2019: Lizzie Reads Less but Buys More - 3

November on the River

READ IN SEPTEMBER
41. The Outcast Dead
42. Red Moon
43. The Ghost Fields

Into the House in September
101. The Women of the Copper Country - Kindle (a splurge)
192. The Churchills - Kindle Deal through BookBub
193. The Ghost Fields ✔
194. Blue Latitudes - PBS
195. The Lightning Thief - AMP

READ IN OCTOBER
44. The Eye of the World (reread)
45. The Great Hunt (reread)
46. Frederica (reread)

Into the House in October
196. The Punishment She Deserves - PBS
197. And Only to Deceive - PBS
198. The German Lesson - PBS
199. The Prague Sonata - PBS
200. Spinning Silver - Kindle Deal through BookBub
201. Christmas at High Rising - Elaine
202. The Hound in the Left-Hand Corner - PBS

READ IN NOVEMBER
47. The Dragon Reborn (reread)
48. Dead in the Scrub (reread)
49. The Comforts of Home

Into the House in November
201. Force of Nature - PBS
202. Fish Tails - Kindle
203. Towers of Midnight ✔ - PBS
204. The Last Hours - AMP
205. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World - gift from my friend
206. Rembrandt's Eyes - same again
207. Winning the Vote - gift from lifetime friend Bobbie
208. Who Buries the Dead - Kindle Deal through BookBub
209. Educated - PBS

READ IN DECEMBER
50. The Shadow Rising (reread)
51. The Fires of Heaven (reread)
52. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
53. Cold Warriors: Writers Who Waged the Literary Cold War

Into the House in December
210. The Snow Child
211. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven ✔
212. Ducks, Newburyport - Christmas GC!
213. The Woman in Blue
214. Cold Warriors - ✔

Out of the House
mine ~ 25 Wards' ~ 9

OPEN FOR READING IN NOVEMBER

BEST OF THE FIRST HALF

Welcome to Thread 3 and Last of 2019!
I spent my reading time today with Red Moon. It seems lighter to me than the other KSRs I've read with not so much science and more thriller-type plotting. Suits me for the moment!

***Quote of the Day***
As he knew not what to say, he swore.
~ Byron (*Viking Book of Aphorisms* = *VBoA*)

Great new thread start up and lovely river photo.
Also~ I love all the book covers you've displayed. I tend to gloss over lists of titles.

One title in particular leapt out: The horse, the wheel and language ~ I've had it on my public Library WL to request since last June. I falter because it looks so big and immense and just so overwhelmingly erudite. Did you find it a slog? Or was it something to read with breaks between and full of interest?

Happy new thread! Great river picture.

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Tuesday and happy new thread.

I'm reading an odd book, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. It's really grabbed my attention. Well-written and interesting.

Welcome, Sandy! I loved, loved, loved the first chapters - maybe a third of *HWL* - which dealt with language. I kept on reading through totally unfamiliar place and culture names because of wonderful nuggets to be gleaned and absolutely fascinating cultural info that popped up from time to time unexpectedly. I skimmed a lot, but I'm glad for the experience. (My review or comments are on my first thread this year sometime in March.) I'd further say that it's both erudite and approachable.
Welcome, Susan! Glad you like our river - it's one of NC's "Natural and Scenic" rivers.
Welcome, Karen! That does sound attention-grabbing. I really, really like the new pop-up thumbnail sketches.
Back from book club and playing the piano at the old folks' home, and I'm ready to stretch out with a book, my cup of tea, and maybe a mini-babybel.
A Brag. I just wore a pair of pants that I haven't been able to get on for at least 3 years, and they weren't too tight. I'm celebrating with cheese! (Uh oh)

Happy new thread, dear Peggy.

Hi Peggy! Congratulations on your pants-wearing accomplishment. That's a great feeling!

As always you've been doing some interesting reading, and often books I've never heard of but enjoy hearing about.

>9 LizzieD: ♡ that you gave me such a splendid mini-review of *HWL*.

Thanks so much for that boost. When I've soldiered through my current library cascade (explained on my thread), I plan on girding my literary loins and having a go at Anthony's treatise.

Happy new thread!

Thank you kindly, Jim.

Well, wait. WHERE is my post from Thursday night???? I posted it twice, and it didn't take either time.
Thank you for the visits, Laura and Sandy!
Laura, I often feel the same about your thread. Isn't LT great that we get to expand our horizons!?!?!?!
Sandy, you are a dear. I'm confident that you'll find a lot to like and chew on in *HWL*.
Jim, I actually referred to you in comments about KSR's Red Moon, which I'm currently reading. I actually understood his explanation of the pilot wave effect of photons - or at least, I understood to my own satisfaction. I said that you'd be proud, and I hope that's so.
I continue to read that and Cold Warriors. I'm really enjoying that one except that I am easily confused by the alphabet soup of endless intelligence groups in England and USA. Also, the books that he has chosen to discuss are either ones that I know fairly well (Animal Farm, 1984) or one that I have no real desire to read (Howard Fast's Spartacus. On the other hand, I'm only half through, so goodies may be lying in wait!

***Quote of the Day***
It is better to wear out one's shoes than one's sheets.
~ Genoese Proverb (*VBoA*)

>15 LizzieD: I thought it was Wednesday night my posts kept being bounced as 'duplicate'!

Was the 11th Wednesday, Susan? If so you're right about mine too. Remember that by the time I get here every night, I'm ¾ brain.dead.

Happy new thread, Peggy!

Still mostly lurking on your thread and enjoying the quotes :-)

I'm always glad to see you here, Anita. I wish I could even lurk.
You inspire me to add another, though.

***Quote of the Day***
The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning.
~ Dr. Johnson (*VBoA*)

(Happy Sunday morning, everybody!)

((((Peggy))))

Hi Peggy! I am dropping by to say how glad I am that Dorian passed us by (generally). I would like a reasonable amount of rain though. I feel like all the storms go right around us lately. I hope you have a lovely week.

(((((Roni)))))! (((((Jenn)))))!
I was just saying to my hometown friend who has moved to Fletcher to be near her son in Asheville that we could do with a little rain - "little" being the operative word. Lovely week back to you! Mine will be busier than I like again. I wish I could choose when to do all this social stuff rather than have it all jammed up into the two middle weeks of the month. OTOH, my dear lifelong friend Bev is stopping for a visit tomorrow, so I'm happy to give up a swim to spend a bit of time with her.

***Quote of the Day***
What is more enchanting than the voices of young people when you can't hear what they say?
~ L.P. Smith (*VBoA*)

(I might have agreed with this once, but the voices of young women are driving me crazy these days. Don't let me start!)

Hi Peggy!

I'm off to the salt mines in a bit, but as I wrote on my thread, there's a definite end in sight, and I'm on the official post-it note countdown. Ten work days left.

I hope you have a wonderful day. I've noticed the days getting shorter - yay - harbinger of fall.

Great news all around, Karen!
I just heard on NPR that English scholars have agreed that a Shakespeare 1st folio with extensive marginalia did belong to Milton, and the comments are his. SO exciting!!!!!

ETA: Here is the announcement in The Guardian.

>24 LizzieD: Bourne’s study of this copy, which has been housed in the Free Library of Philadelphia since 1944

Not surprisingly, this discovery made the news here, and the library has put the First Folio on public view until October 19. I might just have to pay it a visit.

Oh, Laura! Look for me too when you go!

Happy new thread, Peggy.

>24 LizzieD: That is amazing news. Are we nerds, or what? 😀

Hi, Beth! Isn't that amazing!!!!!???!!!!!!!
I told my friends at bridge today, and they weren't excited at all. Silly women!

>24 LizzieD:, >25 lauralkeet: That is so exciting... and so far away :(

I hope you can go too, LizzieD.

Oh! Hi, Sandy! I didn't intend to be ambiguous in my message for Laura, but I see that I was. What I meant was, "Look on my behalf when you go, Laura."
I haven't been out of town but once in the past 4 years, and that was less than 20 miles away. I'm not likely to go from NC to Philly - even for a folio with Milton's comments. *sigh*

I have no idea what to make of this. DH and I are both amused and bemused.....
Our local paper has a regular "Faith" page on Friday. Today's issue featured the normal picture of a county church (McCormick Chapel AME), a Bible lesson, a list of current events, a short paragraph about Bethel Baptist's re-dedication, and ---- an article from Homer, Alaska, which I will quote a bit from.....

Pastafarian pastor leads council meeting prayer

A pastor wearing a colander on his head offered the opening prayer on behalf of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to open a local government meeting in Alaska, the latest blessing from a nontraditional church since a court ruling.
.....
"So, I'm called to invoke the power of the true inebriated creator of the universe, the drunken tolerator (sic) of the all lesser and more recent gods, and maintainer of gravity here on earth May the great Flying Spaghetti Monster rouse himself from his stupor and let his noodly appendages ground each assembly member in their seats," ---
.....
The Pastafarian invocation followed one in June from Satanic Temple member Iris Fontana that caused about a dozen people to leave the assembly chamber in Soldotna in protest when she invoked "Hail Satan" in her opening prayers.

I'll be interested to see whether any locals read this.

Hi Peggy!

>24 LizzieD: Amazing that it survived, amazing that one of a few people who would have noted the similarity to Milton's other notes saw the similarities. The article was great - thanks for the link.

>31 LizzieD: What a hoot!

I've heard of the Pastafarian cult, which reared its noodly head in Vancouver some years ago (https://tinyurl.com/ICBC-colander-ruling).

The ordained ministers were denied driver's licences with their religious headgear. (ICBC is the provincial licensing authority).

Many appeals later, I see that at least one individual obtained his license complete with headgear.
BC, particularly Victoria and Vancouver, are known for fringe groups. In the '60's it was the thriving hotbed of flower-power, hippies and 'back-to-the-landers'.

I do think it is strange that the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has achieved a place in your church bulletin, Peggy. Perhaps someone was having a fling at testing how thoroughly the bulletin is read?

Now we know! "Even" in the wilds of the Canadian Steppes, your bulletin will be hailed as an all-inclusive document.
... or not...

True all, Karen!

Sandy, I'm amazed that you know about the Pastafarian cult. It must be a Northern Thing! GOOD GRIEF!!!!!
And it was our local newspaper, not a church bulletin!!!!!

I'm still reading Cold Warriors, Red Moon, and a bit of The Ghost Fields from time to time. That's all! It's certainly enough to keep me busy.

***Quote of the Day***
It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions.
~ T. H. Huxley (*VBoA*)

>33 SandyAMcPherson: The same happened here with Pastafarians some time ago. They lost their last appeal in court, so no drivers licences with headgear for them in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands????? Good grief, Anita. I guess I have to do some research.

>36 LizzieD: You can find the basics on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

>24 LizzieD: I had a friend, he died about 20 years ago, who had a Shakespeare folio. Charlie's college roommate (Georgetown) was extremely wealthy and at some point, he gave the folio to Charlie; a gift. When he told me this, Charlie opened his hands, palm up, and said, "I don't know what to do with it. I have it in a safe deposit box in the bank, and once in a while I get it out and just look at it."

Holy Moly, Bill! I can't imagine an individual owning a Shakespeare folio although I know they do! A first? Even a second or however long the line goes would be amazing. What happened to it after your friend died?
Anita, thanks. That's where I looked. I'm still trying to figure out how that article got on the Faith page of our little newspaper here in the Bible Belt.

***Quote of the Day***
I am much tempted to say of metaphysicians what Scaliger said of the Basques: "They are said to understand one another, but I don't believe a word of it."
~ Chamfort (*VBoA*)

That perfectly placed comma leads me to ask the RG Fan Club. Am I the only one who has noticed that Griffiths routinely places the the comma after the "but"? It's not interfering with my enjoyment of The Ghost Fields, but it does make me a little nuts.

>39 LizzieD: I suppose it all has to do with where one pauses in the sentence. Generally I'd put it before but, wait! Was that a gorilla strolling through the room? ;-)

I still don't think that works, Roni. Before but? I'd always say, "but wait!" Oh well.

Hi Peggy!

I have not noticed the 'but comma' issues in RG, thank goodness. Of course, when I reread them in a year or two I'll be reminded of this bit on your thread and be on the lookout for them. *smile*

It's not supposed to be this hot at the end of September, although I remember the fall of 1994 because I had bought Jenna a very cute fleece dress for Halloween and it was too hot for her to wear it.

>39 LizzieD: I understood that "The comma thing" is related to British grammar differing from American practice.

Kind of like using the Oxford comma. I went to a British-style girls' school and fell in the grammar ditch, constantly. Mainly because I read so many novels by American authors.

Well, I did a little Googling on the comma thing. Like Sandy, I thought it was related to a difference in British vs. American practice. Most of what I found said a comma after "but" is incorrect; "but" is a conjunction and as we all know, commas are placed before a conjunction. One article discussed usage of "but" as an "interrupter" (like "However,..."), in which case a comma would be acceptable. I think that's what Griffiths is doing:
There is one situation in which you will find a comma after but. It occurs in cases where the writer makes a deliberate choice for literary effect. That’s where interrupters come into play.
https://wordagents.com/comma-before-or-after-but/

I didn't find anything to substantiate the "British vs. American English" theory but I still think there's something to that.

Hmmm. I thought it might be that too (that is British usage), but I've read a lot of modern British books that follow what I think of as standard usage. I just googled and found Bristol U. declaring that the comma always comes before coordinating conjunctions.
I'm going to have to read Laura's link, but Griffiths uses the comma after often enough for me to have noticed it.

ETA: Here's the example from Laura's link: Everyone was home, but, and this is important, no one heard him knocking at the door.
Of course, we'd do that even at the risk of all those commas. We might use dashes or parentheses instead. The but isn't the interrupter in the example; it is still introducing the "no one heard him...." clause, and the comma precedes The But. (I'm about to decide that it should be The Butt.)

Roni, I thought that sentence sounded as though you had changed directions in mid-sentence.......

You'll note that I used the comma after "but" as an interrupter, as in I was going to say "but (one thing)" and then got distracted by something else completely, but I was in complete ignorance of the rule cited by Laura.

RED MOON by Kim Stanley Robinson

I thoroughly enjoyed this one - an amalgam of astronomy, creative moon settling, Chinese politics, Chinese philosophy, world-wide revolution - until I read the last page. It's a cliff hanger! I'm not sure that I care enough about the characters to want to read another 400+ pages to work out their troubles. Doggone you, KSR!!!!! I now see that the second review on Amazon warns about this.
(I probably will read it when it comes out, but I won't be in any hurry.)

>46 ronincats: I think it's more of a convention than a rule, Roni. From a grammar perspective the comma after but is considered unnecessary.

Laura, look back at my edited reply in >45 LizzieD:. All those commas are necessary.

>49 LizzieD: okay, now that makes more sense to me. I agree that in your example all those commas are necessary. I was thinking about sentences beginning with "But, ..." and thought the article's reference to "deliberate choice for literary effect" seemed to apply.

eta: I've edited this post about 4 times because I keep spotting grammar or punctuation errors, or typos!

>45 LizzieD: The commas are separating the aside, and this is important, rather than following the but.

Isn't that what I said, Susan? It was at least part of what I meant. The first comma is the required one before a coordinating conjunction.
Of course, Laura, when I read on in *GF*, every but either began a sentence, had no comma at all, or the comma in the right place. I don't feel like going back to find the examples I was seeing earlier in the book. If I come upon one, I'll put it here. Meanwhile, I think I'm over it. Meanwhile, I've gotten paranoid about my punctuation too.

Interesting discussion, Peggy. I usually find myself going back over my commas to make sure I have it right. Comma insecurity!

I just finished Confederates in the Attic and found it fascinating. Thanks for recommending it. Even though it was written 20 years ago, I imagine beliefs about the Civil War among Southerners haven't changed much. But I did wonder if the influx of Northerners moving there to work in new industries affects attitudes and Southern culture.

Hi, Jan! Sorry for the comma insecurity. I don't suffer from it because I don't much care as I write here. I suffer from others though.....
I'm so glad that you enjoyed *CinA* too. I look forward to more Horwitz! It honestly felt very contemporary to me, but here we're at least 20 years behind the rest of the world in most things. I don't have any DC friends that I know of, but the DAR reigns - without me, I might add. I don't think that the Northerners have any real effect on those who worship the old South. That's just my personal experience.
Meanwhile, I had hoped to finish Cold Warriors this month - it's a very readable, very informative book. I have a couple of hundred pages yet to go, and I just don't feel like pushing them into the last three days although that much would be possible. I'm more in the mood for comfort reading, so Heyer and Griffiths, here I come!

***Quote of the Day***
The ardor chills us which we do not share.
~ Patmore (*VBoA*)

Hi Peggy, and happy Sunday to you!

You're probably aware of the furor here in Pittsboro. The UDC and the county are at war over the Confederate statue at the Courthouse, and now there are Confederate flags flying everywhere and clashes downtown. It's scary and I'm also writhing with embarrassment at what drumpf's white supremacist miasma has brought out of the woodwork. They've never been far below the surface, in Saxapahaw and Sanford, but 8 miles from my house is just plain awful.

In better news, I scored big at the FoL sale and have a card table full of books to do something with.

Kind regards to your Mama and DH, and hugs for my dear friend.

Hugs right back to you, Karen. Staying home is a good thing, and I'll be glad when you can until the anger and fear go back underground. I'm just waiting for somebody to tear off the scabs over our similar wounds here. (If you read my post above, I commented on not knowing of any U (which I denied them) DC activity around here. I was not aware of Pittsboro's troubles.)
What makes me so furious is that everything to do with the nameless one grabs attention away from real issues that are ruining the lives of real people. I weep for the refugees trying to come across our southwestern borders and feel more ashamed of us than I can bear.
Thanks for kind greetings to my family and my own back to your Bill and Jenna!

You know sometimes I feel that the world is a much more tolerant and less beastly place to inhabit and along come agitators and know-nothings to spread hatred and the disease of intolerance.

A Few Questions Arose Today?

Does the colour of someone's skin paint them less human?
Does their gender make them less a person?
Does their sexuality mean that they cannot be my friend?
Does their age make them of less value?
Does their religious affiliation mean that we cannot seek common ground?
Does their nationality diminish their status?
Does the coin in their pockets have currency to their goodness?
Why don't we all live together as one?

Dear Paul, here is my poem in return. (I feel like Billy Collins.)

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
We are all damaged, but we can grow to the great affirmation:
We are all one.

>57 PaulCranswick:, >58 LizzieD: I love this.

>58 LizzieD: Hahaha Peggy. Very clever dear Billy.

>59 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura.

Love and thanks to you both, dear Laura and Paul!

THE GHOST FIELDS by Elly Griffiths

Even though this entry in the Ruth Galloway series did not involve an ancient dig in any meaningful sense, I loved it. Ruth is called instead to attend a body found in a WWII plane, unearthed by a bulldozer on a building site. The usual characters, including the dishy Frank the TV Historian, appear with some interesting new ones.
Commas notwithstanding, I loved this one!

Oh well and oh well.
I tried for 106 pages to get into Acacia, and it just isn't calling me. It's not bad; it's just not my current cup of tea. Apparently, I need a comfort read, so I've started The Eye of the World, and bad though it is, I'm a happy reader. (I thought I had reread the first couple of monsters when the WHEEL group started here, but if so, my mind is about gone because, while it's familiar, it's a familiar from 15 or 20 years ago.)

>57 PaulCranswick: Paul Peggy and Paul, I share the anguish at what our country has become. I don't know where the impeachment inquiry is going but I'm hoping it will be a first step in ridding us of this terrible man. A group of friends and family had a contest to come up with a name for Trump, a la Moscow Mitch. Our top three were Toxic Trump, Dirty Donald, and Toddler Trump. It was a long list.

Peggy, I am totally hooked on Ruth Galloway, thanks to your thread. I just finished The Janus Stone and could not put it down. There were plot twists that I never saw coming. I'm holding back on rushing right into the next one. We'll see how long that lasts!

Hi, Jan!
I'm holding off on reading *RG#8*, so I sympathize completely. I hate to get to the end of them although I know that a #12 will be available in April (?) of next year. Glad to pass along the addiction!
I'm convinced that DJT is slipping into insanity. Surely, surely somebody will step in and stop him before he does something irreversibly dire!

***Quote of the Day***
Once a rigid idea of duty has got inside a narrow mind, it can never again get out.
~ Joseph Joubert (*VBoA*)

>63 Oregonreader: The best way of moving Trump without further disrepute to the nation is at the ballot box. a call to Ukraine here, discussions to the Russkie's there are all well and good but it is the ideas that need to be shifted just as much as the man. Keep the scrutiny on the right things.

The Democrats looking from the outside don't come into this with entirely clean hands either - Joe Biden's past and associations are also not unblemished. That means that the best way for the country to heal would be for a centrist champion to emerge from the field and sweep the next Election. Bernie and Biden are too old and of increasingly unstable health (it pains me to say), I like Elizabeth Warren but her lying about Native American roots is a little bizarre. I am not excited particularly about any of the other candidates either.

America has a long way to go to heal itself but not finding a healing replacement for Trump is the main challenge faced going forward.

'Morning, Peggy!

It took me a minute to figure out who DJT was, until I remembered that drumpf's middle name is John, but of course who else would it be?

Karen, I'm past the point of referring to that creature by anything funny.
Paul, that's well reasoned, but I'm past the point of rationality. I just want him out of office before he goes completely mad. For the first time in my life, I don't trust the electorate, and I certainly don't trust the current election process. The Electoral College is a bad joke.
Warren is my first choice from among the available Democrats, but I agree that the NA thing was bizarre. She may have been in the position of my DH's family who have believed for several generations (but I don't know how many) that they were descended from Pocahontas (their family name being Bowling/Bolling), but DH is convinced that they got it wrong. Anyway, I can't imagine publishing that fact anywhere but here.
I throw up my hands. I'm going to bed.

>65 PaulCranswick: Paul, re Warren's lying about being Native American, I have some sympathy for her. I was told my entire life that my grandmother was Native American and I can't even imagine how many people I told that to. Recently, I did a DNA test and found I have absolutely no NA blood. I think it's common for people to believe what their families tell them.

I agree that none of the candidates have me cheering but I'll vote for the Democratic candidate no matter what.

You're right - DJT is. I agree with everything you say. I also prefer Warren. We need strong and intelligent and fearless right now and I think she's it.

Hmmm. I thought I had spoken to Jan and Karen yesterday. I'm sure that people do believe what their parents tell them about family, Jan. Since my DH has been doing painstaking research on his own family, I'm also sure that a lot of parents get it wrong. We do want to believe that we're special!
As to DJT, Karen, I was reacting to his desire to dig a moat at the southwestern border and fill it with snakes and alligators. MAD! I'd be even more upset, but I've just been reading in Cold Warriors about the CIA's insane suggestions for dealing with Castro --- put something in his food to make his hair and beard fall out......I can't remember the other plots and can't check since the book is across the street.
Meanwhile, I escape in The Eye of the World. I like that I can read 100 pp a day. I'll need to if I'm going to continue with this bloated epic.

***Quote of the Day***
Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating. "Imaginative literature," therefore, is either boring or immoral or a mixture of both.
~ Simone Weil (*VBoA*)

>70 LizzieD: My family back in the 1890s 1910s were certain they had Scottish ancestry and got all the fashionable research with mixed results. It was common to get your ancestor's coat of arms and get connected to Mayflower passengers and Revolutionary War veterans. My great aunts did eventually find results that were acceptable to the DAR, but it took several tries and they had a family bible that went back at least 5 generations.

I've always made the assumption (and we know how dangerous they are) that my Patrick family originally came from Ireland, but just recently saw something about English Patricks and am now re-thinking things. I may start making some time to re-start my genealogical research after next week.

Isn't it wonderful how life opens up (again) when you retire (again), Karen!??!!!

Re: genealogy in retirement: my father was very into genealogy, and when he passed I took possession of his materials, including printed data sheets from a PC software program, for every family member in our tree. Earlier this year I reconstructed all of this on Ancestry.com.

Family legend had it we were related to the poet Robert Burns, and my dad's records identified the ancestor, a supposed nephew of RB. Many Ancestry family trees claim this person, but there's also a ton of information indicating the legend is incorrect or, at least, that the ancestor's parentage is unknown and there's no evidence even tying him to Scotland. Alas.

It was fun getting this all ported over to Ancestry; I need to get back to it and do some more research to build on what's there.

>71 quondame: There are lots of misconceptions regarding coats of arms. A lot of them belong to very specific families rather than generalized surnames.

>72 karenmarie: Good luck on your genealogical research.

>74 lauralkeet: Beware of bad data in Ancestry trees and always evaluate what you find!

Fascinating stuff on genealogy.
>69 karenmarie: I would take Warren from the field she is up against any day. Bernie should stand down in her favour IMO and give her some momentum going into the primaries.

Hi, Laura and Lori!
Wouldn't it be something to be a relation of R. Burns!?!
I don't have Lori's cachet for warning about Ancestry, but that has been my DH's experience with it and other sites.

>75 thornton37814: There was a wee Scottish heraldry book in my house when I was growing up and I picked up some basics from it and as a member of the SCA, more has come my way. In the SCA "official" heraldry is very specific and has to be vetted for uniqueness with two significant differences from any other known blazons. Cadency and quartering are not allowed in the repertoire, though some families have participated over multiple generations.

>74 lauralkeet: Thanks Lori. I understand what you're saying. I've had the experience of looking at other member trees to identify more ancestors, and finding many different possibilities. Some look more credible than others, but it's hard to know which ones merit further evaluation.

On the plus side, I've found news clippings and photos of some ancestors, mostly on one very thorough and well-researched tree. I've picked up some interesting facts that way.

Good morning, Peggy!

The slow march to cooler temps has begun, so autumn may actually be here. I hope you have a great day.

Just Google Ian Fleming's The Trout Memo. Dude be WACK!

Well said, Jim!

*sigh* I'm Wheeling and haven't topped out yet. I guess it's on to #2 while everything else languishes unread.

THE EYE OF THE WORLD by Robert Jordan

I don't know how many times I've read the first book. It's like a lot of other fantasy (how closely the plot follows *Fellowship/Ring*!), but there's nothing quite like it. Suffice it to say that I'm well and truly hooked again, at least for the moment. It has been a real treat to meet characters that I know will reappear and to relearn vocabulary and layers and layers of this intricate world. The characters remain their cardboard selves. At least, even if Perrin wishes he had Rand's way with women, and Rand wishes he had Perrin's, Nyenaeve isn't yanking her braid yet!

Hi Peggy. I wish you a belated happy new thread!

Without referencing specific posts above, I will share a really moving experience I had this evening. I dined with three colleagues, two of whom I don't (yet) know well. As we consumed the two bottles of wine and lovely appetizers, we warmed up into really wonderful conversation about all sorts of things. The two colleagues whom I don't (yet) know well work in Washington DC; they are advocates for higher education and I learned that they are both Republicans -- and neither of them Trump fans. Quite the opposite. We shared astonishment at his continuing absurdity (the tweet in which he referred to his own "great and unmatched wisdom..."!!!) and our hope that the country will be rid of him soon. One of them worked in the George W. Bush White House and talked about -- agree or disagree -- W's compassion and integrity. And I found myself agreeing. We talked about Ellen Degeneres' recent situation where she is defending her friendship with W, challenging the notion that one cannot be friends with someone with whom one disagrees. One of my colleagues said tonight "I have been thinking that something big is going to happen that will reunite this country -- and I believe Donald Trump is that big thing." This was so surprising to me. These are Republicans. One of the wondered out loud whose name she could write in since she does not agree with Elizabeth Warren on specific issues (to which I thought "oh, write in all you want, just don't vote for this incumbent disaster!").

This was important for me. I lived in Seattle for over a decade, a deep blue political bubble in which I was rarely in conversation with someone who disagreed with me. These women are caring, compassionate, smart, and dedicated to higher education. We may disagree on many things but we agreed that the current president is an unmitigated failure. It gave me hope.

Thank you, Ellen. That is a word of hope, and I need it this morning as I go out into "Trump Is Jesus' Little Brother (and we're not 100% sure about the 'little')" Central. I can respect true conservatives while disagreeing on most issues, and I love my lifelong Trump crazies without being able to talk with them. I hope your new friend is right, somewhere short of disaster.

I hope your day was a good one, Peggy.

Thank you, Ellen, it was quite good enough. Hope yours was too. I see that the weekend approaches again..... I used to live for weekends in order to rest and regroup. Now they signal that another bit of my life is gone. Monday now brings at least the hope that I might use my time well.

Hmm, interesting perspective. I pretty much live for weekends these days, although I try not to wish my life away. It's a challenging balance at times. Work is an odd mixture of stress and meaningfulness at present, so I'm trying to be as in-the-moment as I can. I do look forward to sleeping in on Saturdays and Sundays. You know, 7am or so.... ha.

Good morning, Peggy!

I couldn't talk with my mother about politics and can't talk with my sister about politics. If I even try to have a conversation about the things DJT is doing, my sister brings up Hillary. I simply don't get it - the election's been over for 3 years. (Well, actually I do - there's nothing positive that they can really say about him so a bit of diversion is necessary...)

Yay for autumn - it's 45 here although we'll have one last attempt by summer to keep going for a bit. I am watching a hummingbird at the feeder. It's now the females only, trying to bulk up for the long flight south. I'm sure I'll be taking the feeders down next week for the winter.

I've never considered Mondays as signaling another bit of my life gone even though I've been retired 3 years and 8 months less 13 weeks of self-induced office work. I just love having paid my dues work-wise and now getting to do what I want to do instead of working. And today's the last day of the 13 weeks, of course.

I hope you have a good day, full of of Wheeling. Pay my respects to your Ma and DH, and give yourself many hugs.

I hope you are having a wonderful day today celebrating your birthday, Peggy. We are all celebrating have you in our lives! Happy Birthday!!!

Happy birthday, Peggy.

Thank you, Roni and Paul! Since I'm not going to read 75 this year, I apparently decided to become a 75er some other way.
(Karen, it's Friday that makes me feel as though life is zipping by. Monday brings another mini-beginning.)

Happy Birthday, Peggy. I hope it was a great day.

Belated happy birthday, Peggy!
Now you have reached 75 forever ;-)

I guess I'm late to the birthday party but I hope you had a great day, Peggy! 75, wowza!

Laura, I'm happy happy that you came to the party at all. No time is too late!
You too, Anita. Hmmm. I wasn't thinking about having reached 75 for good. I guess that's true.
It was a fine day, thank you, Jan!
Nothing more going on here except maybe a quotation.

***Quote of the Day***
Most women are not so young as they are painted.
~ Max Beerbohm (*VBoA*)

Thanks for dropping by on FB... and a belated happy birthday to you!

Wow! Hi, Katherine! Thank you for calling here. Love in our Libra bond!

'Morning, Peggy! It's raining here and I'm so glad. We really needed it.

I hope you get some excellent books with your birthday money.

Hi, Peggy, I had to share with you that I've finally finished Fatal Discord! I don't know why it took me so long except I waited until bedtime to read it and then nodded off. I found the early part of the book dealing with L & E finding old biblical scrolls and working on correctly copying them to be really interesting. I think I remember your saying that you questioned the trail Massing left, tracing the influence of Luther on Evangelicals. I think much of it was a stretch.
Now back to reading my latest St. Cyr mystery.

Whew! Congratulations, Jan!!!! I'm glad to have read it, but I never would have done it without you and Stasia along for the journey. Enjoy some fun reading well-deserved.
Did you notice that I just added a copy of the first Tasha Alexander? If I can ever satiate my Wheel of Time addiction, I 'll get to it.

I know, too many good series. I just got the latest Shardlake mystery,Tombland, and it's over 800 pages. That's a real commitment but I'm sure I'll be so engrossed, I won't notice.
Have a good weekend!

Hi, Jan! I started Tombland and then put it aside. I do love Sansom & Shardlake, so I will definitely read it soon.
Meanwhile, more Wheeling! I look forward to the Egwene and Nynaeve in Tar Valon sections and just read on through Rand and the other guys.

***Quote of the Day***
There are certain characters who, unable to read a writ from the court of conscience and reason, must be served with one from a court - even though it be inferior - whose language they understand.
~ A.B. Smith (*VBoA*)

Hi Peggy, thought I'd pop by and say I finished The Stone Circle this past week.
Rated it 4½ ★s! It was excellent in the RG continuing saga and as Lucy said way back ago, a very satisfying read.

Where are you at? Are you dragging your feet in the series so you eke out the novels into 2020 when The Lantern Men comes out??

Happy belated birthday, Peggy. Many happy returns.

>103 LizzieD: love the quote Lizzie!~

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that.”
-- Benjamin Franklin

Thanks for that one, Jim. We can always depend on B. Franklin!
Thank you for the birthday wish, Beth - always welcome. I ordered some shoes today with my b-day $ and have a little left for a book. Yay!
Hi, Sandy! Yes, indeed! I will read The Woman in Blue next, but I'm holding off. I hate to finish the series.
Besides *Wheel 2* I'm reading Frederica instead of whatever I have in my "currently reading" status. I guess I'm starting to get a bit antsy and ready for something more demanding, but not quite yet.

***Quote of the Day***
Except for the nine months before he draws his first breath, no man manages his affairs as well as a tree does.
~ G.B. Shaw (*VBoA*)

>107 LizzieD: I'm reading Frederica...

... one of my top most favourite Heyer's. It is a choice go-to comfort read for me.

Hi Peggy!

We got 1.13" of rain with the remnants of TS Nestor so are happy.

Heyer is always a good go-to.

And frederica is one of her best!

Hi, Sandy, Karen, and Roni! Glad to feel the Frederica love around here.
I don't think we got as much rain as you did, Karen, but I could be wrong. I haven't asked DH what was in the rain gauge. Mostly it misted.

Just stopping by to leave you my love Peggy and wish you a belated happy birthday!

Thank you, Heather! I love birthday wishes whenever they come!
I think I've checked on you lately, but I'll try again...... Hope your work has calmed down.

***Quote of the Day***
What is patriotism but the love of the good things we ate in our childhood?
~ Lin Yutang (*VBoA*)

I'm still Wheeling and about to finish #2. I'm still eager and will likely go straight into #3. At some point it will become too much, and I'll be able to read something else, like my ER Cold Warriors, for example.

***Quote of the Day***
The mind's direction is more important than its progress.
~ Joubert (*VBoA*)

Hi Peggy!

Wheel away! It's always a joy to still be eager a series, isn't it?

I brought in our last Christmas's poinsettias last night in anticipation of a freeze. Looks like it got to about 36. They're healthy and big but not red - now what am I going to do with them? *smile*

I hope you have a great day. Kind regards to your Mama and your DH. Hugs to you.

Many thanks and kind regards to Bill and Jenna and hugs back to you too!
I wish that I could bring myself to read something other than *Wheel*, but it's on to #3, I'm afraid. It seems to be just what I need though.
I've lugged Mama's poinsettias in and out for 5 or 6 years and let them stay nice and green. There are directions online for making them turn red - basically complete dark for ? weeks. I've never tried to do that, and this year I may let them go.

THE GREAT HUNT by Robert Jordan
Plot Threads! The wheel weaves as the wheel wills, and it wills thousands of pages yet to read with more hooks showing up all the time. My best reading is the women in Tar Valon or not, learning to be Aes Sedai. Being a man, Jordan gave them less attention, but that's O.K. I can follow The Dragon Reborn with the best of them. I guess it's churlish to wish that he had been even a little more interested in character development.

I have to get back to book 2--I finally read Book 1 two years ago, and do feel like I should continue this influential series.

I don't know about "should," Roni. You either forgive a lot and love it or you don't. I'm a lover! That said, you can look at book 1 as highly derivative or see it as an homage to Tolkien. I see both sides and love it anyway. He becomes more of his own person as the series continues.

***Quote of the Day***
Most of the grounds of the world's troubles are matters of grammar.
~ Montaigne (*VBoA*)

>118 LizzieD: I think why I kept re-reading the WoT books as the later ones came out with increasing gaps between, is that the fun Robert Jordan had writing them and playing with his world and characters was very much communicated to the reader, me. I might think it corny or overblown, but never unfelt.

Absolutely agreed, Susan! I have never read past #11, but maybe this time will be the charm. I hope and expect the fever to abate, but I would like to finish the series. RJ had such a fertile mind for details and plot! (I'm happy to be back in Tar Valon with our 3 Accepted looking for the Black Ajah among the Aes Sedai!) (If that sentence doesn't arouse your curiosity, you are just not a reader of fantasy!)
Hmmm. We are now a great-great aunt and uncle! Our niece's son's wife has just given birth to a beautiful little daughter. Welcome to the world, Blakely Lewis!

***Quote of the Day***
We boil at different degrees.
~ R. W. Emerson (*VBoA*)

>120 LizzieD: Congratulations on the increase in your kin group! May Blakely bring and experience much joy in the coming years.

Happy Sunday, Peggy!

Congrats on the new niece, great-great aunt.

Congratulations on the new addition!

Catching up -- mainly by reading your daily quotes, which I love and pausing here and there to read a little something or other . . . Loved the Shaw quote (trees) and the Lin Yutang on patriotism and food.

Lovely to come in on a Sunday night and find that I have been visited. Thank you for good wishes for Blakely and family, Susan, Karen, and Laura!
I'm always interested to see which quotes strike you, Lucy.
Meanwhile, I'm still Wheeling. I have so much else to read, but I can't put it down.

***Quote of the Day***
Noise: a stench in the ear. The chief product and authenticating sign of civilization.
~ Ambrose Bierce (*VBoA*)

Ambrose was always quite the optimist, the positive outlook, wasn't he?

Hi, Roni! I sort of have to love a champion curmudgeon, and here's another.....

***Quote of the Day***
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.
~ H. L. Mencken

FREDERICA by Georgette Heyer

Up front - this is my favorite Heyer. I love Frederica and her family and Alderstoke and the Baluchistan hound!
I waited just the right amount of time since my last read, and now I'll have to leave it for several years. Somebody please make me happy by (re)reading it for me!

One of my favorites as well, Peggy!

Great minds, Roni! (((((Roni)))))!

***Quote of the Day***
There is a demand today for men who can make wrong appear right.
~ Terence (*VBoA*)

!

>128 LizzieD: I think I'll definitely be doing a Frederica re-read starting tonight!

You've inspired me and I'm ready for some comfort reading. I'm bogged down with an Early Reviewers book (The Grey Sisters from the September list) which is going very badly for me, and I have head cold coming on.

P.S. I love the "the Baluchistan hound" too. And Felix of the grubby thumb around which Alderstoke is adroitly wound!

Hope Frederica & Co. + some adroit coddling stave off the cold and leave you comforted, Sandy!

I fell asleep before I made it past page 5!
But it was nice. Cut off my too-busy mind! Thanks for your kind wishes.

Today I noodled around some more trying to figure out why the new LT design annoys me... I think it is the boring 2-tone brown colours. What's wrong with a softer experience on the eye?

Hi, Sandy. I wish you a better Friday!
New LT design? Am I that unconscious by the time I get here????? I haven't noticed a new design anywhere. oh dear

Re New LT design, the topic on "talk" is here, https://www.librarything.com/topic/312459
The earlier thread provides info and this link, https://www.librarything.com/lt2_preview01.php

I wrote a bit more on my talk thread at #86. Karenmarie was also posting on the design topic, which was probably more helpful than anything I had to say.

Thanks for your wishes... I think staying in and keeping my agenda at a low energy level has helped.
I have an artisans show to attend tomorrow, so I want to be in good fettle for that.

'Morning, Peggy!

The new LT design discussions are mostly blah-blah-blah, as usual when LT announces proposed changes and asking for input - lots of folks complaining bitterly, lots of folks saying it's high time, lots of folks asking incredibly detailed questions related to how they personally use LT.

I've simply said that as long as I can do what I need to do and have an easy way of getting there, preferably with a cross reference for the beginnning when I will be frustrated, I'll be fine. I didn't particularly like or understand the changes 5 years ago but have adapted and will adapt again. It will probably be less intuitive for me because when I first joined LT it was like Tim & Co understood me personally and designed LT for my use. Twelve years and counting...

I hope you have a lovely day Wheeling and etc.

>136 karenmarie: I like what Karen said: beautifully summarized!

>136 karenmarie: >137 SandyAMcPherson: I wish they'd listen to you, Karen. I came here because I found the navigation easier than at GoodReads although I had friends both places. (I was then a refugee from The VInes, sadly defunct, and Ancient Sites.) I've looked, but not for long, at the proposed upgrades and sort of see their points, but how I will use their innovations remains to be seen.
I swam and Wheeled - fine for a Friday!
Hi, Sandy!

Frederica is one of my favorite Heyers as well, Peggy. The parts with Alverstoke and the kids are so amusing.

Hi, Beth! Got to love Felix and Jassamy!!!

THE DRAGON REBORN by Robert Jordan

I ate this one up too, but I do believe I'm almost ready for something different. On the other hand, I can't stop reading a 14 (is that right?) book series at #4. I like this one because there is less Rand, but I look forward to He Who Comes with the Dawn among the Aiel, which happens in #4, I think.

'Morning, Peggy! I hope you enjoy The Comforts of Home on your Kindle.

Hi, Karen. I spent about an hour waiting for the doctor this morning, so I was able to make a good start in *Comforts*. I don't care much whether there's a mystery. I'm happy to read about Simon's family again!

DEAD IN THE SCRUB by B.J. Oliphant

I confess that I loved Shirley McClintock a little less this time than the first few times I read the first of this Sheri S. Tepper series. Shirley is a 55 year-old retired Washington thinker, retired to her family ranch in Colorado. She is forthright, opinionated, smart, feminist, suffering from an accumulation of loss of loved ones, but not suffering fools at all. This is a pretty good mystery, but I think the others get better.

'Morning, Peggy! Chilly, isn't it?

I have Dead in the Scrub on my shelves and just pulled it off my shelves. Everything else I'm reading is short stories for some strange reason, so I'm glad to have a mystery on hand.

>143 LizzieD: If I ever knew Sheri S. Tepper wrote mysteries I forgot long ago. Thanks!

Hi, Karen and Susan! Besides the Shirley McClintock series, she wrote under the name of A.J. Orde about an antiques dealer in the Southwest, Jason Lynx. I like Jason, but Shirley has always had my heart.
Hope you enjoy Shirley and J.Q. and Allison, Karen.

>145 quondame:, Susan I have The Family Tree on my "possibly culling shelf".
If you wanted some incentive for a Tepper novel, I'd love a pithy review! It's been years since I read that.

A little dystopian for my liking, but the premise for the plot was intriguing. I had just recently completed a Masters degree in weed science (1995) when a smartass friend thought I should read this novel.

Edited to mention: 'possibly culling' because I haven't ever re-read it and just maybe it is worth space on my very limited fiction book shelving!

>147 SandyAMcPherson: I'm pretty sure I read it, as I've read everything else on ST list of books above The Bones, and the name sounds familiar. But it can't have impressed me much, because the summary brings nothing to mind - or at least nothing that I can decisively connect to the title, unlike every other work above TB.

>148 quondame:, okay. If it can't have impressed me much, because the summary brings nothing to mind, I've much more compelling books calling to me at the moment...
ummm, what's 'TB' again?

>149 SandyAMcPherson: The Bones it shows up on the --Works by Sheri S. Tepper-- if you ask it to show all 66. It's the last thing in the list where I'm sure, except maybe for The Family Tree, that I've read, and I'm pretty sure I did read TFT. (I only use initials to avoid repeating full names or titles in a single post.)

>150 quondame: Thank you! Brain is 90% sleep at the desk here...

>148 quondame: Hmmm. You've returned the favor, Susan. I wasn't familiar with either *TB* or *BH*. I'm ordering *BH* right now even though it's a very early one. I'll have to check the list, and I don't know why I haven't done that. I've read some of her other early horror (is that where E.E. Holak comes in?), but I can't recall what right now. Oh dear. I see that I haven't catalogued all my Tepper.
Hi, Sandy! You remind me that I need to reread a lot of Tepper. I have not one memory of Family Tree although I'm sure that I read it. AND I just bought Fish Tails for my Kindle. I haven't read Waters Rising yet, so I may be about to jettison a lot of other stuff to go on a Tepper tear.

I had to go back through an old book club list, but discovered that I read The Family Tree in March of 2002. I remember loving it but haven't read anything else by Tepper.

I hope you're having a good day!

>152 LizzieD: Well really Fish Tales pulls from lots of Tepper, but Waters Rising is a sequel to Plague of Angels, if you haven't read it lately your tear might be longer than you planned. I do wish Tepper had laid out a better time scheme for WR+FT, she could have done some delightfully clever things and she just didn't.

Oh wait! I DO remember The Family Tree as one I loved: the two plot lines that eventually converge. (Where was my brain last night?)
Susan, I reread *Plague* when *Waters R* came out, and then didn't get to the sequel. I suspect I'll just plunge into the waters this time if I get to it. I seem to be reading The Fresco again.
Tepper was old enough to have failed some by the time *FT* came out, I think.
Speaking of brains, when I catalogued my Teppers, I skipped more than I thought, including both *TB* and *BH*. (The nice sellers at AMP refunded my payment for *Bones* since I got back to them before they processed my order.) I'll have to get that cataloguing done. Meanwhile, I introduced my very staid study club to SST this afternoon. I doubt that anybody will look her up, but now they know there's such a thing as feminist science fiction.
Hmmm. How would you classify the main body of SST's work. They're not science fiction; she isn't particularly interested in the science part. They're not exactly fantasy. They're speculative but not in the way that most readers expect. what do you say?

>155 LizzieD: Speculative fiction. Though some are straight up fantasy and Grass has a pretty Science Fiction vibe. Do you have The Revenants? I'd call a lot of her writing misanthropic, in gender reversed misogynist sense.

'Morning, Peggy!

I hope you day goes well. I started but quickly realized that Dead in the Scrub wouldn't work for me, so am abandoning it and culling it.

I'm sorry you didn't fall for Shirley, Karen. At least she makes a free cull.
I can't read anything but *Wheel 4* (I'm finally getting them out of the Stone of Tear) and The Fresco and The Comforts of Home. It's not exactly a reading slump, but I have so much piled up that I want to be reading - but just can't right now. Soon maybe.

You're right - a free cull.

If you're happy reading what you're reading then you shouldn't stress it. Pleasure reading should be just that - pleasure. No stress allowed.

Agreed, Karen!

THE COMFORTS OF HOME by Susan Hill

Again, I'm totally engrossed in the life of Cat (now Bright), Simon Serrailler's sister and totally not understanding Simon himself. I always look forward to the next episode in their lives and the mystery at the heart of the book. This one was lacking a bit of focus. Simon is adjusting to life without his left arm, and Cat is newly married. Richard, their father the sorry bastard, is back in the mix recuperating from pneumonia and pleurisy in Cat's house with her sons and new husband. Simon is unsatisfactorily involved with two murders. I don't know. I dislike really big events to happen outside the action of the book. Even so, I'll look forward to the next entry in the series if only Ms. Hill will go ahead and write it.

>158 LizzieD: I am in a veritable reading slump, Peggy, 24 days with nothing finished. Maybe my worst ever reading performance!

Have a lovely weekend.

Happy Saturday Peggy!

I think I liked The Comforts of Home better than you did, although Simon losing his arm in the very beginning was a real shock and a disappointment. Was Hill doing this to show that even Simon is vulnerable the violence of being a copper? I'm not sure it was necessary except that it was a vehicle for his escape to the island where he encounters murder too. I agree about Richard being a right bastard.

Hi Peggy. I think you're having an LT meet-up thingy, is that right? Or am I thinking of a different Talk thread...
I just scrolled back on your thread to see where you are in the RGFC. How's that going?

Elly Griffiths' RG series is one that I found really kept my reading mojo oiled and moving along. Now that I'm done those, I seem to be very slow getting through any reading material lately. I'm a bit like Paul (>161 PaulCranswick:), with a pile of unfinished books. It feels very reminiscent of not doing my homework!

A friend's daughter just presented a baby girl, first grandchild, so I am busy sewing up a quilted play mat. That's a project I can be happy to have in place of reading progress.

The touchstones don't seem to be working for me this morning, but we all know who EG is, right?

>163 SandyAMcPherson: Made me smile, Sandy! I have been a spoilt child for 23 years of marriage!

Peggy, are your ears burning? Are you feeling powerful? Because over on my thread, Bonnie mentioned her intent to read the Lymond Chronicles and now we have planted the seeds of a group read. All because of you!!

Have a wonderful day!

>165 lauralkeet: Indeed!
I read that series back when it first came out. Susan (quondame), others and I were discussing about the vagaries of whether Lymond befriended his own son or chose the other child. I kind of lost track of that thread of conversation.

I'm torn about re-reading Dorothy Dunnett or forging ahead with all the great BBs from everyone. But I did put the series on my Revisiting list.

Speaking of RG, my friend Rhoda is going to London in January/early February. The Lantern Men is being released in England on February 6 (June 20 here) and she's planning on buying it there, reading it probably by the time she gets back to the US, then loaning it to me!

>167 karenmarie: Woah! Awesome score!

Hi, Karen! I couldn't remember the end of the last Serrailler, but I was more than saddened about the loss of his arm. I'm afraid that he is more his father's son than Meriel's, but he does try to be a human being. My love is really for Cat and family.
Sandy, YES!!!! Karen and Jenn are coming week after next. I am more excited than I can say! Meanwhile, I did stop reading RG for a month or more. I don't have many left, and I do hate to finish the series. Unlike Karen (YOU LUCKY WOMAN!) I won't have access to the new one until it comes out as scheduled in the US. I do know that "homework* feeling intimately. *sigh* I often have books that I really want to read that fall into that category when I'm out to the mood.
I finally have all the main characters on the move again in *Wheel 4*. WHEW! It's almost 400 pp into the book, but I'm flipping them eagerly again.
Oh Paul, I'm sorry about the slump. Rereading is helping me a lot here.
Laura and Sandy (maybe)! I'm thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to see you + the group discovering the complicated, elliptical, complicated world of Francis Crawford of Lymond! When you get to Pawn in Frankincense, maybe I can join you. I think that was where I stopped my last reread of the series, and it may be my favorite besides that! When you're ready for Niccolo, I know I'll want to join up!
It's awesome to see activity on this poor thread - thank you all for your visits.

***Quote of the Day***
The mercenary sacrifice of the public good to a private interest is the eternal stamp of vice.
~ Vauvenargues (Luc de Clapiers) (*Quotationary*)

>169 LizzieD: Whoa, what an apt quote for present times, Peggy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy!

Thank you, Roni and Susan! That's what I thought about the Vauvenargues too, Roni. And a Book Turkey is perfect, Susan.
Hope you both had a happy Thanksgiving too.
In fact, it's unlikely that I'll get around - so I hope that all my friends in the USA are enjoying a Happy Thanksgiving through the weekend. One thing I'm grateful for is my community at LT!

Happy Thanksgiving! Looking forward to our meetup next week!
You remind me about Simon Serrailler. I haven't read one in ages. Must check the library for the next book on the list. I will ignore the bit about missing appendages...

Happy Thanksgiving! Looking forward to our meetup next week! (to echo Jenn...)

Do you read the Ian Rutledge series by mother/son team Charles Todd? I'm reading Racing the Devil and my 3.5 year hiatus has helped me appreciate the series again.

Yay, Jenn and Karen! I can't wait for your visit!
Mama has a UTI, but I finally got meds this afternoon (her doc's office was closed today, so I had to go through an Urgent Care practice to an unfamiliar pharmacy - a 3+ hour odyssey), and I think they are working.
It's strange, Jenn. Simon himself is my least favorite continuing character in this series, not counting his father. Love the series!
Karen, for some idiosyncratic reason I've never read Charles Todd although I've bought a couple through the years. Who knows what vagaries lurk in the heart of Liz.
Meanwhile, I Wheel. I won't finish #4 tomorrow, alas, but I'm within a couple of hundred pages of the end. I'm finding more and more reminders of why I dislike RJ so much but even more reasons to keep reading.

>175 LizzieD: I started Wheel of Time earlier this year, Peggy. I got to book #5 and don't know yet if I want to continue. I am a fan of Brandon Sanderson, who wrote the last books.

Hi, Anita. I'm Wheeling away in #4 - still with almost 200 pp yet to read. (I was optimistic last night, thinking that there were only 900 pp rather than closer to 1,000.) I am determined to read them all - sometime - but I am really, really, really getting tired of Nynaeve's pulling that braid and every woman sniffing and every young man totally at sea in relating to women. I got to but not through #11 my first time, and have tried again at least a couple of times. On the other hand, I'm still enthralled with most of the action, and there's plenty of that!

>177 LizzieD: For me, Brandon Sanderson's lighter handling of Jordan's characters' rote behaviors was a relief.

THE SHADOW RISING by Robert Jordan

(Susan, I'm looking forward to a lighter touch.)

Things I love about *The Wheel of Time*

The complexity and richness of the world .... It's part of a continent, but a number of nations, each given its own character and culture. I love the cities - each is distinctive. I love the details down to the various names of folk songs sung to the same tune. (I want to sing "The Wind that Shakes the Willow.") I find it odd that they all speak the same language but with an identifiable accent. (There was an ancient language too that they all spoke.) The reader has to learn new vocabulary as our characters go from nation to nation, but that's fun. I guess it was easier for the author. He didn't care much about language, I don't think, because figuring out how to pronounce words is as impossible as figuring out English.
I love the core characters .... We have five young people from an isolated village, who become the major players in the end of the age. The five or six others that they draw into their orbits also hold my attention.
I love the One Power and the Aes Sedai who can channel it. I love The White Tower in Tar Valon where young women who can channel are taught to control what they do. I love the Ajahs and spend swim time trying to decide which Ajah I'd join when I took the three oaths and became full Aes Sedai. (I'd probably be a brown, a scholar, but I'm also attracted by the blue who work for justice and the gray who are mediators.)
I love the Aiel.
I love the skills from the age of legends ... especially that Egwene is a Dreamer and that Rand can Travel or go by Portal Stones or The Ways.
I love the Forsaken, especially their names, which evoke evil immediately.

Things I hate about *The Wheel of Time*

The repetition! I know how Trollocs look and how the battles go. He spends pages every time describing them and the Myrdraal. Gah!
I know that Rand still thinks of Tam as his father. I got it.
The short-cuts to characterization. Nynaeve pulls her braid so hard and so often that she shouldn't have a hair left in her head. Women express their irritation by sniffing: "Elayne sniffed." "Nynaeve sniffed." Maybe Moiraine doesn't sniff, but I can't be sure; everybody else does.
A sub-set of repetition is the relationship between the sexes. The young men are all 13 or 14. The young women are 15. The males don't understand women. The females are manipulative bitches. I can't say how weary I am of this already, and I know that it gets worse. Nevertheless, I've started book 5.

>179 LizzieD: Agreed with all above, Peggy!

I'm glad you agree, Anita! I thought that Rand, Perrin, and Mat were at least 23 or so, but in book 5 Mat is reflecting that he has just turned 20. That makes a little bit of difference in their cluelessness about women but not much.

JOY!!! Karen and Jenn drove down from central NC for a visit today. It was wonderful - and we were having so much to say to each other that we didn't take even one picture of ourselves. They promise to come back, and surely, we'll remember next time. Meanwhile, they are amazingly good to drive quite a way to see me. I haven't been depressed exactly, but this hasn't been the best of times for my spirits. Tonight, I'm a happy LTer. Thank you, Jenn and Karen!!!!!

>181 LizzieD: awww, that's just lovely. LTers are the best.

LIters are the best, Laura, and 75ers, the best of the best. You rank right up there yourself - especially since you are keeping the VMC board alive. I hope to get back to it!

Hi Peggy
A correction on my answer on my thread about Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer: the rights for an US translation of Grand Hotel Europa are sold to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, it should be published soon.
His previous book La Superba is translated, I hope to read it early next year.

>181 LizzieD: How nice that Karen and Jenn visited you!

Wow! Thanks, Anita. I'll see whether I'm attracted to La Superba right now. Maybe after F,S & G publish in England, somebody will buy the rights for us. That will put it in my hands in another few years, I hope.
Meeting Jenn and seeing Karen again made an absolutely perfect day. An added bonus was that they enjoyed our Thai restaurant as much as I do. It's pretty amazing to have such a good one in my little hometown.
Meanwhile, I Wheel - #5, moving on to 300 pp. I'm hopeless, but I'm leaving here now to read a little Cold Warriors; it's such a good book, and I do so want to finish it this month.

I can't believe we forgot to take photos! So funny. We were just too busy talking. You do have a gem of a Thai restaurant in your town. Lunch was delicious, and the company was even better.
>179 LizzieD: This is why I had to take a little Break from WoT. The men are children and the women are a little nasty, and it's pretty annoying. I do love the world he built though.

Hi Peggy, and happy Saturday to you.

Thanks for the recipe you posted on my thread. Yum.

It's rainy and yucky out here - been raining since almost the same time yesterday.

Hugs for you, kindest regards to your mama and DH.

Greetings to my fellow biblio-geeks! It has been a privilege to chatter here with you.

A winter solstice is the moment in time when the Earth's tilt away from the Sun is at its maximum and the Sun's maximum elevation in the sky is at its lowest. Thus the ice crystals form magical lighting effects ~


Sundogs and a sunrise on the Winter Solstice

YOW! I haven't been here since the 9th!!!??????!!!!! That has to be a record in infamy.
Thank you for visiting and speaking, Jenn, Karen, and Sandy. You have no idea how your presence here cheers my heart.
Sandy, that's an amazing photo!
I'm closing in on the end of *Wheel 5*. I'm beginning to be interested in reading something else at long last. Tonight it was Secondhand Time, which is a logical follow-up to the Soviet chapters in Cold Warriors. I may eventually get my normal reading mojo back, or what has passed for it this past 3 years.

Hi Peggy, and happy Sunday to you.

Reading mojo is critical for a bibliophile and bibliomaniac, isn't it? I hope you get yours back sooner than soon.

*hugs*

That's a very good wish, Karen. I'm still Wheeling though.....

THE FIRES OF HEAVEN by Robert Jordan

In this one Rand begins to grow up and accept his destiny. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and the Wheel obviously wills that I continue to read. So it's on to #6.

Have a comfy, caring, and very

Merry Christmas!

Peggy, I have neglected your thread for much of the fall, but wanted to stop by to wish you a



from stormy Kauai!

Susan, Karen, and Ellen, you're very good to stop in with Christmas cheer. Thank you!
In fact, joy and hope, and peace to all of you dear 75ers!!!!!

Merry North Carolina Christmas!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Thank you for the visits, Jenn and Paul! You're very good!
We had the quietest Christmas of my life - just my DH, mother, and me. I'm more grateful than I can say for our continuing time together!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

'Morning, Peggy!

Quiet Christmases work - it was just Bill, Jenna, and me at our house, although I must admit that there was much kitty entertainment with the new ones.

Have a wonderful rest of the Christmas season.

Best wishes this holiday season!! See you in 2020!

Thank you for your visits and for decorating my poor thread, Roni and Kim!
Karen, you are a real friend! Happy New Kitties! May Wash and Zoe thrive under the guidance of Inara S.!

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman

I have no idea why I read this now. My RL lifelong friend Bev recommended it to me when it was first published. Anyway, I'm grateful to have found it and to see that I can read something that isn't WHEEL.

Susie and her friend Claire, 1986 graduates of Brown, decide in an IHOP to backpack around the world before they get on with their lives, starting with Communist China. (What were their parents thinking????) Neither speaks a word of Mandarin although they pick up a greeting, please, and thank you quickly. Susie also picks up the Shanghai Hack (a bronchial infection) which worsens as they go along, and Claire spirals down into a paranoid psychosis. Susie doesn't understand what's happening (as I wouldn't have at 21) until they are well into the heartland of China. In 1986 everything in China seems medieval; hospitals and restaurants {with little dogs and other animals caged outside like lobsters for the patrons to choose} and private homes are equally appalling. Susie begins to appreciate the depth of her privilege. I guess I'm most impressed at the goodness of the people they meet who go out of their way to help them, both Chinese and other backpackers.
I initially gave this one 3½ stars, but I believe that it's worthy of 4.

Hello Peggy. Just swinging by to see what's up. Happy almost new year!

Hey, Peg, just dropping of a hug for you here!

Happy to see you both here, Roni and Ellen! I think I've at least lurked lately on both your threads, but whether I had a real comment is another thing.
I broke down and started Ruth Galloway #8 today. I'd love to read it and finish my Cold War book in the next two days, but I'm doubtful. This is my worst reading year since retirement - maybe ever, but I don't know about that. Best I can do is the best I can do.

I've been tempted to collect Ruth Galloway #7 and try to complete it by midnight Tuesday but with going back to work tomorrow I think I will just decide that I'm done for this year. I can't believe it's almost 2020!

I just started Ruth Galloway #1!! And I have #2 ready to go (Thanks to my LT Santa). Also, the title of your thread is so appropriate--Reads Less but Buys More! The story of my life. LOL

Just stopping by to say Happy New Year! I'm sure you'll have a lovely time, just the three of you. After my health scare, I really treasured my busy Christmas and being with all my children and grandchildren.

I'm still working on the Ruth Galloway series but trying to pace myself. I start radiation on the 13th and plan to do nothing but read and rest for the rest of the month. Good thing I have a tall stack.

Blessings to you.

Merry Christmas Peggy! Glad to see you're still enjoying your WoT and Ruth Galloway reads :-)

Three cheers for Ruth Galloway! I could just echo Ellen's post (well, except for the going back to work part ha ha). I too debated squeezing in one more Ruth book (#7 for me also), but decided to just relax and call it a year.

I hope 2020 is a better reading year for you, Peggy!

As it turns out, Laura and Ellen, I won't be able to finish RG #8 before the new year either. Aren't they fun, Jan and Heather and Kim???? She will make a good beginning to 2020.
Meanwhile, I do think that i will read 20 or so more pp of Cold Warriors tomorrow, and that will polish off my year. It's awfully good.
Nothing much going on here - a visit from a second cousin and a swim. That and a nap filled my day.

I finished RG #1 and I'm holding off starting #2 until 2020. I will definitely read it in January.

Enjoy your last day of 2019. : )

We had a quiet Christmas at home as well, although one of the party was uncharacteristically Grinchy (not me). We survived by application of chocolate and quiet time.

Hi, Kim, Jenn, and Barbara! Y'all are very good to visit the non-visiting!
Glad the Grinch didn't steal your Christmas, Jenn --- chocolate is good!

COLD WARRIORS by Duncan White

I may have had a sorry reading year, but I finished in style. This is a GOOD BOOK, and I recommend it enthusiastically. It's entertaining and informative, and I wish I had taken time to write a better review. It deserves more than I gave it.
We do what we can.

I'll look for your thread on 75 Books Challenge for 2020!

Thank you very much, Susan!


Reading Hope Springs Eternal is my first thread for 2020.
Please come visit.