Book a Week 2018 - BW16: Red Shoe

[Kareni]

Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

The Light of the Fireflies  by Paul Pen and Simon Bruni

Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants, Book 1)  by April White

The Renegade Wife (Children of Empire Book 1)  by Caroline Warfield

 

Imhotep   by Jerry Dubs

 

Bellingwood Boxed Set: Books 1-3  by Diane Greenwood Muir

Highland Pursuits  by Emmanuelle de Maupassant 

Regards,
Kareni

[aggieamy]

16 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

Is there room in your bunker for one more?

3 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

Scootch over, I'm joining you guys.

We're going to need some snacks in this bunker!

4 hours ago, Cascadia said:

Checking in - I've had trouble concentrating on anything more difficult than fluff romances lately, and I hope that my brain returns soon. 

46. One Night for Love, Mary Balogh (Dorset, London)

47. Silent in the Grave, Deanna Raybourn (London) - great opening sentences! "To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."

48. Romancing the Duke, Tessa Dare (Northumberland) - a very silly, quick read

49. When a Scot Ties the Knot, Tessa Dare (Sussex, Scotland) - same series as Romancing the Duke, less silly, but still a quick read

50. Silent in the Sanctuary, Deanna Raybourn (Sussex) - I thought that this was the best of the series, but they are all very good

51. The Proposal, Mary Balogh (Cornwall, Dorset, London) - a reversal of the non-noble woman swept away by noble man, plus this series (Survivors) explores the lasting damage of the Napoleonic wars.

52. The Arrangement, Mary Balogh (Gloucestershire, London, Somerset)

53. A  Summer to Remember, Mary Balogh (Hampshire, London)

54. The Escape, Mary Balogh

55. The Heir, Grace Burrowes

56. Dangerous to Know, Tasha Alexander 

57. Silent on the Moor, Deanna Raybourn (London, Yorkshire)

58. Only Enchanting, Mary Balogh (Gloucestershire, London, Sussex)

59. Someone to Hold, Mary Balogh (Somerset) - the author took an unlikable secondary character from the first book, showed her journey of self-reflection and growth, and made her lovable

60. Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie, by Kathy Lynn Emerson (Kent, Lancashire, Manchester)

61. Only a Promise, Mary Balogh (London, Sussex)

62. Dark Road to Darjeeling, Deanna Raybourn 

63. Only a Kiss, Mary Balogh (Cornwall, London)

64. Just Like Heaven, Julia Quinn (Cambridgeshire, London) *Red Shoe on Cover Challenge* - a fun, light-hearted book. I intend to read more in this series.

I am enjoying the Survivors series by Mary Balogh, and thought that Imogen's story in "Only a Kiss" was pretty powerful. Conversely, I am wearying of young, beautiful, and widowed Victorian Lady sleuths, and especially of Lady Julia and Brisbane's relationship, so I will be taking a break from the Lady Emily and Lady Julia Grey series. I picked up Murder at Mansfield Park yesterday and read the first chapter. I decided to put it up for now, as I was having trouble tracking all of the known Mansfield Park characters being in new roles. Maybe I'll try it again another time, so I'm not listing it as Abandoned yet.

Currently Reading or On Deck:

A Plague on Both Your Houses, by Susanna Gregory - I am really enjoying this one so far, about 1/4 through the book.

A Night Like This, by Julia Quinn - second book in the Smythe-Smith quartet.

Lady Fortescue Steps Out, by M.C. Beaton

What Angels Fear, by C.S. Harris - I'll start this one after I finish the Susanna Gregory book, as I can't keep track of two mysteries at once. I've been looking forward to trying this one.

Plus many of what a previous poster called sip reads - thank you for introducing that phrase, it fits my reading perfectly!

I was having the hardest time figuring out who on Goodreads was reading all of my guilty pleasures books! I'm glad you posted here too so I can put two and two together. :)

2 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

2 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

After all, the supreme glory of Napoleon III, in the eyes of History and of the French people, will have been to prove that anybody can govern a great nation as soon as they have got control of the telegraph and the national press.

(I swear when I first read that, I read "telegraph" as "twitter.")

I'm always amazed at people who don't like history. To me it's more fun than current events because at least you know how it's going to turn out in the end. In current events every new day is a surprise.

[Robin M]

Loving all the Doctor Who talk.  My first Doctor was Matt Smith.  Hubby introduced James to the series when James was into learning about Hitler and wanted to watch Let's Kill Hitler. It kind of snowballed from there.  One day I walked in while James was watching and the story totally captured me.  We haven't watched any season straight through, except for the more recent and have been jumping all over the place so I've seen almost all the doctors except for three of four of the earlier ones.    All the seasons starting with eccleston are on Amazon Prime.   I didn't like Eccleston at first but he grew on me after a while. Shame he only did one season.  Love Smith and Tennant.  Capaldi had to grow on me as well.  McCoy reminded me of Columbo.  Troughton we've only seen in animated recreations of the show but he drove me nuts.  Loved the original movie introducing the whole series  There are so many I have yet to see and have heard about them through online you tube reviewers like Council of Geeks and Whoniverse.   Folks have high hopes for the new producer Chris Chibnall who wrote for Broadchurch.  Another show I need to check out since it has David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker in it.  

***

When I'm awake in the middle of the night and want to read, have to go in the living room.  Even the light from an ipad will wake up hubby.  And if we're both awake in the middle of the night... we won't be reading.  

***

Added two more interesting books to our stacks - In Defense of a LIberal Education by Fareed Zakaria and The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson.  We saw these two debating the question "Is the Liberal International Order Over? on the Munk Debates.  Both men as fascinating and intelligent.  If you've ever have a chance, check out  the Munk Debates,  Every six months or so, a new debate is posted.  Quite educational as well as entertaining with the variety of speakers. 

 

 

 

[mumto2]

5 hours ago, Cascadia said:

 

47. Silent in the Grave, Deanna Raybourn (London) - great opening sentences! "To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."

 

I still remember that quote and it has been a few years.........Since many of us are hiding in that underground bunker let's play " best first line"  in a recent or not so recent book.

Here is mine from my current Iceland challenge read...... warning this one has a yuck factor.  First line of Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason "He knew at once it was a human bone, when he took it from the baby who was sitting on the floor chewing it.". 

 

2 hours ago, Penguin said:

Oh, yes. My favorite thing about my Kindle is that I can read it in bed and not wake DH.

I was reading Lingua Latina at 4 a.m. this morning (but not on the Kindle). Ugh.

We went to a really interesting talk last night at the local college: "Monuments, Wars, and Monument Wars: Memorializing the Civil War." The speaker is an Art Historian prof, and he did a great job bringing up things to think about rather than telling the audience what to think. I really want to read one of the books he mentioned in his talk, Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies. I had seen in before in one of the national battlefield bookshops, and thought it looked good.

Monuments, especially war monuments are so fascinating especially when they are done in a private non military setting.   I love looking at monuments.   I know I am jumping to different wars but suspect the US civil war must be even more convoluted.   In our village, at least, the memorial contains the names of anyone who died during either of the great wars or of injuries received during.  Should be an easy definition.  ;)

Well,  Dh did some research regarding our local one because a local group wanted to add several names, mainly people who died years later of war injuries.  We (quietly a home, not in public) had to chuckle about a gent who died at a distant racetrack and had fathered at least 2_children after the war.  Seemed to give a new meaning to the guidelines.  Btw, he isn't included.  There are also people appearing on multiple memorials including ours,  some with really tenuous connections to the village.  Spent a couple of weeks with family there at age 10 etc.

[Lady Florida.]

3 hours ago, aggieamy said:

 

I'm always amazed at people who don't like history. To me it's more fun than current events because at least you know how it's going to turn out in the end. In current events every new day is a surprise.

I don't get not liking history but I can only guess that perhaps they had teachers who made it boring. Part of it I think is a preference but a good teacher can also make a big difference. I absolutely love history and when I look back I realize I always had history teachers who loved the subject. It showed in how they taught. They made it fascinating.

Little known fact about me. I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I wanted to be a history teacher from about the time I knew teachers could specialize in a particular subject. My high school advisor told me history teachers were a dime a dozen but exceptional education teachers were in high demand. He suggested I volunteer with Special Olympics to see if it was something I would like. I volunteered,  fell in love with those kids, and ended up majoring in ex. ed. I loved my time teaching ex. ed. students and don't regret my choice. My first teaching love though will always be history. It shows in two of my favorite reading genres - historical fiction and non-fiction history.

[Cascadia]

7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I think I have read (and loved) every single book on your list except for the Susannah Gregory.   Those seem to be hard for me to find.   I am looking forward to your opinion on the CS Harris.  Also thanks for the county info.  I will update in Goodreads soon.

 

Btw,  I LOVE Julia Quinn.  I am probably rereading her book for Red Shoe also.  

I ended up purchasing a used copy A Plague on Both Your Houses because I couldn't find it in a library or Kindle, and I was (am!) very keen to read it. I found mine at Better World Books, which has a UK branch.

I left off county info for The Escape (Durham, Wales) and The Heir (London, Yorkshire?).

[Lady Florida.]

I finished Isaac's Storm in a day. It was written in such a way to keep me wanting to read more even though I already knew a lot about this hurricane and its aftermath. 

[Cascadia]

Ah, middle-of-the-night-wakefulness...I keep my earbuds next to the bed so that I can sneak some audiobook time in that situation, as DH will wake up if I try to read my Kindle.

Christopher Eccleston is my First Doctor as well. (picture hearts or a swooning emoticon here) A warning about his role in 28 Days Later - it is very disturbing, possibly a trigger for some. I much prefer him with Rose and the Tardis.

[tuesdayschild]

12 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Tuesday.....thanks for listing all the counties for Three Men and a Boat again.  Now that I have realised that Goodreads will let me put them all in I will.  ;)

 

Most welcome, though I know the thanks is actually mine :-)  your hours of work on the Goodreads list are so helpful. ♥

And like others here, I think I'm well past middle age though as I'm racing towards 50 - does 'staying a sleep'  return anytime after that ;-p  - waking often in the night allows for audiobook listening.

Perhaps we could list our sip reading stash Cascadia ... might encourage others to gift us with a glimpse of what they are sipping through too. :)   

Thanks Kathy, Isaac's Storm looks like a read DH would enjoy.

And I think my DS would enjoy those debates you linked Robin. 

[Violet Crown]

4 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I still remember that quote and it has been a few years.........Since many of us are hiding in that underground bunker let's play " best first line"  in a recent or not so recent book.

Here is mine from my current Iceland challenge read...... warning this one has a yuck factor.  First line of Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason "He knew at once it was a human bone, when he took it from the baby who was sitting on the floor chewing it.". 

 

That's appalling -- and yet intriguing.

The first sentence of Milton's Paradise Lost:  the first half dozen lines, plus the 26th line, at least -- to the tune of "The Flintstones."

Of Man's first - dis-obedience - and the fruit of that forbidden tree--

Whose mortal - ta-aste brought death - into the world, and all our woe.

With loss of - E-den till one greater man

Restore us - and regain that blissful seat--

Sing, Muse - heav-enly Muse - a-and justify the ways of--

-tify the ways of--

- the ways of God to Man!

[Cascadia]

55 minutes ago, tuesdayschild said:

Perhaps we could list our sip reading stash Cascadia ... might encourage others to gift us with a glimpse of what they are sipping through too. :)   

Sure, here's my current sip list (* denotes audiobook):

*Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

*The History of Ancient Rome, Great Courses

*Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, Great Courses

*The Two Towers, by JRR Tolkien (car read-aloud with kids)

Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset (Nunnally translation)

Theology of the Body in Simple Language, Pope John Paul II

How To Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster

 

Audio books are usually listened to on the treadmill, and occasionally while making dinner. I would make more progress if I exercised more often...

[Mom-ninja.]

I am now finished with the Parasol Protectorate series. It was a very fun series. Not normally the genre I go for so it was a happy surprise to find the series. Perhaps now I can be disciplined enough to get back to Middlemarch. 

 

Kathy, I just noticed in your sig that you are going to have a little granddaughter soon. How exciting!

[Lady Florida.]

27 minutes ago, Mom-ninja. said:

 

Kathy, I just noticed in your sig that you are going to have a little granddaughter soon. How exciting!

Yes, we're pretty excited that there's going to be a girl in this boy heavy family. :)

[mumto2]

3 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

 

That's appalling -- and yet intriguing.

The first sentence of Milton's Paradise Lost:  the first half dozen lines, plus the 26th line, at least -- to the tune of "The Flintstones."

Of Man's first - dis-obedience - and the fruit of that forbidden tree--

Whose mortal - ta-aste brought death - into the world, and all our woe.

With loss of - E-den till one greater man

Restore us - and regain that blissful seat--

Sing, Muse - heav-enly Muse - a-and justify the ways of--

-tify the ways of--

- the ways of God to Man!

Love it!  It’s hard not to at least try a book when the first line is good.

1 hour ago, Mom-ninja. said:

I am now finished with the Parasol Protectorate series. It was a very fun series. Not normally the genre I go for so it was a happy surprise to find the series. 

 

Kathy, I just noticed in your sig that you are going to have a little granddaughter soon. How exciting!

I consider myself to be a fan of Steampunk but I haven’t found any other series that I enjoyed as much as Parasol Protectorate.

1 hour ago, Lady Florida. said:

Yes, we're pretty excited that there's going to be a girl in this boy heavy family. :)

How fun!  

[Robin M]

7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I still remember that quote and it has been a few years.........Since many of us are hiding in that underground bunker let's play " best first line"  in a recent or not so recent book.

Here is mine from my current Iceland challenge read...... warning this one has a yuck factor.  First line of Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason "He knew at once it was a human bone, when he took it from the baby who was sitting on the floor chewing it.". 

Oh my! Shivers up my spine.

Beautiful Lies:  "It's dark in that way that allows you to make out objects but not the black spaces behind them."

Far North:  "Iceland was angry."

Wayfarer:  Etta woke to the rumbling call of thunder, her body wrapped in ribbons of fire." 

[Robin M]

Urg! 2 malls and no dress.  Forget how mortifying well lit dressings rooms with triple mirrors are, but try fitting your middle aged, pear shaped body into an evening gown styled for twiggy. Not going to happen.  Walked into one store and asked if they had any long dressy skirts for a black tie event. The young girl looked at me strangely and asked "You want a tie dyed skirt in black?"  *facepalm*   

[tuesdayschild]

1 hour ago, Robin M said:

Urg! 2 malls and no dress.  Forget how mortifying well lit dressings rooms with triple mirrors are, but try fitting your middle aged, pear shaped body into an evening gown styled for twiggy. Not going to happen.  Walked into one store and asked if they had any long dressy skirts for a black tie event. The young girl looked at me strangely and asked "You want a tie dyed skirt in black?"  *facepalm*   

Empathising!

A style similar to this, the quickest USA link I could find in a hurry, is flattering to 'special' shaped mum (anything to swing attention more to the top, and I don't know if the arms need dressing... they do in my home ;) )

Hoping you do find what you are needing!!

[tuesdayschild]

Sip reads:

Some of these have been in my bedside table (nightstand?) or my book basket for years.

• Letters of Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett Vol 2 (pub Harper & brothers)   I’ve been sipping away at vols 1 & 2 for years - my sister gifted these lovely old books to me in approx. 2008 -  I’ll get there yet.
• The Life Application: KJV Bible   
• Mere Christianity ~ C.S. Lewis
• Contentment ~ Richard Swenson
• The Divine Comedy ~ Dante/Longfellow
• Petticoat Pioneers: North Island Woman of the Colonial Era.  Bk:1 ~ Miriam Macgregor
• North and South ~ Elizabeth Gaskell     (switching between audio & e.book)
• Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life  (TGC) ~ Prof. Rufus Fears     (audio)
• The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children ~ Katherine Paterson

The titles beneath are ones I started this year:

• First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill ~ Sonia Purnell  (switched to audio)
• The Zookeeper’s Wife ~ Diane Ackerman 
• A Child’s Anthology of Poetry ~ Elizabeth Hauge Sword (Dd is reading this to me ;) )
• A Beautiful Blue Death ~ Charles Finch

[Robin M]

Check out Amazon Crossing on Amazon and Reading around the World.  9 kindle books for free that look really good.  I’ve already downloaded most of them.  

https://www.amazon.com/article/read-the-world/ref=kc_cwbd?pf_rd_p=2401e8f6-3cfa-450f-8e7a-e92f382acc57&pf_rd_r=34FBSQQBK742PWZ7Z9F1

https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=11585009011&ref_=SIN_CWBD18_BN

 

[mumto2]

10 hours ago, Robin M said:

Urg! 2 malls and no dress.  Forget how mortifying well lit dressings rooms with triple mirrors are, but try fitting your middle aged, pear shaped body into an evening gown styled for twiggy. Not going to happen.  Walked into one store and asked if they had any long dressy skirts for a black tie event. The young girl looked at me strangely and asked "You want a tie dyed skirt in black?"  *facepalm*   

 

8 hours ago, tuesdayschild said:

Empathising!

A style similar to this, the quickest USA link I could find in a hurry, is flattering to 'special' shaped mum (anything to swing attention more to the top, and I don't know if the arms need dressing... they do in my home ;) )

Hoping you do find what you are needing!!

I haven’t been looking for wedding attire but my daughter has had me out shopping for new dresses lately.  She seems to think my wearing the same two dresses for pretty much her entire life is wrong and wishes to remedy that situation.  Dressing rooms are painful especially because she grabs a few things to try also.  I feel your pain!

My (DD) conclusions are longer sleeves and dress length.  Fitted top with a looser bottom.  I think Tuesday’s link is probably what would work for me too.....after I tried on 20 or so. ;)  Another style to try is a fitted top with a lacy over jacket.  I actually bought a couple of tops like that because DD said they looked great and were on sale.  My friend (our age) who is a professional musician buys this style  to preform in.  Something like this https://www.dillards.com/p/le-bos-plus-textured-3-piece-pant-set/505696423. She has many of these tops with the flowing jackets and wears them over trousers and skirts.  All are black and some of the lacy jackets are beautiful.  She always looks incredible and is comfortable also.  

[marbel]

17 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

I don't get not liking history but I can only guess that perhaps they had teachers who made it boring. Part of it I think is a preference but a good teacher can also make a big difference. I absolutely love history and when I look back I realize I always had history teachers who loved the subject. It showed in how they taught. They made it fascinating.

<snip>

Ahh... I have two kids - one lives and breathes history, the other could not care less about it.  They had the same history teacher (me! :-) ) and pretty much the same curriculum all the way through K-12, though history lover read a lot more extra books and history-disliker (hater is too strong a word) was dragged through the basics. He is majoring in history, and she was delighted to learn that Art History class would fulfill her general ed history requirement for community college where she is an art major.

So I think there's some nature vs nurture thing happening there.  Though, the kids' dad and I both love history, so I don't know what happened to her.  

(We love her anyway. :-) )

BTW I snipped the rest of your post for brevity, not because I didn't like what you had to say!  Lovely story!  :-)

[Kareni]

Several bookish posts ~

 I've read and enjoyed several of the books on this Goodreads list:  Social Justice Romance Fiction

Debut Author Rebecca Roanhorse Answers 5 Questions About Her Apocalyptic Native American Fantasy Trail of Lightning

Where to Start with the Works of Martha Wells  by Leah Schnelbach

and from author Joanna Bourne: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Sheep

Regards,
Kareni

[aggieamy]

22 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

I don't get not liking history but I can only guess that perhaps they had teachers who made it boring. Part of it I think is a preference but a good teacher can also make a big difference. I absolutely love history and when I look back I realize I always had history teachers who loved the subject. It showed in how they taught. They made it fascinating.

Little known fact about me. I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I wanted to be a history teacher from about the time I knew teachers could specialize in a particular subject. My high school advisor told me history teachers were a dime a dozen but exceptional education teachers were in high demand. He suggested I volunteer with Special Olympics to see if it was something I would like. I volunteered,  fell in love with those kids, and ended up majoring in ex. ed. I loved my time teaching ex. ed. students and don't regret my choice. My first teaching love though will always be history. It shows in two of my favorite reading genres - historical fiction and non-fiction history.

That's an awesome fact about you. I think it's fun hearing about what your life was like before we "met" you. Do you still do anything with Special Olympics?

22 hours ago, Cascadia said:

Ah, middle-of-the-night-wakefulness...I keep my earbuds next to the bed so that I can sneak some audiobook time in that situation, as DH will wake up if I try to read my Kindle.

Christopher Eccleston is my First Doctor as well. (picture hearts or a swooning emoticon here) A warning about his role in 28 Days Later - it is very disturbing, possibly a trigger for some. I much prefer him with Rose and the Tardis.

I listen to audiobooks too. Usually a The Cat Who book because I've listened to them all a million times and I won't force myself to stay awake for the story line. My grandmother used to do that too and I have pleasant memories of waking up and hearing George Guidall in her bedroom in the middle of the night.

Do you have a specific book you like to listen to?

19 hours ago, Cascadia said:

Sure, here's my current sip list (* denotes audiobook):

*Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

*The History of Ancient Rome, Great Courses

*Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, Great Courses

*The Two Towers, by JRR Tolkien (car read-aloud with kids)

Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset (Nunnally translation)

Theology of the Body in Simple Language, Pope John Paul II

How To Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster

 

Audio books are usually listened to on the treadmill, and occasionally while making dinner. I would make more progress if I exercised more often...

Me too!

And to jump back to our discussion a few weeks ago. I also love my Kindle for being on the treadmill. I can make the text bigger and easily flip to the next page. I lack the coordination and patience to read a regular book on the treadmill.

 

17 hours ago, Robin M said:

Urg! 2 malls and no dress.  Forget how mortifying well lit dressings rooms with triple mirrors are, but try fitting your middle aged, pear shaped body into an evening gown styled for twiggy. Not going to happen.  Walked into one store and asked if they had any long dressy skirts for a black tie event. The young girl looked at me strangely and asked "You want a tie dyed skirt in black?"  *facepalm*   

I share your pain. I took DD (13 yo) out to Dillards last weekend looking for a confirmation dress. Our only guidelines were that it had to cover her shoulders and not be too short. Since I'm a boring mama I also told her there wouldn't be any cleavage showing. (Not that she was looking for a low cut dress anyway.) About two hours later we're both near tears and freaking out because I wasn't sure we were going to be able to find a dress. At one point I text messaged my DH to let him know that it was impossible to find a dress that covered both bum and bOOks and which did he prefer hanging out in front of the Archbishop.

We finally found something that kinda worked. It's a little bit shorter than I would like but in the back the hem is longer so it looks appropriate.

Then ... she went over to a friend's house that evening that got in some new chicks and played with those. That evening she got so deathly ill that she spent two days laying on the bathroom floor and missed confirmation.

 

[aggieamy]

@Robin M

I don't know how much time you have before you need your dress but this is a great option for dresses. I've bought stuff there for me and DD and loved it. The only problem is that shipping takes awhile so if you need it in three days it won't work.

http://www.eshakti.com/default.aspx

[Robin M]

15 hours ago, tuesdayschild said:

Empathising!

A style similar to this, the quickest USA link I could find in a hurry, is flattering to 'special' shaped mum (anything to swing attention more to the top, and I don't know if the arms need dressing... they do in my home ;) )

Hoping you do find what you are needing!!

Pretty!  Yes, upper arms need dressing.  Fun perusing all the dresses!  Thank you for the link!

 

6 hours ago, mumto2 said:

 

I haven’t been looking for wedding attire but my daughter has had me out shopping for new dresses lately.  She seems to think my wearing the same two dresses for pretty much her entire life is wrong and wishes to remedy that situation.  Dressing rooms are painful especially because she grabs a few things to try also.  I feel your pain!

My (DD) conclusions are longer sleeves and dress length.  Fitted top with a looser bottom.  I think Tuesday’s link is probably what would work for me too.....after I tried on 20 or so. ;)  Another style to try is a fitted top with a lacy over jacket.  I actually bought a couple of tops like that because DD said they looked great and were on sale.  My friend (our age) who is a professional musician buys this style  to preform in.  Something like this https://www.dillards.com/p/le-bos-plus-textured-3-piece-pant-set/505696423. She has many of these tops with the flowing jackets and wears them over trousers and skirts.  All are black and some of the lacy jackets are beautiful.  She always looks incredible and is comfortable also. 

My sister loves Dillards and we unfortunately don't have one here.  She said oh, just wait until you get here and we'll go shopping the day before the wedding.  *Ha. Way too much pressure.  Thanks for the link.  Yes, that's more my style as it hides quite a bit.  I haven't been clothes shopping for ages as I live in jeans and sweats. Most of women's shirts are for ladies with stick arms which is why I've been wearing men's shirts for years. 

29 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

I share your pain. I took DD (13 yo) out to Dillards last weekend looking for a confirmation dress. Our only guidelines were that it had to cover her shoulders and not be too short. Since I'm a boring mama I also told her there wouldn't be any cleavage showing. (Not that she was looking for a low cut dress anyway.) About two hours later we're both near tears and freaking out because I wasn't sure we were going to be able to find a dress. At one point I text messaged my DH to let him know that it was impossible to find a dress that covered both bum and bOOks and which did he prefer hanging out in front of the Archbishop.

We finally found something that kinda worked. It's a little bit shorter than I would like but in the back the hem is longer so it looks appropriate.

Then ... she went over to a friend's house that evening that got in some new chicks and played with those. That evening she got so deathly ill that she spent two days laying on the bathroom floor and missed confirmation.

Oh my goodness, poor Sophia. Hope she is feeling better.  James just came down with fever and malaise thing again.  

I found a couple skirts on Amazon. John thought one looked like a table cloth so that was a no go. The other works just arrived and doesn't make me look super fat. Yeah!  So now to find a blouse and jacket to match. 

 

 

 

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, Robin M said:

 Most of women's shirts are for ladies with stick arms which is why I've been wearing men's shirts for years. 

Oh my goodness, poor Sophia. Hope she is feeling better.  James just came down with fever and malaise thing again.  

I found a couple skirts on Amazon. John thought one looked like a table cloth so that was a no go. The other works just arrived and doesn't make me look super fat. Yeah!  So now to find a blouse and jacket to match. 

 

 

 

Amy,  I didn’t know the confirmation was LAST weekend!  I hope she is feeling better.  

I hope James starts feeling better soon also.  So many bugs that seem to be hard to shake this year.

Robin,  Yeah! I suspect you are one trip to the mall from being done.  That skirt is super versatile.  I own two that are similar,  black  and navy. They have seriously changed my life even if dd thinks I need dresses.  We end up traveling in what I would class as dressy casual for about 4 hours round trip twice a month.  Those skirts have improved my comfort levels hugely because no more pantyhose needed.  They look nice with many styles of tops like the draped ones mentioned above.   Btw,  I have learned that many of the lacy looking ones actually have a ton of stretch in them and look far better on then expected on.  So if you like it on the hanger try it!  

[Violet Crown]

Amy, so sorry about all the Confirmation trouble! Surely there's a backup date?

We had the same dress agonies with Great Girl. We ended up buying her an LDS temple dress with a slip under it. Lovely and very modest, if a tiny bit more of the prairie style than she might have chosen. You'd think there would be enough of a market for nice Confirmation dresses. Maybe the Mormons should pick up the unmet Catholic demand and start advertising in diocesan papers.

[Matryoshka]

Posting really late in this week´s thread!  I´m traveling, so don´t have much time or access to a computer.  Since last posting I´ve read:

30. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (audiobook) - Took me a little bit to get into this at first, but then I really enjoyed it.  I think it didn´t hurt at all that I had the audio with lots of Scottish accents!  I didn´t think the ending was quite as strong, but still would give it 3.5 stars. 

31. Menschensöhne by Arnaldur Indriðason - The first in the Erlendur series.  I liked it, and I liked seeing a bit more of the backstory of some of the main characters, as this was their first introduction, but the story takes kind of an odd turn into science fiction territory spoiler: the villian is cloning human children from blood samples taken years before (?!) - for over a decade, no less - and as icing is part of a multinational conspiracy...which is very different from the more realistic storylines in the other books.  3 stars.

32. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor - for my SciFi book club.  This was just a really fun read.  Mega-nerd Bob sells his start-up tech firm for big $$, and one of the first things he does is sign up to be cryo-frozen upon his eventual demise.  While attending a sci-fi convention shortly thereafter, he is run over by a car.  He wakes up a century or so later to find a theocracy who´s decided corpscicles are an abomination against God, so he´s been unfrozen and had his consciousness downloaded to be an AI for an interplanetary exploration vessel that  can self-replicate (including the AI, which is why it ends up being ´We Are Bob´)  Anyway, exploring the universe is right up Bob´s alley, and following him and his copies around while they explore and also try to help Earth out of a crisis is fun, especially with all of the 20th and 21st century sci-fi references.  I may have to read the sequels.  4 stars.

33. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (ebook) - I always enjoy reading what seem like they should be important parts of history that somehow get glossed over or completely ignored.  Highly recommended to anyone with a similar bent. :) 4.5 stars.

Not sure I´ll finish anything this week. But currently reading:

- Te vendo un perro / I´ll Sell You a Dog by Juan Pablo Villalobos (ebook) - a humorous story set in Mexico City.  Set in an apartment building for the elderly in Mexico City, an old curmudgeon spars with his neighbor who runs the building´s book group and keeps insisting he join even though he says he doesn´t like to read.  Also, she keeps insisting he´s writing a novel (he´s not), and somehow mysteriously knows what he´s written in his journal every night, so he takes to writing weird stuff that will set her off.  Enjoyable so far. 

- Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer - speculative fiction about an Empire that has lasted a long, long time, including falling and reinventing itself.  Short stories set in very different times in this Empire´s history.  It was recently translated by Ursula Le Guin, so I had a feeling it would be up my alley, so I hunted it down in the original Spanish (which was harder than you´d think). 

- Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (audiobook) 

[mumto2]

7 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Posting really late in this week´s thread!  I´m traveling, so don´t have much time or access to a computer.  Since last posting I´ve read:

30. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (audiobook) - Took me a little bit to get into this at first, but then I really enjoyed it.  I think it didn´t hurt at all that I had the audio with lots of Scottish accents!  I didn´t think the ending was quite as strong, but still would give it 3.5 stars. 

31. Menschensöhne by Arnaldur Indriðason - The first in the Erlendur series.  I liked it, and I liked seeing a bit more of the backstory of some of the main characters, as this was their first introduction, but the story takes kind of an odd turn into science fiction territory spoiler: the villian is cloning human children from blood samples taken years before (?!) - for over a decade, no less - and as icing is part of a multinational conspiracy...which is very different from the more realistic storylines in the other books.  3 stars.

32. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor - for my SciFi book club.  This was just a really fun read.  Mega-nerd Bob sells his start-up tech firm for big $$, and one of the first things he does is sign up to be cryo-frozen upon his eventual demise.  While attending a sci-fi convention shortly thereafter, he is run over by a car.  He wakes up a century or so later to find a theocracy who´s decided corpscicles are an abomination against God, so he´s been unfrozen and had his consciousness downloaded to be an AI for an interplanetary exploration vessel that  can self-replicate (including the AI, which is why it ends up being ´We Are Bob´)  Anyway, exploring the universe is right up Bob´s alley, and following him and his copies around while they explore and also try to help Earth out of a crisis is fun, especially with all of the 20th and 21st century sci-fi references.  I may have to read the sequels.  4 stars.

33. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (ebook) - I always enjoy reading what seem like they should be important parts of history that somehow get glossed over or completely ignored.  Highly recommended to anyone with a similar bent. :) 4.5 stars.

Not sure I´ll finish anything this week. But currently reading:

- Te vendo un perro / I´ll Sell You a Dog by Juan Pablo Villalobos (ebook) - a humorous story set in Mexico City.  Set in an apartment building for the elderly in Mexico City, an old curmudgeon spars with his neighbor who runs the building´s book group and keeps insisting he join even though he says he doesn´t like to read.  Also, she keeps insisting he´s writing a novel (he´s not), and somehow mysteriously knows what he´s written in his journal every night, so he takes to writing weird stuff that will set her off.  Enjoyable so far. 

- Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer - speculative fiction about an Empire that has lasted a long, long time, including falling and reinventing itself.  Short stories set in very different times in this Empire´s history.  It was recently translated by Ursula Le Guin, so I had a feeling it would be up my alley, so I hunted it down in the original Spanish (which was harder than you´d think). 

- Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (audiobook) 

I am currently reading the third Erlendur in terms of what’s available in English and wish I had the ability to read the ones that have not been translated.  It is a good story but I know I am missing a great deal which just plain bugs me.  I also really want to read the Bob books.  I need to put a purchase request in for those! 

[aggieamy]

22 hours ago, Robin M said:

Oh my goodness, poor Sophia. Hope she is feeling better.  James just came down with fever and malaise thing again. 

Hope James is on the mend soon.

17 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Amy, so sorry about all the Confirmation trouble! Surely there's a backup date?

 

20 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Amy,  I didn’t know the confirmation was LAST weekend!  I hope she is feeling better. 

There is kind of a backup plan. The Archbishop is making his way back to our parish at the end of May so we just have an extra month to wait. It will just be her and maybe one other adult getting confirmed and she's nervous about everyone watching her. When it was sixty eighth graders getting confirmed it wasn't as nerve-racking as JUST HER.

[aggieamy]

I'm a Brit Trip disaster. Still working on Durham but just finished Dorset and Devon. Oops.

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - Simply lovely. A slice of life in England during WWII from a small village. It's fiction but based on the author's experiences. Highly recommend. Devon.

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber - Historical fiction/cozy mystery set right after WWI. I think I'm the last gal on the thread to read this because everyone I would recommend it to has already read it. Well. There you go. Dorset.

Now back to finish Durham before Sunday.

[marbel]

7 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

I'm a Brit Trip disaster. Still working on Durham but just finished Dorset and Devon. Oops.

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - Simply lovely. A slice of life in England during WWII from a small village. It's fiction but based on the author's experiences. Highly recommend. Devon.

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber - Historical fiction/cozy mystery set right after WWI. I think I'm the last gal on the thread to read this because everyone I would recommend it to has already read it. Well. There you go. Dorset.

Now back to finish Durham before Sunday.

I'm zigzagging all over England myself.  I've already been to Wiltshire and Merseyside, but I completely skipped Bedfordshire and have been stuck in Yorkshire for a while.  

Which reminds me:  Venetia by Georgette Heyer. Yes, Amy, thanks to you I decided I did not have enough Heyer on my list so am listening to another.  It's delightful! But I am not sure if it's York or North Yorkshire.  I can put it in either slot...

I checked my library but Henrietta's War is not available in my local system, but I remembered that I have a card for the Philadelphia library (I live in the suburbs) which I use for kindle and audio books. I never think to use it for actual books. They have a copy!  So I've requested it and will soon make my first visit to a Philly library branch other than the main one down in Center City.  The branch I chose is the closest to me, in a quaint-ish neighborhood with a nice coffeehouse.  Ahh, I sense a nice suburban housewife field trip coming on!  :-)

[Loesje22000]

29 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

I'm a Brit Trip disaster. Still working on Durham but just finished Dorset and Devon. Oops.

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - Simply lovely. A slice of life in England during WWII from a small village. It's fiction but based on the author's experiences. Highly recommend. Devon.

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber - Historical fiction/cozy mystery set right after WWI. I think I'm the last gal on the thread to read this because everyone I would recommend it to has already read it. Well. There you go. Dorset.

Now back to finish Durham before Sunday.

 

Glad to hear that! Motivates me to pick up the Britt Tripp again...

I think I have to think about what I will read this month yet, and what I want to save for my vacation to and in the UK. 

[aggieamy]

8 minutes ago, marbel said:

I'm zigzagging all over England myself.  I've already been to Wiltshire and Merseyside, but I completely skipped Bedfordshire and have been stuck in Yorkshire for a while.  

Which reminds me:  Venetia by Georgette Heyer. Yes, Amy, thanks to you I decided I did not have enough Heyer on my list so am listening to another.  It's delightful! But I am not sure if it's York or North Yorkshire.  I can put it in either slot...

I checked my library but Henrietta's War is not available in my local system, but I remembered that I have a card for the Philadelphia library (I live in the suburbs) which I use for kindle and audio books. I never think to use it for actual books. They have a copy!  So I've requested it and will soon make my first visit to a Philly library branch other than the main one down in Center City.  The branch I chose is the closest to me, in a quaint-ish neighborhood with a nice coffeehouse.  Ahh, I sense a nice suburban housewife field trip coming on!  :-)

Everything about this post makes me happy.

Yay to zigzagging England. I've been following your posts keenly and you have visited some cool places/books.

And a comment on Yorkshire and books. There are tons of books set in Yorkshire. I'm absolutely amazed. Quite a few of my recent books that I've used for other England counties I could have used for Yorkshire too because there was a stop-off there during the book.

Have fun our your mom field trip!!!

2 minutes ago, loesje22000 said:

Glad to hear that! Motivates me to pick up the Britt Tripp again...

I think I have to think about what I will read this month yet, and what I want to save for my vacation to and in the UK. 

Yes! Hop back on a Brit Trip bus!

[Lady Florida.]

On 4/19/2018 at 4:14 PM, aggieamy said:

That's an awesome fact about you. I think it's fun hearing about what your life was like before we "met" you. Do you still do anything with Special Olympics?

 

No, I'm sorry to say I haven't since I quit teaching. First a very active baby kept me busy and tired, then we started homeschooling, and once we finished with school 2 years ago I'd been out of the loop so long that I'm not even sure if there are any local Special Olympians.

[Mom-ninja.]

23 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Amy, so sorry about all the Confirmation trouble! Surely there's a backup date?

We had the same dress agonies with Great Girl. We ended up buying her an LDS temple dress with a slip under it. Lovely and very modest, if a tiny bit more of the prairie style than she might have chosen. You'd think there would be enough of a market for nice Confirmation dresses. Maybe the Mormons should pick up the unmet Catholic demand and start advertising in diocesan papers.

Maybe you just need to travel to Spain for Confirmation dresses. My friend in Spain sent me pictures of so many dress choices when she was shopping for her dd. 

[Kareni]

On 4/19/2018 at 1:14 PM, aggieamy said:

That evening she got so deathly ill that she spent two days laying on the bathroom floor and missed confirmation.

I hope that she's now feeling better.
**

For the Doctor Who fans , this t-shirt.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

I finished two books today.  The first is a graphic novel which I found a pleasant read ~

Taproot: A Story about a Gardener and a Ghost  by Keezy Young

"Blue is having a hard time moving on. He’s in love with his best friend. He’s also dead. Luckily, Hamal can see ghosts, leaving Blue free to haunt him to his heart’s content. But something eerie is happening in town, leaving the local afterlife unsettled, and when Blue realizes Hamal’s strange ability may be putting him in danger, Blue has to find a way to protect him, even if it means . . . leaving him."
**

The second book also deals with the paranormal; it's a male/male romance between a werewolf and half human/half fairy and was another pleasant read.  (Adult content)

Some Kind of Magic (Being(s) in Love Book 1)  by R. Cooper

"Being a police detective is hard. Add the complication of being a werewolf subject to human prejudice, and you might say Ray Branigan has his work cut out for him. He’s hot on the trail of a killer when he realizes he needs help.

Enter Cal Parker, the beautiful half-fairy Ray’s secretly been in love with for years—secretly, because while werewolves mate for life, fairies… don’t. Ray needs Cal’s expertise, but it isn’t easy to concentrate with his mate walking around half-naked trying to publicly seduce him. By the time Ray identifies the killer—and sorts out a few prejudices of his own—it may be too late for Cal."

You can read about 90% of the story if you download the sample for Being(s) in Love (Dreamspinner Press Bundles)  which contains the first five books in the series.  I expected the sample to have snippets from each book, but instead it had a lengthy chunk of the book above.

Regards,
Kareni

[Loesje22000]

Just for my English vocab knowledge:

I thought confirmation referred to the protestant variant, but interglot says it is ‘Vormsel’ which is Roman Catholic. What do you call what protestants do in English? Translation of the Dutch term would be something like: public confession of the faith. But I am pretty sure that is not used in English....

 

 

[mumto2]

3 hours ago, loesje22000 said:

Just for my English vocab knowledge:

I thought confirmation referred to the protestant variant, but interglot says it is ‘Vormsel’ which is Roman Catholic. What do you call what protestants do in English? Translation of the Dutch term would be something like: public confession of the faith. But I am pretty sure that is not used in English....

 

 

We still call it confirmation.  :)

[Loesje22000]

7 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

We still call it confirmation.  :)

That’s why I became confused! 

If one is used to two different words...

Thank you!

[Lady Florida.]

7 hours ago, loesje22000 said:

Just for my English vocab knowledge:

I thought confirmation referred to the protestant variant, but interglot says it is ‘Vormsel’ which is Roman Catholic. What do you call what protestants do in English? Translation of the Dutch term would be something like: public confession of the faith. But I am pretty sure that is not used in English....

 

 

I was born into a Catholic family, raised Catholic, and spent the final twelve years of my religious belief as a United Methodist. Both call it confirmation but it was done very differently. In the Catholic church it's a sacrament, in the Methodist church it's not. For both though, the basic meaning is the same - it's a profession of your faith. And both are done after you reach an age where the church believes you have the reasoning ability to confirm your belief.

[Loesje22000]

36 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

I was born into a Catholic family, raised Catholic, and spent the final twelve years of my religious belief as a United Methodist. Both call it confirmation but it was done very differently. In the Catholic church it's a sacrament, in the Methodist church it's not. For both though, the basic meaning is the same - it's a profession of your faith. And both are done after you reach an age where the church believes you have the reasoning ability to confirm your belief.

If I understand it well confirmation (Vormsel) and confirmation (Belijdenis) are not that similar here. It doesn’t matter for this thread as I just was curious how to say Belijdenis in English ;) but could not find reliable sources...

[Kareni]

Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

Anything But Extraordinary (Extraordinary Series Book 1)  by Mary Frame

NATIVE WARRIOR by Mark Reps

Resonance  by Jennifer Greenhall

Devil's Gold (Black Rose Mystery Novella Book 1)  by Amanda McKinney

Poison in the Blood (Bad Witch: The Emily Chronicles Book 1)  by Robyn Bachar  (the author has additional free books)

Brownie Points  by Jennifer Coburn

Jesse's Smile   by Angelique Jurd

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Robin M]

@Amirais going to lead a book discussion from the kindle books Reading Around the World on the chat board starting with A River in Darkness, starting on May 15th for any who would like to join her.  The kindle books are available free for another three days.  

 

[Lady Florida.]

Audible is having another 2 for 1 sale for members. You get 2 books for 1 credit. Most are literary fiction and there are quite a few from The Great Courses.

https://www.audible.com/special-promo/2for1

I don't know if the link will work for non-members.

I'll post this again later when the new thread starts for those who might have missed it here.

[Robin M]

Link to week 17 - please continue conversation new thread