Laytonwoman3rd's THIRD 2021 Reading Thread. See What I Did There?

This picture probably explains a lot. That's me at however-old-I-was, sitting next to a shelf of books in the first house I lived in. My future was laid out for me, obviously, and it looks like I'm saying "Where do I start?". Please don't kill yourselves---I'm fairly sure none of the titles can be read in this photo.

Hi, I'm Linda. I grew up, and have spent most of my life in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with brief interludes in New Orleans and Philadelphia after marrying flamingrabbit. I've been retired from my career as a paralegal five and a half years now, and I highly recommend it. I keep quite busy with volunteer activities and family history archiving.

LT has been an essential part of my life since I joined in 2005, after my daughter lycomayflower told me about "this site where you can catalog your books." My response was something like, "Why would I want to do that?" HA! I simply can't imagine life without it anymore. I never knew how much I needed a reading community, until I found one. I've been tracking my reading in the 75 Book Challenge Group for most of the last 15 years. If you'd like to explore my reading backwards from here, there are links on my profile page to my earlier threads. My goal is always to read more of the books I already own, and to acquire fewer books than I remove from the house. In past years this has been a big joke, but I did a pretty good job of moving things into boxes in the garage in 2020. They will sit there until my favorite libraries are accepting donations again.

I will use tickers to keep track of my total books read, the number of those that I've had on my own shelves for at least a year at the time I read them, and the number of books I decide to get rid of in 2021. For the first time in a long time, I did not meet my reading goal in 2020. My total usually exceeds 100, but in the First Year of Covid, I couldn't make it to 85, for some reason. I think it was because I spent a lot of time working on genealogy and cemetery documentation projects, and that I was learning the ropes of conducting Board meetings as President of the Scranton Public Library Board of Trustees. My reading time may have suffered, but I'm happy with the contributions I've made to the Find-A-Grave website, and relieved to find that I am OK at the Madame President thing. So far, 2021 isn't proving to be a rip-roaring reading year, if we go by totals, either. I will be lucky to hit 75. Still many other interests grabbing at me, and I refuse to complain about what I'm NOT doing. Life is pretty good.

I'll be hosting the American Authors Challenge again this year. See >7 laytonwoman3rd: below.

Here's a link to my last 2020 reading thread. You can navigate backward through the year with the continuation links. I usually have 4 threads per year, but in 2020 I only did 3.

This one's for the tickers

Books Read in 2021:



ROOTS:

"

Current reading

DECEMBER

85. The Meaning of Mice by Charles vanSandwyk FOLIO
84. The Doctor's Wife by Sawako Ariyoshi ROOT
83. Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer NF
82. The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth NF
81. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas by Russell Hoban
*80. Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart
79. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith AAC, ROOT
78. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz AAC
77. Foxes in Love by Toivo Kaarinen
76. Conjure Women by Afia Akatora

NOVEMBER

75. Conversations with Albert Murray AAC, NF
74. Wintering by Katherine May NF
*73. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
72. The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths CULL
71. The King of the Birds by Helen Ward; A Farmer's Alphabet by Mary Azarian; Lucy's Summer by Donald Hall (Il. by Michael McCurdy); A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas; Heartland by Diane Sebert and Wendell Minor; Pete the Cat's 12 Groovy Days of Christmas by Kimberly & James Dean Five children's books, most of which are destined to be gifts. One CULL
70. Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar NF, CULL
69. National Velvet by Enid Bagnold ROOT
68. The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C. W. Grafton
67. Rose Gold by Walter Mosely ROOT, CULL

OCTOBER

66. When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash CULL
65. A Darker Place by Laurie King ROOT
64. Books and Islands of Ojibwe Country by Louise Erdrich NF, AAC
63. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
62. Lantern Slides by Edna O'Brien ROOT
61. Some Things I Still Can't Tell You by Misha Collins
60. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer AAC, NF
*59. Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke AAC
58. The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich ROOT, AAC

SEPTEMBER

57. Egg Marks the Spot by Amy Timberlake, Il. by Jon Klassen
56. Between Heaven and Earth by Howard Norman AAC
55. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
54. What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman AAC
52. and 53. Tracks and Four Souls by Louise Erdrich. ROOTS, AAC In fact, I read Tracks twice.

AUGUST

*51. Hell's Princess by Harold Schechter NF
49. and 50. Love Medicine and The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich ROOTS, AAC
* 48. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
47. Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians by Anton Treuer NF, AAC
46. Little Green by Walter Mosley ROOT, CULL

JULY

*45. Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
44. The Hummingbirds' Gift by Sy Montgomery NF
43. Enon by Paul Harding ROOT
42. Crazy Horse by the Edward Clown Family ROOT, AAC, NF
41. Icepick by Philip DePoy AAC
40. August Folly by Angela Thirkell ROOT
39. Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman AAC, CULL

Books read in the first half of 2021:
Clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book in my earlier 2021 threads.

JUNE

38. Conversations with Ken Kesey AAC, NF
37. River King by Alice Hoffman ROOT
36. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy
35. Celia's House by D. E. Stevenson
34. Natchez Burning by Greg Iles ROOT, CULL
33. The Sea Lion by Ken Kesey AAC
32. You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson ROOT

MAY

*31. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths
30. Birds of America by Mary McCarthy ROOT, AAC, LOA
29. Practise to Deceive by Frances and Richard Lockridge ROOT
28. Signal Loss by Garry Disher
*27. A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
*26. A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

APRIL

25. Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin AAC
*24. The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
23. Who Speaks For the Negro? by Robert Penn Warren AAC, NF
22. Chronicles Volume One by Bob Dylan ROOT, AAC, NF

MARCH

*21. A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths
20. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler ROOT, CULL
19. The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew ROOT, CULL
18. catalog of unabashed gratitude by Ross Gay
*17. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
16. The Well of Loneliness by Radcliffe Hall BAC, ROOT, VIRAGO
*15. Difficult Women by Roxane Gay DNF, AAC
14. Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley ROOT, CULL
13. Sing Sing Prison by Guy Cheli NF
12. Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall CULL
*11. R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton re-read

FEBRUARY

*10. The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
9. Whispering Death by Garry Disher
8. Paradise by Toni Morrison ROOT
DNF A Doubter's Almanac by Ethan Canin AAC, ROOT, CULL
7. Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig ROOT

JANUARY

6. Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris ROOT, AAC
5. The Searcher by Tana French
4. The Murderous McLaughlins by Jack Dunphy AAC, CULL
3. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris ROOT, AAC
2. Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca ROOT, CULL
1. Peter Pan By J. M. Barrie ROOT, BAC

Here's where I'll keep track of what I get rid of.
EDIT: Well, this bit of data-keeping will have to be a Big Fail this year. I didn't keep up with the posting, although I sent at least 4 boxes of books on to new homes once libraries started accepting donations again. And I left my ticker un-updated for so long that the Ticker Factory ditched it on me, so I won't even have a total for the year. Suffice it to say that I moved lots more books than this out of the house, and have become rather good at deciding not to keep purely escapist reading that I never expect to revisit.

JANUARY

1. Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca
2. The Murderous McLaughlins by Jack Dunphy
3. Appetite for Life by Noel Riley Fitch
4. Southern Daughter by Darden Asbury Pyron

FEBRUARY

5. A Doubter's Almanac by Ethan Canin

MARCH

6. Collected Stories of Jean Stafford (duplicate copy)
7. Whispering Death by Garry Disher
8. Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
9. Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley
10. Known to Evil by Walter Mosley
11. Walkin' the Dog by Walter Mosley
12. The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew

APRIL

13. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
14. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

MAY

15. Kathleen and Frank by Christopher Isherwood

JUNE

16. Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
17. Death or Ice Cream? by Gareth P. Jones

NEW ACQUISITIONS

JANUARY

1. The White Rose of Memphis by Co. William C. Falkner
2. Falkner by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
3. Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule

FEBRUARY

4. Still Life by Val McDermid
5. The Persimmon Trail by Juyanne James
6. Fences by August Wilson
7. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson
8. Seven Guitars by August Wilson
9. Signal Loss by Garry Disher
10. The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
11. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
12. Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall

MARCH

13. Jean Stafford Complete Stories and Other Writings (LOA)

MAY

14. The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts
15. Orchard by Larry Watson
16. Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
17. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade
18. Anna's Book by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine
19. Tar Baby by Toni Morrison
20. No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre
21. Falling Feathers by Peggy Bancroft

JUNE

22. Two Trains Running by August Wilson
23. Jitney by August Wilson
24. Conversations with Ken Kesey
25. The Boy, the Fox, The Mole and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
26. Icepick by Philip DePoy
27. Sidewalk Saint by Philip DePoy

JULY

28. The Pilgrim by Marty Stuart
29. Donald Barthelme: Collected Stories
30. More Conversations with Eudora Welty

I totally fell down on the job here. The rest of the year will be reconstructed to the best of my ability in a single list, without regard to months.

31. Collected Stories of O. Henry LOA edition (touchstone probably wrong)
32. A Vision of Life, Love and Legacy by David Asam
33. Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward
34. Fox and I: AN Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven
35. The Hummingbird's Gift by Sy Montgomery
36. How to be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery
37. The End of Everything by Katie Mack
38. The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane
39. The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C. W. Grafton
40. Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll
41. Conjure Women by Afia Atakora
42. S. J. Perelman's Writings LOA collection
43. Clarks Summit: A Narrative by Helen Villaume, Dennis Martin et al.
44. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
45. The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths
46. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
47. Egg Marks the Spot by Amy Timberlake
48. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
49. The Silmarillion Folio Society edition
50. Virginia Hamilton: Five Novels LOA
51. Some Things I Still Can't Tell You by Misha Collins
52. The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
53. Antelope Woman by Louise Erdrich
54. Tales of Burning Love by Louise Erdrich
55. Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country by Louise Erdrich
56. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
57. Conversations with Albert Murray
58. Albert Murray Collected Essays and Memoirs LOA
59. Conversations with N. Scott Momaday
60. Conversations with Wendell Berry
61. Conversations with Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris
62. Conversations with John Gardner
63. Night Came with Many Stars by Simon Van Booy
64. A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
65. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
66. Lucy's Summer by Donald Hall
67. The Wine Lover's Daughter by Anne Fadiman
68. W.E.B. DuBois: Black Reconstruction LOA
69. American Indian Stories by Zitkala Sa
70. Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
71. Pastoral Song: A Farmer's Journey by James Rebanks
72. Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
73.-75. Mark Forsyth's Ternion Set
76. Now in November by Josephine W. Johnson
77. The Sea Trilogy by Rachel Carson LOA
78. Emmett Otter's Jug Bank Christmas by Russell Hoban
79. Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
80. The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A. E. Hotchner
81. Strange Meeting by Susan Hill
82. The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
83. The Meaning of Mice by Charles van Sandywk
84. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Ill. by Charles van Sandwyk Folio edition
85. Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer
86. Colored People by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
87. Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery
88. What It's Like to Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley
89. In Search of Our Roots by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Here is the line-up for 2021 in the American Authors Challenge, annotated with my own selections.

JANUARY A Theme Month
All in the Family Spouses, partners, parents and children who all write.
The January thread is here.

I have finished A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris, husband of Louise Erdrich.
Finished The Murderous McLaughlins by Jack Dunphy, long-time partner of Truman Capote
Finished Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris

FEBRUARY Ethan Canin
The Thread for February is here.
Started A Doubter's Almanac DNF

MARCH Roxane Gay
The thread for March is here.
Finished with Difficult Women

APRIL A Theme Month
Americans Who Make Music Creative minds often use more than one medium to express themselves, and a lot of musicians have written fiction, memoir and poetry.
Here is the April thread.
Finished Chronicles by Bob Dylan
Finished Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin

MAY Mary McCarthy
Her thread is here.

Read a selection from Hanoi as published in LOA's Reporting Vietnam collection
Finished Birds of America

JUNE Ken Kesey
His lamentably short thread.
Finished The Sea Lion and
Conversations with Ken Kesey


JULY A Theme Month
Native American Authors and Themes
Lots of possibilities, both fiction and non-fiction.
Here is the discussion thread for July

Finished Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman
Finished Icepick by Philip DePoy, an unintentional selection!
Selections from two LOA volumes on the War of 1812, concentrating on the Indians' involvement, Tecumseh, treaties, etc. History of the Administration of James Madison and The War of 1812:Writings from America's Second War of Independence.
Finished Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life & Legacy by The Edward Clown Family as told Finished Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians by Anton Treuer
I kept reading on this subject in both fiction and non-fiction long after July was over, completing Love Medicine, The Beet Queen Tracks (twice) and Four Souls by Erdrich. Also, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Bingo Palace and Books & Islands by Louise Erdrich.

AUGUST Connie Willis
Here is the Connie Willis Thread
I gave To Say Nothing of the Dog a try, but it just wasn't for me.

SEPTEMBER Howard Norman
Finished What is Left the Daughter, and Between Heaven and Earth.

OCTOBER Attica Locke
The Thread for October is here.
Finished Bluebird, Bluebird

NOVEMBER Albert Murray
The November thread is here.
Finished Conversations with Albert Murray

DECEMBER A Theme Month
Young Adult
This is the thread for the discussion of YA reading.
Finished Misty of Chincoteague and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

WILD CARD---You name it, you read it.

The General Discussion thread for the challenge can be found here.

I'll try to remember to post links here to the individual monthly threads as they are created.

Okay to wander through dropping quiche crumbs? (Too hot for bread)

>7 laytonwoman3rd: Well...what kind of quiche?

Love that photo Linda.

>9 laytonwoman3rd: Julia Child's:

>11 richardderus: You are welcome to leave that one in its entirety.

Hi Linda my dear, happy new thread dear friend.

Happy new thread, Linda!

>1 laytonwoman3rd: That made me smile. Looks like you are frustrated that the book you want is on the top shelf!

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Linda! Love that baby photo :)

Happy new thread, Linda.

Happy to visit your new thread. While I'm still recovering from the fabulous book sale at your library, I hit an epic sale yesterday in Berks County, a cooperative venture of the county's libraries and the AAUW. Held in a shopping mall, in space once occupied by the Gap. Several times I overheard the restocking volunteers tell shoppers that the inventory set out was far exceeded by the amount in "the back room". Sale runs through Sunday. Ye gods!

Yes, I picked an embarrassing number of books. Yes, embarrassing even for me. Ye gods!

PS: I'm half done with Demon Box, and I got a copy of The Group.

Happy new thread, Linda!

>1 laytonwoman3rd: So young and already eager for books :-)

Happy new thread, Linda! Love the opening picture. Looks like your future was set at an early age.

Welcome, Caroline, John Paul, Jim, Katie, Beth, Bill, Anita and Meg. It's so nice to have visitors.
If you visited my threads in past years, you may have seen photos of me being read to by various relatives at a young age--my Mom, Dad, one of my aunts, at least one of my grandmothers--it was just a thing everyone did, I guess. It never seemed all that remarkable to me. But the older i get the more I realize it probably WAS remarkable for a child raised in that place and time to have so many avid readers in the family. Both of my grandmothers were what you'd have to call "dirt poor" most of their lives, but they both had books in the parlor. I can picture the bookcases in almost all the homes we visited when I was a child. I look at old photos, and realize there are often books visible. They were just there. When we moved from the little rented house in the topper into the first home my parents actually owned, my Dad built two bookcases that are now front and center in my living room.

39. Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman For the AAC. Joe Leaphorn needs to find out why an old man who may have held sacred secrets was brutally murdered, and whether it could possibly be connected to an unsolved armored car robbery that left the FBI mystified. Most of Joe's "detecting" occurs in his head, and he becomes a one man search party whose quarry is determined to leave him dead in the isolated caves and canyons of the Navajo Nation. But it isn't his own life Joe is trying to save; a van full of kidnapped Boy Scouts have been taken hostage in an apparent re-creation of a long-ago massacre of the same number of Indian children. Joe doubts the legitimacy of the kidnappers' devotion to any "cause", but not their willingness to kill. He needs every ounce of intuition, resourcefulness and physical strength he can muster to survive and prevent another tragedy.

>21 laytonwoman3rd: I think some of us had no idea that book lust was abnormal because we came from homes that always had them. I can remember Mama being Very Upset because one apartment we had was too badly laid out to accommodate her bookcases. (She broke the lease.)

But for me, it was...normal. All my grandparents read books. My aunts and uncles, too. The cousins I know do, too, though not like my sisters and me. Sorta like college...not can/will, where was our decision.

>23 richardderus: A pretty wonderful thing to have ingrained as normal.

>21 laytonwoman3rd: When I imagine my mom during my childhood, two images always spring to mind. One is of her in her sewing room (a dedicated space in our basement). The other is of her reading in "her" chair in our living room, with the local NPR classical music station playing in the background. Thus she cultivated three habits in me: crafting, reading, and music.

>25 lauralkeet: And she did it without seeming to push those things on you, apparently. Simple.

Happy Friday, Linda. Happy New Thread. I hope you are doing well.

>26 laytonwoman3rd: True. I can't say that about everything my mom & dad did, but I felt only gentle encouragement in those areas. Which is probably why they stuck. 😀

>27 msf59: Hey there, Mark! It's all good at the moment, thanks.

>28 lauralkeet: There's a lesson there.

>29 laytonwoman3rd: I knew you'd get my drift there ...

>21 laytonwoman3rd: My mom says I learned to read sitting on her lap with my book while she read hers. One of the clearest memories I have of her being upset with me was when I lost her classic Ace Double Sea Siege/Eye of the Monster by Andre Norton at school when I was in maybe second or third grade. I did eventually replace it :).

Hey, will you be doing any more Toni Morrison reads?

>31 justchris: Funny, I don't really remember learning to read. I do recall some reading lessons in school, but what I remember is learning new vocabulary, suffixes and prefixes, recognizing irregular plural forms, etc., not the basics of translating written symbols into words.

I don't have any immediate plans to read more Toni Morrison, but I do have at least two of her novels on my shelves unread.

>32 laytonwoman3rd:, >31 justchris: I don't remember learning to read, either...I just could by the time memories are available to me.

I *do* remember when numbers made sense to me. Kindergarten exercise: Complete the series: 0, 5, 10, 15...

Sat and stared.

WTF

Teacher asked, "what is five plus five" and went up the line to fifteen plus five and CLICK the switch went on.

>32 laytonwoman3rd: and >33 richardderus: Same. I don't remember learning. I do remember my brother learning to read, though, and how outraged I was that he was using *my* book to do it.

I always loved numbers, but my clearest "click" moment around math was on my statistics final exam in graduate school when I realized in a flash how split-plot models work. Could I explain it to you now? No. But I remember my astonished joy in the beauty of the different parts of the pattern fitting together magically.

"I remember my astonished joy in the beauty of the different parts of the pattern fitting together magically" That must be wonderful. I don't have that kind of relationship with math.

>35 laytonwoman3rd: Yeah, I know. Lots of people find math a struggle rather than beautiful. And I definitely struggled in my freshman math theory class. Not that I understood that it *was* a math theory class until much later. That's what happens when it's labeled Math 200. The proofs we spent all year working on were so very different from the proofs in my middle school geometry class, which were easy-peasy.

>35 laytonwoman3rd: I never hated math, and I did OK in my high school courses until we touched on analytical geometry...then I was lost. I could learn the processes, but the intuitive part was never there.

>32 laytonwoman3rd: I have always remembered virtually the moment that I began to read. I was so excited and astonished that I knew I would remember it forever.

>38 RBeffa: I must say I really don't remember not being able to read, which is kind of cool, but remembering that exact moment would certainly be a grand thing.

40. August Folly by Angela Thirkell Usually Thirkell is a reliable diversion for me, but this one made me work. Two sets of young people with misplaced affections, two rather inept mothers, and an authorial tendency to switch styles of naming (several pages of "Mrs. Whatsit" who suddenly becomes "Jane" in the narration) left me spending too much time keeping the characters straight. Still plenty of the wit and satire that make Thirkell fun to read, but I couldn't quite settle in. And why did she unexpectedly give the family cat and donkey voices 2/3 of the way through the book??!!? Everything worked out as I knew all along it would, which was satisfactory, but getting there didn't delight me.

>39 laytonwoman3rd: Despite this photo from my grandmother I was not an early reader.

I'm not counting picture books, or being read to. The first books I read were the Dick and Jane books in First grade. I went to first grade in an actual house and there was a round table in the kitchen area. I'm sure there must have been prep before that in recognizing letters and/or words. But in first grade sitting at the kitchen table I first read a book. And I got very excited and from that moment on I was a voracious reader.

My school in a house was actually featured in a story in Life Magazine, the September 20, 1954 issue. I was not in school in that year. I was in the house school for the 1959-1960. I think that was the last year for the house school. I posted a pic from the magazine to my Facebook page if you are curious.

>41 RBeffa: I AM interested. I went to a one room schoolhouse (all 8 grades) through 5th grade, when it closed. I think the 1960-61 school year was its last as well. I could do the math, but as noted above...not my strong suit.

>42 laytonwoman3rd: Very Little House on the Prairieish. I don't think I would thrive in a one room school house. The one year I had a 3/4 mixed grade class I was rather unhappy.

Hi Linda. Your topper brings to mind a photo of me at about age, oh, I don't know, for sure younger than 2. But I won't be posting it here or anywhere, any time soon. There I was, sitting on an adapted toilet seat on the grownups toilet. Legs crossed, and engrossed in a book. As an adult now, I don't question the book, of course, but I do question why they were attempting to toilet train me at such a young age. Isn't there something that says this could cause psychological problems later in life? I questioned my mother about this when I first saw it (as an adult) but her response was that they never knew that then, so why not? And I was happy as long as I had a book in my hands! But, of course.... ;-)

>44 jessibud2: There's an infamous photo of me on the "throne" as well, although I was at least 3, and no book was involved. I will not be sharing that one either!

>43 RBeffa: In my case, it was more like Little House in the Big Woods. I believe I liked it quite a lot after the first day...I knew I was to go home for lunch, but no one told me about recess. So I was headed down the road at about 10:00 a.m., and had to be fetched back by one of the older kids. I was mortified. But I don't remember another bad thing from my four years there (I did 2nd and 3rd grade in one year). On my last day, we made homemade ice cream and had a picnic.

>45 laytonwoman3rd: I did the same thing! I don't think it was my first day but one of the first certainly. I thought I was supposed to go home when we were let out I went down the alleyway between the houses and walked home two blocks away. I got home and no one was there. I sat down trying to figure out what happened and then the phone rang. It was the school principal. He came and got me and we walked back to school.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: Oh shoot. Especially after I egged you on to read more Thirkell. This isn't one of my favorites, but I think I still enjoyed it more than you did.

One of the resources I've found helpful when reading Thirkell comes from The Angela Thirkell Society of North America. On the home page, there's a link to "Books and Companions." On this list, most (all?) of the Barsetshire books link to companion pages that provide a plot summary and information on the characters that appear in the books. Here's the companion page for August Folly:
https://angelathirkellsociety.org/compan/compaf.htm

The character descriptions can be a bit spoilery, so I only use this when I get lost or can't remember if I've "met" someone before.

>46 RBeffa: So many people I know have "first day of school" stories like this. My brother was bewildered by the bathrooms in the "big school" where he started out....he said there was no place to sit down. Nobody had explained about the stalls.

>47 lauralkeet: Never fear, Laura. I haven't given up on Thirkell. I will definitely explore that site. Thanks so much for the link.

41. Icepick by Philip DePoy I picked up the 3rd Foggy Moskowitz outing for a quick and engaging read before plunging back into the non-fiction I'm reading for the AAC. I hadn't really forgotten that Foggy has Seminole Indian friends, but it wasn't up there in the conscious level of my brain when I chose to read Icepick right now. As it turns out, this story qualifies for this month's challenge as well, as it involves two Seminole children looking for their missing mother in 1976 Fry's Bay, Florida, and there is a lot of Indian history and lore tucked into the fast-paced narrative as Foggy takes any opportunity to correct stupid white people's prejudices and misunderstandings. Extra points for historical references that I "got" because I have read Our Land Before We Die and Killers of the Flower Moon. The children, Topalargee and Catsha Tuste-nuggee, are among the most engaging characters I've encountered in a long time. They are kin to Faulkner's "Snopes Indians"; just as dangerous, but less wild because they have always been loved and valued.

I love this series. Foggy's wise-guy wit tempered with true compassion is exactly the spoonful of sugar needed to make his medicine go down. I do think DePoy added one too many layers of complication to the story line in this one, and I had to re-read the last 15 pages or so to get what that last bit was all about. By then, the main story line had been resolved, i.e. the children were safely reunited with their mother and the bad guys were all on ice, so I was a bit puzzled by this extra stuff. But I hope there will be a lot more adventures for Foggy, John Horse, Maggie Redhawk and the rest of the "tribe".

I was also in a one-room schoolhouse until fourth grade, Linda! It must have closed in the early sixties.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: I quite liked the anthropomorphized voices! They saw things no one else could credibly have seen, after all.

But the coach doesn't stop here, so your journey can continue apace.

>50 BLBera: We should start a group!

>51 richardderus: I didn't dislike the animal voices, but I wonder why she didn't start featuring them earlier in the story? That wouldn't have bothered me at all.

:)
How many students did your school have, Linda?

>53 BLBera: Oooh...good question. I'm guessing around 20-25 when it closed. Somewhere around here are records...my Dad was the secretary of the school board for the township when they voted to close the school and pay tuition to send us all to the central school across the state line in New York (closer than the nearest PA non-rural school). I wonder where I've "archived" those?

I found this photo of the inside of my schoolhouse. This was taken a couple years before I started there, but it looked exactly the same in my years. I count 27 students in the picture, and I can name almost all of them, at least by family name.



Here is what the building looked like, a few years after it was no longer in use as a school. My parents actually owned the land it sat on, and once the school district gave it up, the building itself. They sold it a few years after the school closed, as we moved "to town". There had been a small deck-like porch on the front, with steps down to ground level, which the new owners removed, for some reason. I think they also put a garage door and a ramp on the back side, because they used it to store farm equipment.

>54 laytonwoman3rd: Interesting school picture, Linda. It sure didn't look like that where I went to school in the '60s in a suburb of Montreal.

>55 Familyhistorian: There was certainly nothing suburban about my childhood! I was from the sticks, the boonies, the back of beyond...

42. Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life & Legacy by the Edward Clown Family as told to William B. Matson

Continuing my exploration of American History from the perspective of the country's original inhabitants for the AAC, I read this narrative of the family history of the man who defeated Custer, as told by three of his descendants who had the oral history passed down to them through several generations of their family. For many years, the members of Crazy Horse's family kept their relationship with him secret, because they feared retribution from the federal government, especially after Crazy Horse himself had been tricked into surrendering, and brutally murdered. The narrative is rich with detail about the Lakota way of life, and the ways in which westward expansion by white men eroded the natural order of that existence. It also presents a vivid picture of a complex man whose primary motivation always was the safety and welfare of his family and his tribe. Floyd Clown, Doug War Eagle and Don Red Thunder told their family stories to William Matson, who is a documentary film maker and not a professional writer. It occasionally shows in some stylistic awkwardness, but for the most part the story-tellers' rhythm and flow seems to have been preserved on the page. Lots of photos. Recommended.

I'm putting the August thread for the AAC up a bit earlier than usual, as I don't expect to be posting much next week. VACATION! Join us for Connie Willis, if you will.

>57 laytonwoman3rd: Oh hell.

*trudges off to library*

Have an excellent vacation!

>59 richardderus: *evil Muttley laugh*

Linda, your school was much larger than mine. I think we had only about 10 students the last year.

>61 BLBera: How many grades, Beth? Ours was 1 through 8, but I can't remember if we still had students in all the grades at the end.

43. Enon by Paul Harding A father attempts to cope with the accidental death of his 13-year-old daughter by roaming the fields, streets and cemeteries of his home town, fueled almost entirely by caffeine, nicotine and a vicious cocktail of painkillers, muscle relaxants, Valium and unnamed stuff scrounged from various sources. He suffers hangovers, blackouts, strange dreams/visions, and unrelenting guilt as he pushes himself ever closer to the boundary between the living and the dead, but he also remembers vividly his daughter's joyful life, his own untroubled childhood and the satisfaction of jobs well done. His brief and infrequent interactions with other human beings in the classic New England town of Enon keep him from teetering over the edge until he can get a grip and choose to go on living. As the friend who sent this book to me said, "Sad, but not depressing".

Edited to add: After being so impressed with this novel, I got Harding's earlier one, Tinkers, from the library. It features previous generations of the same family, including the clock "tinkerer" grandfather referred to in Enon. I just could not get engaged, however, and it will be a DNF for now.

My school was grades 1-6, Linda, and most of the students were cousins. There were three, counting me, in my grade.

>64 BLBera: There were a lot of family connections among the students in my school too, Beth. I think 2 or three surnames probably accounted for most of the attendance near the end. I wasn't closely related to any of them, but there were some distant connections, and both teachers I had at that school (Mrs. Layton(!) and Mrs. Adams) were relatives of my maternal grandmother.

Book haul from our first trip to a bookstore in many moons. The Sean Carroll and the Katie Mack are flamingrabbit's choices.

Nice stack, Linda! I have the Jesmyn Ward on my list to read this year. It's the only book of hers I haven't read yet.

>67 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. It was such fun to browse the shelves after so long.

>66 laytonwoman3rd: - I have a copy of the MacFarlane but mine has a different cover. I haven't read this one yet, though. Nice haul!

>66 laytonwoman3rd: Lovely haul! Isn't it fun to get back to one's place of worship after an extended absence?

>66 laytonwoman3rd: Oooo, The Old Ways. I've got that on my WL.
I need to get my name in for a library loan to see if it is worth owning.
(Yes, I'll read the PL loan. Then I'll know whether to find a keeper at the used book shop.)

>69 jessibud2:, >71 SandyAMcPherson: I see I've struck a chord with MacFarlane. I have a copy of his The Wild Places but haven't read it yet. I absolutely loved The Lost Words, which I bought after reading a library copy!

>70 richardderus: Yes, it felt very good.

>66 laytonwoman3rd: >72 laytonwoman3rd: The MacFarlane was the only one I recognised in the pile, Linda.
I have read The Lost Words, The Old Ways and The Wild Places, all recommended :-)
I often do the same, first read a library copy, and if it is a great read, I get my own copy.

>73 FAMeulstee: Except for the Jesmyn Ward (and MacFarlane) these were all new authors and titles for me, Anita. That's what I love about browsing in the bookstore.

Missing from the pile above was this new acquisition, which I read immediately:

44. The Hummingbirds' Gift by Sy Montgomery A beautiful little book about Montgomery's experience helping to save two orphaned hummingbird babies and prepare them for life in the wild. Just incredible. Some beautiful photographs. A version of this story is also contained in her longer book, Birdology, which I'll be seeking out now.

45. Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths A WWII plane, complete with pilot, is unearthed during excavation of a dummy airfield now destined to become a housing development. The only problem is, the body has a bullet hole in the forehead, and turns out to be the scion of a prominent local family, a man reportedly lost at sea during the war in another plane entirely. What can explain all this? Well, Ruth and Nelson, with help from their colleagues and friends (a motley crew, if ever there was one) are going to figure it all out, as we know. A most engaging vacation read.

>76 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for reminding me that I want to try this author and series. Our library has a bunch of hers. Including this one.

>77 RBeffa: I really enjoy Elly Griffiths, Ron. I'd recommend starting at the beginning of the series, though. The characters' relationships are complicated, and they develop over the course of the books in ways that would probably be pretty puzzling if you jumped in in media res. The Crossing Places comes first, I believe.

>78 laytonwoman3rd: The characters' relationships are complicated
Well that's the understatement of the century! Made me laugh, you did.

>79 lauralkeet: They got particularly tangled up in this one, I thought!

>78 laytonwoman3rd: Well, they have that first one on the shelf so when I get through my current big library pile I will probably give it a go.

>66 laytonwoman3rd: Nice haul, Linda. It is nice to actually browse shelves, isn't it?

Love the baby pix and even more the class pic. My classrooms weren't quite that quaint (radiators not woodstoves) but located in converted 19th-20th century houses rather than newly built concrete etc jobs (that happened in 5th grade -- from our windows in 4th we could see that building going up.)

Glad you got into a bookstore again, nice feeling, innit?

>81 RBeffa: I hope you enjoy Elly Griffiths when you get around to her, Ron. The books get better as they go along, not unusual with a series. So far she hasn't "jumped the shark" or started to get too predictable.

>82 BLBera: It was a joy.

>83 sibylline: You remind me that I intended to post a picture of the school building here, and have not yet done so. I'll add it to >54 laytonwoman3rd: above.

Sorry to read that you didn't engage with Oxford's time travelers, as imagined by Connie Willis. Ironically, your daughter gave me a copy of the book that failed to interest you, To Say Nothing of the Dog. 2019 Christmas swap.

I attended K-4 in a building that had been the high school when my mother graduated. It's gone now. Torn down, and replaced with six or eight houses.

Hi.

That's it, that's the post.

>85 weird_O: My parents and I attended the same high school (we even had some of the same teachers), which contained K-12 until a few years after I graduated. It's still in service, but now only houses middle and high school students; a new elementary school was built in the 1970s, I believe. Here is a photo showing the original building in all its brick beauty; the elementary building can be seen in the background.



"Near the wedding of the waters
in the Catskill hills
You will find our Alma Mater..."

While I was in attendance, the gymnasium was in the basement; first floor was for grades 1 through 4, plus cafeteria and nurse's office; second floor was for grades 5 through 8 and the administrative offices; high school classrooms (including a big home ec room and a pretty good science lab) on the third floor. The auditorium was two floors high,with a balcony entrance on the third floor.

>86 richardderus: That'll do.

46. Little Green by Walter Mosley Easy has been yanked back from the brink of death (or maybe actually from across the threshold) by Mouse, and Mama Jo, and others who care deeply about him. But he isn't too keen on living these days. The life he nearly left behind (in Blonde Faith) was in shambles, and he could only think of one way to fix it. Now, he wakes to a request from Mouse that he try to find out what happened to Little Green Noon, a young man whose mother is distraught at his disappearance into the hippy culture of the Sunset Strip. Only for Mouse would Easy take this on in his current state, and he isn't sure he won't still want to check out for good once the job is done. But we know that's not how things will turn out. Too many people love him, and he's never let them down yet.

47. Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians by Anton Treuer This book is a primer of sorts, aimed at helping white Americans to "understand, rather than imagine" their native fellow citizens. Presented in a Q & A format, based on the author's public appearances with the same goal, it is easy to take it in small bites for better processing. Although it did not really tell me everything I'd like to know about Native American culture and history (there are at least 50 books in my catalog tagged "Native American" and reading ALL of those would not fulfill that need), it is a good jumping off place for further reading. It covers a lot of ground in a generalized way, from the arrival of Europeans on the North American Continent to the politics of the reservation in the 21st century, and offers a suggested reading list for deeper exploration of what it means to be Indian. There is a version for young readers also.

Hi, Linda! I love your thread topper and the photos of your schoolhouse.

I need to try DePoy's Foggy Moskowitz series again. I absolutely loved his Fever Devlin series, but never got into the newer series. I think I was in a bad mood when I tried it, and it deserves another chance. Your review of Icepick made me think I'd enjoy it if I gave it a chance.

>90 laytonwoman3rd: I'm glad you found it useful. I recommend anything by Treuer.

>90 laytonwoman3rd: I'll bet for most of our fellow white folk it's not only everything, but more than they care to know about people they aren't. Which is why I think it should be required reading!

Happy Sunday's reads.

>91 tymfos: I think there is only one more Foggy to go (and I have it!), so far. I may need to get started on the Fever series, which I see has an Appalachian setting---always a favorite with me. I know that feeling, though, of being excited for more of a favorite author, and then finding they're doing something different and you don't love it.

>92 BLBera: This was the first thing I'd read by Anton Treuer, although I've had David's Rez Life on my wish list for a while.

>93 richardderus: Oh, too true, Richard. If only people would read all the things I think they should...

Hi Linda. Yay for a book haul!! It's been a while. And I really need to get back to Elly Griffiths.

"If only people would read all the things I think they should..." LOL. So true.

48. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway is contacted by an old University friend, Hilary Smithson, who is now an Anglican priest. Both the contact and the woman's vocation are a surprise to Ruth. Hilary is coming to Norfolk for a course intended to help promote the acceptance of women as bishops, but she has something darker to discuss with Ruth. Meanwhile, several blonde women who bear a striking resemblance to one another are being attacked and killed in the vicinity of the sacred landscape of Walsingham, a very popular site for religious pilgrimages. Good page-turning fare. Relationships move to new phases, face new challenges, and there's no way of stopping without going on to the next book.

>96 laytonwoman3rd: there's no way of stopping without going on to the next book.
Sounds like you're hooked!

David is Anton's brother. I highly recommend both Rez Life and The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee. Anton's The Assassination of Hole in the Day is also good.

>97 lauralkeet: Definitely.

>98 BLBera: More titles for my list! Thanks, Beth.

>96 laytonwoman3rd: I picked up The Crossing Places from the library and read the first two chapters last night. I am liking it a lot!

>100 RBeffa: Oh, good! They get better, too.

>101 laytonwoman3rd: Griffiths has written a lot of books in what seems a short amount of time. There are 13 of them now in this series and my libraries have almost every one. I did not need another series to work on ...

>102 RBeffa: Well, they go quickly, if that's any consolation! Too many series, too many books, too little time.

Yes, that series moves right along . . . Off to check out Anton Treuer!

>104 sibylline: Hi, Lucy!

I need to catch up posting here.

49. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich Many moons ago, before LT, I read this novel, as well as Erdrich’s Tracks and Four Souls. Somehow, I never read another in the series/cycle until urged by the incomparable Holly Wendt to get my hands on The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse without delay. Ever since, I've been promising myself I would start at the beginning, and read straight through the Love Medicine books. So now I've started.

In Love Medicine we meet people whose ancestors and descendants will populate so many of Erdrich's novels--the intertwined families of Nanapush, Pillager, Kashpaw and Lamartine, among others, including the nuns from the convent "up the hill". It's a story lover's dream, and a genealogist's Rubik's cube. It hits all my Faulkner buttons, too. The stories in this book are just pieces of the saga, and the big picture will never come clear until all the rest of the parts have been revealed, and shuffled around by one character and then another. I suppose this puts some readers off, but it’s the kind of thing that I just love. I give it 4 stars and a hug.

50. Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich In the second of the Love Medicine series, Erdrich brings her German ancestry into the mix, with the story of how the strangely orphaned Adare children arrived in Argus, North Dakota, looking for their Aunt Fritzie, who runs a butcher shop with her husband. Mary Adare clashes with her cousin Sita; inherits the meat business; develops a bit of a crush on Russell Kashpaw, a veteran of two wars and many wounds; and finds unsettling friendship with Russell's half sister, Celestine, the mother of a child Mary would wish to call her own. Again, complex relationships, a mixture of past and present, and hints of untold tales begging to be revealed. The title's relevance does not come clear until very near the end, which I found a bit unsatisfactory. In fact, this one didn't work especially well for me, possibly because it was all new---I hadn't read this one before. I think Erdrich is like Faulkner in this regard...she cannot simply be read, she must be re-read (with a nod to Jay Parini, who made the observation about Uncle Billy in the first place). 3 stars.

51. Hell's Princess by Harold Schechter

A true crime speed read about Belle Gunness, a serial killer of gullible Norwegian immigrants whose money and lives she stole after soliciting their aid in running her farm through ads in Norwegian newspapers, promising marriage and property if they came to her with all their cash and no inconvenient personal encumberments (like inquisitive family members who might miss them if they disappeared). Not overly graphic, but not sparing of details as she dismembered and buried the hapless fellers in rapid succession on her "lovely farm" in Indiana during the first decade of the 20th century. In addition to the prospective husbands, there is also a distinct possibility that Belle murdered several children entrusted to her care. I was disappointed that there were no photographs except the one on the cover in the library edition I read, especially after one review (the one that put me on to the book...thanks mstrust!) particularly mentioned " cool graphics and evidence and photos throughout the book". Most non-fiction needs illustrations, I find. And references to photographs of main actors in the drama should always be accompanied by...well...those photographs, no? Schechter has a reads-easy style, doesn't play sensationalist games with the reader (although the chapter headings are a bit of a tease), and readily admits that even though he had hoped to solve the mystery of Belle's own uncertain demise, the facts are simply not conclusive. Not everyone's cuppa, naturally.

>106 laytonwoman3rd: a genealogists's Rubiks cube
I love that, Linda. I've spent an inordinate amount of time examining the family tree in each book (which, by the way, is never the complete family tree, just the part that is relevant to that particular novel).

The Beet Queen didn't quite work for me either. I liked the early part where the children come to Argus, and Mary's relationships with Sita and Celestine, but really disliked the Dot character.

I began my Erdrich reading with The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, which in hindsight is an odd place to start. It might need to be re-read after I finish the cycle.

>108 lauralkeet: "really disliked the Dot character". Me too. A spoiled brat is never appealing or interesting to me.

There must be comprehensive family tree charts for these characters somewhere on-line. Right?

>54 laytonwoman3rd: What a great photo! The school I attended from Kindergarten through sixth grade is now a retired living community.

I started to read because of a wonderful librarian who took me under her wing and recommended the Doctor Dolittle books. I read them and then every other book she recommended. She made sure I had a library card, and would hold a book that she thought I would enjoy. On rainy Saturdays, we sipped tea in the back of the library. This was a decadent luxury as my mother never though a child should drink tea!

I was shy and introverted. I was the only child in the school whose parents were divorced. School didn't provide the respite I needed from feeling out of place, it was Miss Alice Blake, whose photo is largely displayed as people enter the library.

Will took me there awhile back. He wanted to see what I talked about so very much.

>110 Whisper1: I don't feel so funny now about taking my wife to see one of my two childhood libraries many years ago. The original one was in a slot in a shopping center strip but it ceased to exist when the official city library was built. I took her to the "new" one and it was an odd thrill to revisit it after so many years. It was not a large library and the layout was different than I remembered but just being in that recognizable space for me was very comforting.

>111 RBeffa: Ron. There is someone so very special about libraries. I now live near a Carnegie library that has large window seats, and deep steps climbing into the front door.

>109 laytonwoman3rd: you'd think there'd be a comprehensive family tree, Linda. I can't say I've spent tons of time looking, but I've come away empty-handed from some brief perusals.

>110 Whisper1:, >111 RBeffa: I, too, have gone back to the first library I was acquainted with---just a few years ago, with my Mom. It is a bit different inside now, but still I felt "at home". The places that mattered to us as children are still important, and we're lucky if we can go back to visit.

>113 lauralkeet: Well, as it turns out, I have a book in my collection called A Reader's Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich. I had completely forgotten acquiring it, but I'll have to see what the author does with the whole genealogy thing. Another rabbit hole...

>114 laytonwoman3rd: Sounds like a useful book, Linda. I love companion books like that. Come to think of it, most (all?) of the ones we have were published quite some time ago (as were the original works). It makes me wonder whether the internet has supplanted companion books these days.

I don't think it matters much the order in which the Erdrich books are read. She travels back and forth in time so much. For example, Love Medicine was her first novel, but Tracks takes place earlier -- and some others too.

>116 BLBera: I agree, Beth. It's really all one story, and you can jump in and out of it anywhere. I'm imposing a system on myself to read them in publication order, so I get through all of her novels eventually. I've just started a re-read of Tracks.

>115 lauralkeet: Hmmm....interesting observation.

The September AAC thread for Howard Norman is up.

>117 laytonwoman3rd: Since it is a re-read for you I don't feel guilty mentioning that "Tracks" is the book that really turned me off of Erdrich.

>119 RBeffa: Sorry to hear that, Ron. Nobody loves everything, though. It's hard for me to remember, but I think Tracks was the first Erdrich I read.

>118 laytonwoman3rd: I wonder how many will be warbling their fool lungs out about The Bird Artist come the 21st.
***
Normally I am a person who Knows My Own Mind. Startling, I realize, for you to hear this...as I've always been such a soft-spoken crowd-goer-alonger.

Stop laughing.

Anyway. I need help. The wisdom of the crowd is sought to help be decide between two equally strong contenders for Read of the Month. I am simply incapable to unparalyzing myself from the FOMO I get thinking about this problem.

Please vote on the poll or you will be directly responsible for my re-admission to the Goofy Garage this birthmonth.

>121 richardderus: I done did that already.

Hi Linda! I love the photo at the top of this thread -- you're right about the "where do I start?" look on your little face. And it's a joyfully asked question!

I'm writing this with my laptop balanced on the arm of my chair as my lap is occupied by a very settled ginger cat. He nudged the laptop away to make room for himself! It's sweet but it makes for slow typing and an increased error rate.

This is the first I've heard of A Reader's Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich. As she is absolutely a favorite author, onto the wishlist it goes!

>87 laytonwoman3rd: What a lovely old school building!

>66 laytonwoman3rd: I have Conjure Women on my shelves from my first post(so I thought)-pandemic bookstore visit, too!

>123 EBT1002: Hi, Ellen! I've been dipping into the Reader's Guide. It covers the "first six" of Erdrich's novels--- explaining Erdrich's geography,
(real and invented), providing genealogical charts and biographical information on the characters in Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, Tracks, Tales of Burning Love, The Bingo Palace and The Antelope Wife. I have found it very helpful in sorting out the relationships so far.

Molly loves to insert herself onto my lap when I'm working at my desk...snatching at my pens, blocking my keyboard, generally asserting her priority claim on my attention. It's a cat thing, I guess. Gotta love 'em.

52. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
This novel takes us back in time, before either Love Medicine or The Beet Queen, and enhances our understanding of the relationships among many of the characters we met in those two novels. We see how "family" is defined not just by blood but by affinity and intent. And we see how treacherous it can be to navigate the lake waters and shores of Matchimanito when under the influence of passion. Narrated alternately by Nanapush whom we trust, and by Pauline Puyat whom perhaps we shouldn't, the early life of Fleur Pillager and her fearsome connection with something outside the realm of human powers, is the primary story line here. Recurring threads are the questionable parentage of certain children, and the consequences of crossing a woman who has faced and bested death so many times. Nanapush tells his tales to Fleur's daughter, Lulu, hoping to convince her to forgive her mother for abandoning her. Wonderful stuff. But this book should not be read as a one-off. It is part of a cycle, and needs to be savored in conjunction with its companions to get the full effect. This is not a failing---it CAN stand alone. It's just that there is so much more to know, and you cheat yourself if you read this one and stop.

54. Four Souls by Louise Erdrich OK, so I fibbed. I said above that I was going to read Erdrich's novels in publication order. But this one didn't come out immediately after Tracks, although it picks up Fleur's story just about exactly where Tracks left her...packing up and moving away from the reservation to find and avenge herself on the man she holds responsible for destroying her family's land. We know that Fleur has strange powers, and a store of elemental knowledge, which have combined in the past to keep her alive, to punish those who would take advantage of her, and to join her to the man she desires. Now, leaving her home, her man, and her child behind, she intends to harness those powers to cure, and then kill the sickly wealthy lumber baron who has cheated her people. Story-telling doesn't get much better than this. It's brilliant, and unpredictable, and totally right. And as soon as I finished it I went back to page 1 of Tracks, and read that straight through again. I simply hate to leave these fascinating characters behind. The binge will continue.

53. What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman As the daughter he has not seen since she was a very young child approaches her 21st birthday, Wyatt Hillyer attempts to explain to her--in a long letter--the events that led to her existence, and what she should know about his life both before and after her birth. He feels he has nothing else to leave her. Luminous prose, and a story full of heart. One of my few 5 star reads this year.

Wow, a real Erdrich round-up. Her work varies but always is worth the time.

Me not a Howard Norman fan. Don't know why not, but not.

>125 laytonwoman3rd:

>124 laytonwoman3rd: I found a copy of the guide but the price was astonishingly steep so I'll just reread the novels and rely on my own self to sort out the complex relationships among characters. LOL

Linda, I can't remember which thread it was, maybe Mark's, where people were discussing Colm Toibin's latest, The Magician. I do remember you saying you weren't interested in reading about Thomas Mann. But you might be interested to know that your boy, Jay Parini, is on the front page of this week's NYT Book Review, with his thoughts on the book:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/07/books/review/colm-toibin-magician.html

Happy Sunday, Linda. What is your favorite Erdrich to date? I would still like to bookhorn in Love Medicine sometime this fall. I know you mentioned having no interest in reading The Magician but I am enjoying it quite a bit and plan on reading Death in Venice, which would be my first Mann.

I hope you are having a nice weekend.

>127 richardderus: Let it go. I can't be responsible for you bursting a vessel.

>128 EBT1002: Ah, well. Too bad. If you ever want me to look something up for you, let me know!

>129 lauralkeet: Thank you, Laura! Naturally, his opinion carries a bit of weight. But he does get a BIT deep for me on occasion. His novel about Walter Benjamin, for example.

>130 msf59: Well, I guess I have to hope you enjoy Death in Venice. I did not, so you probably shouldn't read my review before you make up your own mind! I don't know what to say about a favorite Erdrich. They all tie together, and I'm inclined to treat her work as a whole. I also have a LOT of them left to read. I guess at this point, I'd put The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse at the top of the list.

55. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths Homeless people are going missing, and some bones turn up in the underground chalk mine tunnels being excavated by a developer. There is less forensic archaeology in this Ruth Galloway outing than usual, and a bit more routine official investigation. Life continues to be emotionally complicated for Ruth, and for Nelson. A highly suitable escape from reality.

56. Between Heaven and Earth by Howard Norman An illustrated collection of folk tales featuring birds gathered during a folklore workshop from contributors with roots in Africa, China, Australia, Norway and Sri Lanka. I think they all lost something in translation, and as one contributor put it "The mind has to do a lot of work!" The Chinese tale of a hidden lake where ancestors live on as swans, "The Swan-Scholar's Great Secret" was the highlight for me. The illustrations are lovely, but all of a piece in style, despite the varied cultures being represented.

>132 laytonwoman3rd: You are really moving through the Ruth Galloway series. I’m all caught up and need to wait for the next one. Fingers tapping….

>133 laytonwoman3rd: I’ve only read The Bird Artist by Norman, and loved it. I have What is Left the Daughter on my kindle. Is it as good?

>134 NanaCC: I have the next Ruth Galloway on the shelf, and am trying to restrain myself...

I think What is Left the Daughter is just as good as The Bird Artist, and maybe a half star better. I hope to re-read the latter one of these days, as I noted back in 2009 that I felt I may have missed some of the symbolism that was surely there. And of course after all this time, I've forgotten a lot of it.

57. Egg Marks the Spot by Amy Timberlake, illustrated by Jon Klassen More adventures of the unlikely duo we met in Skunk and Badger. There is a rock-hunting expedition in this one, and a scheming cousin named Fisher, who did Badger wrong long ago, and seems to have grown even more wicked with the passage of time. A very unlikely treasure is found (and here the story jumped the shark for me, even in the context of an anthropomorphic fantasy world), which leads to high drama. Slightly irritating repetition, too much chicken-speak, and a distinctly non-scientific element to a story supposedly about a rock scientist, made this one much less satisfying for me than Timberlake's initial Skunk and Badger offering. The illustrations, on the other hand, are top notch.

>136 laytonwoman3rd: I do love Jon Klassen's art. His hat trilogy and shape trilogy delight both me and my young nieces and nephew.

>137 MickyFine: Yes, he's a favorite with my grandnieces too.

The October AAC thread for Attica Locke awaits your contributions.

Passing by and saying hi -- oh I do love Ruth!

>138 laytonwoman3rd: Attica Locke! Ooohhh, you temptress.

Hello, Linda. Just checking in as I wind my way through the threads.

Have a lovely Sunday!

>139 sibylline: I love her too, Lucy!

>140 richardderus: Well, give in, man. That's what temptation is FOR.

>141 alcottacre: Stasia! How wonderful to see you. Thanks for visiting.

>142 laytonwoman3rd: It is wonderful to see you too!

58. The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich Moving well forward in time from the earlier novels, this one takes us into the modern lives of Lyman Lamartine, a successful businessman with big plans for making the Indian Gaming Act work for him, and his rival-in-love, Lipsha Morrisey, who may have inherited the Pillager healing gift along with a resistance to drowning from his great grandmother Fleur, but who has no true feeling for how to use his power. Both men vie for the affection of Shawnee Ray, who doesn't seem inclined to make a permanent commitment to either of them and may just move on without choosing. The strings of family ties are just as tangled here as in all the earlier novels, and the strong determined women of the reservation keep tightening the knots. Some things come clear, others remain murky; some hopes are raised, but luck is a chancy thing and drowning isn't the only peril to be avoided. It is a rich pleasure to spend time among these people, despite their weaknesses.

>144 laytonwoman3rd: I read The Bingo Palace earlier this year, Linda. I love the last sentence of your review, it sums up my feelings as well. I'm currently waiting on a library copy of The Painted Drum (I was surprised to find someone else had checked it out). That's the only one of Erdrich's Love Medicine novels still unread.

>145 lauralkeet: I haven't read The Painted Drum yet either, Laura. I'm debating whether to read it next, or re-read The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, which is numbered next in the series. Have you read The Master Butchers Singing Club ? That's listed as "related" and will be new to me as well. I just ordered several Erdrich books that are not on my shelves directly from her Birchbark Books store. I don't see myself abandoning my "read her entire oeuvre" project any time soon.

>146 laytonwoman3rd: I haven't read Master Butcher's, Linda. I'll keep that one in mind. I just searched the library catalog and they have it, along with several more that I hadn't even considered yet.

>146 laytonwoman3rd: Master Butchers Singing Club was the first book by Edrich I ever read, as far as I can recall. My mother-in-law was reading it when it was new and it caught my eye and she passed it on to me. After seventeen or so years the story is pretty much gone from my memory and since this was very pre-LT I don't have handy notes on it. What I do remember is liking it a lot, so I think you can look forward to it Linda.

>144 laytonwoman3rd: I will have to add that one to the list of Erdrich's books that I still need to read. She is one of my LT discoveries!

You are going great guns on the Ruth Galloway's, Linda. You remind me that I should get back to that series. I have a few on my shelves. The last Elly Griffiths I read was The Zig Zag Girl which was a departure from the modern day. Have you read any of those?

>147 lauralkeet:, >148 RBeffa: Master Butcher's Singing Club has been on my shelves for a long time, but for some reason it hasn't called to me. I'm in an Erdrich groove now, though, so I think I'll be reading it before too long.

>149 alcottacre: I can't remember exactly when I started reading Erdrich, but I think it was before LT entered my life. It is wonderful what we discover in this community, though, isn't it?

>150 Familyhistorian: I haven't tried the Brighton series yet, but I am happy to know that if I blaze through all the Ruth Galloway books, I still have more of Griffiths' talent waiting for me.

I haven't read The Painted Drum yet either. It's one of a couple I have yet to read. And she has a new one coming out next month, so I will probably read that one first.

59. Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke For the AAC.

I read Locke's The Cutting Season years ago, and liked it well enough, but had some quibbles. Then I picked up a copy of Pleasantville not realizing it was the second in a sort-of series. The story line in that one didn't grab me, I didn't much care for the protagonist, and I didn't finish it. I had higher hopes for Bluebird, Bluebird when I started it. A good set-up---a black Texas Ranger with some emotional baggage heading back to the countryside where he grew up to investigate a small town murder with racial overtones. An intriguing premise--a black man who has found a path to success with honor, but who chooses to take risks that could threaten his career, his marriage and his life; a man who feels the draw to "home" even though it is a place where living while black is a constant struggle. Unfortunately, I found many of the same problems in this novel that I perceived in the other two Locke works. I never warmed up to Darren Mathews; I felt like i was reading book 3 or 4 in a series, without having read the first few; elements of Darren's back story that are tossed in like seasoning deserved their own full treatment; the author tells us too many things we could have been shown to better effect; awkward switches from a character's point of view to an omniscient narrator threw me out of the story, and other stylistic issues. Ultimately, my biggest gripe was that despite his repeated insistance that East Texas isn't such a bad place, we aren't given evidence of that; we're just asked to accept it, and I can't see why we should. I certainly understand loving the place that was home in your childhood and youth, even if the present You could no longer live there. But there are reasons---happy memories, love of the natural beauty, associations of friendship and family. We just don't get enough of those reasons here to overcome the ingrained perception of rural Texas as nowhere to be a person of color. I finished the novel, because I wanted to see how the murder mystery was resolved; luckily I was not invested in Ranger Mathews' future, because we're left with a ticking time bomb on that point, and I am not inclined to read another book to see when and if it goes off.

>153 laytonwoman3rd: - I'm sorry that one didn't work for you, Linda. I'm a fan of all 3 of Locke's novels that I've read.

>153 laytonwoman3rd: The only one of Locke's books that I have read is Black Water Rising and I was not a big fan of it so I have not read anything further by her.

>153 laytonwoman3rd: Not much of an endorsement for Locke. I haven't been able to track down used copies of any of her books. It may signal that I should be playing that Wild Card this month. I got a houseful of those.

>156 weird_O: I hate to put you off, Bill. She might strike you entirely otherwise. I just don't ever seem to get lost in her tales as I do with other mystery/suspense authors. My editor brain never shuts off, if you know what I mean.

>155 alcottacre: Maybe we have the same trouble with her style, Stasia?

>154 katiekrug: See, you prove my point. Different strokes, and all that.

60. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer This is lovely reading...a naturalist, botanist, indigenous spirit teaches us how to learn from the earth and all its "people", including the non-human ones, and offers hope that we may not be doomed after all. There is a fair amount of science, but it's all digestible. And there is a lot of soul-food as well. Highly recommended.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: I hope she's right; I suspect I am, we're doomed and the next decade will be the end of our world. The planet will be fine but people are stuffed.

>153 laytonwoman3rd: Huh! I was thoroughly invested in his future. Isn't that weird how books hit us all so differently.

61. Some Things I Still Can't Tell You by Misha Collins A short collection of deceptively simple poems, mostly about love, but never sappy. Easily read in a very short sitting, the style may remind you of Mary Oliver, although Collins's subject matter is quite different. Many of the images in these little gems will surely take up permanent residence with me--purple flower petals crushed underfoot, a father's strong hands, an old dog leaning against his human while she cooks bacon...

Collins the poet/actor/father/activist is also the founder of Random Acts, a philanthropic volunteer organization that facilitates what the name suggests. You maybe should check out both the book and the charity.
And for the lycomayflower, my favs:

Old Bones
Brown Hens
Tug of Woman
The Driver
Eugenia
The Visit
Zen Morning
June Second

>159 richardderus: I probably should have said "Earth might not be doomed after all". Might not be such a terrible tragedy if most of the humans disappeared and left the rest of her children to heal the planet.

As for Darren Mathews, I just didn't like him well enough to care. I wish Locke's style suited me better, because then I probably would give him another chance.

62. Lantern Slides by Edna O'Brien A short story collection that has been on my nightstand for yonks, waiting for me to read the final, title, selection. Which I have now done. And gone back to re-read a couple other selections. O'Brien is so terribly good at what she does that I fervently hope never to come under her scrutiny. The edge of her gaze is so keen you won't know it's sliced through your facade until you collapse from the loss of blood. I acknowledge her brilliance with words, and in observation about the human creature, especially as it behaves in the company of others, but I can't say I entirely enjoy reading her stuff. I sometimes feel sorry for her characters, not for their circumstances or failings, but for the unsparing light their creator casts on them. I'm glad to have read this collection, but probably won't seek out any more of O'Brien's work. In fact, as I recall, I have in the past abandoned two of her novels.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: My local library has a copy of that one (2, in fact) so I will get that one read soon. Thank you for the review and recommendation, Linda!

>160 laytonwoman3rd: I am not a big poetry fan, but I may have to check that one out.

>162 laytonwoman3rd: I think I will give that one a miss.

Happy Saturday, Linda!

>160 laytonwoman3rd: So the venn diagram of us here is the chickens...

>164 lycomayflower: As is to be expected.

>165 laytonwoman3rd:

Cluck

>166 lycomayflower: Who's like us?

>167 laytonwoman3rd: Damn few and they're all dead!

>168 lycomayflower: Right.

'Cept this one

>158 laytonwoman3rd: I've been dipping into Gathering Moss, must get back to it. I have the one you read, and an earlier one in the pile Linda.

>169 laytonwoman3rd: cute.

>169 laytonwoman3rd: ...I sense a bit finger in the offing....

>170 Caroline_McElwee:, >171 richardderus: I was present...Miss Ronnie still has all her digits, to my certain knowledge.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: I could use some up-lifting "we're gonna make it" reading!

>162 laytonwoman3rd: O'Brien is so terribly good at what she does that I fervently hope never to come under her scrutiny. The edge of her gaze is so keen you won't know it's sliced through your facade until you collapse from the loss of blood. I acknowledge her brilliance with words, and in observation about the human creature, especially as it behaves in the company of others, but I can't say I entirely enjoy reading her stuff. I sometimes feel sorry for her characters, not for their circumstances or failings, but for the unsparing light their creator casts on them.

What a wonderfully perceptive observation, Linda, and encapsulates my feelings about the lady a little bit too.

In keeping with some of your great photos, this is a picture of my first schoolhouse - South Hiendley Primary in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

My family home was almost in touching distance of the school grounds.



It hasn't changed any, except the portion of the building on the right is a fairly recent extension.

Hi, LInda. Great black and white photos, including of Ron reading, and your one-room schoolhouse.
.
I love that Easy Rawlins series. What a great character.

>173 Berly: I don't know as she goes that far, Kim, but she does certainly suggest that we can make it if we wise up.

>174 PaulCranswick:, >175 PaulCranswick: Thank you for the kind words on the O'Brien review, Paul. And your school (minus the extension) looks a little like one of my daughter's elementary school buildings, which has now been converted into a community recreation center.

>176 jnwelch: Hi, Joe. Good to see you! I think I have the next Easy Rawlins adventure on my TBR shelf. Always a great escape to dive into one of those.

Happy Wednesday, Linda!

>178 alcottacre: Ah, Stasia. Thank you for the good wishes.

Happy week-ahead's reads, Linda3rd!

>180 richardderus: Thank you, sir.

63. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead This is Whitehead's take on a heist novel, set in Harlem in the early 1960s. We don't get in on the execution of the event itself, as our protagonist, Ray Carney is an involuntary participant on the periphery of the action. Ray has a retail furniture store, selling some pretty nice stuff, supporting his family well enough, and dreaming of a better apartment in a nicer neighborhood one day. OK, maybe some of his "second-hand" furniture might have fallen off a truck, or come from a source he'd rather not know about. Aaand, he's not averse to fencing a few pieces of jewelry and other smallish valuables his god-help-me cousin Freddie brings by from time to time. The extra cash is useful. But by and large, Ray would like to think of himself as a legitimate businessman who has risen out of the criminal circles his father was known to inhabit. Of course, he's learned a lot by association, and he understands how the underworld of Harlem works. So when Freddie gets involved in an overly ambitious heist of safe deposit box contents from the so-called "Waldorf of Harlem", it's no surprise that he volunteers his cousin Ray to move the stuff. The trouble is, Ray had previously told Freddie he wanted no part of this ridiculous scheme, and now he is stuck between the gang and the cops, with no apparent means of escape. The novel is not high on narrative tension, but it is gripping in another way, as Ray and the reader explore the nuances of "doing the right thing", family loyalties, and all kinds of other issues that truly cannot be reduced to "black and white" simplicity. The setting is irresistible, and rendered with the love of NYC in general, Harlem in particular, which was so beautifully displayed in Whitehead's The Colossus of New York. This, Ms. Locke, is how you make us understand what there is to love about a place that is home despite its dangers.

>182 laytonwoman3rd: I already have Harlem Shuffle in the BlackHole, but very curious on your thoughts of the Erdrich book.

>183 alcottacre: Briefly, Stasia, the Erdrich book was a joy to read. And it's short. It's a bit of memoir.

>184 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for letting me know, Linda. I will see if my local library has a copy.

>182 laytonwoman3rd: I have Harlem Shuffle, too. Waiting your take on it...

>183 alcottacre:, >186 Berly: Review of Harlem Shuffle is up in >182 laytonwoman3rd: now.

>184 laytonwoman3rd:, >185 alcottacre: See the next post for my review of the Erdrich.

64. Books & Islands in Ojibwe Country by Louise Erdrich At the age of 47, Louise Erdrich unexpectedly found herself pregnant by a man she refers to here only by the name Tobasonakwut, and whom she never publicly identified, but who almost certainly was this highly respected Anishinaabe teacher, philosopher and activist. When the child known as Kiizhikok (full Ojibwe name Nenaa'ikiizhikok after her grandmother) was 18 months old, Erdrich took her on a quest of sorts, into the island country of Northern Minnesota and Canada, home to their ancestors. This book is a memoir of that journey, and a reflection on the importance of language, both written and oral, in preserving a culture and a sense of belonging. Beautiful reading.

65. A Darker Place by Laurie King Anne Waverly is a professor of religion who occasionally goes undercover for the FBI within communities suspected of developing into dangerous cults. Her background as a member of one such commune with a disastrous end makes her particularly useful; her guilt and grief over the deaths of her own husband and daughter at the hands of a zealot pushes her to continue accepting these assignments even once she has begun to settle into a new life of comparative emotional stability. The novel takes us with Anne as she assumes a new identity to investigate a group calling themselves Change, with a compound in the Arizona desert. Change seems to have nothing to hide; they comply with government regulations and educational standards for the children, welcome routine inspections by Children and Youth and other social welfare agencies, allow members to come and go with relative freedom, and operate a gift shop in the nearby town. The group also takes in, through appropriate channels, "troubled" youth whose needs the beaucratic system has so far failed. Nevertheless, Anne's FBI contact, Agent Glen McCarthy, has heard some disturbing reports about the group's other outposts, and needs an inside source of information. Glen and Anne have a "history" of their own, and it's not an especially healthy one. This novel has the feel of a Daphne DuMaurier story, although with the suspense rendered in a lower key. Not a true "gothic" story, but some of the elements are definitely there---a woman in unfamiliar surroundings trying to sort out what the secrets are, and whom to trust; charismatic men in authority; innocents in need of rescue; a slam-bam ending where the reader can't be certain of anything until the very last word.

>188 laytonwoman3rd: I didn't know that about Louise Erdrich. And at 47, wow, that must have been quite a surprise. The memoir sounds interesting.

>190 lauralkeet: I didn't know it either before picking up this book. She says she went from "perimenopausal to violently pregnant", and naturally there was an element of terror involved.

>188 laytonwoman3rd: Definitely need to find a copy of that one. Thanks for the review, Linda.

>189 laytonwoman3rd: I think I may have read that one before. I will have to pick it up and see.

Happy Sunday!

>188 laytonwoman3rd: - I haven't read anything by Erdrich but when I read the name of the father of her last child, Tobasonakwut, I clicked on the link you provided. The name rang a bell and sure enough, he is who I thought he was. Several years ago, I read a very good memoir by one of his sons, Wab Kinew, called The Reason You Walk, a father-son reconciliation. Wab was a broadcaster and musician and is now a politician here in Canada. His story was very moving. His dad had a very difficult life.

Sorry for this tangent...

>193 jessibud2: No apologies, Shelley. In fact, thank you for mentioning that memoir. I've added it to my wishlist. It seems Tobasonakwut was a fascinating individual I'd like to know more about.

>194 laytonwoman3rd: - If you click on the title, you will see my review and that of gypsysmom (Wendy) as well. It is a difficult read but a necessary one, and Kinew writes very well.

>195 jessibud2: I did read the reviews, and I'm positive I'll be seeking this book out before too long.

Hi Linda - It sounds like you enjoyed Harlem Shuffle. I loved the Erdrich memoir and am looking forward to her new one.

66. When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash This novel started out a bit clunky, with that feeling of information being dumped on the reader to set up the tale that is coming, but improved considerably about one third of the way along, as the author's story-telling chops kicked in.

A county sheriff in coastal North Carolina, days away from an election he is likely to lose, is faced with a grim mystery. A plane has flown in low in the early morning hours and landed at the municipal airport, which is unstaffed overnight. By the time the sheriff and his deputy arrive to investigate this unusual flight, they find only an empty DC-3 cargo plane sitting disabled on the short runway. There is no sign of pilot or crew, but a local black man lies dead of a gunshot nearby. The logical conclusion is that this was a drug drop in which something went wrong, and the local connection was killed in the process. Sheriff's Barnes's election opponent, a good ole boy with shit for brains, is all for that interpretation, being as nasty a piece of greed and ugliness personified as you will ever read about.

The Sheriff can't buy it. The dead man, Rodney Bellamy, went to school with his daughter, has a wife and baby of his own, and a very good job; his father is a long-tenured teacher at the local high school. Nothing about the family's circumstances or history suggests Rodney would become involved in drug running, or any criminal activity.

The Sheriff's daughter doesn't believe it either. She has come home from Dallas, where she and her husband have recently suffered the stillborn delivery of their first child. She is bereft and struggling with how to get on with life, but she remembers Rodney as a decent young man, and Mr. Bellamy as an outstanding teacher.

There is plenty of uncomfortable truth here about the nature of racism in the last half of the 20th century, there is the soul-searching of a man who realizes he may have to sacrifice his career to do the right thing, there is fine exploration of the relationships between parents and children/husbands and wives; and those parts of the book were so well done that I came to the verge of tears at one point. But as well as those subjects were handled, they were bracketed by a rocky beginning and a truly lousy ending that felt like the author just plain quit on his protagonist.

I've loved all of Cash's previous novels, and this one had some strong material, but I guess nobody can hit a home run every time.

>64 BLBera: I simply have to get that one, Linda. Your reviews are becoming irresistible!

>198 laytonwoman3rd: - I'm sorry this one was a bit disappointing. I'll still give it a go eventually, but first I have his The Last Ballad to read.

>200 katiekrug: The Last Ballad was so much better, Katie. If Ghosts had been the first Cash I read, I'd never have given him a second chance.

>199 PaulCranswick: Not sure which one you're referencing, Paul, as the message # you linked isn't about any particular book. (Maybe the Erdrich memoir, which was my read #64?) But thanks for the compliment anyway!

>198 laytonwoman3rd: I think I will be giving that one a pass. Sorry it was such a bad read for you, Linda, and hope the next is better.

Have a great week!

>201 laytonwoman3rd: Delurking to agree, Linda! I loved the earlier Cash novels but this one fell short for me, although I think I liked it slightly better than you did.

>203 vivians: I liked the middle quite a lot, Vivian. And I forgave him for the clumsy beginning, but I just could not believe how he chopped off the ending. And, btw, what was the narrative point of Mrs. Barnes suffering from cancer? I kept expecting it to matter somehow to the story, and it never did.

The November thread for the AAC is up.

67. Rose Gold by Walter Mosley Easy Rawlins in back on the job, after recovering from a nearly deadly accident (or was it a suicide attempt? Even Easy isn't sure.) He has moved his family to a new home, and he and his lady love are mending fences, gradually. He's glad to be alive. But his latest engagement is a peculiar one; his client seems to be the LAPD, but other law enforcement agencies are impeding his investigation, and threatening him with various forms of prosecution, or worse, if he continues with it. Naturally, this only makes him more determined to get to the truth about an alleged kidnapping. Complicated plotting that gets just a bit tedious, and maybe too much explication of the plight of a black man in LA in the late 60's. I mean, the stories make it clear what kind of peril Easy can be in, just by driving a certain kind of car, showing up in a certain neighborhood, or carrying a fully licensed firearm in the trunk. It really isn't necessary for the author to call attention to these plot elements and their significance as he goes along---it feels a bit preachy sometimes, and I think the point is better made by simply showing us what happens. I may have read enough of these now, but we'll see. As usual, I marked a passage or two as worthy of quoting:

"Readin' good books is like meetin' a girl you wanna get to know bettah," Jackson Blue once told me. "You don't just have one talk and think you know her. If that was true there wouldn't be no need to get to know more...Same thing with a good book. You got to read that suckah again and again and still you findin' out sumpin' new every time."

"It struck me that though the hippies wanted to turn the world on its head, they kept pretty close to the expected roles of men and women." (in their commune's division of labor)

Good ol' Easy! Sure is easy on the eyes. Never a bad read, at least that I can recall.

68. The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C. W. Grafton A hard-boiled, but slightly whacky who-dunnit-how written in the 1940's, by the father of Sue Grafton. C. W. Grafton was a lawyer, as is his reluctant sleuth, Gil Henry, who falls into a nasty mess of deception and violence when an innocent young woman comes seeking his help. As good as a lot of the better known stuff from Erle Stanley Gardner or Ellery Queen, I think. This novel is part of the Library of Congress Crime Classics series, which is a project to reprint earlier near-forgotten examples of American crime fiction. It comes with footnotes to explain contemporary references that might not click with modern readers, as well as the "outmoded language and stereotypes" we might find offensive. I didn't need all that, but I understand the editorial intent when bringing some of this era's works back into print.

>208 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks, Linda.

Have a wonderful weekend!

>207 richardderus: Nope...always great entertainment, with some deeper thinking mixed in...sometimes I think Moseley leans a bit heavily onto his points at the expense of the entertainment, but they're his characters, his stories and his points, so he can if he wants to.

>209 alcottacre: Glad to contribute, Stasia!

69. National Velvet by Enid Bagnold How did I get so far along life's path without having read this? I do not know. I have owned a copy of it for nearly ever. I do know I'm glad to have fallen in with Velvet and her remarkable family, including The Piebald and Mi(chael) Taylor, at long last. I didn't even know much of the story, other than it involved a girl and a horse and (I assumed) a race. So I find it actually involves a sickly, unattractive 14-year-old girl with an early version of braces (which she can remove when they get terribly uncomfortable); a recalcitrant, probably ill-bred horse; a once-famous mother who in her youth swam the English Channel against all odds; and that iconic steeplechase, the Grand National. If, like me, you had a picture of Velvet as the young and stunning Elizabeth Taylor astride a thoroughbred in your mind, you're forgiven for making that face you're making now. I've never seen the movie either (was Mickey Rooney her "trainer"?---that's quite wrong too) and I can't decide whether I want to. In any case, the story on the page is a dandy, there's next-to-no sentimentality to it, Velvet's mother is perfection, and her little brother is a hoot. I read one of Enid Bagnold's adult novels many years ago, and enjoyed it, although I found it just a bit overwrought in spots. Still, the characters in that one were very crisp around the edges, and the same is true here. No one blends into the background. The dialog is so realistic I had a little trouble with it at first (not being a denizen of rural England in the mid-1930's) but I soon caught on. Highly recommended.

I *think* I've read the book, but it was after seeing the movie. I was never one of those horse-crazy girls so this passed me by (although I did read Black Beauty and Misty). So I was an adult when I watched the movie. Yes, Mickey Rooney is Mi, but he's had worse roles.

>69 jessibud2: I know I have not read that one, having never cared for horses my entire life. I will have to get around to it!

>212 lauralkeet:, >213 alcottacre: Well, I'm surprised. It "feels" like one of those books everyone has read but me. (haven't read BB or Misty either) I wasn't around horses as a kid, but my brother worked at a riding stable during his college vacations, and that's where he met his wife. So there have always been horses in their life, and my niece and nephew grew up loving them. The grand-nieces have been on horseback since before they could walk. My niece was a barrel racer in her teens, so I can see her loving this story. I will have to ask her some day if she's ever read it. My copy may have to be handed along if she doesn't have one of her own.

BTW, I don't dislike Mickey Rooney at all. He just doesn't fit the character of Mi as portrayed in the book, at least not in my mind. I've just searched out some stills from the movie, and I see Elizabeth Taylor appears to be wearing a retainer-like appliance on her perfect teeth!

>214 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, it does seem like a children's classic that every child should have read, doesn't it? Somehow or other, it missed me - and evidently you and Laura too. I did not realize that the book came out so long ago.

>215 alcottacre: It was originally published in 1935, and the jacket of my copy says it had not been available for some time before this edition came out (maybe during WWII, because of paper shortages?).

>215 alcottacre: Yeah, I found out it was published in 1935 and was like "What? It's older than my parents?!" lol

>214 laytonwoman3rd: Me too; I haven't read it either.

>218 PaulCranswick: Oh my gosh...I guess we should start a club! I devoured the Dick Francis novels back in the 70s and 80s...and they were almost entirely set in the steeplechase world. You'd think that would have prompted me to get to Velvet long before this.

My mother loved horses, so I got her old-timey horse books and read 'em. I liked Misty of Chincoteague the best. They're really good stories and they're not quite as thump-you-with-lessons as most young people's books were then.

Anyway, have a superbly successful Saurday's reads!

I didn't read National Velvet until, oh, maybe 10 years ago? I liked it, I think (I can't remember it in much detail), but the Black Stallion books will always hold first place in my heart because *those* are the ones I read and fell in love with as a kid.

Hi Linda - I've never read National Velvet. It sounds like I should pick it up. Maybe my granddaughter would like it.

You can add me to the never read National Velvet crowd. I’m not sure why. I think I’ve seen the movie, but even that seems foggy. Boy am I getting old.

70. Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar If ever a book was written to appeal to earnest book club mavens, this is it. From its tabloid-style subtitle to the author's fanciful imaginings of Ona Judge's feelings (which often have a distinctly 21st century sensibility somehow) this is a sorry excuse for a historical narrative. (And it somehow became a National Book Award finalist, fer sobbin' out loud!) There's non-fiction, and then there's historical fiction. This is a a mish-mash of those things, and the author makes no excuse for what have to be fabrications of detail. I've rated it 2 stars for some interesting and presumably factual information about George and Martha Washington and circumstances of his presidency that I somehow never encountered before, but I may be talking myself out of one of those stars as I write this.

Ona Judge was one of the enslaved women included in the Custis Estate---Martha Washington's property during her lifetime, as a result of her first husband's death. Martha could sell Ona or give her away to a family member, but she could not (even had she wished to) emancipate her. Ona traveled with the Washingtons as part of Martha's household staff when they left Mount Vernon for New York, and later for Philadelphia as the new nation's capitol transitioned from one city to the other. When Martha's granddaughter, Eliza, was about to married, Martha made plans to gift Ona to her. In Philadelphia at the time, any enslaved person who had resided there for a period of six months was entitled to request their freedom. The Washingtons made sure to pack up the household, including all the servants, to return to Mount Vernon periodically, thereby "resetting the clock" on their servants' residence. Just before Eliza's marriage and one of those trips back to Virginia, Ona Judge took the opportunity to walk away from the Executive Mansion on High Street in Philadelphia, into the sheltering care of the local free black community, which managed to spirit her out of Pennsylvania to New Hampshire where she lived for the rest of her life, always technically a fugitive slave. The "relentless pursuit" referred to in the subtitle consisted of 1) the usual runaway slave advertisement published in 2 Philadelphia newspapers, describing Ona Judge and offering a $10 reward for any person who would "bring her home"; 2) an attempt, nearly 4 months after Judge's escape, by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, to persuade her to return to Mount Vernon with him. (The President had learned of Judge's whereabouts through Senator Langdon of New Hampshire, whose daughter knew Ona by sight and happened to see her on the street in front of the Langdon residence in Portsmouth) and 3) another attempt at persuasion at George Washington's request in 1799, three years after Ona's escape. In each case when a representative of the Washingtons approached Ona Judge with a proposal that she return to their household with a promise of eventual freedom, she emphatically refused to go with the emissary, insisting that she preferred her freedom now, thank you. No attempt to restrain, retain or remove her by force from her home was made by either of the individuals involved, even though they had Federal law on their side---the Fugitive Slave Act which has been signed into effect by none other than President George Washington himself. The word "relentless" apparently means something entirely different to Erica Armstrong Dunbar or her publisher than it means to me.

This is a fascinating story, without doubt. The background against which it played out is made clear in Never Caught, but the documentary evidence to establish the detail is fairly limited, and simply cannot support the type of narrative non-fiction Dunbar attempted here. There are extensive notes at the end of the text, but unfortunately they never answer the screaming question raised in my mind over and over as I was reading, namely "How do we KNOW this?" I have to conclude that we DON'T know most of what the author presents to us as fact about Ona Judge's actions, feelings, expectations, and thought processes. I can appreciate an unreliable narrator in a work of fiction; in a text offered as History, I call Major Shenanigans. Not recommended (oh, is that redundant?)

Hi Linda, I've been awol from LT for awhile, simply a case of just feeling weary. I blame pandemic-burn out and worrying about family down in the Fraser Valley area, specifically around Abbotsford (should you happen to be following the BC news).

Anyway, I enjoyed reading your review and the subsequent chatter about National Velvet. That's a book from my childhood, when I so wanted to do a lot of riding (my mother was a very accomplished horse rider, but not in the strict English gentlewoman sense). She and her friends grew up on the then-wide open prairies and spent the summers roaring around on horseback.

I read Black Beauty (didn't like as much), and My friend Flicka (amongst other titles long since forgotten now). NV was my fave and I gave it to my elder daughter to read who didn't finish it IIRC. Too far out of a town-girl's experience even though we lived fairly rural for that part of her life at the time. I culled all those older books a few years ago since I wasn't going to re-read them and they were too dated for the younger members of the family.

Re the NV movie ~ I was an adult when I saw it (on B&W TV). I think I liked the story better in the book. Likely as a 20-something, I was more aware of the implausible aspects of the plot. I think it's great that you told us about your reading it.

Thanks for dropping in, Sandy. I love it when one of my posts generates those walks down memory lane. I am going to put the National Velvet movie on my to-watch list. I know it is going to be very different from the book, but I think with Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney I can pretend it's an entirely different story, and enjoy it for what it is.

I never read the book but I enjoyed the National Velvet film (several times) when I was a child. For other horsey books, the Misty books were my favorites - I even bought my daughter a set of the four paperbacks when she was much younger. When I was about ten my godmother gave me a beautiful large hardback of Stormy, Misty's foal which I treasure to this day. Coincidently I stumbled upon the box set of 4 Misty books shelved with some DVD's about a week ago and I entered them in my LT catalog just a few days ago. I "liked" Black Beauty also as a child but found it super sad. Fury was another horse book from younger days that I liked but that may have been because of the Saturday morning TV show.

>224 laytonwoman3rd: Skipping that one! Sorry to hear that it was such a bad read for you, Linda, and hope your next one is better.

>227 RBeffa: I'm going to have to investigate the "Misty" books, I think. I'm heading for the library a little later, and I think I'll see if they are on the shelf.
>228 alcottacre: I had to finish it just so I could be sure I wasn't wrong about how awful it was!

>224 laytonwoman3rd: what >228 alcottacre: said! Sounds like a real stinker. I'm sorry for the story wasted on such a crummy execution and the reading hours you won't get back.

I read Chouette until 4am. So very weird...not what I expected. It was, however, a 4-star read in the end.

>229 laytonwoman3rd: Marguerite Henry wrote more than the Misty books. My wife never read them but one of her favorite children's books is Brighty of the Grand Canyon which she still has, residing in a bookcase in our hallway. I've never read that one.

>230 richardderus: I really wish someone talented had written Ona Judge's story as a historical novel. Dynamite material.
I read your review of Chouette and I think I will pass, but it does sound like there's something there to chew on.

>231 RBeffa: The only version of Brighty in our library system is an audio book. I do have Misty on hold to pick up next week. I know of Marguerite Henry because one of my niece's favorite books as a kid was Justin Morgan had a Horse.

>232 laytonwoman3rd: I started Misty. It is familiar enough that I must have re-read it sometime after 1963-4. I never read all four of the books - just the first and third ones. I am pretty sure I never knew there was a Misty movie - I'll watch this youtube of it when I finish the book. I can't imagine a David Ladd movie being bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkNsF7U6OX4

>233 RBeffa: I have Misty in hand now. Have you had a chance to look at the movie yet?

>234 laytonwoman3rd: I didn't get very far in the movie. The action in the book happens later so the start of the film is rather slow (and it is aimed at about ten year olds I'd guesstimate.) Kind of nice to see Arthur O'Connell. He plays the grandpa. In the book the grandpa has a thick island vocabulary and accent and that thankfully is dropped from the film. The book and film are from simpler times but as far as i watched the film was rather true to the book.

71. The King of the Birds by Helen Ward, A Farmer's Alphabet by Mary Azarian, Lucy's Summer by Donald Hall (Il. by Michael McCurdy), A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas, Heartland by Diane Sebert and Wendell Minor, Pete the Cat's 12 Groovy Days of Christmas by Kimberly & James Dean

With the exception of Pete the Cat, all of the above titles came from my annual binge through the David R. Godine Publishing Co.'s catalog. Short children's books all, heavy on the pictures, so I am counting them collectively as one read, but will comment briefly on each one below.

:: Heartland was a freebie--Godine almost always throws in a bit of lagniappe with my order. It consists of a poem by Diane Sebert which I found "meh", illustrated by bright realistic paintings by Wendell Minor, whose work screams "middle America" to me, in a fairly unimaginative way. This one won't make its way into my permanent collection.

:: A Child's Christmas in Wales is an all-time favorite of mine. The language is perfect and poetic and an essential part of every holiday season for our household. Usually we watch the charming film adaptation featuring Denholm Elliot as the reminiscing grandad. This print edition features drawings and watercolors by Edward Ardizzone, like this one of the famous snowball fight with cats:



:: If you are familiar with Pete the Cat, his 12 Groovy Days of Christmas will be about what you'd expect. A rockin' road trip to the sea in a blazing yellow van, with surfboards, onion rings and sloths filling in for partridges, leapin' lords, milkmaids and such. Lots of fun for the under-8 crowd, I hope. It's destined to be Christmas present for grandnieces.

:: Donald Hall grew up hearing tales of his mother Lucy's childhood on a farm in New Hampshire, where HER mother had a small millinery shop in the front parlor. Lucy's Summer
is Hall's story of the year when Lucy learned to help with the gardening and the canning, and the hat-making. This is a beautiful book, and one well worth sharing with a special child in your life. It will remain on my shelves, though, 'cause I'm greedy that way.

:: A Farmer's Alphabet by Mary Azarian belongs on the "classic" shelf for readers of any age. A primer for little 'uns just learning their letters, with superbly detailed, stunning woodcuts illustrating each one from Apple to Zinnia that will provide lots of enjoyment to the grown-ups lucky enough to share the experience. Off it goes to Veronica, aged 2 and a half.

:: The King of the Birds is an illustrated re-telling of a folk tale explaining how the bird kingdom chose its King. Was it the fastest, the biggest, the best nest-builder, the sweetest songster...? Every feathered creature had an idea, and somehow they all valued what their own species was best at. The pictures are glorious---realistic yet magical. AND there is a numbered key in the back identifying each bird featured throughout the book. For older readers (at least 8 and up, I'd say), but all bird lovers, and future bird watchers, need this one for the illustrations alone.

72. The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths Another installment of Ruth Galloway's adventures in old bones, young children and mixed emotions. This time, just as she is feeling the need for a holiday while processing the fact that her erstwhile lover's wife has turned up pregnant, an old colleague (and one-night stand) calls on her to come to Italy and "help him with some bones". So off she goes, with her best friend and both of their little children (ages 6 and 4), on a business-and-pleasure trip to sunny Italia. Which turns out to be much hotter than she remembers, yet filled with ominous shadows. Historic ancient rivalries, remnants of WWII partisanship, and a murdered priest make for few care-free days. Meanwhile, back home, Nelson has his own worries and the other women in his life (wife Michelle and daughter Laura) face some troubling issues as well. Even his dog, Bruno, isn't spared a few bad moments. Lots of entertainment value in this series.

Hi, Laura. Excellent review of Harlem Shuffle up there. Did Walter Mosley’s books cross your mind while reading it? They did mine. Not just Easy’s LA, but Socrates Fortlow and Leonid McGill, too.

I agree Rose Gold got a little preachy and he got away from just painting the picture and letting us bring our own meaning to it.

You’ve actually got me thinking about reading National Velvet. It sounds more interesting than the movie.

P.S. The relationship hints at the end of The Dark Angel! I can’t wait for the next one. Oops, nope. I meant the relationship hints at the end of The Night Hawks.

>238 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Yes, indeed, Mosley's influence is definitely apparent in Harlem Shuffle. Happily, though, Whitehead has tempered his "lessons" with that essential touch of humor that makes it all so much more palatable. I feel sorry when an author seems to turn bitter; I wonder if he feels like people haven't been listening to his message all these years. He'd be justified in that, of course.

"The relationship hints at the end of The Dark Angel!" Right? I didn't want to say too much, but yowza!

>238 jnwelch:. I saw Walter Mosley at an author appearance a few years ago, and he seemed happy that so many people were interested in his books. I think Rose Gold was an aberration in not leaving it up to the reader. His short stories, The Awkward Black Man, just came out in paperback. I think it’s a terrific collection.

...now I want onion rings

>240 jnwelch: Hmmm...I'll have to try The Awkward Black Man. I didn't know Mosely did short fiction.

>241 lycomayflower: Cannot help you.

>236 laytonwoman3rd: Sounds like I need to track down a copy of Lucy's Summer since you are not sharing.

>237 laytonwoman3rd: I really need to start that series at some point.

>242 laytonwoman3rd: I, like >241 lycomayflower:, want onion rings.

Please provide same.

>242 laytonwoman3rd: See what you've done?

>244 richardderus: Well, I can't be responsible for the cravings of others. I barely manage my own.

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

In difficult times
a friend is there to light the way
to lighten the load,
to show the path,
to smooth the road

At the darkest hour
a friend, with a word of truth
points to light
and the encroaching dawn
is in the plainest sight.

Linda, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

>247 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I am very thankful for LT and all the friends like you who make it such a wonderful place in good times and bad.

I wish you (and yours) happiness and health on this day of Thanksgiving. And cookies. : )

Hi Linda my dear, Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving Day my dear.

Happy Thanksgiving, Linda.

Ardizzone is just about my favourite children's illustrator!



Happy Thanksgiving! Posey's dream scenario!

>249 Berly: The cookies look wonderful--unfortunately I have reached my capacity. Maybe tomorrow!

>250 johnsimpson: Thank you so much, John.

>251 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley.

>252 sibylline: Aw, Posey. Did you at least get a taste?

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Linda!

Posey did get plenty -- her 'job' is to lick that pan the bird cooked in at the very end . . . and of course, little bits of this and that.

>254 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia. The food was pretty fine, if the cook does say so! And the leftovers were nice today, too.

>255 sibylline: Oh, good. A kitchen Corgi makes the clean-up so much more fun!

73. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry Maybe I should have saved this one for next month's AAC, when the theme is YA, but there was a lot of talk 'round here about it, and it's another of those classics of youth that somehow passed me by in mine. I just loved this story of two children, their love for the wild ponies of the mid-Atlantic barrier islands, and their determination to own one. It was written well (maybe a bit heavy-handed on the dialect as spoken by the grandparents, but not enough to put me off), with just enough tension, and a pretty perfect ending. A very "grown-up" tale for young readers. As I discovered, it is based on a true story, which was recently reported and updated in this Smithsonian article from about three years ago.

>257 laytonwoman3rd: Oh! That is one of my favorites!! Thanks for the link--i"ll check it out...

>257 laytonwoman3rd: I remember nothing about the book except for the very positive feelings I've carried all these years. When I was in my 40s we visited Assateague (not Chincoteague, but still known for its ponies). We went there for the beach, was was secluded and blissfully not crowded, but I absolutely loved driving through the National Park surrounded by wild ponies, and seeing an occasional pony on the sand. Thanks for the link to the article, I'm going to check it out.

>258 Berly:, >259 lauralkeet: A lot of our 75ers seem to have fond memories of this story. I don't know how it escaped my notice, except that neither I nor my daughter were ever horse-mad in our childhoods.

Assateague is where the ponies live wild. Chincoteague is where they swim to (due to human instigation), get rounded up, and the young ones sold to be tamed.

>260 laytonwoman3rd: There's your explanation. Mama was a horse person, and I was grade-school besties with a horsey girl, so I read it. I don't recall either of my sisters ever mentioning it, and their reading was a decade before mine, so maybe it skipped them? Anyway. Loved Misty.

>261 richardderus: I'm very glad to have "discovered" Misty now.

74. Wintering by Katherine May A short and very personal memoir of the author's journey to embrace the cold, the relative isolation, and the introspection of winter in an effort to learn how to deal with the internal winter that affects everyone from time to time. I enjoyed the read, but it didn't truly "speak" to me. I suspect others will find more resonance, and I do recommend it for some very lovely writing.

75. Conversations with Albert Murray for the AAC.

I love the Ole Miss Conversations series. I find them useful for authors new to me, and absolutely essential for those who are or are becoming my favorites. Murray is a deep well, and his lifetime of reading, thinking, writing, immersion in the jazz world, and communing with an array of brilliant friends make for some seriously wonderful discussions. I've read very little of his actual output yet, and it will take concentration and a clear head, but I'm going to enjoy the journey.

The December thread for the AAC is up. We're doing Young Adult books this month. Come along, if you like.

>263 laytonwoman3rd: I maybe enjoyed a little more than you, when I read last year Linda.

>264 laytonwoman3rd: I love these books too Linda. I've dipped into most I own at some stage, but am yet to read a whole volume, actually, maybe I read Raymond Carver's from cover to cover years back. I have maybe half a dozen more including Baldwin, Toni Morrison, William Styron and Joyce Carol Oates.

>264 laytonwoman3rd: Congratulations on reaching 75, Linda!

Congrats!

>257 laytonwoman3rd: I'm glad you enjoyed Misty as much as many of us who were charmed by the book years ago (and more recently). Thank you for the Smithsonian article. I liked how it closed with the cover of my Stormy book.

Adding congrats on reaching 75 Linda.

>266 Caroline_McElwee: I just checked my catalog, and find I have a dozen of the Conversations series, including TWO (not duplicates) with Eudora Welty. Apparently, she warranted a second volume---I wonder if anyone else has?
>267 FAMeulstee:, >268 drneutron:, >270 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you. I'm very late in getting there this year. For a while, I thought it might not happen.

>269 RBeffa: It's satisfying when our favorites stand the test of time, not only for us, but for new readers, eh?

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

>272 johnsimpson: Thank you, John!

Despite not having even requested, let alone received and reviewed, an ER selection in the last year and a half, I was just notified that I will be getting this one from the November batch. I'm kinda excited, and hope it will be a good one!

>274 laytonwoman3rd: ooh that's exciting. I haven't requested an ER book in forever, either. I can't wait to see what you think of it.

>274 laytonwoman3rd: It's funny you say that, I received word today that I am receiving an ER book, and I didn't think I had requested it...

>275 lauralkeet: Me too!

>276 labfs39: I did request this one...that might have been unclear from my post in >274 laytonwoman3rd:. It's just the first time I have requested anything in all that time, so I was quite surprised the algorithm hadn't forgotten all about me!

76. Conjure Women by Afia Atakora This is one of those rare books that I "discovered" browsing in a bookstore, having never heard of it or of its author. Hanging around LT, it's hard to miss worthwhile debut novels, but this one doesn't seem to have crossed the radar of any of the warblers I listen to yet.

The setting is a plantation somewhere in the American South. Most of the action takes place during the Reconstruction Era, when a community of once-enslaved people continue to live in the cabins that used to be "the quarters", in close proximity to the burned-out ruin of the former home of Marse Charles. With glimpses back to pre-war times, and to the latter days of the war itself, we learn through the eyes of the "conjure women" May Belle and her daughter Rue, what life was like for slaves with some small measure of privilege based on their healing skills. May Belle's knowledge of plants and their concoction into medicines often seemed like magic to master and slaves alike. Her power was both sought after and feared. Her judicious use of actual "spells" was usually her own secret, not available upon demand. Rue was reluctant to follow in her mother's footsteps, knowing that a birth gone wrong could be seen as the result of hoo-doo; an infection that would not yield, blamed on the healer's ill will toward the sufferer. The true magic to be found in this novel comes from the way the past and present are intermingled, the way bits of secrets are revealed in precisely the proper way, and the way the reader is drawn into the characters' lives. There is no galloping story line, but there are plenty of developments along the way, some of which could be expected, others of which are surprising. The ending is satisfying without being too pat. It is clear that a lot of research went into this book, yet it never comes across as "educational", and even more miraculously, to me, it doesn't feel like an MFA product. Highly recommended.

Congrats on reaching and passing 75, Linda.

>278 laytonwoman3rd: I actually have this one on my shelf. Good to know it was a good decision to pick it up.

>279 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I noticed that you were one of the relatively few LTers with Conjure Women in their catalog. I hope you enjoy it when its turn comes around.

77. Foxes in Love by Toivo Kaarinen Not to be confused with Fox in Love, the equally wonderful Edward Marshall book for young'uns, this comic collection is more adult, with witty observations about the tricky business of living with someone you love. Sometimes pithy, sometimes sweet, often just ridiculous. It made me feel good. If you like Liz Climo, this will appeal.

>264 laytonwoman3rd: Congratulations on wending your way to 75!


I'm finally back on wifi after whatever knocked it out. Forums are just not doable on my phone with the current app.

>282 richardderus: Happy to hear it! Agree that the phone app is less than satisfactory.

Hi Linda, Thought I'd better delurk.
You've been a peach to post on my thread. I did indeed appreciate being directed to The Kitchen. It's a very quiet thread but useful to link long recipes. Thanks!

>284 SandyAMcPherson: Delurking is always welcome, Sandy! Thanks for dropping by. That kitchen thread has bursts of activity, and then sits quietly for a long time. Kinda like my own kitchen, actually.

78. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. For the AAC

Aristotle Mendoza doesn't understand himself very well. He's confused, he's bored or angry a lot, he's a teen-aged boy. He sees his life as mostly "someone else's idea", but doesn't have an alternative he wants to fight for. He gets along OK with his parents, even though his Dad has some PTSD issues, and neither of them will talk about Ari's older brother Bernardo, who has been in prison since Ari was very young. He gets along OK with his schoolmates too, in general, but he doesn't have friends he hangs out with. Then he meets Dante, a boy from another school, who seems to have it together in a way that Ari does not. They "click", and suddenly friendship is a thing that matters a lot, even if it isn't any more comprehensible that most other things in Ari's life.
This is a coming of age story with fewer stereotypes than some, with more understanding parents than most, and with an outcome that is just what you want. Some of the "secrets of the universe" do get worked out, and some of the secrets Ari's parents have tried to protect him from eventually come out too. Ari is no Holden Caulfield...we care so much more about him and his bewilderment, we root for him to learn who is he and to be happy about it.

>286 laytonwoman3rd: That one (Aristotle and Dante) sounds interesting.
Who is/was Holden Caulfield?

>263 laytonwoman3rd: Already in the BlackHole or I would add it again.

>264 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. I am currently reading Absolutely on Music by Haruki Murakami about his conversations with Seiji Ozawa. This sounds like it might be along the same lines.

>278 laytonwoman3rd: My local library has a copy of that one, so I have a chance of reading it at some point.

Congratulations on surpassing 75!

>287 SandyAMcPherson: Holden Caulfield is the narrator/protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, a book that just does not work for me.

>288 alcottacre: Thanks for reminding me about the Murakami/Ozawa book, Stasia. That's here somewhere, and I haven't read it yet. I strongly encourage you to get your hands on Conjure Women... I think you'll enjoy it.

Howdy do, Linda3rd. Wandering through aimlessly.

>289 laytonwoman3rd: I am loving the Murakami/Ozawa book - and I love looking up and listening to the music that they refer to on YouTube. What a great resource! I hope you enjoy the book when you get a chance to read it.

I will see if I can fit Conjure Women into January's reading. Definitely not getting to it this month, unfortunately.

Happy Thursday!

>290 richardderus: Hey, there RD. Glad you're reconnected to the community.
>291 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. I'll be curious to see how much of the music is familiar to me already. We listen to a lot of classical stuff here---my husband had an unofficial minor in music in college (no such thing was officially on offer, but he took ALL the so-called music literature courses he could fit in).

The selections for the 2022 American Authors Challenge have been made, and posted here. Monthly threads will be constructed as usual, once the new 75ers group has been created.

Ye gawds and little fishes!! It's almost time for the 2022 group?! *sob*

>292 laytonwoman3rd: I love classical music but know virtually nothing about it so consequently a lot of the music in the book is new to me or I have heard it and just did not know the title. I am loving the insights into what a conductor really does other than conduct.

>293 laytonwoman3rd: I am doing the Asian Authors challenge next year, but I am going to try and fit in some of the American authors too - assuming that I remember to do so :)

Have a wonderful weekend, Linda!

>289 laytonwoman3rd: The Catcher in the Rye is a book that just does not work for me, either.
We had to read it in Grade 10 (English Lit). It was a terribly poor book and I have *never* understood its popularity.

>294 richardderus: Yes, yes, another year approacheth.

>295 alcottacre: You're really making me want to get to that book soon, Stasia.

>296 SandyAMcPherson: We should start a club. 10th grade is probably about when I first encountered Catcher too...I think it was meant to be "relevant" for us or something.

>297 laytonwoman3rd: Good! I hope you do. I would love to see what you think of the conversations between Murakami and Ozawa.

We have Catcher in the Rye on the shelf since my wife had it. I missed out on it. Tenth grade as I can barely recall was very heavy on Steinbeck - when I became a fan and read everything I could get my hands on - and also Nathaniel Hawthorne who I could not get a hand on (to the bafflement of my teacher). At this stage of life I wish I had a record of what I read when in High School. I remember certain books vividly but most of it, no.

>289 laytonwoman3rd: >291 alcottacre: I have that Murakami somewhere too.

I read the Murakami/Ozawa book at the beginning of 2019. I thought Murakami was a bit disingenuous with what he says is a layman's knowledge of music when he clearly knows more than the average bear. The book is now not fresh in my mind, but this was my review:

There were a few times in this non fiction book that I felt like I was reading a Murakami novel - this is because Murakami sounds a LOT like many of his characters in conversation. I think I expected a lot more from this book than what I got ... although I did get some interesting stuff. The book improves from the beginning which felt awkward, where I got a strange vibe, almost like Murakami was either fawning, or trying to impress Ozawa. Or maybe its just me. Murakami repeatedly tells the reader in the introduction how much he and Ozawa are alike. My internal voice says to me: How about show don't tell. I was somewhat unconvinced. What is true is that they both love music. I like and listen to a lot of classical music but many of the fine points under discussion were lost on me especially since I could not listen to the exact parts of specific performances they were discussing in detail - visits to my music collection and youtube helped with some of that, but they were discussing fine points in particular performances that most of us have no knowledge of and no way to compare. At those points I found it best to just read along and realize you are overhearing a detailed conversation by two friends that is out of your realm. Youtube will be your friend if you want to hear and see performances by Ozawa with his Saito Kinen Orchestra project and Mitsuko Uchida for example (pg 20), and other pieces discussed in the book. For those unfamiliar with Ozawa's style I think it would help the reader to get a sense of him early on in the book.

If you use Spotify, Murakami's website has some very specific links to some of the pieces of music discussed in the book. Otherwise youtube is probably your best friend

Read and listen and take away from this what you can. I got a sense that I never had before of how a conductor perceives music. The music under discussion in the book is primarily German music ... Beethoven, Brahms, and especially Mahler, and I much prefer French, Scandinavian (Grieg, Sibelius) and other classical music. That point alone made this a little less interesting to me, although they do have a discussion on the fourth movement of Symphonie fantastique by French romantic composer Berlioz. I perked up a bit for that. However, most of the music discussions become rather tedious and a little repetitive. As I said, I thought I would enjoy this much more than I did.

>301 RBeffa: I think a lot of my enjoyment of the book springs from 1) I am enjoying learning about being a conductor and what it entails and 2) my almost complete ignorance of classical music. I know what I like - and really, what i like I love - but no virtually nothing apart from the German composers.

I didn't read Catcher in the Rye until just a few years ago and I kind of loved it, but I'm positive that I would have hated it if I had been forced to read it in high school.

>302 alcottacre: There is a lot to learn from the book, Stasia, I agree. Ozawa was a flamboyant personality and conductor here in San Francisco when I was in high school and college. It left a lifelong impression on me. I have always wished he had stayed here longer. I only went to the SF Symphony once back then.

79. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith I revisited this classic for YA month in the AAC. It's an old friend; this is at least the third time I've read it, the first being when I was 14 or so. My mother loved it, and I think she saw herself in Francie, although her upbringing was on a farm in a large family with a long history in America--and not Irish. Mom also lost her father when she was 11, was strong willed and determined to make her own way in the world, which she certainly did. Upon this reading, I was very conscious of that connection to my mother, and the book felt more like a memoir than a novel to me. Pretty much anything else I can say about it would be superfluous, as it is so well known and extensively reviewed. My edition has a foreword by Anna Quindlen, which is well worth reading.

>304 RBeffa: I can see how Ozawa would make an impression on anyone, Ron!

>305 laytonwoman3rd: I had never read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn until a few years ago. It is one of those classic books that I felt like I "should" have read when I was much younger.

Happy weekend, Linda!

>305 laytonwoman3rd: - Oh, I also loved this book, Linda! I read it as a teenager because my aunt told me she had loved it and we always had similar readings tastes. The book still sits on my shelf, as part of my permanent collection *keepers*. I rarely reread books but this is one I really should go back to. Glad it brought back memories of your mom and had those connections for you.

>305 laytonwoman3rd: - ATGiB is also a favorite of mine. I read it several times as a kid, and then again a few years ago. It held up pretty well to my memory. As an adult reading it, I was able to see a lot of parallels between Francie and my mother, who grew up in New York City in an Irish Catholic family.

>305 laytonwoman3rd:, >308 katiekrug: - On the strength of loving A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I also read Smith's Joy in the Morning and remember loving that one, too. Have you read it?

>309 jessibud2: - Yup, I read that in my younger years, too, along with Tomorrow Will Be Better.

>310 katiekrug: - I don't think I knew about that one! Now, to dig up a copy somewhere, maybe Thriftbooks! Thanks, Katie

>309 jessibud2: I remember reading Joy in the Morning in a Reader's Digest condensed version, again from my mother's shelves long long ago. About all I remember about it is a young wife crying, and her husband not quite knowing what to do about it. I have a copy of Tomorrow Will Be Better, but have never read that one.

80. Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart The second entry in the "Kopp Sisters" series. Very little sisters stuff in this one, except on the home front; it's almost exclusively Constance's show until the very end when she pulls Norma into the action a bit. Acting as a deputy sheriff in the Hackensack Sheriff's department, Constance fails at guarding a prisoner while he's in hospital after (she suspects) faking illness. The story is all about her trying to redeem herself by finding and apprehending the fugitive. I found it a bit thin, but it kept me reading. I don't think this series will ever be one of my favorites, but it's a place to turn for mild and unchallenging entertainment from time to time.

You remind me that I have one of the Kopp Sisters books on my shelves that I should get to. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend Linda.

Happy week-ahead's reads, Linda3rd.

>313 laytonwoman3rd: I have that in my TBR pile somewhere. It hasn't called to me yet...

>313 laytonwoman3rd: I hope to get to that one some time in the new year.

Merry Christmas, Linda!

https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/d5/a2/d5a2ada47f63cf66369376c7a674368422f7345_v5.jpg 3x">

Or in other words: Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas, Linda! Have a wonderful holiday with the family.

>315 richardderus: Always a welcome wish, RD. Thank you.

>314 Familyhistorian: Have you read any of them, Meg? I really like the concept, but I hope the pace picks up a bit in the next one.
>316 Berly: If you enjoyed the first book in the series, this one will be fun, Kim.

>317 alcottacre:, >318 johnsimpson:, >319 SandDune:, >320 msf59: Thank you all. May your holiday be bright and merry as well.

81 Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas by Russell Hoban, Illustrated by Lillian Hoban Emmet has been a Christmas favorite for a long time, since Jim Henson's TV version of this story first showed up on PBS. We still have a wonky old recording of it somewhere, and a few years back I got to see it on the big screen as part of a special showing at our local theater. I didn't know it was based on a book until recently, so naturally I had to have it.
Emmet and his mother are dirt poor, and so is most everyone else they know. They survive by her taking in washing, and his odd jobs, but those opportunities are petering out just as each of them decide they really want to give the other a special gift for Christmas. A local talent show with a $50.00 prize seems to offer the solution. Ma hocks Emmet's tool box to buy material for a new dress so she can sing in it. Emmet drills a hole in her washtub so he can strum bass in a jug-band with his friends. Neither knows what the other is up to. Somebody better win that prize. The illustrations are marvelous, and the story'll getcha right there.

Hello Linda.

I send all good wishes for a wonderful holiday season.

This image is from Gennady Spirin. He is an incredible illustrator, and one of my all time favorite!

>322 laytonwoman3rd: I didn't know there was a book, either! Welp.

>323 Whisper1: That is absolutely lovely, Linda. Thank you, and may your holiday be blessed with beauty and the prospect of a pain-free new year!

>324 scaifea: Ho, ho, ho!

Have a lovely holiday, Linda.

Happy Holidays Linda!

>326 PaulCranswick: That looks about right! Thanks, Paul.

>327 quondame: Oh, very pretty! There seem to be some book-like packages under the tree... Merry Christmas, Susan.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful day, Linda!

>328 laytonwoman3rd: And lovely books indeed turner up from the packages! Thank you. Yums for the chocolate!

>330 quondame: You're welcome! I just had a peanut butter smidgen from Gertie (what we call Gertrude Hawk around here) myself.

>329 alcottacre: Very pretty, Stasia! Thank you. Happy Boxing Day.

82. The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth Subtitled "A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language", this volume was given to me as part of a 3 book boxed set on my birthday. It is a total hoot. Not only will you learn some nifty obsolete-or at least obscure-words, and the origins of some phrases you may have heard and wondered about, but if you're inclined to read it in bed, you'll have the opportunity to make your partner sit up and ask you what the FLUFF you're reading that's making you snort and chortle and shake the mattress so as to jolt them out of of their beauty-sleep (which, as I'm sure you know, is sleep which is taken before midnight).

These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for you and here's to next year!!

Here's a link to my 2022 thread, where nothing much is happening yet. But I don't want those of you who start unstarring 2021 threads to lose me!

83. Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer So you think you want to be filthy rich? Find someone with yachts and estates and pots of money to marry you and let you spend, spend, spend as long as you stay ultra thin and gorgeous? You can't have any real friends...you can't EAT anything but you can drink like a fish...you can't trust anyone (you especially can't trust Truman Capote, who acts like a true friend while sponging off your largesse)...you certainly can't fall in love (that's for the maids), but hey, you'll be rich and famous. Everyone will want to be invited to your parties and write magazine articles about your "lifestyle"; everyone will want to steal your husband or wife or lover; everyone will secretly want to see you take a nasty fall from the social register. What a world to aspire to. For many years, Truman Capote, whose indisputable talents were justly lauded, claimed to be writing a novel that would be his chef d'oeuvre, comparable to Edith Wharton's revelations of the society she knew so well. The title was to be Answered Prayers, and the point, of course, was that getting and having everything you want does not lead to endless happiness. He spent as much time as possible with the glamorous women he called his swans, gathering dirt material from what he observed and what they confided in him. Pieces of the work in progress were published in Esquire, to such outrage from the models for its characters that poor Truman was abandoned by nearly all of his ladies. Was he as clueless about the effect of his betrayal as he seemed? In any case, the novel never came together, probably because Capote descended into drugs and alcohol so far he could not often get down to work. Laurence Leamer has taken the facts of the lives of all those mostly doomed women and laid it all out here, accomplishing in a non-salacious non-fiction work precisely what Capote claimed to be up to. Be careful what you wish for...there are more tears shed over answered prayers than unanswered prayers...money can't buy happiness...there's really no there there. I enjoyed this fast read, and I've never been much for society/Hollywood gossip. It is, however, intriguing to explore the lives of these people who, in my opinion at least, had no idea of how to live well.

>336 laytonwoman3rd: - My aunt read and enjoyed that one recently and suggested I give a copy to my uncle for Christmas. I'm glad it was a winner for you.

A bb to end this terrible year. I'm up for quick reads. Too, I have quite a few Capote works in The TBR Warehouse™.

>337 katiekrug:, >338 weird_O: It was a good way to wind down from Christmas.

>336 laytonwoman3rd: That looks good and my library has it. Onto the holds list it goes.

To answer your question way up above, I haven't yet read a Kopp sister book. I think I started the first one on an e-reader but I've never read anything through on that yet.

>333 laytonwoman3rd: Added to the BlackHole. It looks delightful!

Have a Happy New Year, Linda!

84. The Doctor's Wife by Sawako Ariyoshi Another quick read, this one is a historical novel with a limited scope. Set in the late 18th century in rural Japan, it features a fictionalized version of the life of an actual physician who developed the first general anesthetic long before Western medicine got there. The story is told from his wife's POV. From girlhood, Kae had admired the serenely beautiful Otsugi, wife of an esteemed country doctor, and mother of a promising young man studying medicine in Kyoto. When Otsugi approaches Kae's family requesting that they agree to marriage between Kae and her son, there is some reluctance, but eventually the match is arranged, and Kae goes to live in the Hanaoka household to await her new husband's return from his studies. Otsugi treats Kae as a beloved daughter, until Seishu comes home. Then, the mother-in-law begins throwing obstacles in the path of the young couple's relationship, setting up a competitive atmosphere that will last for decades. The elder Dr. Hanaoka soon dies, and Seishu takes over the role of respected local medical man. He also embarks on extensive research into the use of plant extracts to create pain-killing medicines and anesthetics, experimenting on animals, and eventually even on his mother and his wife, who vie with great determination to be his first human subject. Fascinating glimpse into Japanese family life of the time, as well as the state of medical practice before the human body was completely understood. (It was believed that a woman's breasts were vital organs, and that any attempt at surgery on them would prove fatal. When a local woman was gored by a bull and certain to bleed to death, Seishu proved this belief a fallacy by surgically repairing the damage, and saving the woman's life.) The ending of the novel dissolves into a factual presentation of the final events of the lives of Seishu, his mother and his wife, abandoning any attempt at story-telling. But this is a matter of a few pages, and while abrupt, it did not hurt my enjoyment overall.

85. The Meaning of Mice by Charles van Sandwyk It has become a holiday tradition for my husband to give me one or more of van Sandwyk's extraordinarily lovely works from the Folio Society for birthday and/or Christmas. This little gem actually came from his mother (with his expert advice and assistance), and it is a fitting cap to my reading year to indulge myself with moments of joy perusing the detailed tiny drawings in this fold-out offering showing the many facets of mouse-hood.

>343 laytonwoman3rd: Ooooooo. Lovely. Jealous I am.

Well. Happy New Year.

>343 laytonwoman3rd: SO lovely. I'm just in love with this guy.

And that will be it for 2021. Recapping my reading, I find that I managed one more book than I read in 2020, and I ended both years with a delightful illustrated three-dimensional gem from the Folio Society featuring the work of Charles van Sandwyk. Far below my top years, when I read around 100+ books, yet I’m satisfied with it. I know exactly why I’m reading less these days, and I’m OK with it, as the activities I have chosen to fill some of those hours are important to me as well.

Here’s the breakdown of what matters to me, number-wise:

DIVERSITY: 25% of my reading was what I’m calling “diverse” by my own peculiar calculation, in which I include authors different from me in color, nationality (something other than US or UK natives), gender identity or sexual orientation (hetero males don’t count). This is not a percentage that I find adequate, and I am always working on increasing it. It would be slightly higher if I counted books read, rather than just individual authors. But I THINK that would be cheating.

NON-FICTION: I read 15 non-fiction books in 2021. I’d like that to be higher as well. The rest, by default, was mostly fiction, although I’m never sure how to classify Poetry. Which I only completed 2 collections of this last year, so it doesn’t even warrant its own paragraph.

MALE/FEMALE AUTHORS 46/32 I know, that works out to fewer books than I have read, but again I read multiple works by certain authors. If I count books instead of individual authors, the ratio flips to 43/48 in favor of females.

LIBRARY BOOKS READ: 15 books, or almost 18% of my total, came from the public library. 25% would be better. I do like to own books, but I need to reduce the in-house total, as I keep mentioning. In 2021, I CULLED boxes of books, but stopped counting around mid-year, for some reason. Vowing to do better at keeping track in the coming year.

NEW ACQUISITIONS: Always a startling number. This year it was 89, slightly more than I read. ONLY slightly more. I read 32 books that had been on my shelves for a year or more. Not up to my goal of 50, or even 50% of my total, but I’m not sure I’ve EVER met that goal.

STAR RATINGS: 5 stars: 4 4 ½ stars: 6 4 stars: 25
31/2 stars: 12
I call that pretty good, as it means about half my reads were better than what I consider solidly good (3 stars).

So, nothing to quibble about. Room for improvement, though. ONWARD.

>346 laytonwoman3rd: Great summary of your reading Linda.

>342 laytonwoman3rd: Sounds interesting. Adding that one to the BlackHole.

>343 laytonwoman3rd: While the van Sandwyk books look gorgeous, I will likely never seee one close up. *sigh*

Happy New Year, Linda!

Happy New Year, Linda! I look forward to your reading adventure in the new year.

https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/5d/02/5d029540654e5a9636b45767a774368422f7345_v5.jpg 3x">

>342 laytonwoman3rd: That one sounds very interesting.

Congrats on a successful reading year.

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Linda.