Book a Week 2020 - BW27: Whodunit Potpourri

[aggieamy]

I finished my third (fifth?) reading of The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Such a funny book. 

Also finished our read aloud of Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children) and wowie was it dated and bizarre. And really this review is the best review ever. I wish I'd written it. 🙂

I've had this post up on my computer for about thirty minutes because I had to take break to call the health department in the middle of all this because Kevin was exposed to a person that's likely Covid positive at the job site. Ugh. Turns out you can't get tested in Kansas unless you're basically in the hospital. We're trying to figure out how close his contact was with the person (we don't know exactly who it was ... sounds like it was an electrician) so we can decide if we need to quarantine. (And if this is supposed to be a "no Covid discussion" zone, please let me know and I'll delete that message.)

 

[-M-]

Hello again!  With The Farm I arrived at 135 books read this year; 110 from the shelves.

■ The Return of the Soldier (Rebecca West; 1918. Fiction.)
In May, when I finished Willa Cather’s Alexander’s Bridge (1912), I remarked that it was difficult to believe that was her first novel; it was so assured and true. West’s first novel is even more so — remarkable and memorable.

p. 65
Even though I lay weeping at it on the dead leaves I was sensible of the bitter rapture that attends the discovery of any truth. I felt, indeed, a cold intellectual pride in his refusal to remember his prosperous maturity and his determined dwelling in the time of his first love, for it showed him so much saner than the rest of us, who take life as it comes, loaded with the inessential and the irritating. I was even willing to admit that this choice of what was to him reality out of all the appearances so copiously presented by the world, this adroit discovery of the dropped pearl of beauty, was the act of genius I had always expected from him. But that did not make less agonizing this exclusion from his life.

■ The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder; 1927. Fiction.)
This was a reread.

p. 138
The art of biography is more difficult than is generally supposed.

■ The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy; 1886. Trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude. Fiction.)
This, too, was a reread, my fourth time encountering Tolstoy’s novella. The first was in AP English, thirty-eight years ago. What do typical seventeen-year-olds take away from reading Tolstoy? Oh, I was more than capable of parroting a teacher (or a study guide) on Tolstoy’s biography, the key characters, the basic plot, the essential themes and symbols, but I’m not sure I had actually read The Death of Ivan Ilyich until my third encounter, in my forties.

“Maybe I did not live as I out to have done,” it suddenly occurred to him. “But how could that be when I did everything properly?” he replied, and immediately dismissed from his mind this, the sole solution of all of the riddles of life and death, as something quite impossible.

■ A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry; 1958. Drama.)
I had planned to read this in Spring 2003 for the “One Book, One Chicago” program. Better late than never.

■ The Farm (Tom Rob Smith; 2014. Fiction.)
A run of so many terrific books rendered this meh novel even more mediocre.

[-M-]

33 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

I finished my third (fifth?) reading of The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Such a funny book. 

Also finished our read aloud of Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children) and wowie was it dated and bizarre. And really this review is the best review ever. I wish I'd written it. 🙂

I've had this post up on my computer for about thirty minutes because I had to take break to call the health department in the middle of all this because Kevin was exposed to a person that's likely Covid positive at the job site. Ugh. Turns out you can't get tested in Kansas unless you're basically in the hospital. We're trying to figure out how close his contact was with the person (we don't know exactly who it was ... sounds like it was an electrician) so we can decide if we need to quarantine. (And if this is supposed to be a "no Covid discussion" zone, please let me know and I'll delete that message.)

 

I am sorry to hear this. I hope you folks are all right.

[mumto2]

I just finished Jana Deleon’s Louisiana Longshot which is the first in her Mis Fortune series.  I have read other books by this author but not from this series, I know this because I would have read them all!  This book did stretch the limits of belief in a similar way to Stephanie Plum....so they are funny and honestly probably pretty mood dependent.  I can totally see abandoning the book if I had not been in the mood for what I call a romp........a CIA agent on the run from her last spectacularly failed case is hidden in a small town in a swamp in Louisiana posing as the niece of a recently diseased spinster.  Before she even gets in the house she discovers the dog chewing on a human bone.  I have way too many books checked out right now but went ahead and got the next in this series! 
 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18663492-louisiana-longshot        

[Kareni]

@aggieamy, Sending good wishes that you and your family all stay healthy.

**

A few more free books for Kindle readers ~

Sharp Left Turn: A Switched at Birth Romance (Sharp Turn Saga Book 1) by Faye Byrd

Finding the Black Orchid: A Victorian Historical Romance (Brides of Scandal #3) by Diana Bold

7 Brides for 7 Blackthornes (7 book series).
Multiple author series. 

Includes:
Barbara Freethy
Julia London
Lynn Raye Harris
Cristin Harber
Roxanne St. Claire
Samantha Chase
Christie Ridgway

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

3 hours ago, aggieamy said:

 

I've had this post up on my computer for about thirty minutes because I had to take break to call the health department in the middle of all this because Kevin was exposed to a person that's likely Covid positive at the job site. Ugh. Turns out you can't get tested in Kansas unless you're basically in the hospital. We're trying to figure out how close his contact was with the person (we don't know exactly who it was ... sounds like it was an electrician) so we can decide if we need to quarantine. (And if this is supposed to be a "no Covid discussion" zone, please let me know and I'll delete that message.)

 

Oh, I'm sorry. That stinks that he can't get tested and there isn't sufficient contact tracing to at least let him know if he should self-isolate. Keeping you guys in my thoughts. ❤️ 

[Robin M]

6 hours ago, aggieamy said:

I finished my third (fifth?) reading of The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Such a funny book. 

Also finished our read aloud of Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children) and wowie was it dated and bizarre. And really this review is the best review ever. I wish I'd written it. 🙂

I've had this post up on my computer for about thirty minutes because I had to take break to call the health department in the middle of all this because Kevin was exposed to a person that's likely Covid positive at the job site. Ugh. Turns out you can't get tested in Kansas unless you're basically in the hospital. We're trying to figure out how close his contact was with the person (we don't know exactly who it was ... sounds like it was an electrician) so we can decide if we need to quarantine. (And if this is supposed to be a "no Covid discussion" zone, please let me know and I'll delete that message.)

 

Oh Amy,  I'm sorry to hear Kevin was exposed. Did they tell you that you had to quarantine for 14 days? Does your county have any free drive through testing sites you can go too even if asymptomatic?  Hugs and good wishes winging your way! 

[Ottakee]

8 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

I read that several years ago and thought it was a wonderful book. Glad to hear you liked it too.

Thank you for sharing your family's story. I'm glad there was closure even if it wasn't the hoped for ending. Thank you also for the recommendation. I do want to read Native American authors (I've only read Tommy Orange) and had Louise Erdrich on my list as an author to read. I thought I would start with The Roundhouse but added The Night Watchman to my list as well. Have you read The Roundhouse? Do you think one is a better place to start than the other? Both have a waiting list at my library so my plan was to just read whichever one comes in first.

This was the first book I have read.  I do have the other on hold 

[Kareni]

I just finished reading Penric and the Shaman  by Lois McMaster Bujold which I quite enjoyed. It's the second Penric book, and I recommend beginning with the first.

I also reread with pleasure The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison; it was funny to learn that my daughter was rereading it at the same time in South Korea. 

Regards,

Kareni

[Violet Crown]

On 7/9/2020 at 10:58 AM, Lady Florida. said:

I did manage to finish The Merry Wives of Windsor and this one ended up being nothing more than a check mark on my Shakespeare challenge list. The Elizabethan idea of comedy, their sense of humor, often has me scratching my head. That was funny? People back then went to this play and laughed?

I read it for the first time for the BritTrip Challenge -- it's all I could find set in Berkshire! -- and felt the same way. But as fate would have it, our local Shakespeare company was performing it that year, and it was tremendously funny on stage. It calls for a lot of physical comedy.

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 "A novel of innocence and iniquity, love and murder, by the nineteenth-century Russian author of Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.
 
After several years in a Swiss sanatorium, twenty-six-year-old Prince Myshkin returns to Russian society to collect his rightful inheritance. But he soon crosses paths with the dark Rogozhin, a rich merchant’s son whose desire for Nastasya Filippovna will set the three of them on a tragic course. As author Fyodor Dostoevsky traces the effect of Myshkin’s innocence on the people around him in St. Petersburg, scandal escalates to murder . . ."

Regards,

Kareni

[Violet Crown]

On 7/9/2020 at 11:26 AM, aggieamy said:

I finished my third (fifth?) reading of The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Such a funny book. 

Also finished our read aloud of Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children) and wowie was it dated and bizarre. And really this review is the best review ever. I wish I'd written it. 🙂

I've had this post up on my computer for about thirty minutes because I had to take break to call the health department in the middle of all this because Kevin was exposed to a person that's likely Covid positive at the job site. Ugh. Turns out you can't get tested in Kansas unless you're basically in the hospital. We're trying to figure out how close his contact was with the person (we don't know exactly who it was ... sounds like it was an electrician) so we can decide if we need to quarantine. (And if this is supposed to be a "no Covid discussion" zone, please let me know and I'll delete that message.)

Dang. Any chance you can drive across state lines to get tested? And why are you supposed to figure this out on your own? What do the Kansas health authorities want people to do who have been exposed? They've had quite a while to figure this out.

[Lady Florida.]

2 hours ago, Kareni said:

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 "A novel of innocence and iniquity, love and murder, by the nineteenth-century Russian author of Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.
 

Thanks @Kareni. I downloaded it because it's free and will give it a try eventually. The only Dostoyevsky I've read is Crime and Punishment. I tried 3 times to get through The Brothers Karamazov and after the last time decided I won't try again. I just find his constant wrestling with faith and believer vs. non-believer arguments tiring. BTDT, over it, not interested in it at all. Maybe this story, even if it has such philosophical arguments, will have more of a story than just in your face religious arguments. I find them extremely boring and tedious.

[Violet Crown]

38 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Thanks @Kareni. I downloaded it because it's free and will give it a try eventually. The only Dostoyevsky I've read is Crime and Punishment. I tried 3 times to get through The Brothers Karamazov and after the last time decided I won't try again. I just find his constant wrestling with faith and believer vs. non-believer arguments tiring. BTDT, over it, not interested in it at all. Maybe this story, even if it has such philosophical arguments, will have more of a story than just in your face religious arguments. I find them extremely boring and tedious.

You're going to hate The Idiot. It's all you dislike, with an extra helping of tediousness. 

[melmichigan]

On 7/9/2020 at 12:26 PM, aggieamy said:

I've had this post up on my computer for about thirty minutes because I had to take break to call the health department in the middle of all this because Kevin was exposed to a person that's likely Covid positive at the job site. Ugh. Turns out you can't get tested in Kansas unless you're basically in the hospital. We're trying to figure out how close his contact was with the person (we don't know exactly who it was ... sounds like it was an electrician) so we can decide if we need to quarantine. (And if this is supposed to be a "no Covid discussion" zone, please let me know and I'll delete that message.)

 

We've had this happen with DH a few times now.  We haven't had to quarantine, but you still wonder until that time passes.  Sending positive thoughts and well wishes your way.  

[Lady Florida.]

8 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

You're going to hate The Idiot. It's all you dislike, with an extra helping of tediousness. 

Thanks for the heads up. It's just not a topic that interests me and my eyes started to glaze over every time I tried to read TBK. I'll stick to Tolstoy when I want to read a dead Russian writer. 🙂 

[Robin M]

Link to week 28 - please join me in the new thread to continue the conversation.

[Robin M]

 

oops. 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Robin M