I just moved this up in my TR stack, too - I picked up a copy at the most recent library book sale The bolded made me think of one of my current re-reads - The Children of Men by PD James. I loved this book when I first read it, in the early 90s right after it was published. I'm even more floored by it now. I think it's partly because I'm the exact age of the protagonist - we were both born in 1971 - and it's now approaching the date of the novel, which was set in 2021. It makes it all so much more affecting and poignant, both because "the world" is closer to the time described, and because I'm close to the protagonist's age, and the world looks a lot different at nearly 50 than it did at 20-something. But talk about an unlikeable main character! PD James does anti-heros so well. Not villains, but main characters who are decidedly un-heroic. I know lots of people don't love her here, but what I do love about her is her absolutely unflinching portrayal of a character's inner life, with all its flaws. I think you don't get that too often in literature- a really clear-eyed portrayal of the thoughts which we not only hide from others, but try to hide from ourselves. Plus, PD James has a pretty cynical view about human nature, which I tend to share, so I always feel like that she writes more True sentences in one book than most authors manage to in their whole lifetime. This looks like a book I would enjoy, for the literary references to so many favorites, if for no other reason. I'm having that experience with The Massacre of Mankind - it has a good heroine, and I love seeing all the War of the World characters pop up, along with actual historical figures and events, changed as they might have been had the Martians attacked in 1907. There are a few major plot/logic holes that I'm managing to suspend disbelief about so far, because I'm really enjoying the writing and the characters. Don't read it unless you've read and liked The War of the Worlds.

Can I come too? I promise to sit quietly in the other comfy chair across the room and read my book. Be careful what you wish for - one of these days I might just show up on your doorstep!

I agree with you, there is something qualitatively different about MM6 vs. the earlier levels, I think. I like the focus on concepts, and I like the focus on mental math - those were features for me (although bugs for dd! :001_rolleyes: ). But there is a lumbering tediousness about MM6 that outweighs its benefit, for us. Interestingly this seems to be the case for both the "old" MM6, which I used with dd14, and the new.

She was so happy when I said we weren't doing MM today!! We did the first HOE lesson, and then started Zaccaro Challenge Math. I ordered the Math Essentials workbook. I think this plus Dreambox will keep us out of trouble for awhile. Apparently she hates Khan Academy, not sure when that happened, but I think we have enough to work with for now. I've looked at both MEP and the NCERT stuff too, but I have to say, I really like having actual, printed materials to deal with rather than fussing with multiple pdfs. Trying to keep it simple.

Hmm, I like the look of the Richard Fisher workbooks. That seems very efficient. Did you guys use the videos on the website?

I did a re-read of Candide for the Opera square, and thoroughly enjoyed it. They've also made operas of The Turn of the Screw and The Handmaid's Tale, Gatsby, Alice in Wonderland, Lolita, The LIttle Prince, Moby Dick . . . the possibilities are almost endless. For Manga, I was at a loss too, but ended up reading Death Note, which was reasonably entertaining.

So I was talking to dd14 and she reminded me that we had the same problem with MM6 - we persevered for awhile, but then ended up adding a bunch of other things and dropping it. So, I have pulled out HOE and the verbal problems book, and Zaccaro Challenge Math. Maybe we'll do that for awhile, along with Dreambox & Khan, and see how it goes.Yeah, life is too short to dread math every day! And I have sooooooo much math on hand, there is really no excuse not to find something that will work. Thank you, everybody, for commiserating and for reminding me that I'm the one in charge here, not the curriculum!

That's essentially what we're doing, she does Dreambox every day. But if we don't do 2 page of MM every day, we will never . . . finish . . . Unless we just do the chapter quizzes then go back and only teach the concepts she doesn't understand. Hmm . . . .

See, that's part of the thing. I discovered Videotext for Algebra, and I like it so much. It's really focused on conceptual understanding, but it's so clear and straightforward. That's what I want to do for PreA and Algebra, but it's too soon. I need a bridge to get us ready for that. We still need to cover integers & percents before we're ready for PreAlgebra. I can't just skip over 6th grade math altogether, I need to figure out how to get us there - to PreA in 7th - with a minimum of pain. I'm not sure she's ready for Alcumus. Or would like it.

I hate to say this, I really do. Dd14 used MM 4 & 5 and half of 6 before moving on. It prepared her well for Algebra & beyond. It's a solid program, I've been a fan of it for years. But now . . . Dd11 has used MM 2, 3, 4, and 5. We've started MM6 . . . and we hate it. It's ponderous. It's boring. There are too many problems. (I know you don't have to do them all). But it's just feeling dull and clunky and dreadful and boring. I need to shake things up. Dd is starting to say she "hates" math, which is the main thing I've wanted to avoid in homeschooling . . . but here we are. She does fine with math, no problems in learning, she's on grade level, though she doesn't do terribly well working independently. She does Dreambox online and enjoys that. But MM . . . ugh. And I don't really blame her, I dread it too. I found myself flirting with the Teaching Textbooks website this morning. :scared: :tongue_smilie: What would you do? We're going through a really tough year in our family, dealing with dd14's chronic illness which is eating up a ton of time and energy. We really need to work efficiently and make every minute count. And we need to not be miserable. I'm not sure what I'm asking for - alternative 6th grade math? Sympathy? A kick in the butt? Really, I"m not sure, I'm kind of just whinging. But I would like some alternative math programs to consider.

I'm doing well with fall colors: I finished listening to Poe's The Gold Bug this morning. I also started listening to Kim Stanley Robinson's The Wild Shore, and will probably follow with The Gold Coast. I started reading The Massacre of Mankind, the "official" sequel to HG Wells's War of the Worlds. I love that book so I have high hopes for the sequel. The beginning does not disappoint: it's set in 1920, and the Martians are . . . back. But it's written in the same style & tone as the original, and the protagonist is a woman. So I'm excited about it. Other than that, I finished The Long Walk, a RIchard Bachman/Stephen King novel. Really well done psychologically, but the ending felt kind of abrupt and rushed, so I didn't end up liking it as much as I thought I would. I also finished listening to a really good book about treating Lyme disease. Shannon is on Day 4 of antibiotics, and taking a bunch of nutritional & herbal supplements, ramping the herbs up slowly. She has had some struggles, but nothing too much more extreme than her pre-treatment symptoms, so that's a good thing. It's hard to be patient, I'm ready to see a change for the better.

As you know, Frankenstein is one of my favorite books, so I'm a sucker for knock-offs. I read This Dark Endeavor and its first sequel. And The Procedure, I didn't like any of them. I really liked The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, so that's the one I'd vote for. Here's what I wrote in my gr review: I was suspicious at first; there were so many parts of this book that felt deja vu lifted straight from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - what could possibly be the original contribution of this novel? Well. It did not disappoint. Purporting to be the "true" story of Victor Frankenstein, from which Shelley got her version, this was a very satisfying, very creepy retelling of the classic. Most impressively, it was written in the language of the time: it reads just like Frankenstein, the original. Basically, smash together two of my favorites - Frankenstein and Dr Jeykyll & Mr Hyde, and you get this book. Well done!

I just finished reading this recently, and really enjoyed it. I was also thinking about it when reading the reports of the damage in the Caribbean from Irma.

Not specifically. I'm thinking of getting a high-deductible plan and opening an HSA, so that we can at least have all this out-of-pocket stuff paid for out of pre-tax $$, but I haven't really investigated it too deeply yet, since we can't make a change till next summer. The LLND is expensive, the supplements and even the food are expensive. The doxy is pretty cheap but I'm kind of afraid to even ask what IV Rocephin would set us back. Wish us luck, guys. Doxy starts today. We have a really good supportive supplement-and-herb protocol already in place, with some interventions on hand in case of herxing. I'm hoping she does ok with the abx, but I'm pretty nervous. She had horrific joint pain in her hip on Sunday night keeping her awake for hours, and Monday and Tuesday were pretty rough. But Wednesday was the best day she's had in a really long time. I'm hoping that's the first of many good days, but must remind myself that progress is not linear.

I finished Skinny Dip this morning. It was thoroughly entertaining. I also realized that I completed another Bingo row: Nebula Award – Binti – Nnedi Okorafor "Cake" in the title – Rabbit Cake – Annie Hartnett A sword fight might break out. En garde! – The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas Set in Antarctica – At the Mountains of Madness – H. P. Lovecraft Short story collection- Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang

You are most welcome! It's great having you here. And what a great list of books! I hadn't looked at the Bingo card for quite awhile, but I see that I've read something for every square except Ancients. Not sure I'll get that one done, with the restrictions that it's not a play and not something I've read before. Most of this year was medieval/renaissance, and now we're all modern. I did finish a book yesterday, just because of Big Bingo - At the Mountains of Madness. This was my first Lovecraft, and I can't say I was impressed. If you really dug Poe's Pym, you might like this, but I thought it was boring, and worse, full of all kinds of inside knowledge that they apparently gleaned from cave paintings. Totally implausible, which was worse, IMO, than being dull. We're having a huge thunder-and-lightning extravaganza here, which never happens, and it's raining! Which never happens in September. The grape growers who are in the middle of harvest as we speak are bummed, but I think it's pretty cool. Hopefully the rain puts out any fires sparked by the lightning.

I've procrastinated a work deadline, due tomorrow, so am mostly sitting here trying to work on that, but getting distracted by hurricane coverage. My thoughts go out to Kathy, Stacia, and all our other Floridians/southerners who are being affected by this storm. Stay safe and hold on tight to stationary objects, children, pets, and books! I've just been tossing books over my shoulder left and right (figuratively) this week - I think I've abandoned about 5 books just in the last couple of days. I finished listening to The Thirteenth Tale, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and now I'm listening to Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, which is surprisingly dull. I'm reading Skinny Dip for Bingo, picked it up at a Little Free Library down the street. and Patient H.M., which interests me particularly because I was part of the MIT lab where he was tested, and tested him several times myself. Lovely man. This book is a much more gripping read than the one written by my old mentor, Permanent Present Tense, which I read last year (right before she died). Still reading about Lyme, and will be for the forseeable future. We go back to the doc and potentially start treatment tomorrow. I'm on board with the first part of the treatment plan, but have some reservations about part 2, so we'll see how it goes.

I just abandoned Gather the Daughters. Gack. That book should be plastered with trigger warnings. The Handmaid's Tale meets Lord of the Flies meets Lolita. Super disturbing. Don't be mislead by comparisons to The Giver and hand it to your daughter. It's like The Giver only if you equate not being able to see color with sexual abuse. I feel like I need to wash out my brain with soap. Blech.

We had our phone consult with the Kaiser Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist this morning - that's been on the calendar awhile. Unsurprisingly, she says it can't be Lyme because the IgM is only relevant in the first 30 days. So we will be getting no help from Kaiser in treating dd's Lyme, we are on our own. I'm not getting derailed by this, I'm feeling rather eyerolly about it - I get where she is coming from, and what she said is consistent with her and her HMO's position on Lyme. and the CDC and IDSA position. So I don't fault her, but it's frustrating, because it's a worldview that denies a whole heap of contrary evidence. I've spent enough time combing that evidence to feel confident we are doing the right thing, but frustrated that we have to do it on our own. Our relationship with Kaiser will definitely be ending, but unfortunately we are stuck with them till next June 30. So our treatment costs will all be out of pocket, which sucks. But there it is.

Pen, (or others), what have you found most helpful for herxing? I'm trying not to assume that it will happen, but I want to be prepared for it. I hear about using Alka-Seltzer gold +lemon juice, and curcurmin (which is part of why he wanted her to start that right away), Green Tea extract, and NAC & ALA. Anybody have any magic elixir for herxing?

Yes. We have her started on supplements & anti-inflammatory herbs (curcumin) now, and will be doing ~4 weeks of antibiotics, two different ones, plus more herbal support. When we see how she responds to that we'll make additional plans from there. We're changing her diet, trying to get in some exercise, and generally really going to focus on getting her well. The LND seems confident that she will start to feel better quickly once we start treatment and he thinks that the Meriven is going to help her pain & inflammation right away. Here's hoping.

Ok, looking into Bartonella and RMSV, those don't seem to fit her symptoms that closely. So I'm not going to stress about that at this point, we'll see how she responds to the Bb treatment.

Yep, my MIL is fine - she's off at a pleine aire painting retreat. I should have known!

Lyme and Mycoplasma for sure. He wants to check Bartonella, which we haven't tested for, and Babesia, which tested negative, too. I don't think that she has Babesia because a main symptom there seems to be recurrent fevers, which she hasn't had at all. But Bartonella may be a factor. The plan is to treat for two weeks with doxy, and then for two weeks with IV Cephtriaxone + IV Vit C, plus herbs, we started Meriva (curcumin) today, and we will add in other herbs in two weeks (many from Buhner - the cytokine herbs and others.) After that we'll move forward based on her response to the treatment and whatever symptoms are most troubling. Adaptive management, which makes sense to me as an ecologist. We're also shifting to an antiinflammatory diet and, as pain subsides (hopefully) starting to do some gentle exercise. After we've knocked down the infection we will work on rebuilding collagen structures. He wants to starve the beast at this point, rather than feed it, his philosophy is a little bit different from Buhner's in that respect, but I can live with it, he makes a reasonable case for this approach. He also wants to do some more testing for lupus, given the family history and some observations he made during the physical exam. That could be autoimmunity caused by the Lyme, or it could be a genetic predisposition to autoimmunity that the Lyme caused to flare. He's also fairly certain that she has celiac's or some form of wheat/gluten allergy, but rather than pay out of pocket for extensive testing at this point, we're just removing it entirely from our diet, which isn't a challenge because I'm GF. He is also concerned about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever because we spent a week camping in Wyoming a few years back. I haven't really researched that at all yet, so I don't have a current opinion. Well, despite the concern about the Wyoming trip, which was 3 years ago, he actually thinks that it's from a recent exposure. She was camping in a known Lyme area right before she got sick, and he thinks that is most likely when she got it. Which would be good, because it's a relatively recent exposure, compared to the tick bite when she was 3. But we will probably never know for sure. I think he's basing that assumption on the fact that her IgM was highly, conclusively positive for Lyme while her IgG was borderline. I've read conflicting things about the significance of IgM vs. IgG in Lyme, so I"m agnostic about that at this point.

Hugs to everyone in the path of Irma - you're all on my mind. I'm trying to track down my MIL who lives north of Portland - right in the middle of the wildfires there. I'm sure she's out of touch because she's staying with a friend, but I'll feel better when I hear from her. And, weirdly happy news: Shannon officially has Lyme Disease. Which doesn't seem like it would be happy news, but after a year of watching her get sicker without knowing why, and having no idea how to help her get well, I'm so relieved to have a doctor we trust, a diagnosis that makes sense, and a plan to get her better.