Witchyrichy (aka Karen) Wings It in 2022 - Part 2

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Witchyrichy (aka Karen) Wings It in 2022 - Part 2

1witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 1, 2022, 11:54 am



Welcome to my new thread! This is me outside the Country Cabin in Norton, Virginia, one of the musical venues on the Crooked Road Music Trail. I don't normally post pictures of myself but I look happy and healthy and ready to be retired! I am still doing a little consulting, mostly instructional design and teaching, but my main, public job as an nonprofit executive director ended on June 30.

I live with my husband of almost 30 years, and the crew of pets that include Spot, the hound dog, Major, the beagle, and Circe, the cat. Last year, Bob bought an old house in our little town and set about rehabbing it.

Besides reading, I crochet and make cards and books. This year, I subscribed to a monthly card-making kit and have been having fun learning different techniques from stamping to water color.

I also love anything and everything about the outdoors including gardening and birds. I put in a big vegetable garden this year since I will mostly be home with free time this summer. The plan is gardening in the morning, swimming pool in the afternoon (with a book, of course), and then the front porch in the evening (with a book, of course). If the weather is just perfect (not too hot, not too windy), I will take a bike ride.

I am truly winging it this year: both in my reading and my life. Glad to have you along for the ride!

2witchyrichy
jul 1, 2022, 11:32 am

3witchyrichy
Bewerkt: dec 27, 2022, 4:13 pm

12/27/2022

What I Am Reading

Fatal Remedies by Donna Leon

What I am Listening To

The Christmas Bookshop by Jennifer Colgan

6witchyrichy
Bewerkt: okt 15, 2022, 2:43 pm

July - September 44

July 18

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
Rolling Thunder by Chris Grabenstein (audio)
Ring Toss by Chris Grabenstein (audio)
Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith
Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers
Fun House by Chris Grabenstein (audio)
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Squatter's Rights by Cheril Thomas
Free Fall by Chris Grabenstein (audio)
The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake
A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz
Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls (ARC via Net Galley)
The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Clark
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

August 16
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms (audio)
A Killer Collection by Ellery Adams (audio)
The Hand We Are Dealt by Robert Bordas: LibraryThing Early Reviewer
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
Scarlet Carnation by Laila Ibrahim
Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab by Steve Inskeep
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Ink and Shadows by Ellery Adams (audio)
Vanishing Type by Ellery Adams (audio)
Baker's Coven by Nancy Warren
A Rolling Scone by Nancy Warren
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
A Fatal Appraisal by Ellery Adams (audio)

September 10
A Deadly Dealer by Ellery Adams (audio)
A Treacherous Trader by Ellery Adams (audio)
A Devious Lot by Ellery Adams (audio)
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Ghostly Paws by Leighann Dobbs
The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson (audio)
The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman

7witchyrichy
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2022, 12:31 pm

October - December

October 13

The Star in the East by John Adcox
Confessions of a Prayer Slacker by Diane Moody
Murder, Mayhem, and Macarons by Kimberly Titus (a Kindle Vella)
Murder on the Poet's Walk by Ellery Adams (audio)
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon (audio)
Verity by Colleen Hoover
A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert
The Best Cook in the World by Rick Bragg
Blood, Sweat and Tiers by Nancy Warren
Death In a Strange Country by Donna Leon (audio)
For The Sake of the Game by Laurie King and Leslie S. Klinger
In League with Sherlock Holmes by Laurie King and Leslie S. Klinger
The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman

November 14

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Death and Judgement by Donna Leon (audio)
Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (audio)
Me by Elton John
Dopesick by Beth Macy
Raising Lazarus by Beth Macy
The Anonymous Venetian by Donna Leon (audio)
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delaney (audio)
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Crumbs and Misdemeanors by Nancy Warren
A Cream of Passion by Nancy Warren
Cakes and Pains by Nancy Warren
Whisk and Reward by Nancy Warren

December 12

A Christmas Memory by Richard Paul Evans
Christmastime 1939 by Linda Mahkovec
Silver Linings by Debbie Macomber
The Queen's Almoner by Tonya Ulynn Brown
Abraham Lincoln and the Freedom Fighter by Brian Kilmeade
Body on Baker Street by Vicki Delaney (audio)
Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon (audio)
Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon (audio)
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
Fatal Remedies by Donna Leon
Searching for the Sound: My Life With the Grateful Dead by Phil Lesh
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

8witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 25, 2022, 3:15 pm



Award Winner: The March by E.L. Doctorow (2005 National Book Award Winer)
Publication Year Ending in 2: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln
Modern Retelling: A Thousand Ships
You'd Love to See This Movie: Moonglow
Features a Dog: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Title Contains a Z: Zahrah the Windseeker
Publication Year You Joined LT: 2005: The Penderwicks
By a Favorite Author: The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
A Long (for you) Book: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
A Gift: Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
Title Contains a Month: April Lady
Weather Word in the Title: Cloud Cuckoo Land
Read a CAT: CATWoman for July: Women in Science: Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie
Travel or a Journey: The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
About Sisters or Brothers: Last Summer Boys
A Book Club Read: The Woman in the Window
Flowers on the Cover: Scarlet Carnation
In Translation: An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten translated by Marlaine Delargy
Non-Fiction: Caste
Character Shares a Name With a Friend: Hell Hole (Officer Danny Boyle narrates this series. I have *two* friends named Danny.)
Set In a Capital City The Omega Factor (set in Ghent which is the capital of the East Flanders province of Belgium)
Children's or Young Adult Salt to the Sea
Set in Another Country: An Irish Country Doctor
LGBTQ+ Author: When You Get the Chance
Silver or Gold on the Cover: Magic Lessons

9drneutron
jul 1, 2022, 1:10 pm

Happy new thread!

10PaulCranswick
jul 1, 2022, 1:40 pm

Happy new thread, Karen!

11FAMeulstee
jul 1, 2022, 3:00 pm

Happy new thread, Karen!

12AMQS
jul 2, 2022, 12:03 am

happy and healthy and ready to be retired! That sounds absolutely perfect, Karen, congratulations!

And happy new thread!

13figsfromthistle
jul 2, 2022, 5:44 am

Happy new thread!

14witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 2, 2022, 9:48 am

>9 drneutron: >10 PaulCranswick: >11 FAMeulstee: >12 AMQS: >13 figsfromthistle: Thanks, everyone! Had a lovely first day of retirement including celebrating by the pool with a few friends. Was up early this morning and took a bike ride around town. Heading out to lunch at our local restaurant. The chef makes the best bleu cheese dressing I have ever tasted! But for now, I am watching two American women playing at Wimbledon. It's fun to see the next generation coming up. I am rooting for Coco Gauff.

15witchyrichy
jul 2, 2022, 10:03 am

Wordle 378 6/6

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Write, Taser, Roset, Cruet, Beret, Egret

16BLBera
jul 2, 2022, 10:38 am

Congrats on your retirement, Karen. Your summer plans sound lovely. Happy new thread. I love the photo.

17witchyrichy
jul 2, 2022, 12:27 pm

>16 BLBera: Thanks! I am looking forward to whatever the future holds.

18johnsimpson
jul 2, 2022, 3:49 pm

Hi Karen my dear, Happy New Thread and what a lovely photo of you as your thread topper. Wishing you and Bob and the pets a really lovely weekend my dear and we both send love and hugs dear friend.

19witchyrichy
jul 3, 2022, 6:59 am

Wordle 379 5/6

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20witchyrichy
jul 3, 2022, 12:47 pm

>18 johnsimpson: Thank you! The weekend has been lovely so far. Getting ready to settle in for more Wimbledon after spending the morning puttering in the garden.

21witchyrichy
jul 4, 2022, 7:16 am

Wordle 380 5/6

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22witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 4, 2022, 10:15 am



Magic Lessons tells the story of the beginnings of the Owens' family, following the journey of Maria, the baby left in the snow and rescued by Hannah Owens. After tragedy forces her from her home, Maria travels from England to Curacao as an indentured servant, then to Salem, Massachusetts as the witch hunts have begun, and finally to New York. Along the way she gives birth to a daughter, Faith, who takes a different path from her mother.

Alice Hoffman has crafted a rich, complex tale that explores the darkness of human beings when confronted with the unknown. Hannah, Maria and Faith are all healers, working mostly with women providing both natural and magical remedies for ailments of the body and spirit. The scenes in Salem where Maria goes to find Faith's father are particularly frightening as we consider the current state of affairs when it comes to women.

I bought all three books in the series so will be starting the next one soon!

23witchyrichy
jul 5, 2022, 7:17 am

Wordle 381 6/6

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24witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 5, 2022, 3:26 pm

Watching more good tennis although it looks like the youngster is going to lose. But he made a good showing.

More excited to say that I am typing this on my phone! I’ve been cleaning and organizing and found an old USB keyboard. Using an adapter, I am able to use it to type on my phone! It looks a little funny with the big keyboard attached to the phone but I haven’t had to deal with auto correct or bad finger placement. It’s nice to use my keyboarding skills. I may be able to say goodbye to a bulky laptop as I head further into retirement.

25witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 5, 2022, 5:13 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

26witchyrichy
jul 6, 2022, 8:47 am

Wordle 382 5/6

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One letter used three times!

27karenmarie
jul 6, 2022, 9:43 am

Hi Karen, and happy new thread. Happy retirement.

>1 witchyrichy: Love the pic of you and am glad to see that you are happy, healthy, and ready to be retired.

>2 witchyrichy: You’re going to beat your goal pretty quickly, especially with reading in the afternoon and evening.

>26 witchyrichy: Yes, today’s was tricky, and it took me 5, too.

28witchyrichy
jul 6, 2022, 11:19 am

>27 karenmarie: Thanks for stopping by. It's only been a few days and I already wondered when I had time for work!

The wordle was ultimately the only word I could think of and I was sure it wasn't going to be right.

29witchyrichy
jul 6, 2022, 11:28 am

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz is the first in a newish series for this prolific writer who I have managed to avoid reading for some reason even though Magpie Murders has been on my Kindle for awhile. So, I am very glad to have discovered Horowitz now and am looking forward to more great reading.

In this book, Horowitz plays himself and partners somewhat reluctantly with Daniel Hawthorne, an ex-policeman doing consulting work for the very police who sacked him. Hawthorne needs Horowitz to write his book and the two set off to investigate a murder. They quickly come into conflict as each learns to appreciate the other's skills and knowledge. The murder that brings them together is that of a woman, Diana Cowper, who just that morning arranged for her funeral. That coincidence as well as Cowper's tragic history and famous son intersect in a well-crafted story. Horowitz's tone moves from annoyed to self-deprecating as he tries to understand both the murder and the enigmatical man who has hired him.

30Copperskye
Bewerkt: jul 6, 2022, 6:39 pm

>1 witchyrichy: Such a nice photo!

Happy new thread and, even better, happy, happy retirement, Karen!! Your daily plans sound lovely. I’m envious of your pool time. Somehow, spraying myself and the dog with the hose when it’s really hot just doesn’t compare. :)

I read Moonflower Murders just last month and Magpie Murders last fall and loved them both. I suspect you will, too! Your review of The Word is Murder just moved that one up the list for me. I’ve got it here, somewhere.

31witchyrichy
jul 7, 2022, 11:11 am

>30 Copperskye: Always good to hear from you. So far, I mostly feel like I'm on a staycation and getting caught up with chores and admin stuff like vet appointments and so forth. The pool was an anniversary gift from my husband some years ago and has definitely increased my quality of life.

Anthony Horowitz is definitely on my summer reading list.

32witchyrichy
jul 8, 2022, 9:48 am

Wordle 384 4/6

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33witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 8, 2022, 10:08 am



Geraldine Brooks is a perennial favorite so when I saw her latest, Horse, highly recommended by several trusted friends, I put it on hold. It came more quickly than expected and I almost literally dropped everything and read it, staying up well past my bedtime last night. At its core, this is the story of Lexington, the greatest race horse of all time, whose skeleton is now on display in Kentucky. The horse is surrounded by people both while it lives and long after its death who are grappling with the larger issues the horse brings up, most fundamentally related to race.

Brooks weaves three timelines together around the horse's story with the primary focus on Jarret, his enslaved trainer who, despite all, manages to be there from its birth in 1850 to its death after a long life. Jarret's relationship with an equestrian painter, Thomas Scott, sets the stage for the two other timelines. In the 1950s, gallery owner and friend of Jackson Pollock, Martha Jackson encounters one of Scott's paintings and becomes obsessed. In the present day, Lexington and Jarret come to the attention of Theo and Jess, the latter a Smithsonian scientist interested in the bones, the former an art historian intrigued by the stories of the Black men at the heart of horse racing before the Civil War. Their interracial relationship forms another important theme in the book and leads to its shocking climax.

Crafted, precise, the three stories flow together, showing how history moves from generation to generation.

34klobrien2
jul 8, 2022, 12:48 pm

>33 witchyrichy: Horse sounds terrific! Onto my TBR it goes!

Karen O

35witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 8, 2022, 8:22 pm

Just happened to catch the segment with Geraldine Brooks on NewsHour about Horse

View

36witchyrichy
jul 9, 2022, 6:50 am

Wordle 385 4/6

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Lucky guess to start!

37witchyrichy
jul 11, 2022, 6:09 am

Wordle 387 5/6

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Getting trickier I think

38Berly
jul 12, 2022, 5:54 pm

>1 witchyrichy: Love the photo and congrats on reaching retirement!! Sounds like you have a good plan (Since almost everything you listed had books in it, LOL). Enjoy. And happy Wordling.

39witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 13, 2022, 12:20 pm

Just back from one last road trip to Southwest Virginia to do a couple workshops for a friend's conference. It was fun: I went out a day early so I could eat at Barbara Kingsolver's restaurant, Harvest Table, which is just north of Abingdon, Virginia, where I was staying. It is based on her vision of local food that she wrote about in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The food was delicious and then I headed to Damascus, Virginia, a nearby trail town that includes both the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail and the Appalachian Trail, along with a few others. It was fun to just poke around. I walked a short distance on the AT and was reminded of that sense of moving away from the world as I headed into the woods. Ready to do more of that!

I listened to Chris Grabenstein's John Ceepak series and finished Obsessive Genius about Marie Curie. Reviews to follow.

A flickr photo album of the highlights: click to see all the pictures.

40Storeetllr
jul 13, 2022, 9:20 pm

Happy new thread and, more importantly, HAPPY RETIREMENT!

Now that you are retired, an occasional late night staying up to read won't be the problem it was when you were working. At least it hasn't been for me. Although, I admit I have taken it to extremes on occasion. Come to think of it, I remember taking it to extremes a time or two even when I was working.

I hope you enjoyed the Ceepak series as much as I did. Looking forward to seeing your review(s).

>22 witchyrichy: I read Practical Magic and enjoyed it but never picked up the other two (prequel and sequel?). Time to remedy that.

>39 witchyrichy: Your road trip sounds lovely. I'll be back soon to look at the rest of the pics.

41Copperskye
jul 13, 2022, 9:43 pm

>33 witchyrichy: Horse sounds like one I’d really like, too, Karen. I’m glad you liked it!

42witchyrichy
jul 14, 2022, 11:15 am

>40 Storeetllr: Thank you! I am finishing up listening to Fun House right now. I am loving reading whenever and for however long I want. It only took a couple days to remember how to dive into a book and tune out the rest of the world. I am an early riser so am particularly happy bringing my morning espresso back to bed for an hour or so without having to think about a to do list or email inbox.

43witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 19, 2022, 12:41 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

44witchyrichy
jul 15, 2022, 12:46 pm

Finished three books in the John Ceepak series on my road trip: Rolling Thunder, Ring Toss, and Fun House. I am enjoying them as audio books. Jeff Woodman, the Audible narrator, does an excellent job portraying the various characters and has a great Jersey accent, male or female, when he needs it. He also nail the ironic comments often made by Office Danny Boyle, who narrates the story. These are NOT cozy mysteries so be warned: there are often multiple, gruesome mysteries with psychopathic killers. But, even though they aren't my normal style, I really enjoy them.

John Ceepak is an ex-military man who lives by the West Point Code and, over the course of the series, has mentored his sidekick Danny Boyle to do the same. Together, they keep the citizens of Sea Haven, a fictional but very authentically portrayed, Jersey shore town, safe, or mostly safe since there are a couple murders in every book. Each book is connected in some way to a boardwalk ride and we meet the quirky inhabitants of the town, most of whom Danny has known all his life as he grew up in Sea Haven. We watch summer cop Danny grow into his job and straight-laced Ceepak soften a bit under the influence of his friends and family.

I would recommend all the books, and they are best read in order as the various stories are linked. Ring Toss is a short story that revolves around Danny's friend Rebecca who is managing the family motel.

45witchyrichy
jul 15, 2022, 12:59 pm



Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith purports to tell the real story behind the mythical woman. Goldsmith was able to access new materials including Curie's letters and other papers, many of which had been sequestered because they were radioactive. She also interviewed family members and friends. The portrait she paints is not at all flattering but perhaps not surprising. In a world where women were not welcome in the scientific world, she created a space for herself that she managed to keep even after Pierre died. But she did so, Goldsmith suggests, at the expense of her children, especially her youngest, Eve, who did not have the scientific inclinations of her older sister Irene.

I read a few Amazon reviews and agree with one reviewer: Goldsmith seems sympathetic to her subject at the beginning as she describes her childhood and her battle with depression. But, as the biography unfolds, she seems to like her subject less and less and that attitude may color the later stages of the book as she delves into Curie's private life beyond the laboratory.

I read this for the CATWoman July book: women in science. It had been sitting on the shelf for awhile and for someone who had little or no knowledge about Curie beyond what Goldsmith would call the myth, it was an introduction and an easy read. I don't think I need to explore Curie any further and can only half-heartedly recommend the book.

46witchyrichy
jul 15, 2022, 1:09 pm



I am participating in the Kindle Summer Reading challenge and one of the options was to read one of their summer picks. I chose Last Summer Boys, partially because it was set in Pennsylvania. The story takes place in the summer of 1968 and revolves around the Elliott family that includes three brothers, Jack, the youngest, along with Pete and Will. They are joined by cousin Francis who is sent away from the city to escape the riots and fires.

Jack is determined to keep Pete, who turns 18 on the 4th of July, away from Vietnam by making him famous. He even has a plan for how to do it and enlists Francis's help. Things don't turn out the way he thinks and the book takes a surprising and dark turn that gives this coming-of-age novel a gripping twice.

Besides being an excellent story teller, Bill Rivers writes beautiful prose. I found myself highlighting descriptive passages that made me slow down and savor.

47witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 19, 2022, 11:58 am

Readathon Results:

Books read from:
The Girl in His Shadow
Squatter's Rights*: 2 hours

Books finished:
Practical Magic: 3 hours
The Rules of Magic: 6 hours
Free Fall (audio): 3 hours

Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Alice Hoffman's series. I read Magic Lessons earlier this year where we meet the matriarch of the Owens family. These two books follow later generations. Love forms the center of all the books as the family members struggle to find their special places in a world that mistrusts them.

Squatter's Rights is set on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a place I love to visit. The story revolved around an old family home and generational squabbles. Grace Reagan, the main character, buys the old house after promising her dying mother she would restore the mansion to its former glory. When old bones are found in the overgrown backyard, she gets involved in an old murder and a present-day crime. This is the first in a series and I plan to try the next one at some point.

Finally, I have been binge listening to Chris Grabenstein's John Ceepak mystery series and love them. Free Fall was excellent.

Looks like 14 hours! I did listen to Free Fall while I gardened and put together a gas grill so that helped up the hours.

Non-book activities: Dog walking and swimming

*I finished this early Monday morning but I'm retired to I think that still counts as part of the weekend.

48witchyrichy
Bewerkt: jul 19, 2022, 7:52 pm


The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz is the second in the Hawthorne/Horowitz series. This one begins with the murder of a high-priced divorce lawyer the day after the death of his one-time friend. Horowitz continues his quest to learn more about his partner as they work together to solve the mystery. I enjoyed this one as much as the last and have the third one already on the pile. A good mystery with an interesting backstory that includes Horowitz's real life as a television writer.

49witchyrichy
jul 25, 2022, 1:55 pm

A Line to Kill is third in the Hawthorne/Horowitz series. This one is set on Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, where we find our main characters attending a literary festival. The island may be idyllic but its inhabitants are embroiled in battles over modernizing. And the authors attending the festival bring their own secrets and quirks. Once a local leader is murdered, the island is locked down and Hawthorne, with Horowitz following along to take notes and occasionally chiming in, works to solve the mystery.

The fourth book in the series comes out in November and I am looking forward to reading it. Horowitz has just the right tone, not quite Watson to Hawthorne's Sherlock as he finds his partner more annoying that fascinating.

50witchyrichy
jul 25, 2022, 2:05 pm

The Girl in His Shadow tells the story of Nora Beady, orphaned by a pandemic and taken in by a quirky but skilled doctor. He functions more as mentor than father for his ward, and she quickly gets involved in his work with both live and dead people. When Dr. Croft takes on an assistant, Nora must figure out how to continue her work, some of which is illegal. All three of them end up in trouble, in the end, but we also see how the world is changing in its attitudes even as some would drag their feet. Author Audrey Blake is a pseudonym of Jaima Fisxen and Regina Sirois. I picked it up as it is part of the Big Library Read happening now until July 27.

The authors created rich historical fiction that celebrates the pioneers in medicine--women like Nora who hear the calling and ignore convention and men like Croft who are willing to learn and experiment, both opening themselves to criticism and even professional censure. The authors have written a second volume, The Surgeon's Daughter, as Nora continues her pursuit of medicine. I am looking forward to reading it.

51witchyrichy
jul 31, 2022, 8:35 am

Visiting one of my oldest, dearest friends and really feeling retired! No work emails to check, no problems to solve, just free time to lunch with the ladies, lounge by the pool, and watch movies into the night. We are both readers so it is fun to compare notes on books and then settle in beside each other reading. I have finished three books and reviews will come but I can recommend all of them.

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln: alternative history where Lincoln survives only to face impeachment
Hang the Moon: an advanced reader’s copy of Jeannette Walls upcoming novel set in the 1930s in rural western Virginia full of family feuds, temperance and moonshine
A Thousand Ships: the Trojan War story told from the point of view of the women

52Storeetllr
jul 31, 2022, 1:46 pm

>51 witchyrichy: Sounds heavenly! Retirement is the best! Have fun!

53witchyrichy
aug 8, 2022, 4:34 pm

>52 Storeetllr: I have been blogging about retirement here: https://www.ivyrun.com/inanotherplace/

My parents are just an hour away from my friend so I dropped in for a quick visit. They are in good health for 87, and I love hanging out with them.

54witchyrichy
aug 8, 2022, 4:40 pm

I crossed the 75 book threshold with an audio book via Hoopla: A Killer Collection by Ellery Adams. I listened to it on my way home from Pennsylvania and finished it as I got caught up with the gardening. Hoopla is a new app from my library that provides on-demand access to lots of media. I have only begun to explore!

55drneutron
aug 8, 2022, 10:36 pm

Congrats!

56witchyrichy
aug 9, 2022, 5:47 pm

57FAMeulstee
aug 9, 2022, 6:00 pm

>54 witchyrichy: Congratulations on reaching 75, Karen!

58witchyrichy
aug 11, 2022, 2:38 pm

>57 FAMeulstee: Thanks! Through all the changes this year, I have managed to read.

59johnsimpson
aug 15, 2022, 4:18 pm

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

60witchyrichy
aug 16, 2022, 9:57 am

>59 johnsimpson: Thanks! Thread visiting is next on my list although I do see you on Twitter now and then. Hope you and Karen and family are doing well.

61Storeetllr
aug 16, 2022, 3:38 pm

>53 witchyrichy: I visited your retirement blog but didn't have time to read it carefully. I've got it bookmarked though so will revisit it regularly. Lovely photos!

62johnsimpson
aug 16, 2022, 4:23 pm

>60 witchyrichy:, Hi Karen my dear, we are both well after the recent heatwave, Karen had a minor OP done this afternoon, she had a polyp taken out of her mouth in the area where she has Lichen Planus, they have also take a sample to do a biopsy on it to make sure everything is OK with it.

We will be having Elliott tomorrow for his usual Wednesday night sleepover and also having Hannah for a few hours.

Sending love and hugs to you and Bob and also Spot, Major and Circe, from both of us dear friend.

63Copperskye
aug 16, 2022, 6:56 pm

After stopping by here, I realized that I haven’t read Free Fall yet. The library’s digital kindle copy was glitchy for some reason (first time I could download a library loan) and so I bought a used copy. I’m looking forward to it!

I have The Word is Murder and plan on starting that series soon. Glad to hear it’s a good one. I loved Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders.

64witchyrichy
aug 21, 2022, 6:34 pm

>61 Storeetllr: Hoping to post on some kind of regular basis.

65witchyrichy
aug 21, 2022, 6:34 pm

>62 johnsimpson: The whole crew is doing well. Thanks for the love and hugs. Hope everything turns out well for Karen.

66witchyrichy
aug 21, 2022, 6:36 pm

>63 Copperskye: Just finished Magpie Murders (loved it!) and found that I also had Moonflower Murders in my Kindle library so dove right in.

67witchyrichy
Bewerkt: dec 27, 2022, 4:16 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

68witchyrichy
aug 23, 2022, 10:02 am

Well...suddenly, my "retirement" summer is waning as the fall semester begins. I teach two courses in the fall: one for University of Richmond and one for Old Dominion University, both in their graduate programs. The latter course, called Digital Age Teaching and Learning, is for career switchers and is held online and asynchronously so I am mostly nagging and grading. Generally easy work that can be done in my pajamas or, at least until the end of summer, my bathing suit.

The Richmond course is part of their graduate education program and called School Technology. I have been teaching it for many years and feel like it is MY course. I update it every year and am really looking forward to being in the same room with my students tonight after having to do virtual work for the past few years. We look at big picture leadership issues related to technology and teaching and learning and have fun making stuff, too!

Tomorrow, after I drop Major off at the vets for his all-day blood glucose test, I am heading to Pennsylvania. My mother's 87th birthday is Thursday and I am looking forward to spending a few days with her and my dad. We are attending a retirement celebration for our church's organist on Sunday. She is 92 years old and was my choir director when I was a little kid!

69BLBera
aug 27, 2022, 11:59 am

Karen, I thought you were done! Good luck with the fall semester.

70witchyrichy
aug 28, 2022, 4:08 pm

>69 BLBera: I am done with my major work which was a non-profit. The teaching was always a side gig and I love doing it.

71witchyrichy
Bewerkt: aug 28, 2022, 4:35 pm



Sad news to share: our old hound dog Spot went over the rainbow bridge on Friday. He wasn't able to keep food down for a day or two, and an x-ray revealed a large tumor between his liver and spleen. It seems to have grown pretty quickly as we've been monitoring his kidneys. Surgery really wasn't an option at his age and health so we made the always horrible decision.

We were Spot's third family and he was two years old when we adopted him. We had just moved to the farm, and he has been with us for the past 12 years. Spot loved the farm, especially figuring out how to get outside and go running off! We chased him in the truck once, and he was going 25 miles an hour. He was my constant companion; no matter where I was in the house, he would be nearby. We are in mourning for our old friend.

72klobrien2
aug 28, 2022, 6:49 pm

>71 witchyrichy: So sorry for the loss of your dear Spot. Having companion animals has so many plus-es, but so many responsibilities as well. You gave Spot a great life for many years!

Karen O

73Copperskye
aug 28, 2022, 7:41 pm

Oh, Karen, I’m so sorry. It’s always so sad when our dear faithful friends leave us. What a lucky boy he was to find his forever home with you.💔🐾

74figsfromthistle
Bewerkt: aug 28, 2022, 8:05 pm

>71 witchyrichy: I am so sorry for your loss. ((hugs))

75johnsimpson
aug 30, 2022, 3:50 pm

Hi Karen my dear, so sorry for your loss of Spot, always sad when we lose a faithful friend, sending love and hugs to you all from both of us dear friend.

76FAMeulstee
aug 31, 2022, 3:01 am

>71 witchyrichy: So sorry for your loss, Karen.
May the memories of Spot live on. (((hugs)))

77BLBera
aug 31, 2022, 6:44 pm

Sorry to hear about the loss of Spot.

78witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 29, 2022, 8:40 pm

>72 klobrien2: >73 Copperskye: >74 figsfromthistle: >75 johnsimpson: >76 FAMeulstee: >77 BLBera: Thank you all for the kind words. I put together a photo album of favorite pictures including one with Major when we was just 7 weeks old and Spot was 2 years old. Major seems to be adapting to being an only dog. I think our biggest surprise was that Spot allowed Circe the cat to join our household in 2020. I figured she would have to be a "porch cat" as Spot did not like cats at all. But, she inserted herself as only cats can, and as you can see from the pictures, they came to an understanding. Click to see the album.



79witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 14, 2022, 12:41 pm

I have been mourning Spot, watching tennis, celebrating my mother's 87th birthday in Pennsylvania, and getting started with the semester. I have been reading but not reviewing. Tennis is on, and I am going to update reviews, starting with Ellery Adams, my current favorite Audible listen. Adams lives in North Carolina and draws on the region for several of her cozy mystery series. I enjoy listening to them and finished up the Secret, Book and Scone series during my trip to Pennsylvania. I listen in the car and while I walk the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail that runs behind my parents' retirement community.

I moved on to Adams' Collectibles Mysteries. These feature Molly Applebee, a writer for Collector's Weekly, who lives in Durham, North Carolina, and travels throughout the region to cover antique and folk art events. Each mystery focuses on a particular area of collecting such as pottery and canes, and Adams weaves the history of particular item into each mystery. I enjoy learning about antiques as well as getting more involved with Molly and her friends and family.

Adams has a knack for character development as well as relationships among the characters. Molly's mother Clara plays an important role in the narrative as she is a former antiques dealer who now works for an auction house. She and Molly have a sometimes prickly but always loving relationship.

80witchyrichy
sep 8, 2022, 6:27 pm

I feel hopelessly behind on reading threads and writing reviews but have good intentions to get caught up this weekend. But I will get caught up so here we go...

In Hang The Moon, Jeanette Walls tells the story of Sallie Mae Kincaid, daughter of the Duke, the head of the clan and the unofficial ruler of Claiborne County, Virginia. Set in 1930s in the western mountains, Walls paints a compelling portrait of life in this hardscrabble world. Sent away to live with an impoverished relative and relegated to washing sheets when her father marries for the third time, Sallie Mae longs to return to her small town. Despite her exile, Sallie Mae loves and respects her father, and when she does return, follows his leadership style as events push her to the forefront of the town. She is indomitable and vulnerable all at the same time and I was cheering her on as she found ways to support and protect her community in the face of outside attacks.

Walls has created a world for the reader and I was drawn in to the place, time and people. We learn about the politics of a small town even as Sallie Mae is learning a new way to navigate her world. We ride along with moonshiners on winding mountain roads. And, we grieve for those who are lost for there is much sadness and grief in this book often caused by family pride and resentment. At the heart it is a story of Sallie Mae and the strong women who do the best they can despite all the poverty and heartache they encounter.

I was provided an advance copy of this book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

81witchyrichy
sep 8, 2022, 6:47 pm



Steven L. Carter's book The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is an alternative history in which Lincoln survives only to face impeachment by northern Republicans who feel he has become too lenient with the southern states. His legal team faces an uphill battle but an unlikely addition to the team--Abigail Canner, a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin and a dream to be a lawyer--uncovers a conspiracy that will change everything. I don't profess to have followed all the political twists and turns but was pulled along by the narrative and the way Carter connects his fantasy with the facts. I do have a decent understanding of Civil War history so was at least familiar with the real characters. I wonder how someone without any knowledge would fare and not sure it matters. It was a legal and action thriller in its own right.

82witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 8, 2022, 7:05 pm



A Thousand Ships tells of the end of the Trojan War from the point of view of the women on both sides of the conflict. It was a compelling read. Natalie Haynes imagines the stories of the women impacted by the war, bringing them to life in ways the original sources did not. I was captivated by the way she used them to tell the familiar story of the war, its ending, and aftermath as Ulysses makes his way back to Ithaca. If you enjoyed Circe, you will enjoy this!

And I have The Song of Achilles and Elektra on the TBR pile.

83witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 8, 2022, 7:24 pm



All the Light We Cannot See may be my favorite book this year. I picked it up after reading Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land, sorry that I missed it the first time around. I may have liked it more. Both books are carefully crafted stories, interweaving the voices and experiences of characters. Marie-Laure LeBlanc lost her sight at six years old but has thrived under her father's care. He is a locksmith for the Museum of Natural History in Paris. As the Nazis advance, he and Marie flee to the home of great-uncle Etienne, a recluse who broadcasts old recordings of his dead brother and eventually joins the Resistance. Meanwhile, Werner Pfennig, the German tasked with tracking the broadcasts, recognizes the recordings he listened to in the orphanage on his first homemade radio. Their paths cross in unexpected ways. Along the way, the story does not side step the brutality of the war.

84witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 29, 2022, 7:55 pm



In The Hand We Are Dealt, Robert Bordas tells the story of his mother's life in Subcarpathia, an area bordered by and often fought over by Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, in the years before and during World War II. Anna Onisko is coming into adulthood and ready to pursue her dream of being a teacher. She longs to get away from her tyrannical step-father and the family business. But just as she begins her move, her family calls her back. She finds that marriage is not a good answer as she simply moves under the tyranny of another man. As she faces her personal struggles, she finds the courage to navigate an increasingly chaotic and lawless world. I found the history and geography a fascinating setting to this woman's story. Anna struggles with her identity in the world as the area is a crossroads for many different cultures and ethnicities.

I was provided with an advance reader's copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in return for an honest review.

85witchyrichy
sep 8, 2022, 7:43 pm

I have been thoroughly enjoying exploring Anthony Horowitz. Maybe it's because I am a fan of Midsomer Murders. Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders are both somewhat complicated stories within stories with the latter including a book embedded in text. Susan Ryeland, the ill fated publisher of mystery writer Alan Conway, finds herself at the center of Conway's death in Magpie Murders.

At the opening of Moonflower Murders, Ryeland is running a hotel in Greece with Andreas, her Greek boyfriend, having escaped with her life but not her livelihood at the end of Magpie Murders. She returns to England at the request of hotel owners whose daughter has disappeared. Some years before, a brutal murder took place on the day of her wedding. Alan Conway visited the hotel to delve into the mystery and we are treated to an Atticus Pund mystery story embedded in this book as Ryeland eventually settles in to read the book as she investigates. And, as if that wasn't enough, Horowitz weaves in some personal connections for Ryeland with both Andreas and her sister.

86witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 29, 2022, 7:54 pm



I took a road trip in August and listened the The Overdue Life of Amy Byler. It has been in my Audible library for awhile. I hadn't read much about it so wasn't sure what to expect. I suppose it falls under the chick lit category, not something I read often. I really enjoyed this book. Kelly Harms took an interesting approach by combining Amy's story with journal entries from her daughter. I liked Amy. It was funny that I was in Amish country, and Amy was celebrating "momspringa" based on the Amish practice of rumsrpinga or sowing your wild oats.

I really appreciated that Harms took the time to describe Amy's ereader program in depth, including the challenges of finding diverse literature for students. Motivated librarians would find the logistics of interest, I think. Ultimately, she made her deepest connections around her ideas for encouraging students to read.

87witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 27, 2022, 6:42 pm



Winter Solstice was a wonderful story of extended family and happy coincidences that lead an unlikely group to celebrate the holidays together in Scotland. Rosamunde Pilcher creates a world and invites us in. She starts with Elfrida Phipps who retires from the London stage to Dibton, a village, where she settles into a quiet life. We also meet Oscar Blundell, a gifted musician who gives it up for his wife and child only to suffer the ultimate tragedy. From these two, we connect with Carrie, Elfrida's cousin, who is escaping a painful breakup, and Lucy, Carrie's teenage cousin, essentially abandoned by her mother and grandmother for the holidays.

Pilcher tells a heartwarming tale of love and redemption. It would be perfect for a midwinter read by the fire.

88witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 27, 2022, 6:41 pm



An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good was a rollicking afternoon read by the pool earlier this summer! As an almost-elderly lady myself, I loved the tales of craftiness and revenge especially as she often took advantage of the fact that people overlook old folks. The second volume is on the book pile waiting for an open afternoon when I need a laugh at the world.

89witchyrichy
sep 9, 2022, 1:29 pm



Scarlet Carnation by Laila Ibrahim tells the story of two women, May and Naomi, whose lives are connected through their grandmothers on a Virginia plantation prior to the Civil War. They live in Oakland, California, just after the turn of the century, but the themes of the book have a contemporary feel. May, a white woman, longs for an independent life but makes a mistake that sends her back to her own mother. Naomi, a black woman, achieves her dream of buying a house only to have her neighbors organize against her.

I don't think I realized this was fourth in a four-part part of a series, and I have all three of the others on my Kindle. I enjoyed this one enough to read the first one, Yellow Crocus.

90witchyrichy
sep 9, 2022, 1:42 pm



I had picked up Jacksonland several times but didn't have the mental focus for Steve Inskeep's story of the Cherokee removal. Inskeep focused on two men at the center of this horrific event in United States history: John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokees, and Andrew Jackson, the President who presided over what has become known as the Trail of Tears. I knew it wouldn't be an easy book to read and I was right. Inskeep chooses details and anecdotes intentionally for maximum impact and gets to the heart of the machinations and corruption that led to the Cherokee removal. Ultimately, no matter how "civilized" the Cherokee became, they inhabited land that others with more power wanted. Inskeep has a solid story telling style that reminded me of David McCullough. Just enough historical detail fleshed out with human stories and emotions to truly bring history to life.

91witchyrichy
sep 9, 2022, 2:06 pm

I needed a book about a dog for the bingo card and even though this was before Spot died, I knew I didn't want to read a dog memoir. So, I ended up with The Hound of the Baskervilles. I have been reading lots of alternative Holmes mysteries from Russell & Holmes to Mycroft Holmes to Enola Holmes. I know I read the originals in middle and high school but haven't revisited them. They are available from Project Gutenberg.

I had some memory of the story but not the details. The mysteries continue to be absorbing, and this one, set on the moors that can kill errant ponies and human beings, has a gothic taste to the usual Holmesian tales.

I have several other Holmes books that I downloaded from Project Gutenberg as well as several collections of Holmes-inspired stories on the TBR pile. I may need to set a theme for the next few months. I also have food books including Taste and Save Me the Plums. And, I have collected more than a few musician memoirs and biographies from Elton John to Bob Marley to Phil Lesh. I bought a hard back copy of Lonesome Dove at my the thrift shop. It is my chunky book for the year and I wasn't getting far with the digital version for some reason. So, it looks like I may be planning out the rest of the year.

92witchyrichy
sep 9, 2022, 2:20 pm

I just updated my book list as I realized I missed a book. I started Nancy Warren's the Great Witches Baking Show series on Christmas Day last year, reading late into the night after a busy day with family. It is a fluffy and fun cozy mystery set around a baking competition. Not everyone in the tent and the surrounding village is a witch, just the main character, Poppy, and several others who reveal themselves over time. Poppy is only just learning about being a witch as she struggles to bake well enough to stay in the competition. Her real goal is to learn more about the family and the estate where they are staying. Poppy, left on the a doorstep in an apple crate, believes her mother was once a servant there and is trying to learn more. And, she ends up solving mysteries as well.

A Baker's Coven is number two and A Rolling Scone is number three. We follow several different characters including a ghost of the baker killed in the first book and Poppy's familiar, a small cat named Gateaux. One of Poppy's powers is to see ghosts, and she shares her cottage with an old lady who tsks over her modern baking methods.

I am reading the fourth one right now and may tuck the rest of the series in amongst the other plans for the rest of the year. I like the Great British Baking Show and Warren does include lots of descriptions of the baking itself along with good-natured pokes at the real life hosts and judges. Plus, they are all available via Kindle Unlimited.

93BLBera
sep 11, 2022, 3:32 pm

Wow, you've done some great reading lately, Karen. I also loved A Thousand Ships, especially after reading Pandora's Jar. Haynes has a new one coming soon.

94witchyrichy
sep 13, 2022, 11:29 am

>93 BLBera: Pandora's Jar is on my TBR list so glad to know you enjoyed it. I also have Elektra ready to go: maybe food, music and mythology for the fall. Hope all is well!

95witchyrichy
sep 14, 2022, 12:46 pm

I am continuing to listen to the Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries series by Ellery Adams. We have followed Molly Appleby from North Carolina to Vermont in The Treacherous Trader where she gets involved in a murder as she plans her wedding. A diamond tiara is at the center. The next installment, A Devious Lot, which I am reading right now, is set in England and involves an eye broach, a piece of jewelry with a life like portrait of someone's eye at the center. It was given to a lover. Fascinating and a little creepy.

I am going through them partially because they are available through my library's Hoopla subscription. I had started up my Audible subscription again to get a book I had missed but am back to accruing points. And, in the mood of cancelling, Sling TV goes today as the US Open is over and I don't need access to ESPN.

96Berly
sep 14, 2022, 3:08 pm

The US Open was interesting this year with all sorts of "new" players making it to the semi and finals. A new era in tennis for men and women?!

97Copperskye
sep 14, 2022, 3:18 pm

Hi Karen! I also loved An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good and treated myself to a copy of An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed for Christmas last year. It's just as fun!

The Hound of the Baskervilles is an excellent choice for a dog read! It's been decades since I read it. I should give it another go. Years ago, I did a little binge reading of Sherlock Holmes but haven't picked him up since.

98witchyrichy
sep 19, 2022, 7:46 pm

>96 Berly: It was interesting. I've lived through a few changes but the big three have been around for so long, it is hard to imagine tennis without them. I suppose you saw that Roger is retiring after the Laver Cup. I am hoping to see him play as part of my Tennis Channel subscription!

99witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 19, 2022, 7:48 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

100witchyrichy
sep 19, 2022, 7:47 pm

>97 Copperskye: As I mentioned, I have been reading lots of Holmesian-based stories but not the original stories. Check Project Gutenberg for free copies of most of the stories.

101witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 25, 2022, 3:19 pm



The Borrower came via Amazon and I chose it as I was looking for a story about a journey for my Bingo card. (The Bingo card has led to some really good reading this year.)

It is one of those books that has really stuck with me: the story of librarian Lucy Hull and ten-year-old Ian Drake, her erstwhile client whose evangelical parents restrict his reading and send him to gay conversion therapy. They kidnap each other and take a road trip to Vermont and the Canadian border. Along the way, we connect with Lucy's family of Russian immigrants, led by her father who may or may not be part of the Russian mafia. Lucy knows she is doing the wrong thing but hates to think of Ian's joy in life being squelched by conservative religion. It is hard to be sympathetic to the trauma of the parents at the loss of their son, Rebecca Makkai does make it pretty clear that Ian is being abused by his parents, which helps excuse her actions.

The book references were fun. I read through the reviews and agree with a prevailing theme: the book was implausible but good with a celebration of joy in the freedom offered by books.

102witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 25, 2022, 3:19 pm



The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner tells the story of three women: Nella and Eliza who live in London in the late 18th century and Caroline, a 21st century American who finds herself in London alone on her 10th anniversary. In their own ways, each woman takes control of her life away from men. Nella is the apothecary--the title plays on the word as both a location and a person--who turns from being a healer to a killer after her own tragedy. Eliza apprentices herself even as Nella tries to send her away. And, as she tries to find her way forward after a betrayal, Caroline discovers their stories after unearthing a bottle in the Thames during a mudlarking expedition.

Penner lets the women speak for themselves, intertwining their stories. The story moves quickly but delves deeply into the lives of these women. Nella, especially, is a complex soul, doing what she knows is wrong even as we understand her motives. My RLBG all loved it and I'll be discussing it with another group in Pennsylvania next month.

103witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 25, 2022, 3:17 pm



I gave up all my regular routines and sunk into reading Lonesome Dove over the past three days. Sprawling doesn't really do it justice: Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae, mostly retired Texas rangers, operate a rundown livery stable in Lonesome Dove, Texas, just on the Mexican border. When a former colleague, Jake Pool, arrives at the ranch after an accidental killing, he comes with tales of Montana. Call, the leader of the Hat Creek Outift, makes the decision to head north with a cattle herd. And thus the saga begins. McMurtry has created complex, quirky characters and weaves their stories together in a masterful way. The violence is sudden and graphic, a true depiction of the lives of these cowboys.

I finished my bingo card with this one: at 800+ pages, it is definitely a LONG book. I started it several times this year on the Kindle and then finally bought a used hard backed copy. I think that helped: watching the physical bookmark moving along provided a bit of motivation. in the end, I am glad I read it: a classic story of the West and the kind of novel that I am not sure gets written any more.

104johnsimpson
sep 26, 2022, 9:21 am

>103 witchyrichy:, Hi Karen my dear, i loved reading Lonesome Dove and then the other three in the series, i do rather like Larry McMurtry. Happy Monday my dear.

105witchyrichy
sep 26, 2022, 4:13 pm

>104 johnsimpson: Thanks for stopping by! It has been a good Monday so far and I still have yoga class to go.

And thanks for the tip about the series. I guess I was aware they existed. I will get them on the TBR list!

All the best to your and yours.

106witchyrichy
Bewerkt: sep 27, 2022, 5:50 pm



Stanley Tucci's food memoir Taste: My Life Through Food was a lovely accompaniment to his recent CNN series on Italy and its food. I haven't seen much of Tucci's work other than The Devil Wears Prada but after following him for several season on CNN, his voice came through so clearly. He is self-deprecating about his fame, often pointing out his name dropping of chefs and actors so we know that he knows. While the focus is on food and he includes lots of recipes, this is a deeply personal memoir with stories of his first wife who died of cancer and then his own two-year bout with a cancerous tumor in his throat that was a surprise to me. He maintains his humor even as he describes the pain and depression, and I am all the more joyful about his wonderful series: he celebrating Italy and life!

107karenmarie
sep 28, 2022, 7:46 am

Hi Karen! You really seem to be enjoying retirement - look at all the reading you're getting in.

>48 witchyrichy: Gads. I didn’t realize I was behind in this series, with the 4th due out in November. I just ordered #3.

>71 witchyrichy: the always horrible decision. I’m so sorry to read about Spot.

>91 witchyrichy: I usually go from hard cover to audio book successfully. I read Lonesome Dove a bazillion years ago.

>103 witchyrichy: You really powered through it. That's what retirement will do!

108witchyrichy
sep 29, 2022, 7:57 pm

>107 karenmarie: And the PBS series of Magpie Murders starts in October. Thanks for the heads up on #4.

When I taught middle school we had this DEAR program: Drop Everything and Read. That's what I did to get through Lonesome Dove ;-)

109witchyrichy
sep 29, 2022, 8:11 pm



Another paranormal cozy mystery with a cat so that Ghostly Paws had a few parallels with the witches baking show series. The main character, Willa, has returned home to Mystic Notch, a small town in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. A former crime journalist, she now runs a bookstore. An accident has given her a bad leg and the ability to talk to ghosts including the recently murdered town librarian. Willa is also realizing her cat, Pandora, may be more than just a cat. There was a bit of a love interest between Willa and the investigating officer. So, a bit predictable but it IS a cozy mystery. I think the goal is to create a comfortable little corner of the world with likable and characters and Dobbs has managed to do that. I may try the next one but after a few other books get crossed off the list.

110witchyrichy
sep 29, 2022, 8:21 pm



I borrowed the audio version of The Bookshop of Yesterdays from hoopla as a break from the cozy mysteries I had been listening to. When her Uncle Billy dies, Miranda returns to Los Angeles to attend his funeral and consider her inheritance, Billy's bookstore, Prospero Books. After a fight with Miranda's mother many years before, Billy disappeared from Miranda's life. She remembered him as a fun-loving uncle who created elaborate scavenger hunts for her to solve, often based on books. His death sets off his last great scavenger hunt that leads Miranda to a painful, life-changing discovery.

Miranda, a late-twenty something middle school history teacher at a Quaker school outside Philadelphia, grew up in LA in a seemingly idyllic world with her parents. When she returns home after Billy's death and begins the hunt, she has a sense that her mother is hiding some secret that she feels she deserves to know. As the novel progresses, she becomes increasingly self-centered and, honestly, annoying. She seems to have little empathy for those around her who were also grieving Billy's death and struggling to complete his final wishes.

But, despite my sometimes irritation at Miranda, I really enjoyed the way Meyerson let the story unfold as we followed Miranda in her hunt and discovered the truth right alongside her.

111AMQS
sep 30, 2022, 9:18 pm

Hi Karen! Well so much for retirement?? I hope your classes go well.

You've been reading some terrific books Stelios & Marina both loved A Thousand Ships so I am looking forward to it. I don't think I've read Circe, though I did read Song of Achilles.

I am so sorry you had to say goodbye to your dear Spot. What a sweet dog, and what a lucky dog. And lucky you.

112witchyrichy
okt 1, 2022, 8:29 pm

>111 AMQS: I love teaching and am happy to continue. I retired from the nonprofit because I didn't want to be in charge any more.
Circe was great! I haven't read Song of Achilles. It is on the pile.

I miss Spot every day and I was lucky that he found me.

113Whisper1
okt 2, 2022, 12:49 am

Hi Karen. I don't think I've visited your thread(s) before. I'm glad I landed here tonight/opps this morning.

114Berly
okt 2, 2022, 2:10 am

>98 witchyrichy: My wishlist has already come up with several Nadal vs. Federer matches. I am saving them to watch later. I can't quite imagine tennis without them and Djokavic, but I think the time is coming soon.

>102 witchyrichy: I really enjoyed The Lost Apothecary as well. Loved the intertwining stories and I am sure it was a great one for a bookclub!

>106 witchyrichy: I love Tucci -- might have to get my hands on this one. ; )

115witchyrichy
okt 2, 2022, 6:01 pm

>111 AMQS: I mostly wanted to step away from the nonprofit that had become quite public and all consuming. I *love* teaching and it allows me to stay connected to the field.

Circe was excellent and I haven't read Song of Achilles to will move it up the pile.

I do miss Spot and always will. He and I were somehow meant to be together.

116witchyrichy
okt 14, 2022, 2:58 pm

I had a gloriously relaxing visit with my parents and one of my oldest, dearest friends in Pennsylvania. I skipped taking a laptop, had little or no responsibility as it was fall break, and thoroughly enjoyed just hanging out in a way I haven't done since college, probably!

My parents, my older sister and I enjoyed a tour of the former bed & breakfast in Mt. Gretna, PA, now owned as a private residence by family friends. The next day, we took advantage of a lovely fall day to take a picnic to a nearby state park. My 87-year-old parents sun themselves, read on their phones (dad), read the paper newspaper (mom), while I take the two-mile walk around the lake.

From there, I headed to Coatesville, PA. My old friend and I shopped during the day and watched the Hocus Pocus movies in the evenings. Tuesday was spent making the social rounds. We had lunch with the OEB* group, all educators I worked with at the beginning of my career in the late 80s. They are all retired and get together twice a month. My original mentor is part of the group along with my first department chair. They helped me learn to be a good teacher and I am grateful to have them in my life.

That evening, we had supper and my friend's real life book group with yet another group of women. We discussed The Lost Apothecary, which my RLBG read last month. We pursued similar threads related to the idea of justifiable homicide and how present and past were connected.

Home now and getting started on Verity for my RLBG that meets next week. Fall break is over but my University of Richmond class is working on their own until the first week in November so I am tucked in at home and ready to get the gardens settled in for the winter. We haven't had a frost yet so there are still zinnias, pineapple sage and roses blooming.

______________________
*I started my teaching life as a high school English teacher and was the youngest member of the department by 10 years. My colleagues at this inner city high school were what might be called "old school" English teachers. OEB stands for Old English B****es, a name bestowed on them by a younger colleague long after I was gone. Rather than being offended, my friends adopted it as their gang (dare I say coven?) name. I am an honorary member.

117witchyrichy
okt 14, 2022, 3:06 pm

>114 Berly: I have been trying to get connected with the next generation. I have lived through the retirement of Bjorg, Lendl, and Connors, so I hope I love the sport more than the personalities. But those three have dominated for so long it is hard to imagine life without them. I am hoping Federer starts doing commentary.

Tucci was GREAT and I want to explore his other work. One of my favorite bits was his story of how they ate corn on the cob. They buttered a piece of bread and then used it to rub butter on the ear. He commented that he had never heard of anyone else doing this. Well...my neighbors growing up did the same thing! It was wonderful: the buttered bread took on the sweetness of the corn and you didn't waste a bit of the melted butter. I messaged his Instagram account but haven't gotten a response. My neighbors were not Italian as far as I know; we were mostly all Pennsylvania Dutch in some form or another.

118witchyrichy
Bewerkt: okt 15, 2022, 2:37 pm

John Adcox begins his mystery thriller The Star in the East in the dark streets of Rome, not wasting time getting us involved in the story. I was hooked instantly. Beth is making her way to an ancient place using an ancient map as she creates what we learn will be her last scavenger hunt for her husband. She is sick, dying, and wants to leave him with the most important gift of all: the story of his ancestors. Gaspar is a professional baseball player in Boston who, in his deepest grief at his wife's death, begins to follow the clues, picking up a book seller and his online crush along the way. I was taken in by the mystery and pulled along by the story and its authentic characters. But, it is also a thriller with the bad guys causing trouble throughout the book, even until the very end. The side story of Will and Ana and the toy shop may have been a bit coincidental but it added an extra bit of interest so I didn't mind. An enjoyable read with the right balance of mystery and mayhem.

I received an Early Reviewer's copy of this book in return for my honest review.

119witchyrichy
okt 20, 2022, 4:33 pm

Came home from a great visit to Pennsylvania with a head cold. I thought I was getting over it but woke with a new cough this morning. I haven't had a cold like this for a very long time and probably overdid it yesterday as I was feeling better. Spent most of today resting, sleeping and reading and plan for much of the same tomorrow. I did manage to process the huge cabbages I brought home from PA into what will be a few gallons of sauerkraut in six or eight weeks. One of the cabbages was close to five pounds! Those Amish know how to grow them.

I have heard from a couple people that they also got colds and there is evidently a particularly virulent strain of the rhinovirus out there this year so stay safe my friends! I did finish a couple books and will get reviews posted soon.

120witchyrichy
okt 22, 2022, 6:18 pm

Verity was my RLBG read for October. I wasn't sorry that my cold was just bad enough that I stayed home. I really didn't like it and my somewhat prickly town librarian had already told me she loved it and couldn't put it down so I didn't want to have to get into a prolonged discussion.

It was, indeed, a thriller, with lots of pretty heavy foreshadowing but then what I felt was a pretty manipulative plot twist at the end. According to my librarian, the new hardcover version has an epilogue that is more clear about the plot twist. You can find it online if you've already ready the book.

The plot was pretty thin, and I figured out one major element early on. Coincidences abounded from the very first page. But I read a lot of cozy mysteries so am not that demanding. What really turned me off was the graphic sex descriptions and the cavalier treatment of children. I don't think of myself as a prude but I also don't read "romantic thrillers" so perhaps am just out of the loop. It was just violent and ugly in many cases and more about obsession that romance.

So..I can't recommend this and was somewhat surprised that it was part of a book club pack that can be checked out from the library. If you have read it and liked it, I am happy to hear why. I don't think it is Hoover's usual fare so maybe she just veered too far out of her lane.

121witchyrichy
okt 22, 2022, 6:45 pm

One of my parents' neighbors recommended Donna Leon's Commissario of Police Guido Brunetti series and left a paperback copy of the 4th or 5th installment on their porch for me. It was a chance to start a new audio series and take a break from Ellery Adams. I listened to Death at La Fenice on dog walks and on my trip to Pennsylvania.

The first installment involved the death of a famed opera conductor, apparently poisoned, and potentially by several people who had reason to hate him. Brunetti makes his way through the sometimes cut throat world of opera to find the killer and the evil secret that ultimately led to the conductor's death.

I really enjoyed it: both the story, the characters and its setting, Venice in the early 1990s. I liked Brunetti from the start and came to love his family and even his somewhat dense boss. The narrator, David Colacci, evoked a sense that the characters spoke Italian even as author Leon provided guidance as to what language were spoken when.

I am listening to the second book, Death In a Strange Country, and enjoying it as much as the first.

122witchyrichy
okt 22, 2022, 6:54 pm

The Bullet that Missed is the third installment in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. It was the first one I read rather than listened to. And I enjoyed it just as much. Osman seemed to up the danger factor with a kidnapping and threats made against the group directly. He introduced new characters and a fun twist with Ibrahim visiting Connie Johnson in prison and offering therapy. If you haven't read the first two books in the series, you should so you completely understand the plot and the growing relationships of the characters.

I pre-ordered this so it showed up on the Kindle. I was determined to wait to read it but had no self restraint. Oh well...I hope there will be a book #4. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to the next Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery from Anthony Horowitz.

123witchyrichy
okt 22, 2022, 7:30 pm

I found A Murder for the Books while browsing Libby: a cozy mystery set in the Blue Ridge of Virginia in a library. Well, sign me up! The main character, Amy Webber, is a university librarian but when we meet her, she is fleeing a failed relationship that spilled over into her job. She returns to her home town to take care of her ailing aunt and the ailing public library. She gets involved in a murder that leads to uncovering unsavory town history. She teams up with her aunt, her best friend and her new neighbor, a dancer who has also returned home to learn more his family history.

It looks like there are six more in the series. I may get back to them some day but I do not feel compelled to read them any time soon. I may look for the audio on Hoopla and get them into that rotation.

124witchyrichy
okt 22, 2022, 7:42 pm

I have been a long time subscriber to Southern Living Magazine and often turn to the back page first to read Rick Bragg's column. His stories focus on family and food, often revolving around his mother. The Best Cook in the World is Bragg's ode to her and the generations of books that came before her. Bragg begins in the more distant past with the story of his grandfather, a young newly married man, making his way into the woods to beg his father to return with him to teach his willful wife to cook. From there, we follow the trail of family recipes through to Bragg's mother who tries to translate her innate knowledge into recipes. Bragg uses the recipes as the starting point for family stories.

The book was a memoir of a man whose roots were in the poverty of the South and whose memories of food include times when his mother and grandmother seemed to make something out of nothing. His ode to government cheese was particularly funny as well as poignant as he remembered a past that has gone along with much of his childhood.

I enjoyed reading through the recipes. They were simple and yet often required a deft hand to make those simple ingredients into something special.

125Copperskye
okt 22, 2022, 8:49 pm

Hi Karen!

>116 witchyrichy: Sounds like a lovely weekend spent with family and friends!

I also love the Thursday Murder Club series! The latest did not disappoint. Don’t you wish certain writers would/could write faster? :)

Hope you’re feeling better. At least it’s “only” a cold!

126witchyrichy
okt 23, 2022, 12:23 pm

Murder, Mayhem, and Macarons by Kimberly Titus is a Kindle Vella, a serial story that Amazon charges tokens to read. I picked this up over the summer as it was one of the challenges. I don't think I paid anything as all my tokens were free, including a bunch more they offered me early this fall. They are written in a wide range of genres by lots of different authors.

This one was a romantic cozy mystery. Alex is an accountant who ends up in the middle of a murder when her travel schedule gets mixed up. A wealthy client is accused of murdering his estranged wife. He and Alex team up to solve it with the help of Joyce, the feisty Southern secretary who throws around silly sayings like "that just dills my pickle" and "well shut my mouth."

It was a fun read although I was appalled at several uses of "him and me" to start sentences. Made the old English teacher hairs stand up on the back of my head. Why not just "we"?

I have started two more of these, one a Sherlock Holmes' fanfic and the other historical fiction set in the Depression. They show up in the library and I think all their episodes are available so I may get back to them at some point.

127witchyrichy
okt 30, 2022, 11:30 am

>125 Copperskye: Thanks for stopping by. I had a great trip to Pennsylvania and am certainly grateful that it is just a cold. It has stuck around longer than usual but hasn't been debilitating. I am also fortunate to be mostly at home as well which makes resting a bit easier.

I am always excited when the next book comes out and then gobble it up in one day! I feel the same way about Steve Berry.

128witchyrichy
Bewerkt: nov 5, 2022, 4:51 pm

I tucked into bed early for the past few nights with pots of herbal tea and the most recent two of the five books in the Inspired By The Holmes Canon series by Laurie King and Leslie S. Klinger. The short story format was perfect reading for having a cold as they only required short term concentration on the mystery and characters. Both were very good with diverse approaches to the Holmes canon: differing settings, characters, narrators. Each one featured a graphic story. I am intrigued enough to get back to more of the original Holmes after reading The Hound of the Baskervilles this year. For now, the other King/Klinger volumes are on my TBR list.

I am in the middle of Barbara Kingsolver's new novel, Demon Copperhead. I had trouble getting past the first few chapters, in particular a description of domestic violence that bordered on torture and seemed purposely shocking. I was also a bit put off by her initial depictions of the people who live in Lee County, Virginia, the most western and mountainous county in the state, and the primary setting of the story. It is further south and west from Glade Spring, Virginia, where Kingsolver and her husband operated a farm to table restaurant for the past 15 years. (The restaurant and country store closed permanently at the end of September.)

Like her domestic violence description, the story itself--modeled on David Copperfield--is realistic perhaps to the an extreme that almost becomes stereotype. (I mused that Kingsolver had to close up and get out of town one the book got published as the locals might not take kindly to their depictions honest as they may be.) Plus, I have spent a lot of time in far Southwest Virginia and it rely defies the stereotype. It has been ravaged by poverty and opioid abuse. Beth Macy, who wrote about the devastation that opioids have wrought, is based in Roanoke, a further bit north up I-81 from Lee County. In comparison, Adriana Trigiani, whose home of Big Stone Gap is in the neighboring county, probably paints a too-rosy picture.

I pushed through all this as I have enjoyed Kingsolver's writing in the past and it has gotten a bit better. It is not a happy story overall, but there are bright spots in the life of Demon Copperhead. I am in the midst of one of those right now. I feel like I need to (re)read David Copperfield. That TBR list gets longer with every book you read, doesn't it?

129weird_O
okt 30, 2022, 12:29 pm

That TBR list gets longer with every book you read, doesn't it? Absolutely!

130weird_O
okt 31, 2022, 4:04 pm

>128 witchyrichy: Interesting about the new Kingsolver novel. Ron Charles of WaPo reviewed it a day or two ago, and he opined that it might be the best book of the year. I guess "YMMV" applies. :-)

131witchyrichy
okt 31, 2022, 8:08 pm

>129 weird_O: Indeed.

>130 weird_O: I will look up the review. I think my negative reaction comes from having ties to the area. It is a good story with a strong narrative voice in Demon Copperhead. I'm worried that she is sacrificing individuals for a larger political point.

132witchyrichy
nov 2, 2022, 10:34 am

>130 weird_O: >131 witchyrichy: As a follow up, a quick search on Lee County and opioid shows that it is at the epicenter of the crisis. I am putting Dopesick at the top of the TBR list to follow up with Kingsolver. The story, as I suspected, does not get any happier but I am finding Kingsolver's compassion for the people caught in this web of poverty and substance abuse more apparent. I started the morning reading and after a few chores am heading back to finish it. I might have to agree with Ron Charles and remember not to judge a book too early on. Perhaps it was more of a warning, the domestic violence in the early chapters was brutal.

133Storeetllr
nov 3, 2022, 6:22 pm

Hi, Karen - I seem to have lost track of your thread sometime around Sept. Yikes! I've got to do better.

I also loved Lonesome Dove, which was the first western I ever read. Based on how much I enjoyed it, it was not the last.

>122 witchyrichy: You were smart to read Bullet That Missed on Kindle rather than as an audiobook. I tried, but the reader was awful. I haven't reserved a Kindle copy yet, but I will. Between this series and the Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good series, I feel my age is finally represented in literature.

134witchyrichy
Bewerkt: nov 4, 2022, 2:03 pm

>133 Storeetllr: I wonder if the reader changed as I don't remember hating the audio books for the first two. I have the second Elderly Lady book to read and agree that it makes one feel good to be represented. On a side note: I use Leslie Sansome's Walk App...she is a few years older than me and was part of the early aerobics movement. She always made sure to represent lots of different people from gender to race to age in her workouts.

Leslie has disappeared over the past few years, perhaps mysteriously, and the young people have taken over. While they do have diversity in terms of gender and race, they don't seem to have anyone that looks like me anymore. I have considered pointing it out but all the old LS videos are available so I just use them. It is something to be part of an overlooked population, isn't it?

As for visiting threads, I was gone for the whole month of October traveling then sniffling with a cold and feeling sorry for myself so no recriminations necessary. Always happy to connect.

135streamsong
nov 6, 2022, 11:11 am

>128 witchyrichy: Well, darn. I have enjoyed several of Kingsolver's books but am disturbed reading about torture or even borderline torture of either humans or animals. The images stay stuck in my imagination.

I'll put it on a back burner.

136BLBera
nov 7, 2022, 9:56 am

>128 witchyrichy: I skimmed over your comments because the new Kingsolver is next on my list of reads. Yes, the TBR list gets longer every day. We will all have to live forever to get through it!

137witchyrichy
nov 7, 2022, 12:10 pm

>135 streamsong: I hate to discourage you since I did go on to read it. The other option is the book I just finished: Dopesick by Beth Macy. She reports out of Roanoke, Virginia, four hours north of Lee County, the setting for Kingsolver's novel. It's clear that, while Kingsolver used David Copperfield for her characters and plotting, events are drawn from Macy's book. I will post my final review of Demon Copperhead and Dopesick next.

And, I am with you on the images sticking around. I accidentally read a thriller loaned to me by a friend that included physical and psychological torture and still can't shake some of the scenes. Kingsolver's description is NOT that.

138witchyrichy
nov 7, 2022, 12:11 pm

>136 BLBera: At least now that I am semi-retired, I don't have to wake up and do any real work on Monday mornings, I can tuck in with my first latte and read then go back to it after doggie breakfast and constitutional. What a privilege and pleasure!

139witchyrichy
nov 7, 2022, 12:31 pm



Southwest Virginia is a favorite spot of mine, and I count several natives as good friends. I was fortunate to make several trips this year. This region has been particularly ravaged by the opioid epidemic, especially Lee County, the setting for Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, Demon Copperhead. She faces the epidemic head on. Demon, a modern-day David Copperfield, tells his life story, one tinged by abuse and addiction from the beginning. Ron Charles, reviewing the book in The Washington Post, called it “hilarious and heartbreaking.” Having just finished the book and still reeling from its go-for-broke realism, I’m wondering how I missed the hilarity.

In fact, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to read the book at all after Kingsolver’s early graphic depiction of domestic violence that bordered on torture. Children and the trauma visited upon them through material and spiritual poverty are at the heart of Kingsolver’s story, whether they are raised by their own parents, grandparents or, like Demon, foster families who often do not have the purest of motives for taking in children as part of a system that doesn’t have the energy to support them. The stories are sad, violent, tragic, and many of these children don’t survive past young adulthood, victims of neglect, violence, and drug use. I worried that Kingsolver was in danger of using her characters for political ends that made them more stereotype than reality. But she held them up with respect and compassion, even those who might be deemed antagonists. I do think, however, that there is a middle ground that isn’t part of Demon’s story that I know from being on site: the middle ground where families and communities are working against the tide, opening businesses, obtaining grants, creating opportunities.

Demon, born as Damon but quickly nicknamed as most characters in the book are, narrates the story. The son of a teenage mother and recently deceased father, Demon is Melungeon, an ethnic mix of European, Native American and African descent found in the isolated region of the Cumberland Gap, that includes Lee County. His mother is an addict who is in and out of rehab. Demon is forced to grow up quickly as he cares for her and then learns to navigate the sometimes downright dangerous foster care world.

From an early age, he is able to express his self-awareness of the reality of his own situation and how the world perceives his community. They are hillbillies, objects of ridicule, not respect. He sees the damage wrought by drugs and despair. Yet, despite this awareness, he is unable to extricate himself from this life that has taken so many of his people. There are bright spots in the often dark journey including Demon’s talent as a football player, though that is short-lived, and as a graphic artist that, early on, offers a psychic escape, and later, a physical one. This artistic ability--he draws his family, friends and enemies as super heroes--allows him to see into others, their motivations, their passions, their own demons as well as he sees his own.

Kingsolver’s voice shows up now and then, mostly in the character of Aunt June, a nurse who adopted her niece and moved to the big city. Early on, she returns to the mountains to attempt to save her people from the drug companies represented by Kent, the slick opioid salesman with his brochures and reassurances. This political angle provides some outlet for the anger that builds as you listen to Demon tell his story in his matter-of-fact way. Kingsolver, who has family ties to the area and until September operated a famous farm-to-table restaurant that grew from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle just up the road from Lee County, acknowledges Dr. Art Van Zee, one of the leaders who pushed back against big pharma. He, along with others including a feisty nun, sounded the alarm about the crisis but were largely ignored and continue to work to stem the epidemic.

I went immediately to Dopesick by Beth Macy for the non-fiction version of the story. As I said above, Kingsolver may have used Dickens or her characters and general plot, but the events were filled in by Macy. I haven't seen the Hulu series yet and probably won't at this point. I do have Macy's new book Raising Lazarus on hold. Had I read Macy first, Kingsolver's book might not have been as big a shock.

I was not ignorant of this crisis, having had some family experience that, against all odds, had a happy ending, mostly because my family had the financial means to get help as well as the long-term support needed.

I have started reading David Copperfield. I am sure I read it at some point but don’t have much memory of the book although Kingsolver stirred a few as Dickens inspired her plot, characters as well as social activism. The treatment of children in both books is horrifying but the more so as Kingsolver is describing recent history.

140witchyrichy
nov 9, 2022, 6:39 pm

I have been an Elton John fan all my life after borrowing the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album from my sister and never giving it back. I had a major crush on Elton John, and I fell in love with the music, the collaboration of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Their songs told stories with often tragic characters.

I have seen Rocketman, the biopic that came out around the time of Me, the memoir I just finished, so I was somewhat aware of the sex, drugs and rock and roll aspect of Elton's life. What I wasn't prepared for, perhaps, was the gossipy, b****y side of Elton; he can be downright mean. But he is also funny and often self-deprecating as well as completely honest about his addictions from drugs to sex to shopping as well as his terrible temper.

And, if he did brag a bit, he IS Elton John after all. He chose a variety of stories that showed him at both his best and worst. Besides getting behind the scenes looks at his concerts over the years, we learn about his relationships with family, friends, and the famous and *very* famous including an odd frenemy kind of thing with Rod Stewart. We follow his struggles with substance abuse and his success in getting clean. And, we see him finally get what he never thought he could have: a real family.

I enjoyed the book, learning more about Elton and feeling nostalgic for the times he describes, especially the creation of the early albums I adore.

141Berly
nov 13, 2022, 2:35 am

>140 witchyrichy: I love Elton John! What's the name of the book?

142Storeetllr
nov 14, 2022, 6:14 pm

>134 witchyrichy: The reader(s) of the first two audiobooks were fine. The reader of the third, however…

>140 witchyrichy: I really enjoyed Me, the Elton John memoir!

143figsfromthistle
nov 14, 2022, 8:27 pm

>128 witchyrichy: After waiting a long time at the library, it is finally my turn. Sorry it's not working out for you. I have quite enjoyed her writing and really hope it is not extremely different....

>129 weird_O: I also read Me this year and was surprised by his candor.

Heres to a happy start to the week!

144witchyrichy
nov 16, 2022, 4:04 pm

145witchyrichy
nov 16, 2022, 4:05 pm

>142 Storeetllr: Well, then I am glad I accidentally got the print version.

It was just fun, wasn't it? He gets who he is and is happy with it. I *love* that Lady Gaga is the godmother to his children.

146witchyrichy
nov 16, 2022, 4:08 pm

>143 figsfromthistle: It ended up working out for me and leading to binge reading both of Beth Macy's nonfiction reporting books about the opioid crisis: Dopesick and Raising Lazarus. I am glad I worked past an early scene and gave it a chance as I also have enjoyed Kingsolver's writing.

I cringed at a few things Elton said about other people and certainly wouldn't recommend it to my elderly mother ;-)

147johnsimpson
nov 16, 2022, 5:01 pm

Hi Karen my dear, just starting to catch up with friends and their threads after my recent illness travails. I see you posting on Twitter and keep up to date that way, hope all is well with you and Bob, Spot, Major and Circe and we both send love and hugs dear friend.

148PaulCranswick
nov 24, 2022, 8:24 am



Thank you as always for books, thank you for this group and thanks for you. Have a lovely day, Karen.

149witchyrichy
nov 24, 2022, 8:40 am

>147 johnsimpson: I hope you are doing better. I am spending this morning also getting caught up!

>148 PaulCranswick: Grateful for you, Paul, and this group where I can share my obsession with books and reading with others!

150witchyrichy
nov 24, 2022, 8:40 am

Happy Thanksgiving from Bottle Tree Farm!

151Storeetllr
nov 24, 2022, 12:19 pm

Happy Thanksgiving, Karen! 🦃🍽 🍁 Love your photo montage!

152johnsimpson
nov 24, 2022, 4:18 pm

Hi Karen my dear, Happy Thanksgiving Day. Sadly we both have a head cold and are not feeling too good, like you said on my thread, this lot seems to be lingering and could be a long winter, thank goodness for tea and books.

153karenmarie
nov 25, 2022, 7:50 am

Hi Karen!

Quick catch up. Sorry you returned from your travels with a bad cold, hope you're fully recovered.

>140 witchyrichy: I've always loved Elton John, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is my favorite album.

154witchyrichy
nov 28, 2022, 12:52 pm

>151 Storeetllr: Thanks! I have been trying to take a picture every day to capture all the seasons on the farm.

155witchyrichy
nov 28, 2022, 12:53 pm

>152 johnsimpson: Thanks for stopping by. So sorry you are sick! My biggest advice is to REST. The minute I feel slightly better, I overdo. And three cheers to tea and books!

156witchyrichy
nov 28, 2022, 12:54 pm

>153 karenmarie: Thanks for stopping by. Hope you had a good holiday. Putting Goodbye Yellow Brick on right now!

157witchyrichy
dec 22, 2022, 2:28 pm

Reading, binge watching holiday baking shows and fav movies while making and sending cards, crocheting gifts and baking for the local folks. All done...now wrapping the presents. I updated my reading list but that's about all I have time for!

158Berly
dec 22, 2022, 4:11 pm

Sounding very productive!! Happy holidays!

159johnsimpson
dec 24, 2022, 11:50 am

Merry Christmas

160PaulCranswick
dec 25, 2022, 11:31 am



Malaysia's branch of the 75er's wishes you and yours a happy holiday season, Karen.

161Berly
dec 25, 2022, 8:19 pm


162Storeetllr
dec 25, 2022, 8:59 pm

Merry Christmas, Karen! Thanks for stopping by my thread and dropping off your Christmas greeting!

163witchyrichy
dec 26, 2022, 4:34 pm

>158 Berly: >159 johnsimpson: >160 PaulCranswick: >161 Berly: >162 Storeetllr: Thank for your wishes! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I spent the day with family, including my new niece-in-law who is just a hoot and a half. We have a lot in common despite the 3 decades difference in our ages. She loves Legos, gnomes and was reading a book when we arrived! She also told the story of sobbing on finishing A Man Called Ove.

Back home in front of the hearth and ready for a restful week. I am grateful for LibraryThing and looking forward to another year of reading with all of you!

164witchyrichy
dec 26, 2022, 4:55 pm

My personal goal was to write reviews of every book I read this year. I am actually not *that* far behind but I am going to cheat a little by doing blanket reviews of a couple mystery series.

I started listening to Donna Leon's Commisario Brunetti series after one of my parents' neighbors recommended it. They left #8 on the porch so, of course, I had to start with #1...and I am glad I did. Leon creates strong relationships among her characters that grow and change over the course of each book. The central character is Guido Brunetti, a police detective in Venice who often finds himself investigating murders that lead to larger issues including human trafficking, arms dealing, and the influence of the Catholic Church on Italian society. I have listened to all of them via Hoopla, the new library app that allows instant downloads. The narrator, David Colacci, is excellent.

The next book--Fatal Remedies--is the book left by the neighbors. It should be interesting to read the text but I am sure Colacci's voice will be in my head.

165Berly
dec 26, 2022, 5:00 pm

I really need to get back to that series!! Thanks for the reminder. And I think I will try listening to it next time. : )

166witchyrichy
dec 26, 2022, 5:03 pm

I started Nancy Warren's Great Witches Baking Show last year on Christmas night. I was staying in my sister's guest bedroom and tucked myself in with this very light cozy mystery series. I was looking forward to the new season of the Great British Baking Show so I thought this would be fun way to heighten the anticipation.

I finished the series in a reading binge this fall. All the books are available via Kindle Unlimited. They are exactly what they sound like: the Great British Baking Show with magic. The main character, Poppy, has managed to get into the contest mostly so she can investigate the mystery of her birth. She was left in an apple box on the doorstep of a family, wrapped in a shawl connected with the local landowners and aristocrats. Unaware of her magical powers, Poppy bakes and gets embroiled in a variety of murders, eventually connecting with the town coven and discovering her powers. Even as I type, it sounds sort of silly, but I enjoyed the books. Warren included descriptions of the various bakes as well as recipes at the end.

167witchyrichy
dec 27, 2022, 4:32 pm

As I mentioned above, I have been listening to Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series mystery. The narrator, David Colacci, is excellent; Leon tackles both murder mysteries and contemporary issues. In addition, she has created a rich tapestry of characters set against the glory and challenges of living in Venice. Guido Brunetti does his work methodically, often finding himself at odds with his pompous boss, who he has learned to manipulate spectacularly. Their scenes together are comical as well as revealing how class and wealth influence Venetian society. Brunetti's relationship with his boss's secretary, a woman who knows her way around computers and databases as well as the stock market, is also fascinating. She has taken on a larger role in each book. We also see how technology begins to play an important part of police investigations.

We also get to know Brunetti's college professor wife and two children along with his wife's parents who are part of Venice's aristocracy. All of them play varying roles in the stories and their relationships grow and change, just as they naturally would. Reading the books in order will help as Leon also brings minor characters, mostly acquaintances of Brunetti who help him with information and access, into different books.

I have the print version of Fatal Remedies, the one that started me on the series, and may read it this week.

All the audio books have been available through the Hoopla app that my public library subscribes to.

168witchyrichy
dec 27, 2022, 5:02 pm

I don't think I have ever read a Debbie Macomber book and now I have read two in one month. i think the first one was part of the Kindle challenge and is part of her Cedar Cove series. In this installment, Jo Marie welcomes two women to the Rose Harbor Inn. Coco and Katie are returning to town for their high school reunion and both have agendas; Coco wants to confront a boy who humiliated her and Katie hopes to reunite with her first love. Meanwhile, Jo Marie is struggling to understand her handyman, Mark Taylor, who is becoming a good friend to the widow. When he announces he is leaving town and puts his house up for sale, Jo Marie feels betrayed and abandoned, and when she finds out the reason he has left, she is in fear for his life. I may read the sequel just to see how Macomber ties it up, but I have not become a die hard fan.

My second Macomber was one of her Christmas books and I read it over the actual holiday, sprawled across the sofa at the Doubletree after the big day had wound down. Twelve Days of Christmas definitely read like a Hallmark movie with a pretty formulaic script. Julia Padden finds her neighbor, Cain Maddox, to be standoffish and even rude and then discovers him stealing her newspaper one morning. She rants to a friend about his behavior even as she is trying to create a blog that will capture the attention of her potential new employer and get her out of the sales department at Macy's. Said friend, Cammie, suggests Julia tries kindness as a way to connect and blog about her attempts. The story unfolds from there somewhat predictably. But, I did enjoy it. Macomber tells a good story and throws in a few twists that keep it interesting. It was a lovely book to read at Christmas.

169witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 10:03 am

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan was my RLBG read for November. Surprisingly, everyone enjoyed it, which says something about this fairy tale of a book. Anthony Peardew is the original keeper, picking up lost things and cataloging them as penance for losing a special item on the very day his fiancee died. He has lived a solitary life but invites in Laura as his assistant. She joins Freddy the gardener and eventually they welcome their neighbor Sunshine. The story is sad but sweet and very much a fairy tale. I have found myself picking up lost things myself in homage to this lovely read.

170witchyrichy
Bewerkt: dec 29, 2022, 10:33 am

I listened to the first two books--Elementary, She Read and Body on Baker Street in Vicki Delany's Sherlock Holmes bookshop series and enjoyed them. Gemma Doyle, relocated to Cape Cod to help her uncle with his bookshop. Classic cozy mystery with lots of Holmes' references that helped continue one of my themes this year. They changed the narrator for the third book, however, and the new one just didn't work for me. Her voices were all wrong after being used to the first one...not sure it would have been different if she had started the series. Not sure I am interested in reading the analog versions either.

I did discover that Delany also writes as Eva Gates and I have followed her Outer Banks library mystery series from the beginning.

171witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 10:42 am

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn followed three women working at Bletchley Hall during World War as well as their lives after the war. It was a compelling tale with solid history, well-developed characters, and a mystery that keeps the story moving along. Quinn is a respected historical fiction writer and this book did not disappoint. There will be more Quinn for me in 2023.

172witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 10:48 am

I try to read a few Christmas books during the season. This year, I included A Christmas Memory by Richard Paul Evans and Christmastime 1939 by Linda Mahkovec. They were both heartwarming, nostalgic stories of Christmases past. They were both good reads. And, I shared my email with Evans to get his family recipes.

173witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 10:55 am

The Queen's Almoner is part of a series by Tonya Ulynn Brown that focuses on the Stuart Monarchs. The first installment is all about Mary Queen of Scots as told by her childhood friend Thomas Broune. There is good history as well as heaving bosoms as Broune, despite being a priest, is in desperate love with the queen. I have book 2 on my Kindle and continues the story with James VI and Thomas's son William. It focuses on the North Berwick witch trials. I plan to read it at some point.

174witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 11:01 am

I really enjoyed Abraham Lincoln and the Freedom Fighter. Author Brian Kilmeade weaves together the story of these two men in a way that gives new insight into the complexities of the Civil War and its aftermath. My only drawback is that Kilmeade is part of Fox & Friends...I only discovered that after reading the book. Kilmeade has made lots of controversial statements for a man who writes pretty compellingly about Frederick Douglass and the need for freedom.

175witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 11:08 am

Daughter of the Moon Goddess was excellent: the story of Xingyin, exiled from the Moon where her mother is trapped as punishment. She struggles to find her place in the Celestial City, eventually becoming a well-respected warrior. There is a love triangle that leads to the climax of the book. Everything about the book was larger than life from the fabulous places to the wicked battles to the intense love scenes. One reviewer suggested it was really young adult fiction, and I had the same sense as I read. It doesn't really matter to me but could account for that heightened sense of living life to its fullest. In the end, Xingyin is a fierce fighter for her family and her future.

176witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 11:11 am

Michelle Obama's The Light We Carry is less memoir and more life lessons illustrated with her own experiences as well as those of others. The chapters focus on how Obama navigates her complicated life with an eye to her own self-care and that of her friends. She recognizes her own privilege as well as her faults (the description of the weekend boot camps she arranged for her friends were a hoot!). I gave a copy to my mother fro Christmas and can recommend it as a good read, like spending a day or two with an old friend who wants to remind you of your own strength.

177witchyrichy
dec 29, 2022, 11:16 am

Well...these last reviews were pretty short and sweet but I believe I have fulfilled my goal of reviewing every book I read this year! Right now, I am reading Phil Lesh's memoir of his life with the Grateful Dead...doing it in honor of what has been dubbed DEAD WEEK, between Christmas and New Year. Listening to the old albums and remembering the Dead shows I attended in my youth. I may head to the Internet Archive next to check out their live concert recordings.

178karenmarie
dec 30, 2022, 7:50 am

Hi Karen!

One of my new year’s resolutions is to be a better LT friend.


179witchyrichy
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2022, 12:30 pm

>178 karenmarie: I don't get around to threads as much as I would like and I have made a similar resolution myself. With the fall semester over and nothing much going on in the spring, I am really retired and can spend my mornings doing what I like! Imagining visiting LT over my second cuppa after dog feeding and walking. Happy new year to you!

180witchyrichy
dec 30, 2022, 12:48 pm

I am having something of a readathon this mostly due to waking up early and reaching for a book instead of my phone. This morning, it was 4:30 AM and the latest Armand Gamache mystery from Louise Penny. I had started just a few pages last night before I fell asleep and then finished it by 9:00 AM this morning. It was so good: she told the origin story of the relationship between Gamache and his colleague Jean Guy Beauvoir before bringing us back to present day. She wove in another past case that evoked real fear in the usual stoic Gamache. I always swear I am going to read these slowly but she pulls me in and doesn't let go.

The new series Three Pines on Prime Video is very good. It has four stand-alone mysteries of two episodes each woven together by an ongoing mystery about missing indigenous teens that gets to the larger story of the horrific treatment of indigenous peoples, especially children, in Canada. Penny is one of the writers and they have hired indigenous writers and actors.

In looking it up, I discovered a movie from 2013 that is now on Acorn TV. After 18 books, I don't have good memories of the early ones.

181witchyrichy
dec 30, 2022, 1:07 pm

Phil Lesh was the bass player for The Grateful Dead from the beginning. He narrates the rise and fall of the band and the 1960s as someone who was on the front lines, and his tale, while it has its happy moments, is mostly sad. Even as they were creating the soundtrack for the psychedelic era, they were cheated by those they loved (in one case, a band member's father) and unable to stop touring as they had so many people to support. The famous line from Truckin'--what a long, strange trip it's been--has a bittersweet air in the light of Lesh's story. Several times, Lesh appears to blame himself for not putting an end to the touring as he believe it led to the deaths of several band members, most notably Jerry Garcia.

Lesh it at his most esoteric when he describes how the band created it unique sound and the impact it had on him and the audiences. In the end, the Dead just wanted to create experiences for their audiences through their improvisations and experiments. LSD, of course, played a large part in that work as the Dead provided the music for Ken Kesey and his pranksters as they conducted their acid tests.

Lesh, at 82, has had a liver transplant, bladder cancer and back surgery. His band, Phil Lesh and Friends, will be playing in Denver in February. Wondering if any of my old dead head friends are going?

182Storeetllr
dec 30, 2022, 2:05 pm

Happy holidays, Karen, and Happy New Year! Love all your reviews, though only the memoir of the Grateful Dead hit me. It’s on my list for 2023. Looking forward to reading more next year.

183Berly
dec 30, 2022, 11:46 pm

>177 witchyrichy: Nicely done! That goal is completely beyond me for this year. Maybe in 2023? Fingers crossed.

184witchyrichy
dec 31, 2022, 11:09 am

>182 Storeetllr: Glad to know I got you with at least one book.

>183 Berly: I did much better at the beginning of the year. Mainly, the reviews help me remember the books so they are about self-preservation as well as encouraging others.

185weird_O
dec 31, 2022, 3:18 pm

I'll save it for "the other side." See you there. Perhaps even tomorrow.

186witchyrichy
dec 31, 2022, 4:46 pm