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Book a Week 2020 - BW43: 52 Books Bingo - Ghosts and Goblins


Robin M
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Happy Sunday, my lovelies. We approach All Hallows Eve where the veil between the living and the dead is thin and Ghosts and Goblins come out to play.    

There are a wide variety of fantasy novels where goblins come out to play from historical fiction to futuristic to mythology.  You'd generally think of goblins as evil creatures but they come in all shapes and sizes and I'm sure the last thing on your mind is romance, however some authors have taken the goblin mythology and written stories with goblins as romantic leads and heroes such as in Shona Husk's Shadowland Series.

Ghost stories abound from the real to the  creepy to the spooky to the surreal to romance and ghostly detectives and cozy mysteries.   And let's not forget Gargoyles

Read a book with ghost in the title or picture on the cover.

Read a book with goblin in the title or picture on the cover.

Read a book with gargoyle in the title or picture on the cover.

Challenge yourself and spell out ghost, goblin, or gargoyle, one book per each letter in the title.

 

A few more links to close out our October Spooktacular reading month: 

9 books to creep you out this Halloween season

2020 Halloween reads for Kids and Teens. 

Goblins: Books for kids

11 Haunted Novels with Emotional Ghosts

Top 10 Unconventional Ghosts in Literature 

Have fun following rabbit trails! 

 

 

Link to week 42

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as share your book reviews with other readers  around the globe.

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Working my way slowly through #13 Gathering Storm in Robert Jordan's Wheel of time.  Also reading Matthew McConaughey Greenlights as well as paranormal romance ebook Gladiator Cheetah.

Also have on my shelves Shona Husk's Goblin King and C.E. Murphy's Heart of Stone as well as Alice Kimberly's (aka Cleo Coyle cozy mystery) The Ghost and the Deb. 

"The only rule bookshop owner and widow Penelope Thornton-McClure has given ghostly hard boiled P.I. Jack Shepard is to not haunt the customers. But when hot, young author Angel Stark arrives at the store to promote her latest, a true crime novel, Jack can hardly contain himself. After all, this is his specialty!
 
Angel’s book is an unsolved mystery about a debutante found strangled to death. And it’s filled with juicy details that point a finger at a number of people in the deb’s high society circle. But when the author winds up dead too—in precisely the same way—Pen is fast on the case...which means Jack is too. After all, a ghost detective never rests in peace."

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On 10/25/2020 at 2:49 PM, Robin M said:

Also have on my shelves Shona Husk's Goblin King and C.E. Murphy's Heart of Stone as well as Alice Kimberly's (aka Cleo Coyle cozy mystery) The Ghost and the Deb. 

"The only rule bookshop owner and widow Penelope Thornton-McClure has given ghostly hard boiled P.I. Jack Shepard is to not haunt the customers. But when hot, young author Angel Stark arrives at the store to promote her latest, a true crime novel, Jack can hardly contain himself. After all, this is his specialty!
 

Both Heart of Stone and The Ghost and the Deb were already on my hold’s list.  Great minds think alike!😂

I am reading Val McDermid’s Still Life.  It’s the latest in her long running KarenPirie series and my hold arrived.  This series is great and Val McDermid is considered to be one of the great Northern mystery authors.......It’s good.  She killed off my favorite character a couple of books ago and I haven’t read one since......I think I was mourning.  Anyway I am far enough to know i will continue......one of the storylines involves someone joining the French Foreign Legion which is just fascinating. I suspect a few people here would enjoy these.  @Pen for sure https://www.goodreads.com/series/138123-inspector-karen-pirie   

I just finished listening to Helen Hunter’s Slouch Witch which was a hoot!  I am so disappointed that I had to put the next book on hold.  The lazy😉witch spelled her cat familiar so it can talk and the cat snark is hilarious!   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34670747-slouch-witch 

Edited by mumto2
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Happy Sunday, all!

I've been reading slowly -- it's been a busy week for me and I'm still on Catherine of Siena, the biography of  Saint Catherine by Sigrid Undset. 

The writing is very gentle and simple and a little bit impenetrable. I was starting to get very frustrated because I felt like I was watching a story unfold from behind plexiglass -- I wanted to be moved by the book, or to argue or, you know, get emotionally involved SOMEHOW, but the book just went on talking about gigantic miracles in a very placid tone. Luckily just as I was getting irritated and making notes in the margins, Undset took a step back and started talking about her own experience of writing the book -- the difficulty of writing about Catherine's inner life, for example. And (I loved this) the idea that there's no particular reason that a historian should disbelieve eyewitness accounts of miracles. I'm almost halfway through now and the story is getting intermixed with the broader history of Italy as Catherine goes out into the world more. I'm enjoying myself.

 

Oh, I'm editing to say @SereneHome-- How to Stop Time is such a great title for a book! 

Edited by Little Green Leaves
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Some bookish posts ~

BRINGING THE TRADITIONAL MURDER MYSTERY TO INDIA by RV RAMAN

https://crimereads.com/bringing-the-traditional-murder-mystery-to-india/

Some lists from Fantasy Book World:

13 Most Uplifting Fantasy Books

https://fantasybookworld.com/13-most-uplifting-fantasy-books/

15 Best Weird Fantasy Books

https://fantasybookworld.com/15-best-weird-fantasy-books/

27 Best Fantasy Books of the 21st Century

https://fantasybookworld.com/27-best-fantasy-books-of-the-21st-century/#comment-96

Regards,

Kareni

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Last week I finished my October read, Richard Marsh's The Beetle. It was published the same year as Dracula, and is actually fairly similar. The ancient, insinuating foreigner who is actually a monster; the hapless Englishman abroad who encounters it and, returning to England, inadvertently causes it to follow him, where his pure English beloved falls prey to its exotic (and frankly sexual) ravishings; the assembled group of sturdy Englishmen who chase the monster down as it attempts to flee back to its own land; the ultimate showdown, ambiguous rescue, and equally ambiguous demise, or not, of the foreign demon. I'm just going to let everyone draw her own conclusions about what this tells us of the Victorian English and their anxieties about the Empire.

Still working on Iota Unum, but also some lighter reads as I have to read so much non-fiction for Middle Girl's courses.

Not that that's a complaint.

Edited by Violet Crown
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9 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Finished 

image.png.f659050c8436285204f8cf186e78c03a.png

Growing up in a Commonwealth country means growing up with more knowledge than you want to about the British Royal Family.

Same here, although I've been a fan of the Royal Family for most of my life. I've lived and still live in a Commonwealth country for most of my life. 

I always enjoy your posts and reviews, even though I don't always have time to comment. 

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I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - 3 Stars - Although I’m giving this book 3 stars, I didn’t like it much at all, but to be fair, it has helped to motivate me to sleep more and hopefully better

First, the author terrified me about not sleeping enough. He made me worry about sleep more than ever before. The amount of times he reminded me that we must have at least seven to nine hours of sleep every. single. night, or else we’ll get every single ailment under the sun; well that’s not exactly comforting, not that being comforting is his intention, of course. Reading all that can only worsen a reader’s insomnia. It did mine. The author’s alarmist style rubs me the wrong way.

Then the book gets boring with all the excessive details. Goodness, the amount of times that I fell asleep while reading this! It felt as if it took me forever to finish. In the beginning of this unnecessarily lengthy book, the author says that he hopes the reader falls asleep while reading it and that it’s his intention. He wasn’t kidding.

“Should you feel drowsy and fall asleep while reading the book, unlike most authors, I will not be disheartened. Indeed, based on the topic and content of this book, I am actively going to encourage that kind of behavior from you. Knowing what I know about the relationship between sleep and memory, it is the greatest form of flattery for me to know that you, the reader, cannot resist the urge to strengthen and thus remember what I am telling you by falling asleep. So please, feel free to ebb and flow into and out of consciousness during this entire book. I will take absolutely no offense. On the contrary, I would be delighted.”

At first, I thought that I would give this book, 4 or 5 stars, but then it started to drag on and on with endless repetition. It reminded me of the papers I had to write in grad school – dry as dust and boring. Those are the parts that made me fall asleep.

Yes, sleep is important. It’s the most important aspect of our health. For years I was led to believe that exercise is more important than sleep. Turns out that the correct order is: sleep, diet, and then exercise. Having read this book, I’m already trying to sleep more and to sleep better. To be honest, however, I was already starting to do that right before reading this book. The reason that I chose this book was to help motivate myself to sleep more and hopefully better. Maybe some acquaintances and friends can stop telling me that I look tired all the time. I hate it when people say that. (see image below)

I can’t really recommend this book. Save yourself the money and time. Sleep more. That’s it.

Years ago, my husband’s aunt shared some wonderful advice. She told me to never, ever stress about sleep. There’s enough stress all around us. Why add sleep to the list? She said that anyone will eventually sleep when they need to.

Here are some of my favorite quotes and tips:

Are you getting enough sleep?

“An easy rule of thumb is to answer two simple questions.

First, after waking up in the morning, could you fall back asleep at ten or eleven a.m.? If the answer is ‘yes,’ you are likely not getting sufficient sleep quantity and/or quality.

Second, can you function optimally without caffeine before noon? If the answer is ‘no,’ then you are most likely self-medicating your state of chronic sleep deprivation.

Other questions that can draw out signs of insufficient sleep are:

If you didn’t set an alarm clock, would you sleep past that time? (If so, you need more sleep than you are giving yourself.)

Do you find yourself at your computer screen reading and then rereading (and perhaps rereading again) the same sentence? (This is often a sign of a fatigued, under-slept brain.)

Do you sometimes forget what color the last few traffic lights were while driving? (Simple distraction is often the cause, but a lack of sleep is very much another culprit.)”

Caffeine

“Levels of circulating caffeine peak approximately thirty minutes after oral administration. What is problematic, though, is the persistence of caffeine in your system. In pharmacology, we use the term ‘half-life’ when discussing a drug’s efficacy. This simply refers to the length of time it takes for the body to remove 50 percent of a drug’s concentration. Caffeine has an average half-life of five to seven hours. Let’s say that you have a cup of coffee after your evening dinner, around 7:30 p.m. This means that by 1:30 a.m., 50 percent of that caffeine may still be active and circulating throughout your brain tissue. In other words, by 1:30 a.m., you’re only halfway to completing the job of cleansing your brain of the caffeine you drank after dinner.”

“Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Coffee, colas, certain teas, and chocolate contain the stimulant caffeine, and its effects can take as long as eight hours to wear off fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night.”

Chronically Sleep Restricted

“… defined as getting less than seven hours of sleep a night on a routine basis.”

Melatonin

 “Melatonin helps regulate the timing of when sleep occurs by systemically signaling darkness … melatonin has little influence on the generation of sleep itself: a mistaken assumption that many people hold. … Melatonin simply provides the official instruction to commence the event of sleep, but does not participate in the sleep race itself. For these reasons, melatonin is not a powerful sleeping aid in and of itself, at least not for healthy, non-jet-lagged.”

Melatonin for Older Adults

“Older adults may also wish to consult with their doctor about taking melatonin in the evening. Unlike young or middle-age adults, where melatonin has not proved efficacious for helping sleep beyond the circumstance of jet lag, prescription melatonin has been shown to help boost the otherwise blunted circadian and associated melatonin rhythm in the elderly, reducing the time taken to fall asleep and improving self-reported sleep quality and morning alertness.”  

Naps

“All humans, irrespective of culture or geographical location, have a genetically hardwired dip in alertness that occurs in the midafternoon hours.”

“Throughout developed nations, most adults currently sleep in a monophasic pattern—that is, we try to take a long, single bout of slumber at night, the average duration of which is now less than seven hours. Visit cultures that are untouched by electricity and you often see something rather different. Hunter-gatherer tribes, such as the Gabra in northern Kenya or the San people in the Kalahari Desert, whose way of life has changed little over the past thousands of years, sleep in a biphasic pattern. Both these groups take a similarly longer sleep period at night (seven to eight hours of time in bed, achieving about seven hours of sleep), followed by a thirty- to sixty-minute nap in the afternoon.

“When we are cleaved from the innate practice of biphasic sleep, our lives are shortened. It is perhaps unsurprising that in the small enclaves of Greece where siestas still remain intact, such as the island of Ikaria, men are nearly four times as likely to reach the age of ninety as American males. These napping communities have sometimes been described as ‘the places where people forget to die.’ From a prescription written long ago in our ancestral genetic code, the practice of natural biphasic sleep, and a healthy diet, appear to be the keys to a long-sustained life.”

“Don’t take naps after 3 p.m. Naps can help make up for lost sleep, but late afternoon naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night.”

Obesity

“… sleeping less than seven or eight hours a night will increase your probability of gaining weight, being overweight, or being obese, and significantly increases your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.

The encouraging news is that getting enough sleep will help you control body weight. We found that a full night of sleep repairs the communication pathway between deep-brain areas that unleash hedonic desires and higher-order brain regions whose job it is to rein in these cravings. Ample sleep can therefore restore a system of impulse control within your brain, putting the appropriate brakes on potentially excessive eating.”

“Of course, the obesity epidemic that has engulfed large portions of the world is not caused by lack of sleep alone. The rise in consumption of processed foods, an increase in serving sizes, and the more sedentary nature of human beings are all triggers. However, these changes are insufficient to explain the dramatic escalation of obesity. Other factors must be at play. Based on evidence gathered over the past three decades, the epidemic of insufficient sleep is very likely a key contributor to the epidemic of obesity. Epidemiological studies have established that people who sleep less are the same individuals who are more likely to be overweight or obese.”

Types of Insomnia

“… there are several different sub-types, in the same way that there are numerous different forms of cancer, for example. One distinction separates insomnia into two kinds. The first is sleep onset insomnia, which is difficulty falling asleep. The second is sleep maintenance insomnia, or difficulty staying asleep. As the actor and comedian Billy Crystal has said when describing his own battles with insomnia, ‘I sleep like a baby—I wake up every hour.’ Sleep onset and sleep maintenance insomnia are not mutually exclusive: you can have one or the other, or both.

Tips to Sleep Better

“The obvious methods involve reducing caffeine and alcohol intake, removing screen technology from the bedroom, and having a cool bedroom. In addition, patients must

(1) establish a regular bedtime and wake-up time, even on weekends,

(2) go to bed only when sleepy and avoid sleeping on the couch early/mid-evenings,

(3) never lie awake in bed for a significant time period; rather, get out of bed and do something quiet and relaxing until the urge to sleep returns,

(4) avoid daytime napping if you are having difficulty sleeping at night,

(5) reduce anxiety-provoking thoughts and worries by learning to mentally decelerate before bed,

and

(6) remove visible clockfaces from view in the bedroom, preventing clock-watching anxiety at night.”

“…if you can only adhere to one of these each and every day, make it: going to bed and waking up at the same time of day no matter what. It is perhaps the single most effective way of helping improve your sleep, even though it involves the use of an alarm clock.”

“Don’t lie in bed awake. If you find yourself still awake after staying in bed for more than twenty minutes or if you are starting to feel anxious or worried, get up and do some relaxing activity until you feel sleepy. The anxiety of not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.”9781501144325.jpg

you-look-tired-im-just-ugly-25630098.png

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Thank for the reminder, @negin I know I need to do better on getting more sleep during the week. I simply need more time than 24 hours in a day.

Nothing super exciting to report.

I am listening to Murder in Chinatown by Thompson. Her books have been great for Audio.

I am reading The Secret Servant by Silva. Have enjoyed all of Silva's books so far.

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11 hours ago, negin said:

I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - 3 Stars - Although I’m giving this book 3 stars, I didn’t like it much at all, but to be fair, it has helped to motivate me to sleep more and hopefully better

First, the author terrified me about not sleeping enough. He made me worry about sleep more than ever before. The amount of times he reminded me that we must have at least seven to nine hours of sleep every. single. night, or else we’ll get every single ailment under the sun; well that’s not exactly comforting, not that being comforting is his intention, of course. Reading all that can only worsen a reader’s insomnia. It did mine. The author’s alarmist style rubs me the wrong way.

It's a miracle I'm not dead already...

At least I know I'm not relying on caffeine.  While I do consume it, it really does nothing for me.  And yes, I've gone off cold turkey before.  No withdrawal, no difference.  I could drink 3 espressos and fall asleep instantly.  I think I must not have any caffeine receptors or something...  it's honestly a pain not having any way to make myself more alert if I'm drowsy.  You'd think that would make me more vigilant about actually getting enough sleep, but apparently not...

I keep saying I'm going to be better about sleep, but I do the thing he says not to all the time - dozing on the couch, then actually going to bed way to late.  I know it's not good.

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On 10/25/2020 at 1:09 PM, mumto2 said:

Both Heart of Stone and The Ghost and the Deb were already on my hold’s list.  Great minds think alike!😂

I am reading Val McDermid’s Still Life.  It’s the latest in her long running KarenPirie series and my hold arrived.  This series is great and Val McDermid is considered to be one of the great Northern mystery authors.......It’s good.  She killed off my favorite character a couple of books ago and I haven’t read one since......I think I was mourning.  Anyway I am far enough to know i will continue......one of the storylines involves someone joining the French Foreign Legion which is just fascinating. I suspect a few people here would enjoy these.  @Pen for sure https://www.goodreads.com/series/138123-inspector-karen-pirie

I just finished listening to Helen Hunter’s Slouch Witch which was a hoot!  I am so disappointed that I had to put the next book on hold.  The lazy😉witch spelled her cat familiar so it can talk and the cat snark is hilarious!  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34670747-slouch-witch

 

Weirdly I could not seem get at this thread even with the tag till Robin linked it for me.

 

you are right that that sounds like a book series I would like. Thanks!

I almost finished Jack Swytech series so good timing. 

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12 hours ago, negin said:

I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - 3 Stars - Although I’m giving this book 3 stars, I didn’t like it much at all, but to be fair, it has helped to motivate me to sleep more and hopefully better

First, the author terrified me about not sleeping enough. He made me worry about sleep more than ever before. The amount of times he reminded me that we must have at least seven to nine hours of sleep every. single. night, or else we’ll get every single ailment under the sun; well that’s not exactly comforting, not that being comforting is his intention, of course. Reading all that can only worsen a reader’s insomnia. It did mine. The author’s alarmist style rubs me the wrong way.

Then the book gets boring with all the excessive details. Goodness, the amount of times that I fell asleep while reading this! It felt as if it took me forever to finish. In the beginning of this unnecessarily lengthy book, the author says that he hopes the reader falls asleep while reading it and that it’s his intention. He wasn’t kidding.

“Should you feel drowsy and fall asleep while reading the book, unlike most authors, I will not be disheartened. Indeed, based on the topic and content of this book, I am actively going to encourage that kind of behavior from you. Knowing what I know about the relationship between sleep and memory, it is the greatest form of flattery for me to know that you, the reader, cannot resist the urge to strengthen and thus remember what I am telling you by falling asleep. So please, feel free to ebb and flow into and out of consciousness during this entire book. I will take absolutely no offense. On the contrary, I would be delighted.”

At first, I thought that I would give this book, 4 or 5 stars, but then it started to drag on and on with endless repetition. It reminded me of the papers I had to write in grad school – dry as dust and boring. Those are the parts that made me fall asleep.

Yes, sleep is important. It’s the most important aspect of our health. For years I was led to believe that exercise is more important than sleep. Turns out that the correct order is: sleep, diet, and then exercise. Having read this book, I’m already trying to sleep more and to sleep better. To be honest, however, I was already starting to do that right before reading this book. The reason that I chose this book was to help motivate myself to sleep more and hopefully better. Maybe some acquaintances and friends can stop telling me that I look tired all the time. I hate it when people say that.

 

 

I loved the Matthew Walker sleep book. But I had it as audio and could go at a faster clip while also doing other things so that might make a difference. 

I have recommended it to many people. 

 

But if you can just sleep more on a consistent regular schedule—that’s the basics! 

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I finished my reread of the Linesmen series with Confluence (A Linesman Novel Book 3) by SK Dunstall which I enjoyed once again.

**

Over the past week, I've read some 140 pages of Blood of a Gladiator (Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries Book 1) by Ashley Gardner; I have decided to put it aside. While I've enjoyed many other books by the author, this one is not speaking to me. Too bad!

Regards,

Kareni

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23 hours ago, Spudater said:

How are you liking Iota Unum?  I was wondering how it would compare to Sire's Phoenix from the Ashes. 

After this week I'm thinking of ordering Fr. Ripperger's books on magisterial authority.

I haven't read Sire, nor Ripperger. I read earlier this year the recently deceased Fr. Cekada's book on the New Rite, which touched on some Vatican 2 issues but didn't have much new to say there. I'd gotten tired of reading critiques of the New Rite that used Fr. Cekada's original research without crediting him, presumably out of concern for guilt by association, and wanted to see for myself what he had to say. His research is well-documented and his conclusions from it are convincing, except for his key conclusion of invalidity, which relies on a singularly unconvincing (to me) line of argument. Of course as a sedevacantist, Fr. Cekada cuts the Gordian knot of magisterial authority, though not in a way I can agree with.

Iota Unum is a very different book. Amerio was an academic, and writes like it; some sections are eye-glazing. But he is devastatingly thorough, and had available to him a wealth of untranslated primary sources in Italian, French, and German. It may take me a while to get through it.

I've taken a brief break from everything to join in Robin's challenge for this week

On 10/25/2020 at 1:37 PM, Robin M said:

Read a book with ghost in the title or picture on the cover.

and am reading this evening Plautus' comedy The Ghost. Said ghost is of course not an actual ghost, but a ploy by a clever house-slave to protect his dissipated young master (and himself) from the wrath of young master's father, a rich merchant just returned from years abroad, who will learn how his son and slave have been wasting the merchant's fortune on wine, women, and feasting. In other words, a variation on essentially the same plot as every other Roman comedy. 

Edited by Violet Crown
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8 minutes ago, melmichigan said:

I've been bored, but need the distraction, so I've been reading (and occasionally listening to) the Blood on the Stars series by Jay Allan.  I'm currently on book 9.  Most are ~350-500 pages, so they take a day or two to get through.

How are you faring these days vis-à-vis the concussion you had? I seem to remember that you could not read (could only listen to) books for a long time.

I know that you've read my favorite Linesman series. How does it compare (or does it?) to the Blood on the Stars series?

Regards,

Kareni

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19 hours ago, negin said:

Hunter-gatherer tribes, such as the Gabra in northern Kenya or the San people in the Kalahari Desert, whose way of life has changed little over the past thousands of years, sleep in a biphasic pattern.

Medieval writings from Italy to England refer to "first sleep" and "second sleep." It was taken for granted that sleep was biphasic, and the awake time between "sleeps" was, at least in England, thought of as a time for conversation and reflection (and of course propitious for conception), as one was rested from the labors of the day but the new day's work couldn't be started. I've run into the modern notion that one of the ascetic rigors of medieval religious life was sleep deprivation from rising in the middle of the night to pray (Nocturns/Matins); but this was simply a natural waking time and so marked by prayer before returning for second sleep.

When I had my first baby, I was struck by the emphasis in "mommy" books and discussion on the difficulties of teaching the baby to sleep through the night, and thought how strange that would have seemed to the medievals. I wonder if this is our last vestige of cultural awareness of biphasic sleep.

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Sometime in the past couple of months I encountered a recently published book that was set in April 2020.  I ended up abandoning that work of incredible fiction out of irritation because it had no pandemic, Life was normal and it made me mad!

So I started reading Still Life   https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3610138836   by Val McDremid and immediately noticed February 2020 and wondered if the case was going to move into March and how far.  Was I going to find myself getting irritated ....... I am happy to report this book deals with the coming plague realistically.  About halfway trough a doctor friend of the main character (still February) told her she needed to prepare a bit......pick up a box a gloves and some masks.  By the end of the book stay at home was happening.  It was edited in........yeah,  Val McDermid for the extra effort! 

Anyway I loved this book.  Karen, the detective, specializes in cold cases and the ones in this book were sooooo good!  The first was a skeleton found in a camper van found under a tarp in the garage of an accountant who died a couple of weeks before in a traffic accident.  The second started out as a bit of French Foreign Legion coolness and ramped up from there!  
 

I decided to use it as my Rhythm and Blues Bingo square.......the FFL guy played saxaphone in Jazz clubs and one was visited in the course of the story.  Not perfect but if I am going to finish my Bingo card I need to check some more off!

I also finished listening to And Then There Were None while sewing yesterday. ❤️  I think I need to finish three more Christie’s for that challenge to be completed for the year!

Edited by mumto2
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I finished another book last night; this was a book I'd read several years ago. I enjoyed it once again. (Significant adult content)

Illumination by Rowan Speedwell

"Adam Craig is burned out. Lead singer of the hard rock band Black Varen, he’s tired of the empty life of groupies, paparazzi, and hotel rooms. Worse, a life in the closet. After the final concert of their latest tour, he flees the afterparty, pursuing memories of lost summers and carefree days, until he passes out on the patio of a shuttered lake resort.

Miles Caldwell is a brilliant artist, tied by agoraphobia and social anxiety to his family’s lodge. Alone but for his parrot, he spends his days illuminating manuscripts and hiding from the complexities of life. When he discovers Adam asleep in a deck chair, he’s furious but intrigued. Adam soon charms his way into Miles’s bed, and they lose themselves in a summer idyll, safe from the compromises and claims of reality.

But Adam’s life, with all it demands, is waiting for him. And Miles, uncertain of Adam’s true feelings, is battling demons of his own. Somehow, the man who’s never home and the man who never leaves it must find the strength to fight for a future together."

Regards,

Kareni

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Hello! I finished books. No, no, keep your seats. No applause necessary. I was even going to post which ones I finished and gush about how much I liked them but WTM is not letting me do links right now so we'll try that again when I'm on my laptop tonigh. *ugh*

On 10/12/2020 at 11:55 AM, Violet Crown said:

Here we go:

Bad Catholic
1. Philip Lawler, The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful ... and What can Be Done About It
2. Blaise Pascal, The Provincial Letters
3. *St. John of the Cross, Poems
4. *St Francis & St Clare, The Complete Works
5. Andre Gide, The Vatican Cellars
6. Bruce Marshall, The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith
7. Leon Bloy, Disagreeable Tales
8. Thomas Day, Why Catholics Can't Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste
9. Anthony Cekada, Work of Human Hands: A Theological Critique of the Mass of Paul VI
10. Romano Amerio, Iota Unum: A Study of Changes in the Catholic Church in the Twentieth Century

*Not actually 'Bad Catholic' but sometimes you have to take a break

What an interesting eclectic list! You seem to be doing really well with your 10x10's this year.

On 10/26/2020 at 3:37 AM, negin said:

I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - 3 Stars - Although I’m giving this book 3 stars, I didn’t like it much at all, but to be fair, it has helped to motivate me to sleep more and hopefully better

<snip>

 

You do such excellent thorough reviews of the non-fiction you read that I feel like I get the important stuff without having to read the book. Thank you for taking the time and energy to review them! It's always so appreciated. And now I know I need to sleep more. 

On 10/26/2020 at 3:37 AM, negin said:

 

you-look-tired-im-just-ugly-25630098.png

This is so funny and reminds me of a conversation Sophia and I had today. She fainted during Mass at school today (don't worry ... it's just one of those things that happens at Catholic school ... there seem to always be a kid that passes out from not eating breakfast or something ... today it was my kid but she's fine). I had to go pick her up at school because she was too shaky to drive home. The nurse, a secretary, and a teacher we passed as I was helping Sophia out of the school all commented on how extremely pale Sophia looked and how they hoped she got feeling better. As soon as we get in the car Sophia turns to me and says, "Don't these people realize this is my natural color!" And she's right. She's got dark hair and hazel eyes but is very pale. 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Medieval writings from Italy to England refer to "first sleep" and "second sleep." It was taken for granted that sleep was biphasic, and the awake time between "sleeps" was, at least in England, thought of as a time for conversation and reflection (and of course propitious for conception), as one was rested from the labors of the day but the new day's work couldn't be started. I've run into the modern notion that one of the ascetic rigors of medieval religious life was sleep deprivation from rising in the middle of the night to pray (Nocturns/Matins); but this was simply a natural waking time and so marked by prayer before returning for second sleep.

When I had my first baby, I was struck by the emphasis in "mommy" books and discussion on the difficulties of teaching the baby to sleep through the night, and thought how strange that would have seemed to the medievals. I wonder if this is our last vestige of cultural awareness of biphasic sleep.

I did not know this about medieval sleep patterns! That makes so much sense. I couldn't understand why people talk about the Benedictine rule as so sensible when it involves all that broken sleep. 

The middle ages are such a fascinating time -- not only in terms of events but in terms of how people actually lived. I guess that's part of why I'm enjoying Catherine of Siena; it's a very human kind of history. The Barbara Tuchman book about the 14th century, meanwhile, has sat on my shelf for literally years gathering dust and waiting to be read. 

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59 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

@aggieamy Glad your daughter is fine. Also 👏 for finishing books always. 

@Violet Crown and @mumto2 I would like more information please on the "squares" you both refer to like the 10x10 for and Rhythm and Blues Bingo square. 

 

I also was wondering about those squares I hear people talking about!

@aggieamyI'm glad your daughter is ok!

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2 hours ago, aggieamy said:

What an interesting eclectic list! You seem to be doing really well with your 10x10's this year.

This is so funny and reminds me of a conversation Sophia and I had today. She fainted during Mass at school today (don't worry ... it's just one of those things that happens at Catholic school ... there seem to always be a kid that passes out from not eating breakfast or something ... today it was my kid but she's fine). I had to go pick her up at school because she was too shaky to drive home. The nurse, a secretary, and a teacher we passed as I was helping Sophia out of the school all commented on how extremely pale Sophia looked and how they hoped she got feeling better. As soon as we get in the car Sophia turns to me and says, "Don't these people realize this is my natural color!" And she's right. She's got dark hair and hazel eyes but is very pale. 

Poor Sophia! On the other hand, I was always able to be excused to go home by saying I felt weak and dizzy - "Oh dear you're so pale I can see you're really ill!" 

I'd be doing great with my 10x10's this year if they were from this year, but they're from 2019. 

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2 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

 and @mumto2 I would like more information please on the "squares" you both refer to like the 10x10 for and Rhythm and Blues Bingo square

 

1 hour ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I also was wondering about those squares I hear people talking about!

You can learn more about the Bingo squares here.

Regards,

Kareni

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@Dreamergal  Oh my gosh, I need that calm app.  The ocean, that voice.  

@Little Green Leaves  and @Dreamergal  In 2019 when we started our 10th year of doing 52 books, I came up with a 10 x 10 challenge. Read 10 books in 10 different categories.  You get to choose which categories.    Also have a new bingo every year with standard number of squares plus some mystery bonus ones as well.   All for fun, expanding reading repertoire.  All the different mini challenges are listed on 52 Books blog.

@negin  Thank you for the wonderful write up on the sleep book.  Learned some new things.  My sleep patterns have changed and periodically I go through times when I'm waking at 4:00 a.m. and can't go back to sleep, so I'll get up and write for a couple hours, then climb back into bed and sleep until 9.00.  Fortunately I have that option of sleeping late.  

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32 minutes ago, Kareni said:

You can learn more about the Bingo squares here.

😂Robin beat me to posting.  Since I have all of this done I am still posting!😉

Robin’s Bingo Card for 2020 and most other challenge info is all in Kareni’s “here”.😂. Robin adds bonus squares for overly enthused people like me! ❤️ I tend to make an attempt at most challenges......the Ladies of Lit challenge tab is what I am doing when I post the author’s name spelled out with book titles each month.

The 10x10 may not be listed on 52 books.  Essentially this is 10 books in 10 different categories.......or 5.  Completely up to you!  These are a personal challenges that some of us have been known to embark on each year........I think we have all decided they can be carried over to a new year if we haven’t finished.  Everybody plays by their own rules so cross over etc are allowed in my world. 😉. So everyone designed their own reading challenge.......I have my 10 Agatha Christie’s, 10 Brit Tripping- Detective books set in 10 counties of England,  10 World Detectives.........you get the idea ........ mainly mysteries. Lots of cozies.......I do have Science Fiction and Steampunk categories so I do read other things!😉 We tend to have fun naming these categories.......I abandoned my “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and replaced it with sniffer dogs.  My 10 is completed in that category!

The Nose Knows......sniffer dogs

Suspect by Robert Crais

Lone Wolf by Sara Driscoll

The Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan

The Scent of Bones by Kylie Logan

A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier

Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima

Killing Trail by Margaret Mizushima

Stalking Ground by Margaret Mizushima 

Hunting Ground by Margaret Mizushima

Tracking Game by Margaret Mizushima

 

So Still Life which I talked about in an earlier post fits two of my categories.......they travel to both Greater Manchester and Northumberland so I will check off a county.  She is a Scottish detective so I can check off a country too.  I am requiring 10 countries and 10 counties of myself.  So far I don’t have either!  And Then Their were None doubles too.........county Devonshire and Agatha Christie.

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On 10/25/2020 at 3:39 PM, Dreamergal said:

@Robin M choosing to read it is just the icing on the cake. Alright, Alright, Alright ! Sorry, could not resist 😊

Great minds think alike as I have Greenlights as well as Trevor Noah's book on my shelves as well.  Will dive into Trevor's next for Nonfiction November.

@aggieamy  Glad to hear Sophia is okay.  

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5 minutes ago, Pen said:

@mumto2 is Distant Echoes the first book of series you mention? Amazon lists it as 1, but I don’t see “Karen Pyrie” in description. 

I show myself as having read Distant Echos an liking it.  I think she plays a  minor role in this one, ends up on the cold case team somehow........That said Darker Domain was really good (book 2 per Goodreads).  

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Phew, that was stressful.  We've been on pins and needles waiting to hear back from one of my technicians who has been out sick. Ordinary flu not covid.  Yeah! So sorry you're not feeling good but yeah!  This is the one employee who is out and about more and the one who always gets whatever is out there worse than the rest of us.  We discussed contingency plans again to keep the shop open as long as the rest of us tested negative.   So this was our dress rehearsal. 

Which also helped us make up our mind what to do for Halloween.  I really not up for standing outside, trying to social distance to hand out candy.  Decided we're turning off the light, locking the gate, and watching a scary movie.  James choice. Alien Covenant, the 2nd prequel to Alien

Which is probably why I couldn't concentrate on a new book.

Rereading Patricia Brigg's Dead Heat, #4 in her Alpha and Omega series. I don't recall reading #5 so guess that one is next.

"For once, mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Lantham are not traveling because of Charles’s role as his father’s enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal. Or at least their visit starts out that way... 

Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The fae have started a cold war with humanity that's about to heat up—and Charles and Anna are in the crossfire."

Edited by Robin M
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Yeah!  So glad you don’t have to deal with one of your tech’s having Covid.  We had a Covid scare that was the flu too.......I wonder if we are all going to be doing this dance all winter.    We got our flu shots last week which will hopefully reduce some  anxiety!  We aren’t doing Halloween either beyond a candy supply for our dc’s.  
 

I love the Alpha and Omega series!

 

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4 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

I love the Alpha and Omega series!

As do I! (This is by Patricia Briggs for anyone who did not make the connection.)

Glad to hear that your daughter is okay, @aggieamy; I have a vague recollection of fainting as a child while on a school trip to sing Christmas songs at an old age home. This was in Australia, so it was summertime and hot.

I hope that your technician will soon recover from her illness, @Robin M.

My sister tested positive for covid-19 about ten days ago as did her husband a few days later. My sister had what was similar to a really bad cold and is now feeling much better. My brother-in-law was asymptomatic. I'm grateful that additional family with whom they'd been in contact tested negative and also that my sister's case was mild.

Regards,

Kareni

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2 hours ago, Kareni said:

My sister tested positive for covid-19 about ten days ago as did her husband a few days later. My sister had what was similar to a really bad cold and is now feeling much better. My brother-in-law was asymptomatic. I'm grateful that additional family with whom they'd been in contact tested negative and also that my sister's case was mild.

Oh my! Glad she is doing okay now!

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On 10/26/2020 at 10:41 AM, Spudater said:

Lol, yeah, I don't want to know what sleep deprivation is doing to me. My baby is five months old, I haven't gotten more than six (interrupted)hours of sleep a night since she's been born, I think. 

Trust me. Six sounds great to me. Not to discount what you're going through, however. Everyone's needs are different. Hopefully soon, you'll be able t get as much sleep as your body needs. Enjoy your baby! 

On 10/26/2020 at 11:31 AM, Liz CA said:

Thank for the reminder, @negin I know I need to do better on getting more sleep during the week. I simply need more time than 24 hours in a day.

Me too. I wish that I could clone myself: one person to get stuff done 24/7, while the other gets the required 8 hours of sleep. Something like that. There are too many things that I have to do, but also so many things that I want to do. 

On 10/26/2020 at 5:05 PM, Matryoshka said:

It's a miracle I'm not dead already...

I know the feeling. 

23 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Medieval writings from Italy to England refer to "first sleep" and "second sleep."

Fascinating info! You often share the most interesting details, and I love it!

17 hours ago, aggieamy said:

She fainted during Mass at school today 

Glad to hear that she's better. Fainting can be scary. I've fainted quite a few times myself. 

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We were listening to the British History Podcast-- which I really recommend -- and I thought of this thread because vampire stories came up! Apparently a 12th century Welshman known as Walter Map produced the first known written vampire tales in English. I've requested it from the library. Wish I'd known about this earlier in the month, in time for Halloween!

Editing to add that sorry, I keep clicking on everyone's profile by mistake!

Edited by Little Green Leaves
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