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Book a Week 2019 - BW39: To Autumn


Robin M
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Happy Sunday and welcome to week thirty-nine in our 52 Books rambling roads reading adventure. Greetings to all our readers, welcome to all who are joining in for the first time and everyone following our progress. Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as the central spot to share links to your book reviews. 

To Autumn

John Keats - 1795-1821


Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
 

 

Link to previous week

Edited by Robin M
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I started a thread recently, What one book have you so enjoyed that you'd like everyone to read, because you want them to share the pleasure?, and have been considering the books mentioned by the participants. Yesterday, I got a library copy of  Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend: A Novel by Matthew Dicks due to the recommendation of @Momto6inIN. I spent much of the day reading it and finished it last night. I quite liked it and had several conversations about it with my husband. It was both entertaining and thought provoking; I think others here might like it. Here's the blurb:

 "I am not imaginary...

Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He's been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear.

Max is different from other children. Some people say he has Asperger's, but most just say he's "on the spectrum." None of this matters to Budo, who loves Max unconditionally and is charged with protecting him from the class bully, from awkward situations in the cafeteria, and even in the bathroom stalls. But he can't protect Max from Mrs. Patterson, a teacher in the Learning Center who believes that she alone is qualified to care for this young boy.

When Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable, it is up to Budo and a team of imaginary friends to save Max―and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max's happiness or his own existence.

Matthew Dicks' Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a triumph of courage and imagination that touches on the truths of life, love, and friendship as it races to a heartwarming . . . and heartbreaking conclusion. "

Regards,

Kareni

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Robin, hoping that all goes well with the moving!

I finished Sense and Sensibility - 4 Stars - In the past several years I have been struggling with classics like you wouldn’t believe and have had a difficult time focusing. It frustrates me since when my two children were small, I went through a phase for about a year or more, where I read and enjoyed classics galore. One would think that I should have struggled then, what with all the distractions, interruptions, and responsibilities. Now that they’re both young adults, it doesn’t make sense that I’m struggling now. Maybe it’s social media. Maybe it’s middle-aged brain fog. Whatever it is, it’s annoying, since I would love to read more classics and get totally blown away by them like I used to. In this case, it wasn’t the book. It was me. I would have to keep going back and re-reading paragraphs because of my lack of focus. Nonetheless, I managed. I got through it. It took me much longer to get through this than usual, but I did it and I’m happy that I stuck with it. My main reason for reading this book is so that we can watch the movie or the BBC adaptation. We’re not sure which one we’ll be watching yet. Maybe both!

Although my reading of this book seemed to be going at a glacial pace, the story got better as it went along. On a side note, I loved Austen’s witty comments when she would put down characters that were mean and vain, but I digress.

After being treated unkindly by their half-brother, the two sisters (Elinor and Marianne) and their mother move to a smaller house. Marianne and Elinor are complete opposites. Elinor is all about level-headedness, reason, and sense. Marianne is all about emotion and passion. Regardless of their differences, they are close.

What me moved me the most with this story is how both sisters undergo change, how they both grow and become better people and learn to find a middle ground. When I was younger, I was more like Marianne, all dramatic and extremely emotional. Now that I’m older, I can relate more to Elinor and feel more balanced, or at least, I strive to be that way!

My favorite quotes:

“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.”

“I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself.”

“If a book is well written, I always find it too short.”

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I can't remember which were the last vacation pictures that I shared. I guess that I finished with Barcelona. Now I'll share some from our first day in Granada and night visit to the Alhambra. I hope that I don't bore everyone. 

First Picture: We've never seen streets as narrow as in Granada. Cars would go through here and as they would approach, we'd have to squeeze into the doorways.

Second Picture: The view of Granada from the Alhambra

Third Picture: Courtyard of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) - originals from the 14th century

 

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14 minutes ago, Pen said:

@Negin on the narrow street pic—- the missing white surface area on left makes it look like cars going through don’t always make it.  

 

The lions seem in amazingly good shape for 14th century.  Are they protected  from acid rain? 

Love your autumn picture!

You're right about the narrow street picture. 

Not sure if the lions are protected or not. I think that I remember reading something about how they've been protected, but now I can't seem to find it. 

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@Robin M  I hope you finish the move successfully tonight and are ready to open for business tomorrow!

I love the pictures @Negin !    All I can say is I hope I never have to drive down that alley.......I refuse to call it a road!

I am currently immersed in the world of The Hod King.   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32998292-the-hod-king. which is the final book in The Books of Babel trilogy which @Angelaboord recommended earlier this year.  It follows a character named Senlin who lost his wife on the first day of their honeymoon at the famous tower.   He has been wandering up the Tower with an entourage of friends made along the way and the question in my mind is does he really even belong with the lost wife or perhaps with one of the other characters........

I am also listening to Rabbit Cake which was also a recommendation from @Chrysalis Academy  on Kareni’s recommendation thread.  It’s good and sad all wrapped up together.  It sort of reminds me of the Flavia books.........no mystery,  but a young person struggling with way too much grief............

I started Anita and Me in part because of it’s place on GCSE exam reading lists and my not knowing what this particular book was about.  I had thought it featured the current day immigrant experience to the U.K. and was quite surprised to discover that Anita is basically my age. Very interesting.......the setting is in the Black Country outside of Birmingham.    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/483330.Anita_and_Me

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Autumn is my favorite time of year.

Audiobooks:

Finished "The Tenth Justice" by Brad Meltzer and it was great. Started the "Fifth Assassin" but haven't been able to get into it completely yet.

Also on tap is Vow of Justice by Eason.

Reading:

Still not finding "Kiling Tide" by Dani Pettrey on Overdrive so I had to cast around for something and landed on Coulter's "The Last Second."

I need to go back a few Book threads and find some authors of crime fiction again. Maybe some of those will be available to me via Overdrive.

Moving is sooo exhausting, @RobinM. Don't forget to reward yourself at the end of the day! Ice Cream, Fave food, tall latte, whatever floats your boat.

 

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26 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

@Robin M  I hope you finish the move successfully tonight and are ready to open for business tomorrow!

I love the pictures @Negin !    All I can say is I hope I never have to drive down that alley.......I refuse to call it a road!

I am currently immersed in the world of The Hod King.   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32998292-the-hod-king. which is the final book in The Books of Babel trilogy which @Angelaboord recommended earlier this year.  It follows a character named Senlin who lost his wife on the first day of their honeymoon at the famous tower.   He has been wandering up the Tower with an entourage of friends made along the way and the question in my mind is does he really even belong with the lost wife or perhaps with one of the other characters........

I am also listening to Rabbit Cake which was also a recommendation from @Chrysalis Academy  on Kareni’s recommendation thread.  It’s good and sad all wrapped up together.  It sort of reminds me of the Flavia books.........no mystery,  but a young person struggling with way too much grief............

I started Anita and Me in part because of it’s place on GCSE exam reading lists and my not knowing what this particular book was about.  I had thought it featured the current day immigrant experience to the U.K. and was quite surprised to discover that Anita is basically my age. Very interesting.......the setting is in the Black Country outside of Birmingham.    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/483330.Anita_and_Me

 

I have Rabbit Cake and Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend and Anita and Me on audio book borrows from library .  

Also Ratey’s Spark and a book about The American Dream and a few others...

And still have 7 Hoopla spots for September. 

I’m also gearing up for NaNoWriMo...

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I have been listening to audio books on the treadmill recently. Finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and am now listening to Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins (I still have my hard copy my dad gave me when I was young). I finished reading Delia Owens' Where the Crawdad Sings which was good and a quick read. Then I quickly read a YA book that was in our Jolabokaflod last year thinking my girls might enjoy it, but I think only dh and I read it: One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus. It's a Breakfast Club type mystery and fun and easy to read.

A teacher I work with lent me Math with Bad Drawings, so I'll probably start that soon. The Jolabokaflod pile has gotten pretty small and I'm starting to think of titles for this year's flood. Looks like I have Prairie Fires and The Hamilton Affair left (dd had that one most of the year and just returned it).

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@Negin I always love hearing about your travels - you are never boring!

@Ali in OR Two of my teens and I read One of Us is Lying a year or so ago and we all liked it. I loved Prairie Fires (the Laura Ingalls Wilder book, right?)!

I have been super busy lately and can only manage a chapter in bed before I fall asleep each night. Right now I am reading Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb. She's an advice columnist, an author, and a therapist who takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world. Really enjoying this even though I can only stay awake long enough for a little each night.  

One of the reasons I'm so busy nowadays is because I got a puppy! She's an English Cocker Spaniel and we named her Daphne. The pic is from a couple weeks ago but she is now almost 12 weeks old and weighs about 6 pounds.  She's smart and also so so tiny! Our Jack Russell likes her and they've been getting along well. 🙂

 

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8 minutes ago, Mothersweets said:

One of the reasons I'm so busy nowadays is because I got a puppy! She's an English Cocker Spaniel and we named her Daphne. The pic is from a couple weeks ago but she is now almost 12 weeks old and weighs about 6 pounds.  She's smart and also so so tiny! Our Jack Russell likes her and they've been getting along well. 🙂

 

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Oh, how adorable!!!   My first dog in childhood was an English cocker, but I never saw her as a puppy.  

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14 minutes ago, Mothersweets said:

@Negin I always love hearing about your travels - you are never boring!

@Ali in OR Two of my teens and I read One of Us is Lying a year or so ago and we all liked it. I loved Prairie Fires (the Laura Ingalls Wilder book, right?)!

I have been super busy lately and can only manage a chapter in bed before I fall asleep each night. Right now I am reading Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb. She's an advice columnist, an author, and a therapist who takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world. Really enjoying this even though I can only stay awake long enough for a little each night.  

One of the reasons I'm so busy nowadays is because I got a puppy! She's an English Cocker Spaniel and we named her Daphne. The pic is from a couple weeks ago but she is now almost 12 weeks old and weighs about 6 pounds.  She's smart and also so so tiny! Our Jack Russell likes her and they've been getting along well. 🙂

 

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So very cute!  Our cocker spaniel had similar coloring.

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6 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

@Negin I always love hearing about your travels - you are never boring!

One of the reasons I'm so busy nowadays is because I got a puppy! She's an English Cocker Spaniel and we named her Daphne. The pic is from a couple weeks ago but she is now almost 12 weeks old and weighs about 6 pounds.  She's smart and also so so tiny! Our Jack Russell likes her and they've been getting along well. 🙂

 

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Thank you for reassuring me about not being boring. I sometimes worry about that. 

Daphne - oh my! Cutest thing ever and those eyes! You have a Jack Russell also! What lovely dogs you have. I love dogs. Mine follows me everywhere I go. He's getting old now and I dread the day when he's no longer with us. 

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Last night I finished Let's Get Textual (Texting Series Book 1)  by Teagan Hunter which is a contemporary romance. It was an entertaining read, but I don't think it's a book I'll be rereading. (Adult content) It is currently free for Kindle readers.

 "A wrong number is supposed to be just that--a wrong number.

Delete. Done.

Do not continue to text. Do not flirt.

A wrong number shouldn't be the first person on your mind in the morning, or the last at night...and you're definitely not supposed to talk them into buying a baby goat.

Because that would be weird.

When Zach Hastings and I get into a wrong-number mix-up, we don't follow the rules. We keep texting and flirting, because he's wicked funny and perfectly nerdy and a wonderful distraction.

I'm not looking for love, and Zach definitely had the wrong number.

But maybe...

Maybe he's the right guy."

Regards,

Kareni

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Some bookish posts ~

From the Word Wenches site: Pterotype Anyone?

https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2019/09/pterotype-anyone.html#comment-6a00d8341c84c753ef0240a486dbe2200c

And don't miss this performance which is mentioned in the comments:   Leroy Anderson's The Typewriter

The chaotic evil 'Don't have a bookmark?' meme is out of control

https://mashable.com/article/dont-have-a-bookmark-meme/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 92019&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

13 General Book Club Questions For Any Kind Of Discussio by SADIE TROMBETTA

https://www.bustle.com/articles/167822-13-general-book-club-questions-for-any-kind-of-discussion

Regards,

Kareni

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Waving Hi!  We've basically been closed since Friday.  Hubby saw the fruitlessness of staying opening the duration.   I'm exhausted and we're almost done clearing the shop.  Three days of movers hefting 80% of our stuff, two days spent moving more going back and forth and tomorrow we should be able to finish the rest. Fortunately we all have vans and another friend lent me his.  I spent part of yesterday cleaning up the old shop while the guys put our shelves together over at the new place.  So glad to see our plan worked and the shelves fit perfectly.  We moved the units over today and I'll be spending the evening going through paperwork to make sure all the units are accounted for and in the correct spots.    Today the state inspected the elevator and signed off.  They made darn sure we couldn't use it during the move.  I let the guys doing all the carrying up the stairs. The final, final, final inspection was signed off this afternoon.   We have officially passed all inspections which means we can start receiving customers.  We're closed through tomorrow and will open for business Thursday.  Customers are anxious to pick up their units.  The rest of the month will be spent getting organized and cleaning up the old place. We gave ourselves plenty of time.   Buying and renovating this building has been a super long process and it still seems like a dream which started way way way back July 2016 when we made an offer on the place.  But it all worked out for the best since we needed the time to come up with funding through the various stages of renovation.  We may be almost broke, but we're happy and looking forward to expanding the business and creating new sources of revenue.   Time to break out the champagne and then figure out landscaping plans.  😀

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6 hours ago, Robin M said:

Waving Hi!  We've basically been closed since Friday.  Hubby saw the fruitlessness of staying opening the duration.   I'm exhausted and we're almost done clearing the shop.  Three days of movers hefting 80% of our stuff, two days spent moving more going back and forth and tomorrow we should be able to finish the rest. Fortunately we all have vans and another friend lent me his.  I spent part of yesterday cleaning up the old shop while the guys put our shelves together over at the new place.  So glad to see our plan worked and the shelves fit perfectly.  We moved the units over today and I'll be spending the evening going through paperwork to make sure all the units are accounted for and in the correct spots.    Today the state inspected the elevator and signed off.  They made darn sure we couldn't use it during the move.  I let the guys doing all the carrying up the stairs. The final, final, final inspection was signed off this afternoon.   We have officially passed all inspections which means we can start receiving customers.  We're closed through tomorrow and will open for business Thursday.  Customers are anxious to pick up their units.  The rest of the month will be spent getting organized and cleaning up the old place. We gave ourselves plenty of time.   Buying and renovating this building has been a super long process and it still seems like a dream which started way way way back July 2016 when we made an offer on the place.  But it all worked out for the best since we needed the time to come up with funding through the various stages of renovation.  We may be almost broke, but we're happy and looking forward to expanding the business and creating new sources of revenue.   Time to break out the champagne and then figure out landscaping plans.  😀

Robin, thank you for the update. So happy for you and your family!

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Woot Robin!  Thanks for the update.

Some finishes.............

Rabbit Cake was great......not at all what I expected but very good.  As a side note, sleep walking was part of this book and as I was the mom of one I listened in horror to those parts.   Ds was a sleep walker who grew out of it,  I feel incredibly fortunate that I don’t have to listen for him any more while I attempt to rest.  

The Eye of Jadehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1614776.The_Eye_of_Jade was very good.  I listened to it for my Asian Detectives 10 x10.  There is one more but I haven’t had a chance to really search for it yet.😉   I found this series via this link  Ahttps://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/crime-fiction-around-the-world-in-80-sleuths-873660.html. A female private detective in Beijing ..........this book’s author lived in China for the time period the story covers but now lives in England or US  so it wasn’t translated.

Since I am quilting again I also finished listening to one of Elle Griffith’s  Mephisto mysteries, The Blood Card.  This series is set mainly in Brighten in the 1950’s and features a detective and a magician who served in a special unit during WW2 called The Magic Men, whose job it was to use stage techniques to trick the Nazi’s.   Now they solve murders together .........that so far are tied to the Magic Men.  I really like the narrator for these.  @Liz CA  these might be a possibility for you.  There is a continuing story so in order if possible.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33814222-the-blood-card

 

 

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12 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Rabbit Cake was great......not at all what I expected but very good.  As a side note, sleep walking was part of this book and as I was the mom of one I listened in horror to those parts.   Ds was a sleep walker who grew out of it,  I feel incredibly fortunate that I don’t have to listen for him any more while I attempt to rest.  

My sister also was a sleep walker. My father was a hotel manager most of our childhood. One time she awoke to find herself outside our hotel room, and I slept through her knocking. She had to walk to the adjacent building that held my parents' room and knock there. Shortly thereafter we were all housed together.

Glad to hear that Rabbit Cake was good. I read a sample last week and wondered 

if sleep swimming truly happens

.

9 hours ago, Pen said:

Finished

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

Any thoughts you care to share?

Regards,

Kareni

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12 minutes ago, Kareni said:

My sister also was a sleep walker. My father was a hotel manager most of our childhood. One time she awoke to find herself outside our hotel room, and I slept through her knocking. She had to walk to the adjacent building that held my parents' room and knock there. Shortly thereafter we were all housed together.

Glad to hear that Rabbit Cake was good. I read a sample last week and wondered 

  Reveal hidden contents

if sleep swimming truly happens

.

😂 Your poor mother.  For years I had to worry about where Ds was put to sleep in hotels, visits to grandparents houses etc.  I wanted him to always bump into someone on his way to wherever.   Sleep overs really weren’t something that I could do because change seemed to be a trigger.  When we moved into a three story house in England he fell down two flights of stairs and curled up asleep on a landing.  It was terrifying.   His room was then organized so it was a very noisy place to walk through for him so we heard him.

As to the hidden.......I couldn’t find it via google as I wondered too.  Honestly I wouldn’t live anywhere it could happen after the first episode of it occurring.

 

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2 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

For years I had to worry about where Ds was put to sleep in hotels, visits to grandparents houses etc. ... When we moved into a three story house in England he fell down two flights of stairs and curled up asleep on a landing.  It was terrifying.  

Egads! That does sound terrifying. I can definitely believe your relief that he is beyond that stage.

4 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

As to the hidden.......I couldn’t find it via google as I wondered too.  Honestly I wouldn’t live anywhere it could happen after the first episode of it occurring.

Likewise.

Regards,

Kareni

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1 hour ago, Kareni said:

Any thoughts you care to share?

Regards,

Kareni

 

I enjoyed it!  

I had it on audio from Hoopla and found it very engaging.   

The basic premise is that it’s a story told by an “imaginary friend” of a boy with ASD.  The imaginary friend has a separate life where he can interact with other imaginary friends.  And both the boy and friend gain bravery.  

I was wondering how people on the ASD spectrum would find it.

 

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5 hours ago, Pen said:

I enjoyed it!  

The basic premise is that it’s a story told by an “imaginary friend” of a boy with ASD.  The imaginary friend has a separate life where he can interact with other imaginary friends.  And both the boy and friend gain bravery.  

I was wondering how people on the ASD spectrum would find it.

I liked Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, too. I have to admit to wondering the same thing.

Regards,

Kareni

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Today I read and admired  

Mah Jongg: The Art of the Game: A Collector's Guide to Mah Jongg Tiles and Setsby Ann Israel and Gregg Swain. I began playing mah jongg this summer thus my interest in this book.

Does anyone else here play the game? I play the National League version.

 "This is the first book to fully capture the story of the exotic and exciting game of Mahjong or "Mah Jongg," offering an intimate look at the history of the game as well as the visual beauty of the tiles. When authors Ann Israel and Gregg Swain began playing Mahjong, they were unaware of the vintage collections that existed not only in the United States but also across the globe. Slowly, they started to collect their own sets of Mahjong and as their collections grew, so did their appreciation of the history of, and interest in, the game.

Finding few references, Israel and Swain set out to create a book that chronicles the early beginnings of the game and documents Mahjong sets from the most basic, made of paper, to the most precious materials such as ivory and mother-of-pearl. Recognized and respected scholars and game experts have collaborated with Israel and Swain, contributing essential chapters on the game's history and its pieces as well as technical information on the tiles. Lastly, prominent collectors from around the globe have shared their incredible sets and memories for the first time in one book for everyone to enjoy.

With hundreds of beautiful new images by renowned photographer Michel Arnaud, and including historical documentation and ephemera, Mah Jongg: The Art of the Game fills the void between the past's and today's game, providing vision, inspiration and resources. Anyone who has ever been intrigued by a Mahjong tile will find in these pages visually stunning photographs that will entice them into becoming an enthusiast of the timeless game of Mahjong. "

Regards,

Kareni

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For my Older or Younger Hero challenge from a different site ~

I reread Lyn Gala's Claimings which is my favorite m/m series and consists of four books. The two main characters are Liam and Ondry. Liam is in his late 30s, from Earth, serving as a linguistics tech in the military, a submissive with lots of baggage from past abusive relationships. Ondry is Rownt (two legged, egg-born, looking somewhat turtle like to humans); he is a skilled trader who is driven to succeed, two hundred on a planet where living to a thousand is not unknown. When the book begins, Liam and Ondry have been trading for five years. Much of the story deals with cultural and language differences. There is a lot of tenderness in the relationship between Liam and Ondry. (Significant adult content)

Regards,

Kareni

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A bit late this week.........Brit Tripping at Ashby de la Zouch Castlehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/history/

The Castle is the site on a Tournament in Ivanhoe.  It’s pretty and the pageantry of a jousting tournament is easy to imagine imo.

  We used to stop here frequently when the kids were young so they could run around a bit before continuing a trip but had not been for several years so last summers quick stop had some changes......the main one was the parking lot was gone,  you now need to pay and display with a short walk away.  I am not sure how a typical tourist would find the castle, as parking is at a premium in the busy town and the signage was poor. 

Notice the pock marks on one of the up close walls, they are from mortar fire during the Civil War when the Castle was largely destroyed.  I also took a picture of some of the ancient graffiti.  Dh wanted me to be sure to include both photos in my post as they are the good parts according to him!😉

 

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