Book a Week 2016 - BW 26: british village cozy mysteries

[Ethel Mertz]

I should learn not to say things like, "I hope this week will be less stressful." Abby's cardiologist dropped a bomb on us out of the blue; her hole is apparently not closing as he had hoped and he recommends surgery ASAP to avoid coming down with more respiratory viruses, etc. and having to put it off or chancing her getting really sick. And our AC went out. We'll need to replace the unit. Kind of an afterthought in the face of open heart surgery, but the timing could have been better.

 

Angela - prayers and good thoughts for you all. For reading: you might try Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, the Mrs. Pollifax series (Dorothy Gilman), and Ann B. Ross's Miss Julia series.

 

Stacia - prayers and good thoughts for you and your Mom.

[Violet Crown]

Mumto2,

 

Thank you for all that work. Middle Girl recently read some Father Brown mysteries and today was asking me about Christie; but the mystery genre is squarely in my ignorance zone, and she's been pretty sheltered in her reading*. But then I thought: aha! Somebody has conveniently just spent a great deal of time and effort picking out suitable mysteries for me!

 

So you must tell me which Christie mystery would be a good first choice, in your opinion.

 

 

 

*She's at a sort of transitional age where I don't necessarily object to bawdy literature - she decided to read Rabelais this summer - but explicit books are still off-limits.

[Violet Crown]

Loesje, I don't know what a lesson fiche or spot prents are ... mostly I don't understand how a direct-democracy referendum works in a multi-party parliamentary system, and everything is complicated more here in Scotland which voted about 60/40 for Remain and has its own Parliament. I think I'll just stand back and watch the British sort this out.

 

Erin, completely agree that Fitzgerald is better with age. Though the husband of a friend says he devoured Fitzgerald in high school: he had alcoholic parents and spent much of his youth in jazz bars. F. really spoke to him.

 

Ali, I read the first book of Kristin Lavransdatter years ago and keep meaning to return to it. You're inspiring me to do so ... though do you think one ought to re-read the first book if its plot details have been forgotten?

 

Stacia, prayers for your mom. And you.

 

Mothersweets, lovely! You must be high on her list of favorite student parents.

 

Jane, I vote for a general meet-up in Iceland. Maybe right after the November election would be a good time.

 

Angela, how trying for you. I'm sorry your family has to go through all this. Wish I had a good book recommendation for you.

[Ali in OR]

Ali, I read the first book of Kristin Lavransdatter years ago and keep meaning to return to it. You're inspiring me to do so ... though do you think one ought to re-read the first book if its plot details have been forgotten?

 

 

My recollection is that the first was most enjoyable--everyone is young and full of life--so I would probably choose to read it again just for fun. I ran into problems waiting too long between books 2 and 3. There were some major plot things in book 2 that I just couldn't remember. And while I remembered all of the main characters, my mind blanked on many of the more distant relatives etc that get mentioned from time to time.

[mumto2]

V.C. My (and dd) Agatha Christie starter choices. No particular order. Neither dd or I read any of these in any order other than how we found them on library shelves and charity shops.

 

Murder on the Orient Express (Poirot)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16304.Murder_on_the_Orient_Express?ac=1&from_search=true

 

Murder at the Vicarage (Marple)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16331.Murder_at_the_Vicarage

 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ((Poirot)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16328.The_Murder_of_Roger_Ackroyd

 

The Body in the Library (Marple)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16319.The_Body_in_the_Library

 

Death in the Clouds (Poirot)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16326.Death_in_the_Clouds. If you watch Dr.Who it should be paired with the Christie episode

 

Due to copyright expiration in US these are free on Kindle and an acceptable starting point.

 

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Poirot)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16343.The_Mysterious_Affair_at_Styles

 

The Secret Adversary (Tommy and Tuppance)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49596.The_Secret_Adversary. Dd and I love the Tuppance ones but most people don't like them as well as other characters. May not be the best first Christie.

[Butter]

Book #65: The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale.  A thirty-something Mormon mother of four from Layton Utah sells a screenplay and while in LA runs into, and becomes best friends with, her Unattainable Crush movie star.  On the surface the book seems very light and fluffy, but in fact it hits some pretty intense questions.  It's an emotional rollercoaster.  I liked it a whole lot.

[Violet Crown]

Mumto2: Excellent; I'm quite sure Great Girl has a copy of Orient Express she can loan her sister. She should read it soon anyway because even I know who did it in that book.

 

Speaking of generally public spoilers, a remark from Middle Girl a few weeks ago revealed that she didn't understand what "Jekyll/Hyde" references meant. I got a copy of the book into her hands and she had the pleasure of reading it without knowing the ending, to her great satisfaction. My parenting success for this summer.

[mumto2]

I just visited my stack of unread research and read one that I wish I had read in time to include in my list.

 

Anthony Eglin's The Blue Rose https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120136.The_Blue_Rose?ac=1&from_search=true was everything a cozy should be. A nice couple buys their dream country cottage somewhere near Bath. Its been a bit neglected especially the large gardens. The wife is in charge of clearing the massively overgrown garden area and they find a surprise an impossible blue rose. The sleuth for the series is the botanist they enlist to help them market their find. It's more of of good tale of unexpected treasure than about gardens, but I like gardens. :) I suspect this is a series that can easily be enjoyed out of order. I definitely will be reading more in this series.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Mumto2,

 

Thank you for all that work. Middle Girl recently read some Father Brown mysteries and today was asking me about Christie; but the mystery genre is squarely in my ignorance zone, and she's been pretty sheltered in her reading*. But then I thought: aha! Somebody has conveniently just spent a great deal of time and effort picking out suitable mysteries for me!

 

So you must tell me which Christie mystery would be a good first choice, in your opinion.

 

 

 

*She's at a sort of transitional age where I don't necessarily object to bawdy literature - she decided to read Rabelais this summer - but explicit books are still off-limits.

 

Adding to Mum's list, Shannon - who is like Middle Girl in her transitional state of literary tolerances - has enjoyed these AC mysteries:

 

And Then There Were None

Towards Zero

Murder on the Orient Express

The Murder of Roger Ackroyod

 

She has enjoyed a couple of other "adult" mysteries - besides Sherlock Holmes, she liked The Maltese Falcon and The Daughter of Time, which inspired her to read Richard III.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Mumto2: Excellent; I'm quite sure Great Girl has a copy of Orient Express she can loan her sister. She should read it soon anyway because even I know who did it in that book.

 

Speaking of generally public spoilers, a remark from Middle Girl a few weeks ago revealed that she didn't understand what "Jekyll/Hyde" references meant. I got a copy of the book into her hands and she had the pleasure of reading it without knowing the ending, to her great satisfaction. My parenting success for this summer.

 

That's a huge one! If you can let a kid discover Jekyll & Hyde, and that Frankenstein is not the name of the monster, for herself - that's a real accomplishment!  

 

Have her read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd before anyone talks to her about it - it's one of the classic twist-ending stories.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished High-Rise by JG Ballard.  I was inspired to read it by the movie coming out, I always like to read the book behind the movie, whether I get around to the movie or not.  I have mixed feelings about it. It wasn't what I expected: I like a good dystopian novel. I like the psychological aspects - the examination of how people behave under extreme situations, imposed from the outside. This was not that book, not exactly. There was no societal breakdown, no environmental catastrophe - the breakdown was entirely internal: inside the high-rise, and inside the people who lived there.  This made the book both more disturbing, but less believable - it was such a stretch to imagine this scenario happening.  On the other hand, there is the Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment. Given that happened in 1971, and this book was published in 1975, it was actually a very elegant examination of those social psychological issues. I'll give it that, and I'll also give it the fact that humans are capable of much worse things than I can imagine as probable.  All the same, there was something contrived about this scenario that really pushed it beyond the edge of believability. And the women were very flat, contrived, Heinlein-esque characters, also not psychologically plausible or believable. The book had its interesting, thought-provoking aspects but it is very much a product of its time. It's also not for the squeamish, dog-lovers, or anyone triggered easily by sexual abuse/exploitation - while that aspect isn't graphic, it's definitely a disturbing undercurrent.  I can't decide if I want to see the movie now, I think I do, because I can only imagine how visually stunning it must be, and this is the kind of story that lends itself well to showing rather than telling.

 

I will give it points for one of the more arresting first sentences that I've ever read: 

"Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months."  :huh:

 

It continues:

"Now that everything had returned to normal, he was surprised that there had been no obvious beginning, no point beyond which their lives had moved into a clearly more sinister dimension."  It's not till you get to the end, which brings you back to the beginning, that you realize that *nothing* has returned to normal.  Super creepy, and the tone of the whole book is like that: detached and clinical in its description of a very horrible situation.  It's effective.

 

When I first started reading, I thought, "Oh, it's Lord of the Flies with grownups."  That's true. Kind of a mix between Lord of the Flies and House of Stairs, but with grownups and sex added to the chaos & violence.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Butter]

Book #66: Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain by Richard Roberts.  I read this one to my boys (and will be reading the other two books in the series to them as well).  It's about a girl who is the daughter of superheroes waiting to get her own super powers.  When they do come in, she turns out to be a mad scientist which makes her a supervillain.  Her parents find every reason to believe that The Inscrutable Machine (the name given to her and her two friends) is not their daughter and her friends.  It's cute and funny.  The boys loved it.  I read it to them on the suggestion of my husband and 14 year old son who both listened to the audiobook.

[idnib]

We've been in the UK for a couple of weeks and had a grand time. We are tired, though, after walking ~8-10 miles/day and being jet lagged. We did so many things (and were in London for the Brexit vote, which was...something else) but narrowing it down to book-related items:

 

We took Jane's advice and headed to Lyme Regis for the fossil hunting, but I was also interested in its reputation as a place for literary types to hang out a bit, and I enjoyed the Jane Austen garden, although I admit I didn't get to read Persuasion before going. We also went to Oxford and visited the main Bodleian Library, but were unable to take a tour because DD did not meet the minimum age of 11. We were able to visit the Weston Library and see the Bodleian Treasures and the kids really loved the Shakespeare's Dead exhibit, especially the kiosk in which you could sort all of the characters' deaths by method, which led them to new plays they would like to read simply because the character's manner of death was interesting! It was a sort of interactive version of this. We also saw Shakespeare's Globe, visited Foyle's Bookshop on Charing Cross Road discovered vintage Ladybird books. Unfortunately we were unable to make it to the one book-related thing DH was really looking forward to, a Charles Stross book singing at Forbidden Planet. Lightning had struck some  train equipment and they were bringing in limited trains to Paddington by consolidating riders outside the city, and we ended up coming back from Lyme Regis too late. All in all, a wonderful trip.

 

 

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy – I’m not a fan of McCarthy’s style, but we own many of his books because DH likes him. I was waiting for library books to arrive so I picked this to re-read. 

 

One of my favorites! I've re-read it a couple of times, and each time I am more impressed by how such sparse writing can convey so much emotion.

 

I should learn not to say things like, "I hope this week will be less stressful." Abby's cardiologist dropped a bomb on us out of the blue; her hole is apparently not closing as he had hoped and he recommends surgery ASAP to avoid coming down with more respiratory viruses, etc. and having to put it off or chancing her getting really sick. And our AC went out. We'll need to replace the unit. Kind of an afterthought in the face of open heart surgery, but the timing could have been better.

 

:grouphug:

 

I'm sorry you received such news and am sending good thoughts.

 

I finished High-Rise by JG Ballard.  I was inspired to read it by the movie coming out, I always like to read the book behind the movie, whether I get around to the movie or not.  I have mixed feelings about it. 

 

 

I was also inspired to read this because of the movie coming out, but unlike you, I didn't actually get it done. What inspired me was not even the actual movie, but the posters! They have a very retro feel and interesting design. For anyone reading this besides Rose, the posters contain what I think to be a spoiler so you may not want to click, but the posters can be seen in the slideshow at the bottom of this page.

 

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Re: High-Rise

 

I was also inspired to read this because of the movie coming out, but unlike you, I didn't actually get it done. What inspired me was not even the actual movie, but the posters! They have a very retro feel and interesting design. For anyone reading this besides Rose, the posters contain what I think to be a spoiler so you may not want to click, but the posters can be seen in the slideshow at the bottom of this page.

 

Yes, I read about the movie production and the director's insistence that the building had to have a very retro-feel, concrete rather than steel and glass, and it was an excellent choice, I think, very much in keeping with the book.  The fact that it's a very self-contained world, kind of a bunker, and that it keeps everything inside, keeps its secrets is very important to the whole feel created in the book. It wouldn't work in a very modern, open, glass-walled skyscraper.  The movie looks very visually stunning.  And the casting seems very well done, too, from what I can see in the trailers.

[Violet Crown]

Have her read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd before anyone talks to her about it - it's one of the classic twist-ending stories.

Will do!

[Jane in NC]

Hey idnib--how did the fossil hunting go?  We left Lyme Regis with a bag of fine pieces as well as pottery shards and glass bits.  Traveling around the UK with a bag of rocks. (Shaking my head.)  Sometimes I wonder about us...

[idnib]

Hey idnib--how did the fossil hunting go?  We left Lyme Regis with a bag of fine pieces as well as pottery shards and glass bits.  Traveling around the UK with a bag of rocks. (Shaking my head.)  Sometimes I wonder about us...

 

We had a great time fossil hunting and I cannot thank you enough for the suggestion! The first time we went out with a guide and I'm glad we did because he showed us several things we would not have known were fossils, especially belemnites. When you pile them together it's obvious, but just heading out and scouting, I think we would have overlooked them. When we went back later we found additional things as well, but the tide was coming in and we didn't make it to the place we had found so many the day before. It was worth it to be late, though, as we had a wonderful long (and late) lunch at HIX Oyster and Fish House after an impromptu tour of the restored town grain mill.

 

We also took your advice on London Walks, and one of those walks was Thames Beachcombing (or "mudlarking" I soon learned) which resulted in us carrying around even more weird stuff such as Elizabethan roof tiles, Victorian table stabilizers, and old bits of pottery and animal bones. We decided to ditch the old animal bones we found on that walk due to U.S. customs. I did find a small piece of well-worn coral in the Thames, and the archeologist told me the ships used to use it for ballast when going to the Caribbean as part of the slave trade, and they would dump it in the river. I wasn't sure what customs would think of it, but I also didn't want to just leave it there for emotional reasons so I brought it back. I looked it up after I got back and there is a ban, but while this 2-inch piece may fall into the letter of the law, I don't feel it falls into the spirit of it.

[Jane in NC]

We had a great time fossil hunting and I cannot thank you enough for the suggestion! The first time we went out with a guide and I'm glad we did because he showed us several things we would not have known were fossils, especially belemnites. When you pile them together it's obvious, but just heading out and scouting, I think we would have overlooked them. When we went back later we found additional things as well, but the tide was coming in and we didn't make it to the place we had found so many the day before. It was worth it to be late, though, as we had a wonderful long (and late) lunch at HIX Oyster and Fish House after an impromptu tour of the restored town grain mill.

 

We also took your advice on London Walks, and one of those walks was Thames Beachcombing (or "mudlarking" I soon learned) which resulted in us carrying around even more weird stuff such as Elizabethan roof tiles, Victorian table stabilizers, and old bits of pottery and animal bones. We decided to ditch the old animal bones we found on that walk due to U.S. customs. I did find a small piece of well-worn coral in the Thames, and the archeologist told me the ships used to use it for ballast when going to the Caribbean as part of the slave trade, and they would dump it in the river. I wasn't sure what customs would think of it, but I also didn't want to just leave it there for emotional reasons so I brought it back. I looked it up after I got back and there is a ban, but while this 2-inch piece may fall into the letter of the law, I don't feel it falls into the spirit of it.

 

What fun!  I look forward to reporting this to The Boy!

[idnib]

What fun!  I look forward to reporting this to The Boy!

 

I realized I should clarify that when I said I ditched the animal bones, we actually went back to the same area and returned them to the river. I didn't just throw them in the hotel bin.  :)

 

They were interesting. We found lots of bovine (both cow and goat) and porcine bones, so many we were joking that we could re-assemble at least one of each animal. We even found a cleaved goat head from at least a couple of hundred years ago. Many of the bones bore butchering marks and the archeologist was able to roughly date them by their color and wear. 

 

The coral was almost unidentifiable, as it's been worn almost as smooth as a stone, but the pattern is still there.

[mumto2]

Idnib, I am going to give a friend's book(s) a mention just in case the boys want to continue their studies.

 

Dinosaurs of the British Isles http://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2014/08/03/dinosaurs-of-the-british-isles-book-review.html

 

Fossils of the Whitby Coast

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dean-Lomax-Fossils-Whitby-Coast/dp/B00NBDTOS2

 

Dean was the dc's dino tutor and there is at least one photo of them in the Whitby book.

 

Glad you had a great trip!

[Faithr]

I finally read through all the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries (but not all the short stories).  I just finished Busman's Holiday.  I thought it was wonderful!

 

Right now I am reading Living with a Dead Language by Ann Patty.  A long time New York publisher decided to take up the study of Latin to keep herself from falling apart in retirement.  I am really enjoying the Latin parts and the whole going back to school when you are old story, but the author herself is a bit irritating.  She might be smart but she writes pretty shallowly.  And I swear, she talks about being an editor for 34 years but there is a typo where the word 'say' is where the word 'stay' should be.  I kept rereading it to make sure but say does not make sense and stay would make perfect sense. However, it is holding my interest and I do relate to the falling in love with Latin late in life.

[Kareni]

Some enjoyable Tor.com posts ~

 

Five Science Fiction Novels about Sheep

 

The Five Best Read-Aloud Books for Grown-Ups

 

Five Books I Haven’t Read But Want To and Am Going to Summarize Anyway Based on Their Titles and Covers

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

idnib, so good to see you again! Sounds like a very cool trip.

 

Did you finish Sergio Y.? I'm curious about your thoughts on it.

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Some enjoyable Tor.com posts ~

 

Five Science Fiction Novels about Sheep

 

The Five Best Read-Aloud Books for Grown-Ups

 

Five Books I Haven’t Read But Want To and Am Going to Summarize Anyway Based on Their Titles and Covers

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

Those were awesome! I added a bunch to my TR list from the first two, and snorted coffee on my keyboard while reading the third one.  Clever. And hilarious!  And a vindication for those of us who don't choose books by their covers?  ;)  :D

[fastweedpuller]

Hi everyone!  Back from a small vacation (tough to do when you own a farm) and somewhat shocked that I finished NO BOOKS in the last week plus.  Sigh.  But:  I have made headway on the growing currently-reading stash.

 

We went to Mammoth Caves for a homeschool group event.  We all stayed in one campground, like 47 of us.  I would say 37 of the people were from 3 families of huge multiples and I marvel, honestly, in that "how can they do it" way we parents of single children can only do.  I mean, only occasionally do I call my child the dog's name (or vice-versa) but if you have 6 daughters?  All bets are off!  Hubs and I did the 6.5 hour Wild Cave tour to bring out our inner claustrophobes.  The kids all did different tours too.  It was so hot there compared to nice cool lakeside Michigan where I live; we cannot complain ever again if the temps here go above 80. 

 

Here's the Currently Reading stash:  Purity by Jonathan Franzen, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, Frans de Waal's Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, The Iceberg by Marion Coutts, and brand-new in the inbox is Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time (she of Nobel Prize fame for literature last year).

 

I may now need a reading vacation.  Anyone want to do my work for me?

[CindyH in NC]

​Currently reading: The Odyssey with my 9^th grade dd  and still reading Modern Medea by Steven Weisenburger .  Trying to decide between The Young World and Uprooted for my next fiction. 

I am behind again.  Trying to remember if there are other books that I haven’t listed. 

 

24. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (YA historical fiction. Engrossing.  Couldn’t put it down.)

23. Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham ( Decent YA mystery novel, I really liked that the main character was a Muslim teenage girl. )

22. The Curse of Beauty: The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America’s First Supermodel by James Bone

21. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Quick read.  Enjoyed it.)

20. These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy Turner (Historical fiction – I am sure I read about it on the boards.  Very Good.)

19. Medea by Euripides (with my 9^th grade dd)

18. Miss Julia Inherits a Mess  by Ann Ross - on audio. 

17. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ( Been on my to-read list for awhile – so glad I read it.  Marvelously heartbreaking and hopeful.  Loved it.)

16. The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (middle grade novel that was a Newberry honor book this year – loved it.)

15. Antigone by Sophocles (with my 9^th grade dd)

 

 

[TravelingChris]

Thanks for the list and additions to the list of British and non British cozies.  My main reading is mysteries (not necessarily cozies).  

[idnib]

idnib, so good to see you again! Sounds like a very cool trip.

 

Did you finish Sergio Y.? I'm curious about your thoughts on it.

 

 

It was a great trip, and I have to credit Jane for giving me so many great ideas.

 

I did finish Sergio Y. and I've been meaning to post about it so I'm glad you prompted me. It was a good book to have when I was wide awake at 3:00am  in London because it was still 7:00pm in CA. 

 

I enjoyed the book very much. I had no idea what it would be about when I went into it, just using your recommendation and being so busy lately, the fact that you read it in one day.  :blush:  The opening chapters made me think it was going to be a book about a particularly disturbed individual, simply because of the narrator's profession and the name of the book, but as it unfolded I came to think of it as a mystery novel, but that changed again later. (Trying to be vague here and avoid spoilers.) My impression of it was of a spool of thread which as it turns, reveals new colors of thread. 

 

I think it was my first Europa Editions book, plus I rarely read anything from Brazil, so that was the icing on the cake.

[Mom-ninja.]

 

Speaking of generally public spoilers, a remark from Middle Girl a few weeks ago revealed that she didn't understand what "Jekyll/Hyde" references meant. I got a copy of the book into her hands and she had the pleasure of reading it without knowing the ending, to her great satisfaction. My parenting success for this summer.

 

My eldest didn't get the reference to, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" and so I decided to watch Batman with him. That was my parenting success for the summer.  :D

 

The next movie will be Jaws because everyone needs to know the line, "We're gonna need a bigger boat." 

[Violet Crown]

On the topic of great quotes, see Penguin's wonderful site advertising their latest collection:

http://www.littleblackclassics.com

 

I just bought Middle Girl Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, from the one-pound little black classics, and their little selection of Yeats. (In that 48 hours when the pound nosedived, making them even cheaper.)

 

 

My eldest didn't get the reference to, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" and so I decided to watch Batman with him. That was my parenting success for the summer. :D

 

The next movie will be Jaws because everyone needs to know the line, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Edited June 30, 2016 by Violet Crown

[Onceuponatime]

I finally read through all the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries (but not all the short stories). I just finished Busman's Holiday. I thought it was wonderful!

 

Right now I am reading Living with a Dead Language by Ann Patty. A long time New York publisher decided to take up the study of Latin to keep herself from falling apart in retirement. I am really enjoying the Latin parts and the whole going back to school when you are old story, but the author herself is a bit irritating. She might be smart but she writes pretty shallowly. And I swear, she talks about being an editor for 34 years but there is a typo where the word 'say' is where the word 'stay' should be. I kept rereading it to make sure but say does not make sense and stay would make perfect sense. However, it is holding my interest and I do relate to the falling in love with Latin late in life.

The typo may not be her fault. I have seen so many similar typos in recent years. The spelling is right, it's just ever so slightly the wrong word for the sentence. Which brings me to ask, are computers with auto correct being used in book publishing? Aren't there (good) live proof readers any more? It is very distracting to get stuck trying to make sense of a sentence with a word that makes no sense in context.

[Violet Crown]

The typo may not be her fault. I have seen so many similar typos in recent years. The spelling is right, it's just ever so slightly the wrong word for the sentence. Which brings me to ask, are computers with auto correct being used in book publishing? Aren't there (good) live proof readers any more? It is very distracting to get stuck trying to make sense of a sentence with a word that makes no sense in context.

When I read Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep a couple weeks ago, it was obvious Penguin had done a scan-and-autocorrect: typos like "are" where the intended word was clearly "arc." I assume they're trying to save money on human labor costs.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Violet Crown

[mumto2]

My mom had another fall yesterday and her hip is broken. Surgery later today most likely. I've been up most of the night. Positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.

 

I started the Courtney Milan Scoundrel's series during the night that Kareni was reading last week. When I can't sleep I read. They are good probably better than most but the pacing is odd. I may be distracted so it may be a problem with my concentration level but the first chapter or so seems to be a bit strange and a bit unrelated to the rest of the story in the three I have been reading. Two are hundred page novellas so not as impressive as it sounds. The rest of the story is great. Different background topic too, workers rights.

[Violet Crown]

Mumto2 -- I'm so sorry. I'll keep your mother and you in my prayers.

[Ethel Mertz]

My mom had another fall yesterday and her hip is broken. Surgery later today most likely. I've been up most of the night. Positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.

 

I started the Courtney Milan Scoundrel's series during the night that Kareni was reading last week. When I can't sleep I read. They are good probably better than most but the pacing is odd. I may be distracted so it may be a problem with my concentration level but the first chapter or so seems to be a bit strange and a bit unrelated to the rest of the story in the three I have been reading. Two are hundred page novellas so not as impressive as it sounds. The rest of the story is great. Different background topic too, workers rights.

 

Prayers and good thoughts for your mom.

[Mom-ninja.]

Sorry about your mom. Hope surgery goes well. 

 

 

I finished Ruth last night. I cried. I was impressed with the book. Gaskell was quite a feminist in her time openly writing about an unwed mother. In the introduction I read that several of her male acquaintances refused to read it. I wonder who there were and if one of them was Dickens. I know she and he were acquaintances (or in today speak...they hung out).  

[Chrysalis Academy]

My mom had another fall yesterday and her hip is broken. Surgery later today most likely. I've been up most of the night. Positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.

 

I started the Courtney Milan Scoundrel's series during the night that Kareni was reading last week. When I can't sleep I read. They are good probably better than most but the pacing is odd. I may be distracted so it may be a problem with my concentration level but the first chapter or so seems to be a bit strange and a bit unrelated to the rest of the story in the three I have been reading. Two are hundred page novellas so not as impressive as it sounds. The rest of the story is great. Different background topic too, workers rights.

 

Supportive "like"  :grouphug:   This is a big fear for us, my mom is increasingly not mobile due to severe arthritis. And unstable on her feet due to . . . other issues. She has already fallen and broken her arm/separated her shoulder. I fear the call about the broken hip.  Luckily they are now in a single-story house and she uses the walker or a cane all the time.  I hope your mom is ok, and that surgery if needed goes very well for her.

[Violet Crown]

Sorry about your mom. Hope surgery goes well.

 

 

I finished Ruth last night. I cried. I was impressed with the book. Gaskell was quite a feminist in her time openly writing about an unwed mother. In the introduction I read that several of her male acquaintances refused to read it. I wonder who there were and if one of them was Dickens. I know she and he were acquaintances (or in today speak...they hung out).

Seems unlikely ... In her letters, she says the men who refused to read it were members of her church congregation. And Dickens was often requesting her to write for him (she wrote one of the chapters of his The Haunted House, which Middle Girl just read) in the years following the publication of Ruth.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished listening to One Hundred Years of Solitude yesterday.  I had read this in the past, don't remember when, but in my youth. I think I dutifully "liked" it at the time, because, well, it's great literature, right?  But I can definitely say now that I didn't enjoy it much.  Besides my general dislike of magical realism, I mean.  (Wait a minute, she gets caught up into heaven and disappears forever? Just like that?  Really????)  I think that part of it has to do with the general unlikability of most of the characters. Then I was thinking that maybe it's the fact that the characters and situations are so . . . weird . . . that it's hard to see this book as one dealing with timeless, universal themes.  It seems so very particular.  There are a few archetypal characters - the Crazy Grandma, the Jealous Spinster, the Big-Hearted Whore - but in general I think that the characters, the situations, and the setting seemed so very removed from reality - not just my own comfortable reality, but Reality - that I have a hard time connecting with it.  

 

It's very interesting to read through a list of books from one author, especially when it's an author you do not absolutely adore.  I'm definitely coming to appreciate the author and the whole context in which he wrote more, but I enjoyment of the particular books are definitely hit-and-miss.

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Mom-ninja.]

I stayed up way too late finishing my book. So I slept in. At 9 my 15 yr old came in, saw me with my face planted in my pillow, and said, "Heh, heh, good book then?" 

 

What's that say about the kind of role model I am? 

[Jane in NC]

On the topic of great quotes, see Penguin's wonderful site advertising their latest collection:

http://www.littleblackclassics.com

 

I just bought Middle Girl Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, from the one-pound little black classics, and their little selection of Yeats. (In that 48 hours when the pound nosedived, making them even cheaper.)

 

 

Some of us are having too much fun with the random quote generator.

 

Mumto2--sending best wishes to you and your Mum.

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I stayed up way too late finishing my book. So I slept in. At 9 my 15 yr old came in, saw me with my face planted in my pillow, and said, "Heh, heh, good book then?" 

 

What's that say about the kind of role model I am? 

 

The best kind!!  If your teenager catches you sleeping in and assumes it was because you were up late reading, rather than - insert many vice options here - then you are doing *everything* right!

[Loesje22000]

My mom had another fall yesterday and her hip is broken. Surgery later today most likely. I've been up most of the night. Positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.

 

 

 

Hugs and prayers for both for you!

[TravelingChris]

Sorry mum2to.  Praying here.

[Stacia]

Mumto2, sending hugs & prayers for your mom & all of you. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[JennW in SoCal]

Also, my mom's surgery is coming up this week, so any good wishes, thoughts, or prayers for her would be most appreciated. Thanks. :grouphug:

 

 

I should learn not to say things like, "I hope this week will be less stressful." Abby's cardiologist dropped a bomb on us out of the blue; her hole is apparently not closing as he had hoped and he recommends surgery ASAP to avoid coming down with more respiratory viruses, etc. and having to put it off or chancing her getting really sick. And our AC went out. We'll need to replace the unit. Kind of an afterthought in the face of open heart surgery, but the timing could have been better.

 

 

 

My mom had another fall yesterday and her hip is broken. Surgery later today most likely. I've been up most of the night. Positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug: to all 3 of you ladies.  Hoping you each have a good support network and the right fluffy books to keep your mind occupied. Keep us updated when you can.  

 

Stacia, did you start Uprooted?  It seems like it should be a good book for reading while sitting in the waiting room at the hospital.  I finished it Tuesday and really enjoyed it.  Don't know how much discussion it would generate for a book club, though.  

[Stacia]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug: to all 3 of you ladies.  Hoping you each have a good support network and the right fluffy books to keep your mind occupied. Keep us updated when you can.  

 

Stacia, did you start Uprooted?  It seems like it should be a good book for reading while sitting in the waiting room at the hospital.  I finished it Tuesday and really enjoyed it.  Don't know how much discussion it would generate for a book club, though.  

 

Thanks, Jenn.

 

My mom's surgery was yesterday & she's now on the way home as we speak. I'll be heading over to her house in a bit. (It's helpful because my sister is in town too, so that gives my dad, sister, & me a chance to rotate & help her.) The surgery itself went well, though they did take out more than they originally expected. Waiting to hear some additional results from that & there is some uncertainty there. I'm sure my mom is in great spirits right now because she hates hospitals, so I know the ride home is a liberating & freeing one for her.

 

You are completely correct about Uprooted. Guess what I made good headway in yesterday during all the waiting hours at the hospital? Uprooted. Lol. I cannot say fantasy is my favorite genre, though I like it fine (& love Terry Pratchett, for example). I wasn't sure about Uprooted in the first chapter or two, but after that I got completely sucked in & am absolutely loving it. Of course, w/ lots of interruptions, etc... at a hospital, I'm still not at the halfway mark even, but I am looking forward to getting back to reading it & hopefully having some time to read more over the upcoming days. I think what's drawing me in for it is that it has some elements of traditional fantasy (kings, wizards, magic, etc...) but also weaves in a lot of elements of old fairy tales & folklore. It works really well &, imo, puts it on a higher plane than a lot of other fantasy books.

[Kareni]

Mumto2, wishing you and your mother well.

 

**

 

I'm heading to destination two today after six days of fun (leaving the wine country for Livermore which is in the San Francisco bay area).  Fun for me means lots of conversation with my good friend and visits to thrift stores. There was also a production of Boeing Boeing which we enjoyed yesterday.  We were having so much fun talking that we never got around to playing the games I brought. (Then there was the flea infestation and the fact that the washing machine died but we don't need to talk about those!) I've done little reading, just an hour or so each night before bed. 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Jane in NC]

Stacia-- how is your Mom doing? How are you?

[idnib]

My mom had another fall yesterday and her hip is broken. Surgery later today most likely. I've been up most of the night. Positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated

 

Sending positive thoughts to you and your mom both.  :grouphug: