aggieamy
-
Posts
6,025 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by aggieamy
-
-
I am a chapter into YOU LUCKY DOG this morning and am loving it. Normally I'm not a fan of contemporary anything but this premise sounded so charming. Just what I needed today.
-
4
-
-
37 minutes ago, Robin M said:
It tis! I just had a friend call to let me know she voted and she wrote herself in for president. 🙄
*removed*
-
3
-
-
I just have to draw attention to @Violet Crown's signature because it's too clever.
MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO
for Consul
2020"Pragmatist for the People"
😃
-
7
-
-
Does anyone remember my bold plans to read John The Witch Family last night? Show of hands who thought I was a little ambitious with that plan. Yeah. There was no reading to him last night, he was exhausted after trick or treating and passed out in bed before I could tuck him in.
Our neighborhood was light on kids trick or treating but lots of houses were participating in safe ways. Either people had a bucket of candy on their front steps or they'd have a card table setup with candy and the resident would sit ten feet back in a lawn chair so kids could help themselves to candy. A few people did it the old fashioned way (knock on door style) and those people all wore masks along with the trick or treaters.
-
7
-
-
3 hours ago, Robin M said:
Did you all remember to set your clocks back for those where daylight savings time ended. Yes, I'm up early and taking advantage of the quiet to write before the guys consume my day. Nanowrimo month and I'm being a rebel and editing versus starting something new.
I'm doing NaNo too. I'm attempting to not be a rebel but really I should be editing something rather than doing new words. What's your NaNo username?
-
5
-
-
I think I posted on Monday that I'd jump on "tomorrow" and post my books. Is this Tuesday? No? Well let's pretend it is.
Finished:
Too Late to Die (Sheriff Dan Rhodes #1) by Bill Crider - I discovered this while searching for something like the Patrick McManus Bo Tully series and enjoyed it. It's nothing like the Bo Tully series but more of just a 1980's small town sheriff cozy-ish mystery. There was charm in reading about someone trying to solve a mystery in times that sounded modern (ie not Regency England) but without a cell phone.
A Killer in King's Cover by Iona Whishaw - Recommended by @mumto2 because she and I seem to have 100% overlap on mysteries we enjoy. Highly recommend if you like historical cozy mysteries. I've got the second ready to be picked up at my library but my library has the most random COVID hours now so I won't be able to get it until Tuesday.
-
5
-
-
7 minutes ago, Penguin said:
Happy Halloween 🙂 The Witch Family is one of my favorite books ever. At the moment, I am reading Dracula for the first time.
Oh my goodness. I'm now on hold with my local bookstore to see if they have a copy of this because I'd love to start it with John tonight!
-
5
-
-
On 10/7/2020 at 1:23 PM, Dreamergal said:
Love this.
One of the most surprising and wonderful things for me is finding people on this thread who actually know and enjoy books I grew up with like Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. Usually people in the US go who ? 😁
I grew up with Roald Dahl but I didn't discover Enid Blyton until we were in Scotland with @Violet Crown and her littlest daughter told John about them. Now we're big fans. DS and I are almost done with The Enchanted Wood and we are loving it.
On 10/27/2020 at 5:31 PM, Violet Crown said:Poor Sophia! On the other hand, I was always able to be excused to go home by saying I felt weak and dizzy - "Oh dear you're so pale I can see you're really ill!"
I'd be doing great with my 10x10's this year if they were from this year, but they're from 2019.
Some of my categories might take me a decade which is a 10 number ... so it's all okay. 🙂
On 10/27/2020 at 8:01 PM, Robin M said:Phew, that was stressful. We've been on pins and needles waiting to hear back from one of my technicians who has been out sick. Ordinary flu not covid. Yeah! So sorry you're not feeling good but yeah! This is the one employee who is out and about more and the one who always gets whatever is out there worse than the rest of us. We discussed contingency plans again to keep the shop open as long as the rest of us tested negative. So this was our dress rehearsal.
So glad everyone is okay. We've had a few scares and it's so stressful.
We're trick or treating this year but thought really long and hard about not going. Everyone is going to mask up and I'm going to hold the candy bag but I'm still nervous. I'm also expecting it to be lame because I doubt there's going to be many houses with lights on. *sigh* It's tough having a little boy that's so excited about it and just doesn't understand why all the things he loves have been canceled.
On 10/27/2020 at 8:36 PM, Kareni said:My sister tested positive for covid-19 about ten days ago as did her husband a few days later. My sister had what was similar to a really bad cold and is now feeling much better. My brother-in-law was asymptomatic. I'm grateful that additional family with whom they'd been in contact tested negative and also that my sister's case was mild.
That's a relief!
-
7
-
-
Hello! I finished books. No, no, keep your seats. No applause necessary. I was even going to post which ones I finished and gush about how much I liked them but WTM is not letting me do links right now so we'll try that again when I'm on my laptop tonigh. *ugh*
On 10/12/2020 at 11:55 AM, Violet Crown said:Here we go:
Bad Catholic
1. Philip Lawler, The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful ... and What can Be Done About It
2. Blaise Pascal, The Provincial Letters
3. *St. John of the Cross, Poems
4. *St Francis & St Clare, The Complete Works
5. Andre Gide, The Vatican Cellars
6. Bruce Marshall, The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith
7. Leon Bloy, Disagreeable Tales
8. Thomas Day, Why Catholics Can't Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste
9. Anthony Cekada, Work of Human Hands: A Theological Critique of the Mass of Paul VI
10. Romano Amerio, Iota Unum: A Study of Changes in the Catholic Church in the Twentieth Century*Not actually 'Bad Catholic' but sometimes you have to take a break
What an interesting eclectic list! You seem to be doing really well with your 10x10's this year.
On 10/26/2020 at 3:37 AM, negin said:I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - 3 Stars - Although I’m giving this book 3 stars, I didn’t like it much at all, but to be fair, it has helped to motivate me to sleep more and hopefully better
<snip>
You do such excellent thorough reviews of the non-fiction you read that I feel like I get the important stuff without having to read the book. Thank you for taking the time and energy to review them! It's always so appreciated. And now I know I need to sleep more.
On 10/26/2020 at 3:37 AM, negin said:
This is so funny and reminds me of a conversation Sophia and I had today. She fainted during Mass at school today (don't worry ... it's just one of those things that happens at Catholic school ... there seem to always be a kid that passes out from not eating breakfast or something ... today it was my kid but she's fine). I had to go pick her up at school because she was too shaky to drive home. The nurse, a secretary, and a teacher we passed as I was helping Sophia out of the school all commented on how extremely pale Sophia looked and how they hoped she got feeling better. As soon as we get in the car Sophia turns to me and says, "Don't these people realize this is my natural color!" And she's right. She's got dark hair and hazel eyes but is very pale.
-
7
-
-
I've got a stack of mysteries on my night table and audible player (phone! Lol) and reading chair that are all like 85% finished. What is wrong with me? I don't know. I don't know that anyone does. So the next time I report in I'll have a huge long list of finished books. Or I'll be 90% finished. And @mumto2 is being so patient because almost all the books are one's she's recommended I read. I hope she doesn't give up on recommending books to me because I'm a slow reader these days.
John and I are making our way through all the classic Roald Dahl books alternating with the Enid Blyton books. So that'll keep us busy for a long time to come. Apparently I'm getting through read alouds. Maybe I should see if John is interesting in listening to some cozy British historical mysteries at night?!?! I say that as a joke but I think Sophia was only two years older than him when she listened to her first Agatha Christie.
-
7
-
-
On 9/20/2020 at 1:06 PM, mumto2 said:
I have the next Lane Winslow Mystery ready to read sometime soon and will probably consider it my Fall challenge as COLD is in the title. An Old, Cold Grave https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34696033-an-old-cold-grave?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=9AMb0oaSBM&rank=2. @aggieamyHave you had a chance to read the first one in this series?
Reading the first one now ... standby for report in the next day or two depending on how life goes. 🙂
-
6
-
-
On 9/20/2020 at 12:06 PM, Violet Crown said:
Still reading Henry James's The Ambassadors. And soon need to read The Great Gatsby together with Middle Girl -- better late than never. So a convenient time to throw Robin's challenge onto the book pile! I wonder if I can get Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall read quick?
Super interested to hear your opinions on Gatsby as an adult rereading it ... Will this be your first reread since high school?
On 9/20/2020 at 2:15 PM, Negin said:The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill - 5 Stars - Lovely little book of some of Churchill’s best quotes and anecdotes. Churchill was an amazing man. He wrote all his own speeches.
Here is my favorite anecdote:
“At a formal banquet in London, the attending dignitaries asked the question, ‘If you could not be who you are, who would you like to be?’ Naturally everyone was curious as to what Churchill, who was seated next to his beloved Clemmie, would say. Would Churchill say Julius Caesar or Napoleon? When it finally came Churchill’s turn, the old man, who was the dinner’s last respondent to the question, rose and give his answer.
‘If I could not be who I am, I would most like to be …’ and here he paused to take his wife’s hand, ‘Mrs. Churchill’s second husband.’”
Here's my review with all my favorite quotes.
I think it might be one of those days because I read this quote and got all teary eyed. Whew. I'm going to need more coffee!
On 9/20/2020 at 2:42 PM, Kareni said:Funny detective or police series
https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/ivxnpr/funny_detective_or_police_series/
Great link. Thanks!
-
6
-
-
FINISHED:
Um ... can I count last weeks BaW thread as read because that's about it these days.
I think I only missed a week but things look different around here anyway. Life is good but busy. I'm falling into bed exhausted at night. DD is back in school (as in ... back in a building two days a week). DS is hanging out with mom. And we've also hired someone to help with the company. Which surprisingly cuts into my inter-netting time. I feel a little lazy jumping on here or Goodreads when my employee is ten feet away drafting.
And I managed to delete two quotes but at least I remember them ... kinda.
@JunieI'm getting DD The Goblin Emperor for Christmas. I hope DD and your sister will enjoy it. I'm hoping my DD doesn't stumble across it in a library or on Kindle before she gets it as a present.
@mumto2Thanks for posting the cool cat book and the description. I have a friend that loves Murakami and is super hard to buy for. Now I know what book she's getting for Christmas.
-
6
-
-
So we finished another Boxcar Children (it doesn't matter which one but it was one of the original 19 actually written by Warner at least). John loved it so much that he immediately bought it on Audible so he could listen to it again. (Never mind my annoyance that I've discussed WITH EVERYONE IN MY HOUSE NOT TO BUY AUDIBLE BOOKS THROUGH THE ALEXA. You see the Alexa always buys them with a credit when sometimes it's only a $4 book which is so much cheaper than a credit. *rant over*) But it was sweet and I was reminded of why I suffer through these books. There's something classic about these "kids going on adventures and solving mysteries" that just appeals to young children. And they love to hear the same story over and over. So my deal with him right now is that every third read aloud we do can be a Boxcar Children book. But MTH books have been moved to the "books to read to yourself" category. This mama has her limits.
-
7
-
-
1 minute ago, Penguin said:
@Negin I appreciate the menopause book discussion. Cancer treatment forced me into early meno at age 41, which is now 15 years ago. I am always trying to learn more about bone health. Fortunately, I started meno with a lot of bone strength in the bank, so to speak. And I have tried to be proactive. However, all of that was not still not enough to stave off the effects of chemo an aromatase inhibitor (anti-estrogen drug therapy).
Ditto all of this. Except 17-years-old and now 21 years ago! (My how the years fly by ...) The bone health is such a good reminder that I don't think of much!
-
9
-
-
I just hit 52 books for the year but a substantial number really didn't count because they're shorter read alouds like Boxcar Children and MTH. For the statistics junkies I've put my breakdown below.
52 books (including short read alouds but not picture books)
19 X Audiobooks
20 X Brit Trips
12 X Read Alouds
9 X Books on the craft of writing-
11
-
-
13 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:
I took a reading hiatus but recently began again.
I read:
All the Light We Cannot See. By Anthony Doerr
Absence if Grace. By Ann Warner
For homeschooling we have been reading a lot if good books:
The Secret Commonwealth. By Philip Pullman
Journey to the Centre if the Earth by Jules Verne
The Children of Green Knowe and The River at Green Knowe. By Lucy M. Boston
The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
Anne of the Island and currently Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
All good books!!!
Wow. That's a great list of books! We've got The Star of Kazan in John's bookshelf to try to read soon.
-
7
-
-
FINISHED:
Avalanche (Sheriff Bo Tully #2) by Patrick McManus -- I have two ratings for this book. Because I'm super opinionated that even my opinions have opinions! Well ... let's just get into it.
5 star book -- Excellent narrator and side characters and mystery. Everything tied up so well. It's just what you want when you're looking for a cozy mystery with a fun setting. After years of being the outdoors-man's Dave Barry McManus knows how to do humor and a modern "wild west" setting better than anyone.
2 star book - Tully's interactions with women were so weird and unrealistic. Every woman was in love with him. They hounded him. They tried to kiss him and lure him away alone. He was repeatedly turning down offers to hook up with them. It might have been intended as a running joke but the joke didn't work for me. In fact it started to annoy me and take away from everything I did enjoy about the book. It read as author wish fulfillment/fantasy and ... I'll just leave it as weird.
-
6
-
-
21 hours ago, Kareni said:
I recently finished a reread of Linesman (A Linesman Novel) by SK Dunstall which I enjoyed once more.
My husband and I have been listening to the audio version of The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. The narrator is Lloyd James who does an excellent job with the many voices. We are almost finished and have both enjoyed it thus far. It's my husband's first exposure to the book while I read it for the first time some months ago.
Regards,
Kareni
I'm always on the lookout for good narrators ... that's an author and a narrator I've been wanting to try out. Now I'll just have to see where I can get my hands on a copy!
-
5
-
-
On 8/26/2020 at 7:15 PM, Kareni said:
Today only, free for Kindle readers ~
Patricia Wentworth's A Marriage Under the Terror
"The award-winning debut from one of Britain’s most cherished crime writers
Before she created the iconic Miss Silver, Patricia Wentworth found acclaim as an author of page-turning romances. Set during the French Revolution, A Marriage Under the Terror is a gripping tale of love blossoming in the ashes of betrayal, and a fascinating first step from a master storyteller.
Nineteen-year-old orphan Aline de Rochambeau is horrified at the prospect of an arranged marriage to the foppish Vicomte Selincourt. But when Selincourt and Madame de Montargis, Aline’s married aunt, are unmasked as lovers and arrested for treason, the young noblewoman’s situation grows even more drastic. Alone in a Paris engulfed in revolt, Aline has no chance of survival—until she meets the dashing freedom fighter Jacques Dangeau. Torn between his vow to liberate France and his passion for Aline, Jacques makes a choice that could doom both of them forever.
Published in 1910, A Marriage Under the Terror won the Melrose Prize for best first novel. "Regards,
Kareni
Thank you! I picked this one up!
-
4
-
-
8 minutes ago, mumto2 said:
Inspector Gamache........I thought it was over but........https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49127539-all-the-devils-are-here Yes, @aggieamy I plan to read another one.......make sure you read the description.😉
*eye roll*
Jumped.
The.
Shark.
-
4
-
3
-
-
4 minutes ago, Robin M said:
Making a strawberry bouquet to share with my hubby as we are celebrating our 23rd anniversary today. I also bought some of the Rock's (Dwayne Johnson) Teremana, a special sipping tequila to try. Wonder how it will taste in a margarita. Hmm!
Happy anniversary! I love the strawberry bouquet idea. How fun.
Kevin and I had our anniversary yesterday. Can't believe he's put up with my bossing him around for so long. 🥰 We drank some wine and played board games with the kids.
-
8
-
-
Just now, Junie said:
"I liked The Old Man and the Sea," said Junie quietly, from the corner of the room...
Amy smiles at Junie. "We can still be friends."
-
5
-
2
-
-
4 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:
(shut up about the stupid fish, old man!
Preach it sister! And I don't ever need to read details of an old man peeing off the side of a boat. Ever.
My real life already consists of lots of peeing on car tires or trees or on occasion the toilet seat lid because six-year-old boys wait until it's an emergency situation to go to the bathroom.
-
1
-
5
-
Book a Week 2020 - BW45: Ladies of Fiction bookology - Jayne Ann Krentz and Cherie Priest
in The Chat Board
Posted · Edited by aggieamy
Just think how easy it will be to double your pages read this week.
HAHAHA. No ... no stress in my life. *wildly eyes John's textbooks, the dirty laundry, my own work to-do list, and the list of colleges I was supposed to start researching for Sophia* We're totally fine here.
LOL. I've had those months too!