm also pursuing the E. Wharton bio. It is wonderful, but the pages are big and packed with pretty small text.

Congrats on the signed first edition, Peggy! Woo hoo!

>172 LizzieD: Jan, I've been worried about a number of people I know in Oregon. It's a relief to hear from you. I have a cousin in northwest Portland, and Kim is somewhere nearer to you, I think. I hope the wind changes (or stops) and the smoke clears soon. Stay safe.

Hi Peggy. First let me say how cool it is that you're starting to learn the cello. I adore listening to string instruments and I think finding and encouraging our creative outlets is even more critical in these dark, discouraging days.

I've read the first two in the Iona Wishaw series and quite like them, partly based on the setting, of course. I have the third on my shelves but it has been there for a while. Like you, the somewhat meandering pace keeps me from devouring them. That, and I have so many other things to read! I have about 4 installments left in the Ruth Galloway series (pending any additions Griffiths publishes) and I'm enjoying making my way through the Shetland series, so I'll get back to Wishaw and Ian Rankin and others eventually.

I see two books on your possible reads for September that are of particular interest: Utopia Avenue and The Fifth Season. I was "planning" to read the latter this summer but did not get to it. So, both of them are on my shelves although I'm not sure when I'll get to them. I very much want to read Utopia Avenue but Apeirogon is waiting for me via the library queue and I'm already deep into Thin Air, so I may not get to the David Mitchell until later this month or even September. Since I probably have to return to work part time in just two days (*sad face*), my reading will drop back off again....

I asked on my thread but I'll ask here, as well: do you sleep in your compression socks? And do they come up over your knees or just up to them? The hose I have for surgery recovery are all the way up to mid-thigh (it makes sense that I don't have an elastic band right at my knee) and I just hate them.

Having lived in Oregon for 13 years (just prior to the 11 years in Seattle), and as one who is seriously considering returning there for retirement, I am heartbroken by the fires they are experiencing. So much beauty going up in flames, and the critters, and the human impact.... it's just horrible. We have very smoky skies here -- our air quality is in the "very unhealthy" range -- but further west they are really experiencing the ill effects of our human negligence.

Peggy, thanks for the reference to Heather Cox Richardson. I sampled her Letters from an American and was impressed.
We're supposed to have showers this week which will help with the fires but the air quality is still dangerously high.

>174 ffortsa: Judy, Kim, your cousin, and I are all close enough to be sharing the same smoky air. I hope your cousin is able to stay indoors.

>175 EBT1002: Ellen, I've lived in Oregon for 47 years and I've never seen anything like this. The forests will eventually recover but not in my lifetime. So tragic.

Hi, Karen! My second AWOL ER ARC arrived today and is also a first edition. It's Jill McCorkle's latest, and you may remember that she's a hometown girl - much too young for me to have known her growing up. I do know her older sister (also younger than I am) a bit more and her niece a lot more since I taught her AP Language. Anyway, if I wanted, I could call Jan to see when Jill will be in town and get my copy to her for a signature. Probably won't.
Hi, Judy and Ellen and Jan again! As always, I'm glad to have you all three here. I'm horrified by the fires and the unbreathe-able air. I no longer have RL ties to Oregon or Washington, but I join you in grieving for so much loss.
Ellen, I don't sleep in the compression hose, which are knee highs and threaten to cut off circulation around my knees every day. Having to pull them up another foot or so is depressing just to think about. I use only medium compression although I'm pretty sure I could use even heavier ones. In our heat and humidity, these are bad enough.
I am getting into Fifth Season and so far it deserves its hype. I'm not sold on the second person sections yet, but I suppose I'll eventually feel the character more intimately. I read and wasn't crazy about The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but this one has a completely different feeling and is much easier to feel deeply.

Hi Peggy! Boy, the ER gods are working overtime for you. I read and enjoyed McCorkle's July 7th. The title got my attention because it's my mother's birthday. Haven't read any more by her.

I'm going to wait patiently for The Fifth Season. The Library has a copy, currently out. It was due back in on April 3rd. I'm hoping it was checked out by the same person who has 19 other books checked out due on that date because Amy the Librarian said she'd try to get them all back.

I hope the Sally remnants don't cause too much havoc in your area. We're expecting 3-6".

Hi, Karen. Katy said that she was working on Penguin/Random House and Algonquin ARCs, and that happens to be where my two were. I am feeling lucky and a bit overwhelmed. I have an August book promised, and while I want it, I just don't want it now.
I think you're going to get more of Sally than we do. It's been drizzling all day here but no deluge.
Off to look at cello tutorials and then to try a bit myself. Both hands are sore at this point, and I haven't done much of anything. However, when I make that cello croak or even sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb," I'm thrilled to the core!

Peggy, I'm so impressed with your learning the cello. Good for you!

Oh, please don't be impressed, Jan. I'm still just noodling, using YouTube tutorials and likely getting most of it wrong. If I can earn my calluses and get my bow hand under control though, I'll be proud.

Lord have mercy on us. RBG is gone.

Peggy - Isn't it great that our late ERs arrived? I had given up on them. Now, I have some reading to do!

RIP RBG. What a woman.

Hi, Beth! I'm overwhelmed at getting 2 ARCs in the the same week - happy though.
I am having a hard time celebrating RBG's life for obsessing over whom DJT will nominate to take her seat. So sad. So sad.
I've read most of The Wizard's Butler with thanks to Roni for the BB. It is an almost perfect entertainment to distract me for now. I kept a bit back so that I can finish tomorrow. Meanwhile, I recommend it too!

'Morning, Peggy. Mourning, too.

Yes, Lord have mercy on us. My friend Karen in Montana text to me on Friday night "Is God messing with us?" although she didn't use the word messing.

Morning, Karen.
I don't believe that God is messing (or other words) with us. I do believe that we're reaping what some of humankind has sown for all of us. I also believe that our loving God has even these times in God's hand. What I don't know is whether God's plans for us line up with my agenda. That's where trust comes in, and I'm trying to be faithful.
Off to clean a little and either cello or buttle. (That is the verb for what a butler does, isn't it?)

Hi Peggy.

I admire your faith even if I don't have it myself.

Cello, buttling, cleaning. Worthy things. I hope you can get some reading in, too.

THE WIZARD'S BUTLER by Nathan Lowell

This one suited me right down to the ground. I gave it all five of my stars. I got tired of installing computers and a network, but I figure that some other reader may eat that up and get tired of some of the episodes that I found enchanting. The results of the wizard's magic (and of the curse that he's living under) are present but not the great thrust of the book. I've said somewhere else --- pixies that clean the house and fairies that keep the grounds in trim are a total dream - especially since the only thing a butler has to do to keep them happy is to let them work and give them a little saucer of whiskey from time to time.
I was able to relax right into this one, and that's a great pleasure in these trying times.

Uncle! My THIRD ER ARC has arrived, Another Life Is Possible, a beautiful coffee table book about the first hundred years of the Bruderhof Christian community. I'm thrilled but also intimidated.
Right now I feel like I owe my soul to the the company store. I'm reading the McCorkle first, as being the shortest and easiest. The problem is that I'm not exactly happy in it. On the other hand, Jill is dealing with a horrible train wreck in the county in 1943 that I've heard about all my life. We'll see.
Otherwise, I am happy in *5th Season* and Wheeling along in #10.

Hi Peggy. Happy official autumn to you.

Good luck keeping the ER gods happy. I'm happily immersed in the 9th and most recent Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery.

Hi, Karen.... Just checking in here to say that I am reading Hieroglyphics and finding it pretty depressing for pandemic isolation reading. It has a retired couple who were brought together by the loss of a parent each, in a nightclub fire and a train wreck, and a youngish single mother with her disturbed young son, who live in the house where that older man lived with his mother and stepfather. The appeal for me is that the train wreck occurred in our county, and I've known about it all my life. There are also references to the county seat, my town, and references to places and people that I grew up with. The other thing I'm reading and mean to finish this month is Fifth Season. WOW!!!!! I'm always surprised when a book lives up to its hype. This one does!
I see that I said this in post #189. Oh well. It's still true.

Hi Peggy, and a very happy Sunday to you. I just looked at the Amazon blurb of Hieroglyphics and it sounds like something I'd like to read, mostly because it's in your county, frankly. I love my adopted state!

I want The Fifth Season in the worst way. So I just broke down and bought the trilogy on Amazon. I was just going to get The Fifth Season, new paperback $12.89, but then I saw that the boxed trilogy was $25.15 and using the last $8.00 in credit I clicked 'buy now'. So many people have been aiming book bullets at me, but you finally hit me!

Gentle hugs for your ma, kind regards to your DH, and fierce hugs for you.

Dear Karen, hugs back to you and your family in just the same way!
I'm thrilled that you have bitten that BB and will have *5th Season* in hand. The only thing that is comforting me as I finish is that I have the other two lined up and ready. I will say that I didn't read this one immediately upon starting because I was put off by the first chapter. Don't be. My disorientation disappeared quickly.
Meanwhile, my birthday is closer and both the Lowell space opera trilogy (available in a Kindle omnibus) and Troubled Blood are closer to coming into my greedy little fists.

THE FIFTH SEASON by N.K. Jemisin

I think that I'll say, "I LOVED it!" and let it go at that. The whole thing is wonderfully well done.
I will be moving on to The Obelisk Gate as soon as I finish the Jill McCorkle. YAY!

You and Roni have persuaded me about The Wizard's Butler. It just sounds fun!

>194 LizzieD: Okay, I think I said this before, but I bought this when I was in Seattle the first week of March (what a lifetime ago that seems - it was when one could still go into a bookstore and browse, though we didn't realize the danger that was already lurking in the shared air we breathed). I planned to read it this summer but this summer was more of a sh*tshow than I ever expected (I read four books in June, only four books!!). Perhaps I'll get to it during the short dark days of winter.

I'm currently reading Utopia Avenue. Mitchell is a great storyteller!

Lovely to see you here, Ellen!
I promise that you will be happy with both the Wizard and the Season.
I hope that everybody's concentration may improve this winter. Mine certainly needs to!
Since I'm not absolutely loving my Jill McC., I'm really looking forward to *UA*.

HIEROGLYPHICS by Jill McCorkle

I confess that I am relieved to have finished this book by my hometown acquaintance. I found it almost unbearably sad, but that is likely tempered by the covidness and violence and uncertainty of the times. Another year I might appreciate it more. I did review it on the book page since it was an ER offering. I want to quote one passage that made me laugh out loud. Gail and other bridge players, if any happen to come here, this is for you!

"Frank always asked if I really enjoyed that time with bridge group, and then he commented that it sounded like a henhouse brothel for the mentally impaired with talk of 'tricks' and 'rubbers' and 'dummies.'"

>197 LizzieD: Ah, bridge clubs tend to play duplicate style these days, which eliminates 'rubbers'. Dummies of all kinds still abound.

There is a duplicate club here, Judy, or there was. We had plenty of the other kind though before the pandemic.

>197 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. I haven't posted here for awhile, just drifted by in a kind of a fuzz-brain mode.

Hilarious joke, btw - I don't play bridge but my parents were mad keen for it, so I grew up hearing that lexicon.

I wouldn't think Hieroglyphics is my thing, but I sure would like to find a non-Kindle version of The Wizard's Butler. I know I could download an app on my computer, but I hate reading on the lap top. I've become a total convert to my Kobo e-reader.

In the meantime, aside from ER book arrivals, I'm just finishing up Book #14 in the St. Cyr saga. I can't remember if you were going to read the series.

HI, Sandy! I'm glad to see you here, especially since I have accumulated so many unread posts on your old thread that I'm intimidated about reading them down. I will though.
I've read 4 or 5 of the St. Cyr saga and liked them a lot. I think the baby was born in my last one. I also need to get back to the Sir John/Jeremy mysteries by Bruce Alexander. I really was enjoying them too.
I'm sorry Amazon isn't making the Butler available for a non-Kindle e-reader. I just tried to look for it at B&N with no luck. I despise to read on my desk top and Fire too. Give me my easy-on-the-eyes Kindle any time!
O.K. I've started Utopia Avenue. I knew more about popular music in the 60s than at any other time of my life. Sadly, I thought when I was in high school, "Oh boy! When I get to college, people will be listening to classical music and I won't have to hear this other stuff all the time." Poor baby.

>201 LizzieD: My fave St. Cyr reads are the ones with Hero playing a significant part in solving (or contributing) to the mystery's resolution.

This last one I read (Who Slays the Wicked) was especially satisfying because a character whom I despised was murdered. The twist was a surprise to me. Although I sussed the culprit before the final chapter, the story was exciting right to the end.

>181 LizzieD: Very impressed with the cello learning too. I once tried to keen the cello ... we had one at home and it seemed like a good idea at the time. To be honest I had probably three or four lessons at school and then my teacher announced that I could join in the orchestra and play in front of the lower school once a week. As I was such a shy and retiring child the thought filled me with horror and I gave up immediately.

>168 LizzieD: Thank you for pointing me to Heather Cox Richardson. I was not familiar with her newsletter but I signed right up. I've been especially desperate for thoughtful commentary lately.
I have The Fifth Season around here somewhere--I think I bought the trilogy as a gift for my husband. Maybe time to pick it up myself.
I am very impressed with the cello as well. I recently found my old clarinet from junior high school when going through my mother's attic, and I don't think I'd be capable of extracting a single note from it.

Peggy, both my mother and aunt played cello. I don't know what happened to my mother's, but I know my aunt still has hers. It's such a beautiful instrument.

Sandy, Rhian, Anne, and Karen, I'm glad for the cello love. I didn't know that so many people have them tucked away in their pasts. Please don't be impressed! I'm doing very little, but at least I continue to correct things that even I know are bad. I am still thrilled every time I produce that cello sound, so I keep doing little bits and little bits every day.
Hi, Sandy! I looked to see where I was in the St. Cyr, and now I've forgotten. I had read more than I thought though. You must have been promising for your teacher to have wanted you in the orchestra --- to play for even a lower school audience once a week - GOOD GRIEF!!!! I was a martyr to performance anxiety on the piano. Sometimes I was over it by performance time, sometimes not.
Anne, I'm glad you've found HCR. Thoughtful commentary backed up with traceable sources makes her a treasure. We formed a virtual chorus of 75ers once; maybe we should form a dream orchestra! I haven't added Obelisk Gate to my bloated reading list, but I should. I started it, and it's as good as *5thS*.
Karen, we learn all kinds of new things about each other! My mom had violin lessons as a child, and we had her student fiddle, but it disappeared somewhere in our moving. It's a mystery because we didn't move often.
It's late. I'm off to bed!

>206 LizzieD: Just to clarify - I've never played an instrument in my life. Perhaps you were referring to one of the other talented LT members on this thread?

I do not come from a musical family at all. The story was that my brother's violin teacher asked my mother if he could pay *her* not to bring him. Actually, that wasn't well-received and was meant for my mom's ears only. She never told us this anecdote until some 10 years later.

Hi Peggy. I love learning things about my friends.

I wanted to play violin - my school had a program when I was 11 and violin was one of the choices. But my dad wanted me to play French Horn, not an instrument for an 11-year old to lug around and not an instrument for an 11-year old to easily learn. And then he wouldn't help me... so that was that. Dad played trumpet and after high school he played with swing bands in the Midwest until he was drafted. I have a photo of him in his army uniform holding his trumpet. He cut his lip somewhere in Europe chasing and escaping from Germans, and so that was that. Jenna plays trombone but her instruments are here at the house and she's not in any organized group, sad to say.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday. And I love October in NC too!!!

Wow! If I were going to learn a brass instrument, I'd certainly choose French Horn. I thought, though, that teachers never started a kid with that horn but taught them trumpet first. Guess not.
Sorry Jenna doesn't have her horn with her. She might have time to toot a bit. My cousin's son played trombone at USC. He chose a better instrument for high school graduation as opposed to an offered car.
Interesting about your father! My uncle, younger than Mama, got into WWII almost at the end and was stationed in Japan with the occupation as a trumpeter in an Army band.
Connections!
Enjoy your Sunday too.
>207 SandyAMcPherson: Sandy, I guess I misread your post in which I thought you said that you had a few lessons and your teacher wanted you to play in an orchestra with weekly performances for an elementary school. Sorry.....

CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT by Robert Jordan

If this isn't the worst, it's next to it. I am happy to be through it!!!!!

In the beginning Rand has a plan, but we don't know what it is. Egwene has a plan, but we don't know what it is. Perrin has to rescue Faille and her women. Mat has to get himself and his entourage to safety. Elayne has a plan, but we don't know what it is.
822 pages later Rand has a plan, and we know one element. Egwene has a plan, and we don't know what it is, but she has been betrayed. Perrin has to rescue Faille and her women. Mat has to get himself and his entourage to safety. Elayne has a plan, but we don't know what it is.

The next one is supposed to be better. I life in hope.

Happy Monday to you, Peggy!

When Jenna was in 5th grade and instruments were chosen, they had the choice of trumpet, clarinet, flute, or trombone. Trumpet players could move to French Horn later on - I forget which year. Jenna also plays euphonium and baritone but we didn't shell out for either - her Stradivarius-brand trigger trombone and her less expensive straight trombone for marching band cost us enough.

Interesting about your uncle. My dad was always glad that Fat Man and Little Boy were deployed, as he was slated to go to the Pacific Theater after he'd come home from Europe. I can't quite go that far, but am glad my dad survived the war.

Mine too, Karen. We were the happy ones! I neglected to say that I'm sorry about your father's lip - like losing a finger for other musicians.
I guess I've said before (and you may remember the picture of my daddy in uniform with smaller pictures of his crew hanging on the wall in the sitting room) that Daddy was a bomber pilot in the Pacific. He came home in '45, having flown some bombing missions and then returning POWs from Japan to Hawaii after the war. He was the first of his brothers to enlist but finished glider training just in time for that murderous program to be canceled, and then was retrained to fly the B-24. He was also the only one of the four brothers who wasn't wounded or missing for awhile. All of them came home.

I'm suddenly drowning in ER ARCs. It's a lovely problem - I want to read all three of them, but I want to read other things too.
I enjoyed not Wheeling today (although I pulled #11 off the shelf), and I very much enjoyed the beginning of Utopia Avenue. It seems not of a piece with his last few. I haven't read any Mitchell earlier than Cloud Atlas, so I don't know if he's returned to a former tone or is doing something new. Nice to be able to find out!

>164 LizzieD: Dear Peggy. I watched the chaotic, crazy debates. Not once did Trump look head on at the cameras. He sounded like a mad man. I am disappointed that Biden joined in the fray, but then, what chance did he have.

At one point he looked at Trump and said "Will you shut up, MAN?"

I can only imagine what other nations thought of this circus.

Now, he has infected God knows how many people because of his immature decision not to wear a mask.

God Save US!

Amen to that, Linda.
The horrible thing is that it could easily get worse. Hope not. Pray not.

Really enjoying Utopia Avenue!
I'll be getting back to it as quickly as I can.

Hi Peggy. You are doing great with your ER books! I skipped over your comments on Hieroglyphics because I hope to get to it soon.

I've heard such great things about The Fifth Season that I want to read it soon. We'll see.

I also have to squeeze Utopia Avenue in sometime.

Hi, Beth. Thanks for the visit. I'd be happier about my ER reading except that I have TWO more new ones in the past three weeks, not to mention The Mad Patagonian, which I truly want to finish. I should review the first 900 pages now, but I never seem to find the concentration to do it. It's a fabulous book that deserves much better from me.

ETA: Thanks, Beth. This was enough to shame me into writing something to fulfill the letter of the law for ER. I wrote a bit about *MP* and feel a trifle better.
Now back to Utopia Avenue.

Just to say that Utopia Avenue, 200+ pages in, is showing one tiny bit of Mitchell-weirdness rather than the possible rationale that I had figured. This is highly readable!!!!!!!!!

>219 LizzieD: Yep, I am going to get pulled into reading that one soon!

Have a lovely weekend, Peggy.

Hi Peggy, and happy Sunday to you.

We've had almost an inch of rain so far this weekend, and it's still drizzling.

I'm glad Utopia Avenue is going well for you.

My reading for today will be How to be an Antiracist, which I hope to finish today or tomorrow, and the newest book by Lionel Shriver, The Motion of the Body Through Space. I see you have two books by her on your shelves. Do you like her writing?

Morning, Karen! I have only read *Kevin*, but I did like L. Shriver's writing. I just fear that she'd be too emotionally heavy for me right now. I'll be interested in what you have to say about the newest one.

Hi Peggy, I finished A Killer in King's Cove and you were right. It was just up my alley. I suspect it's part of a series so I'll be looking for others.
I read on another thread that your DH suggested Trump's virus may be FAKE NEWS! to avoid another debate. I like the way he thinks!

Welcome back, Jan! I'm tickled that you also liked *KinK'sC*. Beth hit me with the BB, so I'm glad to have it ricochet to you.
My DH wasn't really serious about the virus suggestion, but we agreed that the fact that the idea could occur speaks volumes about what we've come to feel as normal.
Meanwhile, I'm officially loving *UA*. I stayed awake all afternoon and read - highly unusual these days. I'd probably be getting more from the book if I had read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I have a copy, so I hope to get to it soon.

Peggy, I knew he was kidding and so was I. But it's a clever remark and really speaks to the times.
The only book of Mitchell's I have read is Cloud Atlas. I found it a bit of a challenge but I'll have to try Jacob de Zoet. I always like to read books in sequence.
Have a great Monday.

I'm glad you recognized the joke, wry as it was, Jan. I'm afraid that somebody may have taken him seriously. We're not normally conspiracy theorists down here!
I'll just say that yo won't find *UA* a challenge at all - just pleasure, especially if you were around in the 60s, 1967 to be exact. *CA* certainly kept me on my toes too.

Peggy you have me excited about Utopia Avenue. I don't have it, so I will have to add it to my list. I generally like Mitchell, though, so I am looking forward to it. Perhaps I should read The Bone Clocks first though, since it is reproaching me from the shelf by my bed..

It is sometimes hard not to feel like a conspiracy theorist, when it is so hard to get a straight answer out of official sources!

'Morning, Peggy, and happy Tuesday to you.

Oh dear. I didn't particularly like The Bone Clocks, the only book by Mitchell I've read. That makes me leery of Cloud Atlas, which I have on my shelves.

What do you think, Peggy? Will I like it or won't I like it?

Speaking up ('cause I'm always stopping by) to wish you the happiest of Birthdays, dear Peggy!

Thank you for the birthday wish, dear Roni! Thank you also for sending me to Nathan Lowell. I put the Lois McKendrick trilogy on my Kindle this morning with the first of my birthday $. Just exactly right for isolation reading!

Karen, *UA* is different from *Bone Clocks*, and *BC* from *CAtlas*, which is not much like either of them and which I liked best of the 3 I had read before *UA*. I think that *UA* is a good place to start, and I do think that you'll like it.
Anne, the same applies to you, and thank you both for your visits! *1,000/Jacob de Z* is the first of the series, but "series" is a loose term for these. My plan is to read *JdeZ* at some point and then to reread *CA* unless Mitchell has written something else in the interim.

Yikes!

I knew it was your birthday today, just didn't look at my calendar today.

Happy Birthday, Peggy!

Aha! Happy Birthday, Peggy!

Thank you, Karen and Judy!
And thank you for my card too, Karen!
I do love LT and the 75ers.

And a Happy Birthday from the Sauna State, Peggy! May this be a wonderful day for you.

>228 karenmarie: I am one of those who didn't think much of Cloud Atlas. Reincarnation isn't attractive to me as a book theme and the individual stories were individually bland to me.

Happy birthday, Peggy! I think of you -- and sing your praises -- every time the hubs and I talk about Anthony Powell (which happens more often than you might think LOL). I hope you had a wonderful day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ONE!

Love for 75ers more than justified!!!! Thank you for good wishes, Linda, Laura, and Gail! It was a lovely day. I got two phone calls from kin and best college friend. My DH baked me a huge pound cake, and Mama and I are taking care of it. Cards and e-mails from various others and flowers from the church. I felt special, and I'm REALLY enjoying Quarter Share. It's not original at all, but it's well enough written and perfect for my slow brain right now.
I'm sorry that *CA* didn't work for you, Susan. I remember being pretty blown away. If you didn't like that, I can't imagine that you'd like any other Mitchell except maybe this new one. That depends on how much you are interested in the 60's British pop music scene.

You are special, Peggy, and am glad you had such a wonderful birthday. Yay for pound cake, cards, calls, and flowers. You deserve them all and more. You've got me thinking about making a pound cake, now, Peggy.

>235 quondame: Thanks for the input, Susan. I'm not sure I'll get any David Mitchell in any time this year at all, regardless of which book I eventually choose. I'm happy puttering along with mysteries and the occasional nonfiction to keep me sharpish right now.

Karen, I have very few words for you this morning beyond thanks! ---- 8 eggs. Yep. EIGHT!

I was just saying to Lucy that Quarter Share is perfect my current moment. Nothing original in the first voyage of a young merchant spacer, but in Lowell's hands everything feels fresh. It doesn't hurt either that everything seems to be going his way so far.

One of my pound cake recipes calls for 7 eggs, the other for 5. One calls for 2 sticks of butter, the other 2 1/2 sticks. Either way, a commitment, because I've got eggs and butter out on the counter. And if I go with chocolate, I'll have to be buying cocoa soon. And I'll be making shrimp risotto with the Instant Pot for dinner. Ambitious, eh?

So glad Quarter Share is working for you. SF and Fantasy are not my go to genres, and I'm still working my way into The Fifth Season, being distracted with How to be an Antiracist, just finished yesterday, and many mysteries/thrillers.

Hi, Karen! A pound cake is a definite commitment! I'm not sure I'd make it. I'd love to try risotto the old-fashioned way, but I hate to make my DH hunt for the right rice on his shopping trip. I want him in and out of the store as quickly as possible. I fear that the next wave of C-19 is well and truly on its way. I'm also glad that our flu shots will have had time to kick in by the end of this week.
Nothing else here. *¼ Share* continues to please.
Do keep on with *5thS*. I promise that it will soon grab you.
Hmmmm. This new page was a surprise. It's certainly easier to read.

Glad you are enjoying Quarter Share. I'm a little late with this info, since you've already purchased the first three, but if you want to continue with the other nine books, this may be useful. Kindle Unlimited has all these books on loan for "free" and you can get a three month trial membership for 99¢, which is a lot cheaper than purchasing them. Just saying.

Thanks, Roni. I know about the Prime deal, but I'll want to reread these, I'm sure. Since I'm set up with birthday money at the moment, I'll invest in the last three if I enjoy the next two as much as I have this one.

QUARTER SHARE by Nathan Lowell

This is a totally entertaining space opera where nothing much happens, and I don't care. Ishmael Horatio Wang is eighteen when his mother is killed in a flitter accident and he has to vacate their company home and the company planet. Rather than join the military, he signs on to a merchant ship as the lowest-ranking galley helper. Ish is industrious and smart and goes from strength to strength. His buddy Pip has more problems, but he and Ish work them out and promote some private trading schemes that boost morale on the whole ship. I loved it as I have said. Perfect pandemic reading!

Now I'm craving pound cake! My daughter took over the family baking when she was about 12 so I haven't really had any reason to put my hand to it. I'll have to beg her to make one and give me one slice. Otherwise, I'd eat the whole thing!

Hi, Jan. I'm pretty much in the same predicament except that Mama is eating more of this one than I am. My DH's sweet tooth is not as demanding as ours.

'Morning, Peggy!

When did you get your flu shot and how long after getting it is it supposed to 'kick in'? I got mine on Monday.

If you use Amazon, you can get a pound of arborio rice, one of the good ones for risotto, for $6-$10 for a single pound. I bought 6 pounds for $17. 6-1 lb boxes, vacuum sealed. I've gone through about 2.5 lbs since August. It makes a killer instant pot rice pudding, too.

Happy belated birthday, Peggy!! Sounds like you had a marvelous day, so I am wishing you a fantastic year ahead. And I hope you continue to enjoy your new perfect-for-the-Pandemic series. Yay!

Morning to you too, Karen and Kim! Love being visited by K's!!!

I think it's still true that it takes two weeks to build immunity after a flu shot, Karen. Mama and I got ours two weeks ago, so I'm assuming we're as good as we're going to be. Aborio rice is a little pricey, and I'm inclined to wait until I can get back to Aldi OR cop an instant pot. It sort of depends on how bored I get with my current cooking routine. Thanks for the tip though.

Thank you, Kim, for birthday wishes. They haven't been especially notable or happy for the past four years, coming in sync with two devastating hurricanes and health difficulties for my mama. I really appreciated this one even with the pandemic and election. At the beginning of book 2, I thought things were getting a bit same-y and that I could put it down and finish *UA*. Then he introduced a new character, and I'm flipping pages again. (The new character, btw, is an abused woman who takes our hero Ish's place in the galley after his promotion. No great depth, but it's good to see the way the ship community is going about making her feel safe, purposeful, and valuable.)

HALF SHARE by Nathan Lowell

I'm still pleased. I wasn't quite thrilled with all the adolescent comments about sex, but I loved the episode of buying Ish a new outfit from a posh couturier. Off to the whole thing!

>251 ronincats: At least we are spared all the adolescent sexual activity!! And a lot of the angst. ;-)

Hi Peggy. I’m trying out the new format on my iPhone. It’s definitely an improvement for the threads. I was using my laptop but Carson insisted that he wanted my lap. He’s not spoiled.

Anyway, maybe I just missed it as I scrolled through on this tiny screen, but did you finish Utopia Avenue? You commented that you thought you might get more out of it if you’d read Jacob de Zoet. Maybe. But I’ve read it and honestly I remember so little of it that it didn’t connect the two novels for me in a substantial way. I was aware that Jasper was a descendant of Jacob, but didn’t have a lot more to think about. It made me think I’d like to go back and reread Jacob de Zoet while UA is still quite fresh in my memory. It also made me wish I remembered novels better than I do.

I hope you’re having a lovely Sunday!

Hi Peggy, I'm just dropping by to say hi. I hope you have a good week ahead. I'm off to get my flu shot today. I'm also dropping off my ballot. Oregon has been voting by mail only for over 20 years with no problems. I hope your family is all well.

Hi, Ellen. I haven't finished *UA* yet. My birthday purchase of the space opera trio side-tracked me. I will get back to it before the end of the month. I thought I was getting into Mitchell weird-land with Jasper's problem and that I'd learn about it in *JdeZ*. That seems not to be the case. I've pulled *JdeZ*, but I'm not quite so anxious to read it now. I don't think missing it has made any difference.
Hi, Jan. Happy Flu Shot! We now all have our absentee ballots, and I'm going to do whatever research I need before filling it out. My DH will likely hand-deliver all three sometime this week. Whew
Happy new week all around, y'all!

I could scream and cuss. I just tried to add the pages I just read to my ticker above, and the #(@)@#&*()^&!!! new setup made that 268 pages my new total. I have no idea how many pages, and I was interested in keeping it. I can't even guess. By the time I tried to backtrack, everything had timed out.
Forget ticker factory.

>255 LizzieD: That is annoying. I went to your post to see if you had included the page numbers so that I could add them for you, but....alas! I certainly don't mind going to the work page of each book and adding them for you but the number will be out from the actual number you have read because, in my experience, the number of pages doesn't quite equate with the actual book but it will be near enough.

Let me know and I'll have it for you by this evening.

> 255 oh, I can't imagine how frustrating that would be!

Thank you Jim and Paul.
Paul, that is incredibly generous, and I wouldn't think of asking you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. That offer is precious though!

>258 LizzieD: I did your first quarter reading whilst I was having my supper Peggy.

1 Woman in Blue 384
2 Lord of Chaos 716
3 The Silence of the Girls 336
4 Naked in Death 313
5 Cesare 368
6 Sylvester 352
7 Glory in Death 313
8 Immortal in Death 320
9 At Home 704
10 The Road Home 480
11 Rapture in Death 320
12 The 21 272
13 Tracker 384

Adds up to 5,262 pages but of course depends on which edition you read. Seen some editions of Lord of Chaos which are over 1,00o pages long.

Hi Peggy.

I ran into the same problem with Ticker Factory, but fortunately I keep a spreadsheet of my books and total pages. It seems to reset to blanks every time for my pages read ticker, so I just have to keep putting total # of pages read and not add any new ones. My # of books read ticker still works, just differently, for some strange reason. Somehow I must have set them up differently, but I don't know how. Just another change for the better (NOT) that is irritating to those of us who are caught flat-footed.

I just checked out Ticker Factory as well. It looks completely different, but I was able to update my book count. But I don't mind it half as much as the recent Microsoft Windows updates, which definitely need a fix. It's been noted publicly, so perhaps they will get on to it soon.

Sorry you lost your page count, Peggy. And kudos to Paul for offering the assist.

Paul, you are a real champion. Thank you!

Karen and Judy, I had changed my pages count once successfully, so I don't know what happened this time. I realize that what I have is an entirely new counter. I had a different one going, not the swimmer twice. Grrrr. Meanwhile, I feel completely old and out of it.

On the other hand, while I missed Ish today, I thoroughly enjoyed time spent with Utopia Avenue (which I should finish in a couple of days) and The Obelisk Gate. I think I appreciate them more after my break.

Happy Fall! *wave*

Thank you, Jenn, and back to you!

Oh my. I read a good bit of Utopia Avenue today. I thought that the reference would be back to *Jacob de Z*, but I now find that it's The Bone Clocks. Oh my. Oh my.

I'm listening to the debate and wish I were not. Here's another oh my. DJT is coming to my home town Saturday. He must be really desperate.

I missed your birthday, Peggy! Belated good wishes! Many happy returns. I am glad you are enjoying Utopia Avenue. I'm planning to read Hieroglyphics when I finish the library book I'm reading.

Hi, Beth, and thanks. *UA* is good, good, good!
I have my stuff ready to put on a new thread, and that includes the picture of the Lorraine Hotel from Hieroglyphics.
Meanwhile, I have no words. My DH finally got around to marking his ballot and delivered all three of them to the BofE a short while ago. He came right back. They wouldn't accept my mom's ballot nor mine because we hadn't written the zip code on the witness address line (where there wasn't room for it in normal writing). DH actually knows our zip code, but he couldn't do it. We had to include it on the next line down. If you haven't voted yet, and you intend to submit an absentee ballot, be very, very careful!!!!!
Meanwhile, DJT will be at our fairgrounds tomorrow at 12:30, with gates open at 9:30. This is a few yards beyond the largest black neighborhood in our little town, but I guess I don't need to worry about Abraham Lincoln showing up there. Also, it is seriously depopulated since Matthew.

Hi Peggy!

Glad the ballots finally made it.

Sorry about DJT coming to your town. Bet you a dime that the covidiots won't be wearing masks or social distancing.

Hi, Karen. You can bet on it --- they don't mask without him.

>266 LizzieD: Our ballot envelopes were also short on space for the full address. What a bummer to have to make round trips for something of that sort.

Susan, you make me feel better. Thank you.

UTOPIA AVENUE
I meant to write my review tonight, but I'm too saddened by the death of Roni's husband to try.
Good night to you all. Hold your loved ones close.

>266 LizzieD: Urgh. I double- triple- quadruple- checked my ballot before walking it to the one and only dropbox in the county, and got email confirmation of receipt two hours later, but I still have anxiety that my vote will be rejected for some trivial reason. We're not allowed to drop off someone else's ballot, though when I was there lots of people were haphazardly milling about and nobody was checking each individual.

Katherine!!!! I had checked everything too. In NC family members, including daughter or sons-in-law could pick up and deliver ballots. I'm in the notorious 9th congressional district that lacked a member for months and months because a Republican operative had his workers picking up ballots for people in '16. Anyway, only one dropbox in the county is absurd. I'm off to see where you live. It's fairly rare for me to see a state being stupider than NC at the moment.

Meanwhile, I did review Utopia Avenue, which I loved, on the book page. Not much of a review but on to the next! I still have a couple of ER ARCs to read and review. One is a coffee table book that I doubt I'll finish right now. The other is Ancient Bones, making a case for human origin in Europe. I am eager to read it, but I've been really eager to read up on the Byzantine Empire, and the book I ordered October 2 disappeared at the NC distribution center. I have another couple coming, and I expect I'll try one of those first. (Tracking places one of those at that same center, so I'm a bit uneasy.)

>272 LizzieD: Until this year there was no provision for early voting or absentee voting without a legally acceptable excuse. It's more maleficence than stupidity; the dropbox almost didn't happen because of an impending lawsuit.

Loved the kvetching wayyyy back there about Ruth and Nelson. I'm occasionally uncomfortable too that Nelson seems to get to have both women, while the women have to choose or have the one they love killed or whatever. I picture Ruth as being . . . a little overweight -- in the low end of the bmi that dumps you into that category. I have crept slowly but surely into this zone since the ankle incident this spring. Next to Michelle I would definitely look plump and now with the new covid risk info I am valiantly slogging back to being ONE POUND out of that category. Even if I get there, no one, especially me, would call me 'thin'!!! I would just be less plump. :)

>274 sibylline: As to the love triangle, it's impossible, and EG should do something about it - even something wrong. Because men are attracted to Ruth, I'm imagining her as zaftig, which sounds more pleasing than a little overweight to me.
I can't imagine you plump at all. I certainly was six years ago, and am back where I was then, needing to lose another 15 or so pounds. Oh well.
>273 qebo: Katherine, I certainly believe the maleficence. We have more than our share of that too.

AND----- I'm back with Ish Wang in Double Share. He makes perfection palatable: also perfect comfort reading!

>1 LizzieD: Well, here I am. Just in time for your new thread! *sigh*

Muffins? They're home made...g'wan, have one!

Wow! Thanks for the visit and for dropping off muffins, Richard. I don't know quite why I forget that I could make a batch. Might -----

Hi Peggy. The cake you describe sounds yummy. I'm thinking of you and sending lots of good wishes.

Hi Peggy! I'm heading off to Lee County this morning for lunch with former work colleagues, in a park, socially distanced. First such outing since the pandemic began.

I hope you have a good day.

Yay! GOOD for you, Karen! I know you'll enjoy your vacation.

Hi, Linda!!! The cake was yummy! For once, my mom ate more than I did.

Meanwhile - THE ABSENTEE BALLOT, continued

WHY does everything have to be so hard??? As reported, my DH hand-delivered our absentee ballots Friday afternoon. I decided to use Ballotchex (or whatever the name of it is) just to be sure that mine was accounted for - didn't give them his name or Mama's. I signed in Friday night and immediately got a note, "Your ballot is being mailed." They included the e-mail address of our county BoE, so I immediately fired off a "You have received my ballot; don't send another. I just wanted to be sure everything is OK," e-mail. Monday night when I got home, I found another e-mail from our BoE saying, "We haven't found your ballot. When did you mail it? Let me send you a new one." E-mail back describing the hand-delivery, etc. DH went in person this morning. Our ballots - all 3 - are marked in the received but not processed book. Demo & Repub judges show up every few days to monitor the counting of absentee ballots, and ours arrived after the last counting. I'm waiting now for confirmation that my ballot is accounted for and has not been canceled. Oh - extra concern because today is the last day to request an absentee ballot in NC.
Take away ..... Don't avail yourself of the online service too soon. OR go on faith and leave well- enough alone. OR I have a unique talent for obfuscation.

Hard to believe but THE ABSENTEE BALLOT, episode ???? (453, maybe???)

Got a call this evening 30 minutes or so after office hours from a Democratic volunteer saying that Mama's ballot had been rejected and offering help for remedying the situation. WHAT????? This may refer to the first one they sent that arrived after she actually voted. I guess we'll have to call or my DH will have to go back to the BoE tomorrow. I'm frustrated beyond saying.

DOUBLE SHARE by Nathan Lowell

I don't care how many weaknesses these books have, I can't stop reading when I have one in hand, and I love them. I didn't expect to be as happy with this one as with the first three since Ishmael is no longer on the wonderful Lois McKendrick. Made no difference. The William Tinker also has interesting characters, and Ish is up against some nasty customers this time out. Doesn't matter. Our boy does his thing, and all's well that ends well. Satisfying isolation reading!

Peggy, I'm so very sorry about your absentee ballot woes. I hope you or your DH can get it resolved today.

In the meantime, I'm glad for your 'satisfying isolation reading'.

WHOOP! WHOOP! and GOODY! GOODY!!!
BallotTrax shows all three ballots accepted. Whew.

I do believe that I should be starting a new thread. Since I'm early today, I'll go ahead and do it. Hope to see you there!