rabbitprincess stops making sense in 2021

Charlas2021 Category Challenge

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rabbitprincess stops making sense in 2021

1rabbitprincess
Editado: Ene 9, 2021, 7:50 pm

The Theme of This Challenge Is Talking Heads.

Each category is named after a song by the group. Hyperlinks go to a YouTube video featuring the song.

General fiction - "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town"
General non-fiction - "Crosseyed and Painless"
History - "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"
Mystery - "Once in a Lifetime"
French - "Psycho Killer"
Rereads - "Take Me to the River"
Audio - "Road to Nowhere"
SFF - "(Nothing But) Flowers"
Short stories, graphic novels, essay collections, etc.: "Houses in Motion"
Plays - "Found a Job"
Group reads - "New Feeling"
Planes, trains and boats - "The Big Country"

The 2021 Pool:



Tickers:

ROOTs - Read Our Own Tomes



Going Through the Stacks ticker:




2-for-1 TBR ticker:

2rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 18, 2021, 7:29 pm

General fiction - Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town

I've been to college, I've been to school
I've met the people that you read about in books


Video linked is from the Best of Talking Heads compilation that turned me on to the band's work (after 20+ years).

1. Bleeding Hearts, by Ian Rankin, aka Jack Harvey
2. The Story of a Hare, by J. C. Tregarthen (Faded Page)
3. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
4. The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by J. C. Hogarth (Serial Reader)
5. Ashenden, or The British Agent, by W. Somerset Maugham (Faded Page)
6. The Inimitable Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse (Serial Reader)

3rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 27, 2021, 6:06 pm

General non-fiction - Crosseyed and Painless

Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to...


Video linked is from the 2005 remaster of Remain in Light.

1. On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
2. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, by Dan Harris
3. The Secret Life of Lobsters, by Trevor Corson
4. To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure, by Henry Petroski
5. Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life, by Ozan Varol

4rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 23, 2021, 8:05 pm

History - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I’ll be


Video linked is from the AMAZING film Stop Making Sense (my favourite version of this song).

1. Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman

5rabbitprincess
Editado: Jun 13, 2021, 8:03 pm

Mystery - Once in a Lifetime

And you may ask yourself: Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say to yourself: My God, what have I done?!


Video linked is the official music video, which is gloriously 80s.

1. The Skeleton Road, by Val McDermid (Overdrive)
2. Harbour Street, by Ann Cleeves (Overdrive)
3. Cold Earth, by Ann Cleeves (Overdrive)
4. Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, by Christopher Brookmyre

6rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 25, 2021, 7:52 pm

French - Psycho Killer

Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Video linked is from Best of Talking Heads.

1. Le crabe aux pinces d'or, by Hergé
2. Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès, by Maurice Leblanc (Faded Page)

Rereads - Take Me to the River

I don’t know why I love her like I do
All the changes that you put me through


I played this song 38594850585 times before finally playing the rest of the album, which is why I selected it for this category.

Video linked is also from Best of Talking Heads.

1. Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams
2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
3. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

7rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 23, 2021, 8:05 pm

Audio - Road to Nowhere

We’re on a road to nowhere, come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere, we'll take that ride...


You’ll need a lot of audiobooks if you’re on the road to nowhere.

Video linked is the official music video.

1. A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carré (read by Tom Hollander)

8rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 25, 2021, 7:51 pm

SFF - (Nothing But) Flowers

This used to be real estate, now it's only fields and trees
Where, where is the town?
Now, it's nothing but flowers


Video linked is the official music video. Fun fact: this song features Johnny Marr of The Smiths on guitar.

1. Doctor Who: Ghost Stories, written by George Mann, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, and Dennis Calero (comic, ebook)
2. The Celtic Twilight, by W. B. Yeats (Serial Reader)

9rabbitprincess
Editado: Jun 13, 2021, 8:04 pm

Short stories, poetry, essay collections, graphic novels, children's books, etc. - Houses in Motion

Tell us a little bit, but not too much

Video linked is from the 2005 remaster of Remain in Light.

Children's books
1. The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
2. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)
3. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)

Graphic novels and comics
1. Doctor Who: Ghost Stories, written by George Mann, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, and Dennis Calero (ebook)
2. Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
3. Le crabe aux pinces d'or, by Hergé
4. Spider-Gwen Vol. 0: Most Wanted?, by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez

Short stories
1. Killer, Come Back to Me: The Crime Stories of Ray Bradbury, by Ray Bradbury

Plays - Found a Job

They’re inventing situations that are better than TV

Video linked is from the 2005 remaster of More Songs About Buildings and Food.

1. Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare

10rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 24, 2021, 6:45 pm

Group reads - New Feeling

I wish I could meet, every one
Meet them all over again


I wish I could commit to all the group reads and CATs, but I'm too much of a mood reader. Regardless, I like the NEW FEELING of discovering books through these challenges.

Link is to the live version from The Name of This Band is Talking Heads.

GenreCAT
✔ January (Non Fiction): On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
February Memoirs/biography My Word is My Bond
March Action & Adventure (Military/spy/war/Westerns/thrillers etc.) Puppet on a Chain
April Literary Fiction
May Short stories/essays - Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
✔ June Historical fiction Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman
July Romance
August Poetry/drama/graphic novels The Rez Sisters for drama
September Horror/Supernatural
October YA/children - Attack of the Video Villains
November SFF This is How You Lose the Time War
December Mysteries - hosted by me!! The Terrorists

HistoryCAT
January: The Middle Ages - Les poisons de la couronne
February: Modern c.1800 to now Ride with Me (set in 1805), The Splendid and the Vile?
March: Early Modern c.1500 to c. 1800 - Kidnapped
April: Ancient 8th C BC to 6th AD Livy
May: Dynasties/Civilisations/Empires -
June: Military/War/Revolution - hosted by me!
July: Social History -
August: Your Own Country - This Island in Time
September: Religion/Philosophy/Politics/The Law -
October: A country/region of your choice -
November: Events - The Longest Day
December: Adventure/Exploration and Discovery -

RandomCAT
January--LOL--Nonsense Novels, by Stephen Leacock
February--Fruits and Veggies--Oranges and Lemons, by Christopher Fowler
March--It's a Surprise!-- The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout
April--
May--
June--
July--
August--
September--
October--
November--
December--

MysteryKIT
January--Featuring Water—L’Écluse No. 1
February--Pastiche Mysteries—The Seven-Percent Solution
March--Locked Room Mysteries--
April--Senior Citizen as Detective—The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
May--Mysteries set in Europe--The Athenian Murders
June--Golden Age Mysteries—Murder at the Museum
July--Cops 'n Robbers--Lady Style (lady cops or lady robbers)—Dear Miss Kopp
August--Cozy Mysteries Featuring Animals—
September--Mismatched Detectives--
October--Minorities/Diverse--
November--Historical Mysteries--
December--Detectives in Ancient Greece and Rome—All Roads Lead to Murder

Group reads
1. Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare (Litsy)

BingoDOG



✔ 1. Book less than 200 pages - The Westing Game (182 pp. in the edition I read)
2. Time word in title or time is the subject (I'd include time travel in this square!) - Harvest of Time, by Alistair Reynolds
3. Set in or author from the Southern Hemisphere - probably a Nevil Shute
4. Book with or about magic
5. Arts and recreation - Rip It Up (Scottish pop)
✔ 6. Classical element in title (Western: earth, air, wind, fire, aether/void. Chinese: wood, fire, earth, metal, water) Air Bridge, by Hammond Innes
7. Book with the name of a building in the title - Murder in the Museum
8. By or about a marginalized group - The Rez Sisters, by Tomson Highway
9. Senior citizen as the protagonist - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
10. Suggested by a person from another generation - will take a rec from my mum
✔ 11. A book about nature or the environment (includes the sea) - Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, by Lamorna Ash
✔ 12. A book that made you laugh - Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
13. Book you share with 20 or fewer members on LT - British Sea Power (shared with only one other member)
14. Book about history or alternate history - Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
15. Book with a title that describes you
16. Book you heartily recommend
✔ 17. Author you haven’t read before On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
✔ 18. Impulse read! The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
19. One-word title
20. Book with a character you think you'd like to have as a friend - probably a Twelfth Doctor book, haha
21. Dark or light in title - Dark Horizons
22. Set somewhere you’d like to visit - Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth
23. Book by two or more authors - Oxford Book of Scottish short stories
24. Book with a love story in it
25. Read a CAT or KIT

11rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 27, 2021, 6:04 pm

Planes, trains and boats - The Big Country

I'm tired of looking out the windows of the airplane
I'm tired of travelling, I want to be somewhere


Video linked is the live version from The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (which I like a bit better than the studio version).

Planes
1. Flying Free: My Victory over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, by Cecilia Aragon
2. Air Bridge, by Hammond Innes

Trains

Boats
1. Le crabe aux pinces d'or, by Hergé
2. Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, by Lamorna Ash (Overdrive)
3. The Loss of the Jane Vosper, by Freeman Wills Crofts

12DeltaQueen50
Oct 13, 2020, 12:52 am

I loved Talking Heads - brings back memories of the Eighties! Good choice, RP.

Just a note, the link on Psycho Killer only took me took the top of the page not to the song.

13Helenliz
Oct 13, 2020, 2:42 am

Excellent music theme. I will have a listen back, some of these I immediately know, some I'm less familiar with.

14MissWatson
Oct 13, 2020, 5:19 am

Oh, that's a great selection. Takes me a long way back.

15Jackie_K
Oct 13, 2020, 7:05 am

Very inventive, as usual RP! I still haven't a clue what my theme will be for 2021.

16dudes22
Oct 13, 2020, 7:38 am

Great theme. Looking forward to you pushing more BBs my way this year. (And one or two for the hubby).

17scaifea
Oct 13, 2020, 8:07 am

Oh, excellent choice for a theme! The Talking Heads are v. cool.

18lkernagh
Oct 13, 2020, 11:26 am

I love your Talking Heads theme!

19This-n-That
Oct 13, 2020, 12:07 pm

I really like your theme, rabbitprincess. It certainly ties in with current events. Lots of things just don't seem to make sense right now and I'd much rather lose myself in some good music.

20mstrust
Oct 13, 2020, 2:54 pm

I'm going to go ahead and wish you a Happy 2021!
I now I have to keep reminding myself that we're nearing the end of this horrible year ;-)

21rabbitprincess
Oct 13, 2020, 4:09 pm

>12 DeltaQueen50: Ooh thanks for letting me know! I was missing some punctuation in the HTML code. Should work now.

>13 Helenliz: I've been digging a long way through their discography at the moment! Enjoy :)

>14 MissWatson: I find it terrible that it took me 20 years to get into this group!

>15 Jackie_K: My actual categories are largely "same as it ever was," but I do like finding just the right song for each category ;)

>16 dudes22: I'll do my best! Haven't been reading many boat books in 2020 for whatever reason. Will have to dig out a few more for you!

>17 scaifea: They are that! So groovy and danceable (very handy when working from home, because I use my favourite songs as excuses for get-up-and-dance breaks).

>18 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! This has been my year of Talking Heads so I want to keep the good times in 2021 :)

>19 This-n-That: Haha it does tie in that way, you're right!

>20 mstrust: I will wish you a happy 2021 as well! :D

22LittleTaiko
Oct 13, 2020, 4:53 pm

Love your theme! Especially since we saw David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway so I recognize some of the songs you're referencing.

23rabbitprincess
Oct 13, 2020, 6:47 pm

>22 LittleTaiko: Ooh, did you see it on actual Broadway? I saw the film of it through the Toronto International Film Festival but would LOVE to have seen it on stage.

24VivienneR
Oct 14, 2020, 3:25 pm

Love this theme! I'm getting into the spirit by playing all my Talking Heads albums.

25LittleTaiko
Oct 14, 2020, 3:53 pm

>23 rabbitprincess: - Yes, I was lucky enough to see it on actual Broadway. Lots of fun energy in the room!

26Tess_W
Oct 14, 2020, 7:07 pm

Great theme idea~

27rabbitprincess
Oct 14, 2020, 10:13 pm

>24 VivienneR: Excellent! I am alternating between Stop Making Sense and the cast recording of David Byrne's American Utopia.

>25 LittleTaiko: I bet! :D By the third song I was definitely chair dancing. And on the soundtrack, the roar of the crowd when "Road to Nowhere" starts is just goosebump-inducing.

>26 Tess_W: Thanks, Tess! Of course this is *not* one of the dozen themes that I've squirrelled away over the years ;)

28hailelib
Oct 15, 2020, 9:56 pm

Good theme and a nice variety of categories.

29rabbitprincess
Oct 15, 2020, 9:59 pm

>28 hailelib: Thanks! I like to cover every eventuality :)

30JayneCM
Oct 16, 2020, 1:37 am

Great theme! I am now singing Take Me To The River in my head for the rest of the evening!

31christina_reads
Oct 16, 2020, 9:47 am

I love this theme! It's made me realize that I barely know any Talking Heads songs...I think "Once in a Lifetime" is the only one I recognize from your categories. I'll have to do some research! :)

32Jackie_K
Oct 16, 2020, 12:08 pm

Coincidentally, today I heard a version of "Once in a Lifetime" by Angelique Kidjo, which was very different! Turns out the song is surprisingly well suited to Afrobeat.

33rabbitprincess
Oct 16, 2020, 4:39 pm

>30 JayneCM: There are far worse songs, IMO ;)

>31 christina_reads: Enjoy the research! One of the most thrilling bits of David Byrne's American Utopia is the roar of the crowd when Once in a Lifetime starts -- it's a fantastic song.

>32 Jackie_K: I just heard about that cover this week too! David Byrne mentioned it in an interview with him and Spike Lee in the latest issue of Esquire. There were a lot of African influences in the album Remain in Light (which she covered in its entirety) and he loved that she brought the songs home. I'll have to check it out :D

34leslie.98
Editado: Oct 25, 2020, 1:25 pm

Love your theme RP! I am old enough that I actually own several Talking Heads LPs bought back in the days before CD players (including the soundtrack for Stop Making Sense) & even got to see them in concert during their Stop Making Sense tour :-)

If you like the Talking Heads, you should also check out the Tom Tom Club which started off as a studio band version of the Talking Heads (without Byrne). One of their big hits (Genius of Love) is in the movie Stop Making Sense if I remember rightly.

35Jackie_K
Oct 25, 2020, 1:22 pm

>33 rabbitprincess: I hadn't realised when I heard her version of Once in a Lifetime that my husband had bought the CD. It's very very good!

36rabbitprincess
Oct 25, 2020, 3:04 pm

>34 leslie.98: OMG you were THERE for a Stop Making Sense show? That is AMAZING! It looks like it was tons of fun. I bought the movie off iTunes and watched it three times in a week. Would totally use my free time-travel trip to take in that show :D

I'm working my way through David Byrne's solo catalogue at the moment (this month it's Rei Momo) but will certainly have to add Tom Tom Club to the list as well. Interestingly "Genius of Love" reminded me a bit of Blondie -- I think maybe it was the singing style.

>35 Jackie_K: I ended up previewing her album on iTunes and will probably buy it! Her versions of the few songs off Remain in Light I haven't already heard will likely become the "canon" versions for me :)

37leslie.98
Oct 26, 2020, 10:37 pm

>36 rabbitprincess: LOL!! Yes, it was a great show & I saw it in Long Beach CA which was a medium sized forum - bigger than a club but smaller than the stadium concerts I had been to (e.g. The Rolling Stones & The Who) - and surprisingly not that crowded.

Thanks to your thread theme, I spent Sunday listening to a bunch of Talking Heads songs - still love them :)

38VivienneR
Oct 27, 2020, 3:42 pm

>37 leslie.98: I've also been inspired by RP's theme to listen to Talking Heads. It's been a while since they had an airing so it was time.

39rabbitprincess
Oct 27, 2020, 6:27 pm

>37 leslie.98: Excellent, that must have meant lots of room for dancing! :D I know this is probably a tough question, but what would you consider your favourite Talking Heads songs?

>38 VivienneR: Yay! I'm finally starting to ease other artists back into my listening rotation after listening to Talking Heads non-stop for months, but I can't go a day without listening to at least one song of theirs.

40VivienneR
Oct 27, 2020, 7:53 pm

>39 rabbitprincess: My brain is permanently on random play.

41leslie.98
Oct 28, 2020, 3:10 pm

>39 rabbitprincess: I don't know if I have a single favorite song but I love Pschyo Killer, Take Me to the River, I Zimbra, Burning Down the House, Road to Nowhere, just to name a few. But really I like pretty much all the songs on the first 3 albums (Talking Heads 77, More Songs about Buildings and Food and Fear of Music) and most of the songs on the later albums :-)

42rabbitprincess
Oct 28, 2020, 4:48 pm

>41 leslie.98: A solid list! Take Me to the River is one of my faves as well. And Psycho Killer, because I love singing the French bits in an outrageous Quebec accent :D At the moment I am massively digging Slippery People (the Stop Making Sense version), and I can't get enough of the video for (Nothing But) Flowers!

43sturlington
Oct 30, 2020, 7:30 am

Nice theme. I was the perfect age for Talking Heads in the 1980s, so this takes me back. I wonder if you have seen David Byrne's film True Stories? It is quirky and funny, and I really like the music.

This has reminded me to watch American Utopia soon. It looks fantastic.

44rabbitprincess
Oct 30, 2020, 7:20 pm

>43 sturlington: I've seen the music video for Wild Wild Life, which I believe uses footage from the film, but I haven't seen the whole thing.

American Utopia is totally amazing and I hope you enjoy it! Watch it somewhere where you have room to dance :)

45sturlington
Oct 31, 2020, 8:05 am

>44 rabbitprincess: Watched it last night and completely concur. My 12-year-old was shaking his booty!

46rabbitprincess
Oct 31, 2020, 9:03 am

>45 sturlington: Excellent! It looks like it would be so much fun to be part of that band. They looked like they were having a good time as well :)

47mysterymax
Nov 1, 2020, 7:30 am

Can't believe it's time to think about 2021!

48rabbitprincess
Nov 1, 2020, 8:35 am

>47 mysterymax: I know! Time seems to have lost all meaning this year.

49pamelad
Nov 12, 2020, 4:09 pm

Road to Nowhere is running through my head now. I'll be returning to listen to the rest. Happy reading!

50rabbitprincess
Nov 12, 2020, 6:49 pm

>49 pamelad: Thanks! Today I had Once in a Lifetime going through my head because I was back at work after a week and a half of vacation. "And I may ask myself, well, how did I get here?"

51thornton37814
Dic 4, 2020, 1:02 pm

I thought about including a short stories category in mine, but I decided I'd just put them in an appropriate mystery category or the general fiction/literature one.

Looking forward to seeing how you fill all your categories.

52rabbitprincess
Dic 4, 2020, 8:09 pm

>51 thornton37814: It's more of a catch-all category: graphic novels, short stories, essay collections, really small books. I haven't actually read that many short story collections this year myself. Maybe naming the category for that format will convince me to read more!

53thornton37814
Dic 5, 2020, 2:30 pm

>52 rabbitprincess: I'm reading a 900 page short-story collection at the moment. I probably won't finish this year. I'm reading approximately one story a day. I occasionally miss a day. Sometimes I make it up the next day; sometimes I don't. That collection will probably be a 2021 finish. I'm also in a faculty book club which uses a short story collection for discussion. We found this works for us, and many participants are happy because it's the only pleasure reading they manage to squeeze in during the semester. Next semester we're doing ghost stories.

54ELiz_M
Dic 5, 2020, 8:17 pm

Thank you for linking the videos, so I didn't have to look any of them up. I am pretty sure, however, that road to nowhere is an Ozzy Osbourne song. ;)

55rabbitprincess
Dic 5, 2020, 10:11 pm

>54 ELiz_M: Glad to be of service! And thanks for sharing the Ozzy "Road to Nowhere" -- hadn't heard that one.

56mysterymax
Editado: Dic 6, 2020, 11:14 am

>53 thornton37814: I've only recently become a reader of short stories thanks to Erle Derr Biggers. I'm thinking one should have a category of them because otherwise it would seem you'd have to read all of them to count it as a 'book read'. How are you keeping track of them in terms of your challenge? Anyone else have suggestions?

57thornton37814
Dic 6, 2020, 5:52 pm

>56 mysterymax: Oh, I'm generally reading the entire collection. However, I count Kindle shorts as a single book in its category. I don't read tons of short stories outside of the collections, so it works. I sometimes binge on shorts in December so I can hit a certain threshold. However, I can usually get there with some of the Kindle freebies that are shorter works too.

58leslie.98
Dic 8, 2020, 3:34 pm

>54 ELiz_M: Both Ozzy Osbourne and Talking Heads have a song with the title "Road to Nowhere" but I am pretty sure that they are 2 different songs.

59rabbitprincess
Editado: Dic 8, 2020, 6:36 pm

>58 leslie.98: There was a wink at the end of that ;) :)

I would not have been surprised if they *had* ended up being the same song! I first heard the Talking Heads song "Heaven" as a cover and didn't realize it was a cover until I got the Best of Talking Heads album. I couldn't understand why the lyrics were so familiar when I hadn't heard that song before... then it hit me like a ton of bricks!

60leslie.98
Dic 8, 2020, 6:37 pm

>59 rabbitprincess: Well, if you decide to investigate, please report back your findings *grin*

61Chrischi_HH
Dic 19, 2020, 4:45 pm

Lovely theme! I know only few Talking Heads songs, and will make sure to click on your links. Have fun reading in 2021!

62MissBrangwen
Dic 26, 2020, 5:09 am

Happy reading and good luck with your challenges!

63rabbitprincess
Dic 26, 2020, 10:09 am

>60 leslie.98: It's certainly a different song! :) And different from the other Ozzy and Black Sabbath I've heard (mainly through the Rock Band video games).

>61 Chrischi_HH: Great, enjoy! I hope you have a great reading year!

>62 MissBrangwen: Thanks! Glad to have you aboard the category challenge this year -- I hope you have fun! :D

64PaulCranswick
Dic 26, 2020, 7:37 pm

Love the idea of linking the themes to that crackpot but brilliant group Talking Heads' songs.

Thanks for your work in administrating the group and I'll be setting up a pied de terre here for the duration next year.

65rabbitprincess
Dic 26, 2020, 10:02 pm

>64 PaulCranswick: Crackpot but brilliant is a perfect description. I wish I'd discovered Talking Heads ages ago. But 2020 was a very good year for me to discover them.

It's my pleasure to administrate the group and I'm very glad you're setting up a thread here. Looking forward to seeing you around the threads!

66PaulCranswick
Dic 26, 2020, 10:10 pm

>65 rabbitprincess: As a bachelor and with decent disposable income and few of the more common vices of young malehood I bought music and books aplenty.

I had something over 1,000 vinyl records and then more than 4,000 music CDs with a very indiscriminate taste - alternative, new wave, AOR, prog, folk, soul, jazz, classical, country, oldies etc etc etc. Only genres I didn't care for was techno, very heavy metal, rap and drum n bass.

Now most of it is redundant with spotify and all the other stuff so I can concentrate on using my reduced disposable income on books!

67rabbitprincess
Dic 27, 2020, 6:48 pm

>66 PaulCranswick: Wow! That is a lot of music! Have you read Bob Stanley's Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé? It wanders through pretty much all of the genres you listed and finds connections and influences in unlikely places.

I love how easy it is to acquire songs digitally, but I do still like to pick up the odd physical copies of albums so I have something for artists to sign at a show. Although when will be the next time I go to a concert?

68Tanya-dogearedcopy
Dic 27, 2020, 9:52 pm

>66 PaulCranswick: Ooh! “Fellow” audiophile here! I love Early Music, Opera, Classical, Old School Jazz (though I have developed an appreciation for Herbie Hancock), R & B, Blues, Heavy Metal, Acid Rock, Punk, and Alt... Not a fan of House, Rap, Hip-Hop, Yacht Rock or Country (but could probably find a song or two that I like in each of the genres I dislike!) Most of my music has been converted to FLACs/WAVs and is now stored across four hard drives (around 20-terabytes). Right now my DH & I are listening to Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. He just read Mozart: The Reign of Love (by Jan Swaffoed) so now it’s “All Amadeus, All the Time” (Lol, for now anyway!)

69PaulCranswick
Dic 28, 2020, 3:58 am

>67 rabbitprincess: I haven't read that one but I did read something similar by another British writer whose name for the moment escapes me. I bought a decent turntable a few years ago and slowly built up some vinyl LPs to enjoy the sound and I still keep my Bose CD player and I have a wonderful CD system in my Honda car which records and plays back any CDs I put in up to about 8,000 songs.

>68 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Very much so! My playlists are always pretty varied. Yesterday for example I listened to
Rimsky Korsakov
John Prine's wonderful last album
ELO circa 2015
Paul McCartney circa 2005
The Band circa 1970
The Lumineers
First Aid Kit
and
Camille Saint-Saens

I don't like listening to one genre exclusively although there are a number especially thrash metal and techno which I would avoid like the plague.

70mstrust
Dic 29, 2020, 1:30 pm


Wishing you a happy 2021!

I'm building a collection of rock and punk books that I hope will be of interest to a school or library someday. If they will still be interested in physical books in the future.

71JayneCM
Dic 29, 2020, 6:26 pm

>65 rabbitprincess: I have my original vinyl of Talking Heads, as well as many others. From the days when I would save my pocket money/milk bar earnings to buy records!

72rabbitprincess
Editado: Dic 29, 2020, 6:30 pm

>68 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Wow, 20 terabytes! That is a staggering amount of music!

>69 PaulCranswick: If you think of the author, let me know -- I had a good year of reading music books in 2020 and would like to continue the trend in 2021 :)

>70 mstrust: Happy New Year to you as well, Jennifer! I have to hope there will still be a place for physical books in the future.

>71 JayneCM: Nice! I missed the vinyl boat and don't have a turntable, but I love the magic of putting on a record.

73Tanya-dogearedcopy
Dic 29, 2020, 7:19 pm

>72 rabbitprincess: Yes, Ma'am! Most of that is eaten up by FLACs of orchestral performances/symphonies. And too, the whole of the collection is a combination of two old people's lifetimes of music! :-D

74lsh63
Editado: Dic 31, 2020, 9:53 am



I may have accidentally left this on your 2020 thread also. Anyway happy reading and a healthy and happy new year!

75rabbitprincess
Dic 31, 2020, 10:38 am

>73 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Ha! Two lifetimes' worth of music is a mighty collection indeed! Speaking of orchestras, my library just got access to a streaming service called Medici.tv, which purports to be the world's leading classical music channel. I may have to dabble in it in the new year.

>74 lsh63: Haha no worries! After the year we've had, we can't have too many best wishes for 2021! I hope you have a great year :)

76Crazymamie
Dic 31, 2020, 3:30 pm

Great theme! Now I need to go back up thread to follow the links and listen to all the music - I know some of the songs but not all of them.

77Tanya-dogearedcopy
Dic 31, 2020, 4:36 pm

>75 rabbitprincess: Ooh! The operas and ballets! (I love concerts, but only when I'm actually there... But maybe I'll try a couple inn the New Year too!) :-)

78PaulCranswick
Ene 1, 2021, 10:48 am



And keep up with my friends here. Have a great 2021.

79rabbitprincess
Ene 1, 2021, 11:39 am

>76 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! Enjoy!

>77 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I might even get into the operas myself! A couple of friends of mine used to go to the cinema to watch the livestreams from the Met. I didn't go with them because I find movie theatre seats too painful to sit in for that long, but maybe now we can have watch parties at home! We did that with movies, everyone watching from home and texting each other reactions. It was fun :)

>78 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! And a happy new year to you as well. I particularly appreciate the wishes for more tea and more music. I'm very thankful that my favourite local tea store pivoted so well to online orders during the pandemic, and I'm looking forward to seeing what more cool musical discoveries await in 2021. (I still have a few David Byrne solo albums to check out...)

80Tanya-dogearedcopy
Editado: Ene 1, 2021, 12:37 pm

>79 rabbitprincess: Wow, it must be about ten years ago; but when I was heavily into Twitter & blogging, some of us read/listened to the James Bond novels and then watched the matching movie. The live tweeting sessions were enormously fun!

I’m trying to figure out if DH has a Medici account or if I should just get my own. And I need to find out quickly as the sale price expires 01/04!

81LibraryCin
Ene 1, 2021, 4:17 pm

Happy New Year! Popping in to follow a few people's threads, but I'm afraid there may be too many to keep up. So, I may or may not continue throughout the year! Happy reading!

82lkernagh
Ene 1, 2021, 5:23 pm

Happy New year, RP!

83Tess_W
Ene 2, 2021, 10:16 am

I think this year may be a year of maybe a bit less reading (ouch, boo!) and more listening. My friend bought me a year's subscription to Medici. TV and I've already spent my first hour watching Yo Yo Ma giving a cello lesson! Also, last year I purchased a book of the 40 greatest operas and my plan was to read about each one and then listen to it. I have completed zero! I'm hoping Medici TV will help with that. My BFF and I had season ticket to the ballet (which was only 3 per season) which start in March each year and go till the end of the year. Needless to say, the entire 2020 season was cancelled and as of yet, there are no public plans for a 2021 season. I loved the ballet because it was visual and beautiful, but also because most time, the symphony orchestra accompanied it live; so we got a twofer. I'm thinking I would like to join a group wherein people listened or watched a ballet or an opera once a month and then held a discussion. If you know of one, let me know!

84rabbitprincess
Ene 2, 2021, 1:35 pm

>80 Tanya-dogearedcopy: That would be a lot of fun! We have a WhatsApp group chat for my friends who watch movies together. Hope you figure out the Medici account in time to take advantage of that sale price!

>81 LibraryCin: Great to see you Cindy! Pop in whenever you can. And yes I find LT is a particularly happening place at the beginning of the year!

>82 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori, and same to you!

>83 Tess_W: That sounds like a great plan, to read about the operas and then listen to them. I don't know of any ballet or opera discussion groups myself, but perhaps if your friend has access to the operas as well somehow, you can make your own club :)

85rabbitprincess
Ene 2, 2021, 4:17 pm

Haha 85 posts in and FINALLY I have a book to report!

The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/191822177

I borrowed this after a trivia game revealed this gap in my literary knowledge. As a middle-grade book it made a very quick read for this thirtysomething, but I am not sure whether I would have read it when I was the book's target age. It was fine, but I was onto Agatha Christie by the age of 8, so some children's literature has passed me by.

86lowelibrary
Ene 2, 2021, 7:00 pm

Good luck with your reading challenge this year

87rabbitprincess
Ene 3, 2021, 1:36 pm

>86 lowelibrary: Thanks! So far I've spent most of my time seeing what everyone else is reading :D

****

Time once again for Doctor Who Sunday: a comic and a TV episode. I have the New Year's Day episode on my PVR ready to go.

Doctor Who: Ghost Stories, written by George Mann, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, and Dennis Calero (ebook)
Category: Houses in Motion, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Doctor Who Humble Bundle
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/179423649

These Doctor Who Humble Bundles have contributed a lot of books to my TBR, particularly comics. This one was OK. I liked the concept and the story well enough, but the art didn't do much for me.

88majkia
Ene 3, 2021, 1:47 pm

You know, it's bad enough I have to dodge your book bullets, but now I'm having to deal with earworms! Darn you Talking Heads fan.

89rabbitprincess
Ene 3, 2021, 1:51 pm

>88 majkia: Hee hee! I don't mind having them rattling around my head all the time, but it's a bit awkward when they're stuck in my head and I feel compelled to dance to them. Dancing in the absence of music just looks weird!

90rabbitprincess
Ene 5, 2021, 8:14 pm

Working my way through library ebooks during lockdown.

The Skeleton Road, by Val McDermid
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194414806

Finally caught up with the Karen Pirie series. This is the installment I am least likely to re-read; it was well put together, but grim subject matter.

91VivienneR
Ene 5, 2021, 9:18 pm

Dropping in to wish you a Happy New Year and plenty of good reading - but I see you have already started.

McDermid can be grim but I really enjoy her books. I'm playing Talking Heads right now and imagining you silently dancing. :) Can't believe you were such a late TH bloomer.

92rabbitprincess
Editado: Ene 5, 2021, 9:54 pm

>91 VivienneR: I find this series the least grim of hers I've read so far, but this is definitely the most grim of those books. War crimes in the former Yugoslavia don't make for light reading.

I am listening to and dancing along with Slippery People RIGHT NOW! It is Stop Making Sense week again. And yes, I can't believe it took me this long to get into them. Making up for lost time!

93VivienneR
Ene 6, 2021, 11:48 am

>92 rabbitprincess: Great dance music! Thanks for the link.

94mathgirl40
Ene 7, 2021, 9:14 pm

I am just catching up with 2021 threads and why am I not at all surprised to see a Talking Heads theme here? Great choice! :)

95rabbitprincess
Ene 8, 2021, 9:00 pm

>94 mathgirl40: Thanks, Paulina! Yep, had to have them here!

****

Bleeding Hearts, by Ian Rankin, writing as Jack Harvey
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: borrowed from a friend as part of an omnibus
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/190396043

The second of three Jack Harvey thrillers in a giant omnibus that I borrowed from a friend pre-pandemic. No idea when I'll be able to get this back to her!

****

Today would have been David Bowie's birthday. In honour of that, here's David Byrne and Choir! Choir! Choir! singing "Heroes".

96christina_reads
Ene 9, 2021, 2:47 pm

>95 rabbitprincess: Thanks for sharing that great video! Now I'm going down a Choir! Choir! Choir! rabbit hole.

97rabbitprincess
Editado: Ene 12, 2021, 9:12 pm

>96 christina_reads: I love how well they manage to get a bunch of random people to sing together! Their version of Space Oddity at the Art Gallery of Ontario is really well done, too.

And speaking of C!C!C!, they are doing a David Bowie sing-along on their Facebook page and YouTube channel. I plan to tune in!

****

On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
Category: Crosseyed and Painless, New Feeling (January GenreCAT: non-fiction)
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/193827554

First non-fiction of the year and continuing the trend of short books to suit my short attention span.

98mysterymax
Ene 10, 2021, 8:23 am

I've always meant to ask - have you seen EVERY Dr. Who episode?

99Crazymamie
Ene 10, 2021, 8:31 am

>95 rabbitprincess: Well, that was fun! Thanks for sharing the link.

100rabbitprincess
Ene 10, 2021, 9:07 am

>98 mysterymax: Far from it! There's a lot of the older episodes I haven't seen, and some I'll never be able to see because they were lost from the BBC archives.

>99 Crazymamie: It looks like so much fun! Although when I first watched one of their videos, I had a flutter of panic at how closely everyone was standing together, haha.

101Tanya-dogearedcopy
Ene 10, 2021, 12:01 pm

>100 rabbitprincess: So, interesting bit of anecdotal trivia: A friend of mind who worked for BBC many years ago is also a big Dr. Who fan. I asked about all those missing shows and he said that in the early days, they were on a shoestring budget and often reused the recording tapes and; that it was pure chance that the few episodes from the first Doctor survived. I thought that once you developed film, it was non-recyclable but apparently not? He just shrugged :-/

102rabbitprincess
Editado: Jun 13, 2021, 8:04 pm

>101 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I guess it was more like magnetic tape or whatever they use in reel-to-reel tape recorders? Fortunately, there is at least audio of every episode thanks to keen Doctor Who fans holding tape recorders up to the television :)

****

Another day, another stay-at-home order. I am still occupying my time with short reads.

The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, by Nancy Springer
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194070126

The second book in the Enola Holmes series, and better than the first in my opinion. I really like this series and have already requested the third book.

The Story of a Hare, by J. C. Tregarthen
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: ebook, via Faded Page
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194437865

Well of COURSE I was going to get this off Faded Page. The nature descriptions were reminiscent of Richard Adams's Watership Down, except with hares instead of rabbits (although rabbits did make a brief appearance as well).

103mstrust
Ene 13, 2021, 9:59 am

Sorry you have to stay home! You have enough books to hold you over?
I haven't even gotten to the Enola Holmes books or the Netflix movie, and me having been in a Sherlock group in the past.

104leslie.98
Ene 13, 2021, 3:06 pm

>102 rabbitprincess: Oh, I will have to keep the Enola Holmes series in mind for the pastiche month of the MysteryKIT - February I think.

105rabbitprincess
Ene 13, 2021, 6:52 pm

>103 mstrust: It's not really a dramatic change for me, because I've been working from home full time since mid-March, and the only places I really go are the drugstore and the library (and maybe the odd LCBO run); my BF does the grocery shopping, thank goodness! But it's a bit discouraging nonetheless.

I do have enough books to keep me going, and the library is still open, but only for curbside pickup. I've opted to borrow only digital books for the next little while to avoid having to stand in line at the library; people are terrible judges of what constitutes six feet apart.

Haven't watched the series yet, but I might rewatch Sherlock :D

>104 leslie.98: It is a fun series! And these days I really appreciate the thrill of finishing a book, haha.

106Crazymamie
Ene 14, 2021, 5:21 pm

I have not read any of the Enola Holmes books, but I loved the Netflix movie. Sounds like I need to give the books a go.

107rabbitprincess
Ene 14, 2021, 8:47 pm

>106 Crazymamie: I would have been all over this as a preteen, and I'm glad to be all over it now! Also glad that you enjoyed the Netflix movie :) I haven't watched it yet.

****

Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194070123

Another great collection from Tom Gauld. This one is probably my favourite. I'm going to have to buy my own copy!

108justchris
Ene 15, 2021, 2:08 am

What a fun theme! Brings on all the nostalgia!

>32 Jackie_K: The song is surprisingly suited to AfroBeat because it's derived from it. Listen to this interview with Angelique Kidjo:
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/04/616145303/ang-lique-kidjo-connects-the-talking-he...
Angelique Kidjo covered that album to show up the racists who refused to see the African roots of the Talking Heads album, and to educate well-meaning people who weren't aware of the connections, and give all of us a deeper appreciation of both Talking Heads and West African musical culture.

109rabbitprincess
Ene 15, 2021, 9:12 pm

>108 justchris: Thanks for stopping by and for sharing that interview! Just added Fela Kuti to my to-listen list.

Spinning the Angélique Kidjo Remain in Light now. Amazing!

110rabbitprincess
Ene 16, 2021, 2:49 pm

It's a winter wonderland outside! We're expected to have received 15 to 25 cm of snow by tomorrow morning. Went out for a walk to enjoy it (and to drop books off at the library). Now I can stay indoors the rest of the time and read and write reviews.

Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare
Category: Found a Job, New Feeling (Litsy group read)
Source: Book Bazaar
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/123463145

Started my plays category off early this year because of a Shakespeare read-along on Litsy. They're up to the Henry VI plays, so I joined in. This was surprisingly fast-paced, and I'm looking forward to starting Part 2 in the next couple of weeks. I'm also looking forward to receiving Part 3 in the mail; I had to order it :D

111Jackie_K
Ene 16, 2021, 3:19 pm

>110 rabbitprincess: Oh that's a lot of snow! My mother in law is convinced whenever she sees weather reports with pictures of the top of the Cairngorms that the whole of Scotland is under that much snow. It doesn't matter that she's been here and knows we're not on top of a mountain - we have to explain every single time that no, we've had no snow/a slight dusting/1cm max and it'll be melted by the afternoon.

112LibraryCin
Ene 16, 2021, 3:33 pm

>110 rabbitprincess: We had between 25 and 40 cm of snow (depending where one was in the city) on Dec 21/22 or 22/23. Just before Christmas. It was perfect! (Now, I don't drive, and over Christmas I wasn't going anywhere, anyway...)

113leslie.98
Ene 16, 2021, 3:47 pm

>110 rabbitprincess: I'm envious of your snow - we got rain :( I would much rather have snow, especially since I just went grocery shopping so wouldn't need to worry about shovelling or driving right away.

I have read Henry IV, Part 1 but never got around to Henry IV, Part 2… or Part 3 (don't think that I even knew that there was a part 3!) Maybe I will join you in those.

114BBGirl55
Ene 16, 2021, 5:37 pm

Just catching up you have read quite a bit so far.

115Tanya-dogearedcopy
Ene 16, 2021, 7:41 pm

>111 Jackie_K: LOL, I have a similar situation with my Mother: Whenever anything happens anywhere on the West Coast of the US, she calls me to see how I’m faring. But the one time a major wildfire had us hemmed in? Crickets!

116rabbitprincess
Ene 17, 2021, 9:38 am

>111 Jackie_K: Ha! I read an old Peter Capaldi interview where he touched on people's perceptions of Scotland and it cracked me up: "It's taken me years to realise that when I say 'back to Scotland', our English friends visualise us in a Hogwartsy Highland landscape, knocking about a vaguely industrialised version of Greyfriar's Bobby, exchanging knowing folksy banter with the Proclaimers."

>112 LibraryCin: That does sound perfect, especially when you're not going anywhere! And these days, I'm still not going anywhere because of our provincial stay-at-home order.

>113 leslie.98: Rain is not as fun as snow, but better than freezing rain!
(And the plays mentioned in your post are about the *fourth* Henry; I'm reading about the *sixth* Henry :))

>114 BBGirl55: Thanks for stopping by! Not having anywhere to go has helped my reading somewhat... although not having a bus commute interferes with my normal reading patterns.

>115 Tanya-dogearedcopy: We've had two very bad bus accidents in the past six years, and because I rely on the bus to get around, my relatives contacted me both times to find out if I was OK. I wasn't involved in either, fortunately, and one of them happened at the complete opposite end of town from me.

117Jackie_K
Ene 17, 2021, 9:48 am

>116 rabbitprincess: Haha, it's so true! But I have to say, just when I'm at my most vociferous "Scotland's not like the stereotypes", I'll walk down the street and there'll be a random kilted bagpiper for no apparent reason.

118LibraryCin
Ene 17, 2021, 3:19 pm

I expect I'll be back at work (once/week, as I'd been doing in the fall) within a couple of weeks. I like staying home, though, so I'm happy to continue this way.

But, I'm still out and about once a week-ish to the grocery store, drug store, or the library, mostly. I could say pet store, but they're good about delivering if that's what I'd prefer (and without a car, especially depending what I'm getting, I'm preferring that this week).

119leslie.98
Ene 17, 2021, 8:36 pm

>116 rabbitprincess: Argh! So I still might join you but will have to read Part I to catch up *grin*

120threadnsong
Ene 17, 2021, 8:50 pm

Hello! Just stopping by to catch up. I have good friends who are Dr. Who fans; I myself have tried but couldn't. Show me an episode of Monty Python, though, and I'm all there with the suspenders and cheese.

Glad your reading is going well, and thank you for the link to the Talking Heads/roots in West African music. It's something to remember and learn.

121RidgewayGirl
Ene 18, 2021, 11:40 am

Every time a hurricane hits SC, which is twice in recent years, I've gotten a slew of messages from my Canadian friends. I'm hundreds of mile inland, so the most we get is some rain, but they worry and I appreciate it.

122rabbitprincess
Editado: Ene 18, 2021, 8:04 pm

>117 Jackie_K: Haha! I did notice a few kilted bagpipers in Edinburgh, but figured that they were in the Royal Mile area for tourist reasons!

>118 LibraryCin: Same! I like working in the office best in the summer, because as much as I complain about the subarctic A/C, it is better than being in my apartment, which has only window A/C units (and those don't work nearly as well).

>119 leslie.98: :) I believe the discussions for Part 2 will start in about three weeks, so I'll aim to start the last weekend of January.

>120 threadnsong: Great to see you! I'm of the opinion that Doctor Who is a big enough "church" as a show that there is a Doctor to suit most people's tastes, but at the same time I recognize that there's only so much TV for people to get into, so I'm not about to force the issue ;) I do love Python as well!

>121 RidgewayGirl: Yes, it is nice to be worried about!

123rabbitprincess
Ene 18, 2021, 9:44 pm

Not a bad reading week so far. Two books in two days.

Harbour Street, by Ann Cleeves
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library, via CloudLibrary
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194414878

Working my way through the Vera books. Annoyingly, neither of my libraries has The Moth Catcher in ebook, and I've been avoiding print holds for the duration of the stay-at-home order. The library is open for curbside pickup of holds, but I don't like waiting in line outside at my library; the roofed porch is small and I have no faith in people's ability to stand six feet apart on the path. So ebooks it is for the foreseeable :-/

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/191822125

I've had this out from the library FOREVER and finally decided to read it to spare myself the embarrassment of having to renew it for a third time. This was an unsettling book.

124LibraryCin
Ene 18, 2021, 10:36 pm

>122 rabbitprincess: Ah, yes. My work also has A/C, but home does not. However, what I like about being at home, even if it is hot, is that I have better control over the temperature - at least as much as I can.

That is, I don't have to close all the windows when I leave at 6:15 in the morning, when there is still potentially a few more hours when it's cooler outside. When home, I can leave those windows open to get inside as cool as possible before having to close the windows.

125leslie.98
Ene 18, 2021, 11:02 pm

>123 rabbitprincess: Unsettling is a good descriptor for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie! Although this is Spark's most famous book, I preferred Loitering with Intent and The Girls of Slender Means - not that I have read all of her books, by any means! I think the fame of Miss Jean Brodie is more due to the success of the film adaptation (with the wonderful Maggie Smith) rather than the considered opinion that it is the best of her novels.

126lkernagh
Ene 20, 2021, 5:01 pm

>105 rabbitprincess: - people are terrible judges of what constitutes six feet apart. So true! At least when I grocery shop, usually the person behind me is using a shopping cart and that helps with the distancing. ;-)

>110 rabbitprincess: - Snow! I am envious.... I miss snow.

>123 rabbitprincess: - I have only read 5 Muriel Spark novels. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is my favorite, but Memento Mori and A Far Cry from Kensington were also really good reads.

>125 leslie.98: - Making note of Loitering with Intent and The Girl of Slender Means. I have not read either of those stories.

127leslie.98
Ene 20, 2021, 10:06 pm

>126 lkernagh: Hope that you find them worthy!

128Tess_W
Ene 21, 2021, 6:37 am

>123 rabbitprincess: I've had this in my ereader for probably 5-6 years. Time to resurrect it!

129spiralsheep
Ene 21, 2021, 7:28 am

>123 rabbitprincess: >125 leslie.98: Hit by a ricochet, I've now acquired a previously unread Muriel Spark, although not specifically one mentioned here.

130rabbitprincess
Ene 22, 2021, 9:55 pm

>124 LibraryCin: My kingdom for a cross-breeze! My apartment faces east, so it gets warm with the morning sun and then retains that heat all day.

>125 leslie.98: >127 leslie.98: Loitering with Intent is on my to-read list, and now The Girls of Slender Means is as well!

>126 lkernagh: When I went to drop off Miss Brodie, I saw cones on the walkway that looked like they had been put down as markers for people to wait at, but they didn't look six feet apart to me :-/

I've added A Far Cry from Kensington to my to-read list too. I read Memento Mori a while ago but should probably read it again (assuming I still have it).

>128 Tess_W: Hope you like it!

>129 spiralsheep: Hurray, it's like a Sparkfest!

****

Today was one of those days when everyone wants everything at once. Not much time to breathe, let alone eat, although I was definitely getting hangry and knew to step away from the computer and make some lunch... at 3 p.m.

Fortunately I got book mail: Caroline Alexander's translation of The Iliad -- I have ELiz_M to thank for that book bullet.

Also fortunately, I've been managing to get some reviewing done.

Cold Earth, by Ann Cleeves
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194489608

Only one book left in the Shetland series. I have enjoyed bingeing this series and am looking forward to bingeing the show. It is my understanding that the books and the show are quite different from each other, so that will be interesting to compare and contrast :)

Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams
Category: Take Me to the River
Source: bought for myself a long time ago
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70444419

First re-read of the year is NOT mythology, surprisingly. I liked this more than I probably did as a kid. When I discovered Hitchhiker's, I read the first book to the exclusion of all the others... didn't finish the trilogy of five until I was in university.

131rabbitprincess
Ene 22, 2021, 10:01 pm

Yesterday I stumbled across the music video for the Talking Heads song "Stay Up Late", off Little Creatures. Thought I'd share it with you all as I stay up late on a Friday night ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imWnuirIL8o

132thornton37814
Ene 22, 2021, 10:25 pm

>130 rabbitprincess: I hate there are no more Shetland books. It was my favorite of Cleeves' series.

133hailelib
Ene 24, 2021, 9:57 pm

We really enjoyed the Shetland series on Netflix but I haven’t read any of the books yet.

134leslie.98
Ene 24, 2021, 10:48 pm

>131 rabbitprincess: Good song :)

>130 rabbitprincess: I have watched most of the TV adaptations of Cleeves' series - both Shetland & Vera - long before I read any of her books so it will be interesting to compare reactions once you get to that point.

135Tess_W
Ene 24, 2021, 10:54 pm

>133 hailelib:
>134 leslie.98:

We love both Shetland and Vera on Britbox. However, have not read any of the books yet. Want to finish the Penman series before I start another one.

136rabbitprincess
Ene 25, 2021, 6:18 pm

>132 thornton37814: I wonder if she was concerned about Shetland turning into Cabot Cove, with an improbably high murder rate!

>133 hailelib: I've been enjoying the books a fair bit. For some reason I've been devouring them more easily in ebook format. The reprints in paperback have a higher page count than I would have expected.

>134 leslie.98: I love the driving piano in it, and David's sunglasses crack me up every single time :D

>135 Tess_W: I have Britbox as well so will have to start getting stuck in! I've seen a few Vera episodes here and there on PBS (or ITV when we were visiting the UK), but haven't taken the time to watch all of them yet.

137thornton37814
Ene 26, 2021, 7:41 am

>136 rabbitprincess: At least Jessica's occupation gave her opportunity to travel places other than Cabot Cove. Jimmy is unlikely to be called away to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, or another locale to investigate when he's the only person to police his island. However, the series would lose its charm if it moved off the island.

138Crazymamie
Ene 27, 2021, 5:08 am

I love those Shetland books - I have been hoarding the final one, and I plan on rereading through the series before reading it. I have tried the Vera books, and they are also good, but I like the Shetland series more. I have watched all of both tv series and thought they were excellent. There is also an excellent book Shetland by Anne Cleeves that is full of gorgeous photos and tells how she came to write the books - very well done with no spoilers to ruin anything. It really brings it to life and you can see all the places that inspired her stories and read about how she came to fall in love with the place.

139Tess_W
Ene 27, 2021, 10:31 am

>137 thornton37814: Jimmy leaves the island several times each year, sometimes for 1-2 episodes; mostly to Glasgow. Love that show!

140MissBrangwen
Ene 27, 2021, 10:50 am

I have neither read the books nor watched the series, but I think I need to after I read your comments!!!

141rabbitprincess
Editado: Ene 29, 2021, 10:27 am

>137 thornton37814: Yes, Jessica had a bit more freedom of movement. I really liked that show. One of the cable channels here is airing reruns on weekday evenings.

>138 Crazymamie: Haha I like Vera slightly better than Jimmy! I can relate to her as a supervisor who still wants to do the actual work that her reports are doing, rather than being in the office coordinating everything ;) My mum has the Shetland book you mention, so I'll have to read it next time I visit (whenever that is...).

>139 Tess_W: Ah, Glasgow! I miss it so much!

>140 MissBrangwen: Hope you enjoy! That is the upside to having the Shetland book series finished -- you know you'll catch up eventually ;)

****

Something is in the water at work, because everyone wants everything now. Exhausting! So I took yesterday and today to sleep and get some reading and reviewing done.

Flying Free: My Victory over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, by Cecilia Aragon
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/191933315

This was an inspiring memoir and I loved reading about all the planes! I just wish pictures of them had been included.

The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (translated by J. C. Hogarth)
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: Serial Reader
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/194437766

I'll call this my favourite Dostoevsky so far because it's short. Some moments of huge angst, but not too many.

Le crabe aux pinces d’or, by Hergé
Category: Psycho Killer, Houses in Motion, The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/192852765

Getting my French category off to a good start with Tintin. This one introduces Captain Haddock. Blistering barnacles!

142leslie.98
Ene 29, 2021, 2:20 pm

>141 rabbitprincess: That was my very first Tintin - of course in my case in the English translation, The Crab with Golden Claws. Captain Haddock has such great invective!!

143scaifea
Ene 31, 2021, 9:41 am

I'll call this my favourite Dostoevsky so far because it's short.

*snork!* I felt this statement in my soul.

144rabbitprincess
Ene 31, 2021, 1:43 pm

>142 leslie.98: He does indeed! :)

>143 scaifea: His characters bounce around from one emotional extreme to another, and it's exhausting. I've read only one Tolstoy so far but have to say I find him a bit lighter in that regard; there are emotions but I don't remember being dragged around by them in quite the same way.

****

Two more reads to round out the month. January recap (OMG) coming soon.

Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, by Christopher Brookmyre
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: Great Glebe Garage Sale
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/169132756

I put this on my read-soon pile after James Randi died; he is mentioned in this book and inspired the title. It's a slow-burn book but I was eventually invested in finding out what happened. Now I have to fill the gaps in my Parlabane reading. (I love that Brookmyre took the character's name from Robertson Davies!)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
Category: Take Me to the River
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/work/6104955/reviews/87450564

This was an impulse re-read inspired by mstrust getting into the series. Now that I've read all the books I can go back to the beginning! It was just what I needed as a comfort read in these wearying days.

145mysterymax
Ene 31, 2021, 2:56 pm

>144 rabbitprincess: I think the first Flavia book was and still is my favorite of the series.

146thornton37814
Ene 31, 2021, 4:52 pm

>144 rabbitprincess: I liked Flavia in print, but I absolutely loved the audio versions as narrated by Jayne Entwistle.

147rabbitprincess
Ene 31, 2021, 5:39 pm

>145 mysterymax: It is a strong debut! Star rating-wise, I think my favourite was Speaking From Among the Bones.

>146 thornton37814: I'll have to try the audios for re-reading other installments in the series. Thanks for the tip! :)

****

I guess it’s a sign that time is moving again that I am now expressing shock that January is over, and it is time for the January recap.

January is brought to you by the letter “E”, as in “ebooks”, of which I read a lot in January. Nearly half of my 19 books this month were in this format.

The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
Doctor Who: Ghost Stories, written by George Mann, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, and Dennis Calero (ebook)
The Skeleton Road, by Val McDermid (Overdrive)
Bleeding Hearts, by Jack Harvey (aka Ian Rankin)
On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)
The Story of a Hare, by J. C. Tregarthen (Faded Page)
Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, by Dan Harris
Harbour Street, by Ann Cleeves (CloudLibrary)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
Cold Earth, by Ann Cleeves (Overdrive)
Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams (re-read)
Flying Free: My Victory over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, by Cecilia Aragon
The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Serial Reader)
Le crabe aux pinces d’or, by Hergé
Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, by Christopher Brookmyre
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley (re-read) (Overdrive)

The best book of the month was Department of Mind-Blowing Theories (with 10% Happier a very close second). I enjoy Gauld’s science cartoons almost more than his book cartoons, which is saying something.

Despite feeling occasionally meh about my reading, I didn’t have any books below 3 stars. So of the 3-star reads, I guess I’d say The Gambler was my least favourite book of the month. I did have to skim a bit to get past some of the angst.

Currently reading

I ended up marking Safety Differently and Quand sort la recluse as “not done yet” to get past that blockage of not being able to read them. I’ll try again another time. I did the same for The Matter of Wales, because it had tiny print and I was not in the mood for dealing with that.

So what *am* I reading?

A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carré — I’ve read 3 of 7 discs so far. Tom sounds good as a jaded spy, although perhaps a bit young, given that Guillam, the narrator, was active in the 60s and 70s and would presumably be *in* his 70s, or maybe 80s, by now.
Ashenden, by W. Somerset Maugham — Reading this through Faded Page. An extract appeared in The Big Book of Espionage, so I wanted to read the rest of it.
Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman — I started this just days before Penman died and do feel as though a shadow has fallen with her passing. It’s good so far but definitely something I have to chip away at.
Son of a Trickster, by Eden Robinson — Can’t remember what exactly prompted me to read this now (maybe the CBC TV adaptation), but I have not actually started it yet.
The Inimitable Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse — My random number generator for Serial Reader did well to pick this one. I have laughed out loud several times already. And yes, I am definitely picturing Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in these adventures.
Geology for Dummies, by Alecia M. Spooner — An impulse borrow, partly inspired by feeling the need to read about more science for the trivia games I have been playing. Some sections are REALLY basic, so I am skipping those and reading only the bits I’m interested in.

February plans

In January, I did seem to chip away gradually at lots of books. At one point I think I had nine on the go.

In February, I will have a lot of library ebook reading to do, and I’ll have to juggle my print holds carefully so that they don’t all come in at once. I’d suspended them during the stay-at-home order to avoid having to line up outside.

148threadnsong
Ene 31, 2021, 7:54 pm

Congratulations on some great January reading done! I almost want to read the "Hitchhikers" series. I've only read the first two, but the audio versions sound intriguing. Maybe my local library has them as audio books? (Haven't gone as high-tech as e-audio yet, which my library does offer.)

Oh, and I heard a Talking Heads song yesterday and thought of you and your list! (Nope, don't remember which one it was, darn it!)

149MissBrangwen
Feb 1, 2021, 5:47 am

Looks like you had a great reading month! I didn't have any below three stars, too (although I had one DNF, which I did not rate) - what a good start to the year, isn't it?

Good luck with juggling your print holds and happy reading!

150DeltaQueen50
Feb 1, 2021, 1:00 pm

You've had a very successful start to the year, RP!

151rabbitprincess
Feb 1, 2021, 5:07 pm

>148 threadnsong: I hope the library has them! I enjoyed the first book in audio, narrated as it is by Stephen Fry, but I didn't get on with Martin Freeman's narration of the second book. You may have better luck with him than I did :)

>149 MissBrangwen: Yes, it is such a great start to the year to not have any stinkers on the list! I hope you have a great February as well!

>150 DeltaQueen50: Having two days off at the end of the month, and of course New Year's at the beginning of the month, helped me out a bit ;)

152rabbitprincess
Feb 6, 2021, 10:15 am

I've had a slow reading week this week. Trying to read several things at once, but not finishing much.

Killer, Come Back to Me: The Crime Stories of Ray Bradbury, by Ray Bradbury
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/195174067

This was a very good collection -- every story had something to recommend it for me. I of course really liked the one with the time travel element, but Bradbury was also a good straight-up crime writer in these stories.

153mstrust
Feb 6, 2021, 1:31 pm

>144 rabbitprincess: Very happy to have reminded you about this series! I'm enjoying The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag right now.

154rabbitprincess
Feb 7, 2021, 11:12 am

>153 mstrust: Excellent! I may borrow that one later, perhaps trying it in audio.

****

With seemingly no end in sight to the stay-at-home order, I have decided to reactivate some of my print holds at the library so that I can pick them up curbside. I am not wild about ebooks at the best of times, and all this screen time is giving me headaches.

I finished this ebook yesterday and the subject matter was great.

Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, by Lamorna Ash
Category: The Big Country
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/196118004

Jackie_K may recall that this book was shortlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing :) It does paint a vivid picture of Cornwall and its surroundings, although I was reading primarily for the boats, which doesn't seem like "nature" ;) Regardless, I enjoyed it a lot and have added a few more books to the TBR as a result of their being mentioned here.

155mysterymax
Feb 7, 2021, 11:40 am

The Bradbury book is a BB!

156Jackie_K
Feb 7, 2021, 2:21 pm

>154 rabbitprincess: Yet another one to add to the wishlist! Which to be fair is already fairly thickly populated with Wainwright nominees :)

157charl08
Feb 7, 2021, 3:08 pm

I hope you are able to get the books you are after via the library's service. I am very grateful for the library pick up service staying open (even as I regret the lack of browsing).

And also adding the Bradbury to my wishlist. Had no idea he also wrote crime.

158rabbitprincess
Feb 7, 2021, 5:42 pm

>155 mysterymax: Hurray! I'm glad Hard Case Crime decided to publish this.

>156 Jackie_K: Haha I'm not surprised to hear that :)

>157 charl08: I'd stayed away from the curbside service because I didn't feel comfortable standing around waiting for someone to check out my books for me (and having to maintain distance from other people in the queue). I don't really miss the browsing because I usually have far too many holds to justify browsing :) Hope you like the Bradbury!

159dudes22
Feb 8, 2021, 6:41 am

>158 rabbitprincess: - I think at our library, if you're not comfortable going in to pickup holds, they will check you out and leave your books in a bag on a cart near the front door/just outside the front door. So you just grab-and-go. Even if you go inside to pick up holds, it's self-checkout. They're on a shelf by last name.

160rabbitprincess
Feb 8, 2021, 6:39 pm

>159 dudes22: When the library first reopened last summer, the holds pickups were by appointment. I ended up using it maybe twice, and in both cases it worked well because very few people were there at the time slot I'd picked. And if more holds came in between when you booked the appointment and the day of the appointment, they'd just add what came in to the bag.

I ended up going over this morning to pick up a comic book I'd put on hold and there was nobody in line when I got there. Whew!

161rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 13, 2021, 9:40 am

I have had a lacklustre reading month. This is my third book completed and we're halfway through the month. But I had a slow February last year, too. And getting print library books back into my reading rotation has certainly helped my motivation (even if right now I just seem to be acquiring a whole bunch of books, haha).

The Secret Life of Lobsters, by Trevor Corson
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/192681263

This was a very long-standing book bullet from LittleTaiko. The book itself was published in 2004, so a bit dated now, perhaps. The font choice is especially dated; it is similar to the font used in my copy of Dave Barry's Bad Habits and the italic version of the font is hard to read. Nevertheless, it is an interesting read. You'll know a lot more about lobsters by the time you finish this book.

162rabbitprincess
Feb 13, 2021, 11:21 am

I thought I'd missed my Thingaversary, but apparently it's not until the 21st. For some reason I had February 11 in my head. But I've started the festivities early by pre-ordering Chris Hadfield's new book, The Apollo Murders, which is due out in October.

I've also asked Wordery to notify me when I can order Alex Kingston's novel featuring River Song, called The Ruby's Curse. That one is due out in May.

163dudes22
Feb 13, 2021, 11:56 am

>161 rabbitprincess: - I had this in my TBR pile when I joined LT and started adding my TBR pile. But I waited 5 years more before I read it. I'm wondering if I got the push from LittleTaiko too.

164Jackie_K
Feb 13, 2021, 1:49 pm

>161 rabbitprincess: I've had a lacklustre month so far too - only one book finished, and that was a hangover from January!

165thornton37814
Feb 13, 2021, 2:01 pm

>162 rabbitprincess: Have fun selecting your books. I have about $75 in Amazon gift cards that should help me with my Thingaversary haul!

166VivienneR
Feb 13, 2021, 5:34 pm

>162 rabbitprincess: I put Chris Hadfield's book on my wishlist too. Looking forward to that one!

I've had a lacklustre year so far. I just can't get my usual rhythm going. And I'm really far behind on reading threads.

167dudes22
Feb 14, 2021, 6:10 am

I too am not reading at the pace I usually do. I've only finished one book this month so far.

168Tanya-dogearedcopy
Editado: Feb 14, 2021, 11:16 am

Usually February is a ridiculously productive month for me! I’m never sure why. I go in knowing it’s a short month— so maybe I subconsciously accelerate my expectations? But whatever, not this time. I’ve listened to a couple audiobooks and indulged two Friday Night romances; but my print stacks have been ignored. :-/

169LittleTaiko
Feb 14, 2021, 2:01 pm

>161 rabbitprincess: - I’m experiencing font/sizing frustration with Arctic Fury right now. There are a couple of letters written to one of the characters that are pretty much impossible to read due to the font and size. Maybe if it were an ebook and I could increase the font it would be fine.

Happy you learned some lobster facts!

170Tess_W
Feb 14, 2021, 5:11 pm

>169 LittleTaiko: Exactly why I only purchase ebooks--I can make the font readable!

171mathgirl40
Feb 14, 2021, 6:11 pm

>161 rabbitprincess: I'm taking a BB for this, as it sounds like the kind of book I'd enjoy. I remember a co-worker telling me about his childhood in Nova Scotia. He came from a low-income family and he hated having to take lobster sandwiches to school every day, because that was what the poor people ate. The wealthier kids had bologna sandwiches.

172rabbitprincess
Feb 16, 2021, 7:02 pm

>163 dudes22: A prolific book bullet on her part, if that's the case ;)

>164 Jackie_K: It's good to not be alone in this, although I am sorry that you're having a lacklustre reading month too!

>165 thornton37814: Thanks! I'll probably wait until whenever I can safely go back to a secondhand bookstore. Enjoy spending your gift cards!

>166 VivienneR: It sounds GREAT! I didn't even read what it was about, just saw he had a new book out and immediately pre-ordered it. I hope your reading rhythm comes back soon!

>167 dudes22: I wonder what it is about this month? In my case I have to wonder if approaching the one-year point of the pandemic is just making me particularly slow.

>168 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Same, I haven't really felt much of a push to keep reading from the stack of "read soon" books on my shelf. Maybe I need to put them all back and start the pile over again.

>169 LittleTaiko: Ooh, that's good to know about the font difficulties. I ended up returning the ebook to the library (wasn't feeling it), but maybe I'll have to get it back.

>170 Tess_W: That's definitely an advantage for ebooks!

>171 mathgirl40: Ha, this book touches on that point as well, the lobster being for poor families anyway. This book doesn't mention bologna though.

****

Thanks, everyone, for keeping my thread warm! I've been trying to cut down my computer time in the evenings, because my home desk doubles as my work desk and I spend way too much time in this chair. That plus not reading at my usual pace has meant I've been more absent than usual.

I did finish a book on Valentine's Day!

Air Bridge, by Hammond Innes
Category: The Big Country
Source: Bearly Used Books, Parry Sound, ON
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/168724144

Nothing says romance like a Cold War thriller about airplanes! This was one of the better Inneses I've read. Lots of nerdy plane details, and there were a few useful moments for the women in the story.

173This-n-That
Feb 16, 2021, 7:22 pm

Enjoy your new ThingAversary books, rabbitprincess.

174dudes22
Feb 17, 2021, 6:22 am

>172 rabbitprincess: - I might consider this the first BB for my husband this year. Looks like the author has a number of similar books and I might recommend my husband try one to see if he likes the author. Off to checkout the library....

175rabbitprincess
Feb 17, 2021, 5:15 pm

>173 This-n-That: Thanks, I will! One will arrive in May, and the other in October, so that will be a nice treat for later in the year :)

>174 dudes22: Excellent! I think this one is my favourite one of his so far, with The Blue Ice being a close second. I have a few more stockpiled so may try to get to a boaty one later in the year.

176dudes22
Feb 17, 2021, 6:37 pm

>175 rabbitprincess: - Airplane books are good too. He was a flight engineer for the military so airplanes or boaty ones are good.

177mstrust
Editado: Feb 18, 2021, 2:34 pm

Good to see you celebrating your Thingaversary early! I thought that I'd go ahead and celebrate mine with a spree last month, but I've decided that those were just pre-pre- Thingaversary purchases and I'll need more next month.
You read so many airplane and boat themed books, I was wondering if you have a pilot license or go sailing yourself?

178rabbitprincess
Feb 18, 2021, 6:14 pm

>176 dudes22: I have a couple of biographies on my shelf at the moment that deal with aviation: Bush Pilot with a Briefcase, by Ronald A. Keith; and Vertical Reference: The Life of Legendary Mountain Helicopter Rescue Pilot Jim Davies, by Kathy Calvert. So hopefully those will be good enough to recommend too :)

>177 mstrust: Can't argue with that logic! There's always time for more books.

Most of my interest is vicarious: I have friends who are pilots, and there are sea captains in my family tree, so I like to read about the environments they've worked in. One pilot friend thinks that I should go for my licence, but I can't even drive a car on the ground, so driving a plane in the air seems like a recipe for disaster. It would be interesting to at least do ground school, though, to have the theory knowledge.

179rabbitprincess
Feb 20, 2021, 10:36 am

Boy do I have a bumper crop of reviews for you! I'm finally back in a reading groove.

Three of these I finished in one day, but two had been going for a while and one was a comic, so it looks more impressive than it is :)

Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Category: Take Me to the River
Source: library book sale
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70443588

I'm not quite sure why I picked this up to re-read now, but it was a great choice. Of course, now I wish I were at my parents' place so that I could raid my dad's more extensive Vonnegut collection. I read a bunch of Vonnegut in high school and university and would like to revisit more of it.

Ashenden: Or, The British Agent, by W. Somerset Maugham
Category: Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: Faded Page
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/195173970

This is the first of two short story collections I've opted to put under general fiction; in this case, because all of the stories follow Ashenden, so it doesn't feel like a "collection" in quite the same way as something by, say, Alice Munro. I read this after reading an excerpt in The Big Book of Espionage, and it was fine.

To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure, by Henry Petroski
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/192681297

More nerdy safety-related books! This was quite interesting because of the stories about bridge collapses in particular. I liked too the emphasis on the broader culture in which the failed structures were designed: nothing is ever built in a vacuum, and things are built by humans, who all have their own assumptions and biases.

Spider-Gwen Vol. 0: Most Wanted?, by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/196272994

An impulse request after watching Into the Spider-Verse (which is a great movie). I liked this and will happily read more in the series.

The Inimitable Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse
Category: Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: Serial Reader
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/195762288

The second of two short story collections I've opted to put under general fiction; in this case, given that Bingo Little is constantly falling in love in this book, the song title for the general fiction category seems to fit more. I needed this little splash of humour in my days!

180MissWatson
Feb 21, 2021, 10:51 am

Yay for recovering your reading groove!

181pamelad
Feb 21, 2021, 3:52 pm

>179 rabbitprincess: P. G. Wodehouse is popping up in lots of threads, including mine. Perfect pandemic reading - an escape into a world where nothing serious ever happens.

182threadnsong
Feb 21, 2021, 7:18 pm

Glad you have such a great reading harvest this month! There's just something about February with its cold and dark-but-getting-lighter feel. Work in the yard *and* curl up with a good book, all in one month.

183rabbitprincess
Feb 23, 2021, 8:05 pm

>180 MissWatson: Thanks! I'm relieved that it's back :)

>181 pamelad: I totally agree. Just what the doctor ordered in my case.

>182 threadnsong: Yes, it's so nice to have the sun up in the morning at the same time as me! I am not wild about Daylight Saving Time, especially because it happens so much earlier in March than it used to.

184MissBrangwen
Feb 24, 2021, 5:36 am

>179 rabbitprincess: >181 pamelad: I've never read any Wodehouse, but would like to try! Which book would be a good starting point?

185Tess_W
Feb 24, 2021, 5:40 am

>184 MissBrangwen: Ditto...am watching answer!

186pamelad
Editado: Feb 24, 2021, 3:08 pm

>184 MissBrangwen:, >185 Tess_W: Wodehouse wrote quite a few series, the favourites being Blandings Castle, and Jeeves and Wooster. You could start at the beginning of the Blandings series with Something Fresh (called Something New in the US) and near the beginning of the Jeeves and Wooster series with Carry on Jeeves or Very Good Jeeves (I gave this one 4.5 stars). Avoid the collections of very early Jeeves stories.

I just read Leave it to Psmith, which is the second in the Blandings series and very funny.

187MissBrangwen
Feb 26, 2021, 10:47 am

>186 pamelad: Thank you for the introduction!

188rabbitprincess
Feb 27, 2021, 6:03 pm

Great Wodehouse discussion! :) I think I'll have to pick up a Psmith book sooner rather than later.

****

Another bumper crop of reviews, because apparently I get distracted during what little computer time I allot myself and forget to post reviews on this thread in more manageable chunks.

The Loss of the Jane Vosper, by Freeman Wills Crofts
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/196489420

I really enjoyed this, because of and not in spite of the boatiness. It is also quite soothing to read about French methodically chasing up each alibi and adding up his facts before coming to a conclusion.

Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody), New Feeling (June GenreCAT, historical fiction)
Source: Chaptigo
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/139133269

FINALLY a book in my history category. This one was great. I've immediately added The Reckoning to my pile.

A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carré (audio, read by Tom Hollander)
Category: Road to Nowhere
Source: CDs
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/155722817

Also FINALLY a book in my audio category, so I think all of them have at least one book each now. This was a good book; I've read it before in print. I do still think Timothy Carlton (Benedict Cumberbatch's father) should have read this, because Benedict plays Guillam in the movie of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Guillam is the older narrator of this book. But Tom does a good job, too.

Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès, by Maurice Leblanc
Category: Psycho Killer
Source: Faded Page
Rating: 2/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/196682605

I wasn't in the right mood for this one. I also don't like when Watson (or in this case "Wilson") is portrayed as a doofus just because he isn't Sherlock Holmes. It is possible to be smart and not as smart as Sherlock.

The Celtic Twilight, by W.B. Yeats (Serial Reader)
Category: (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Faded Page
Rating: 2/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/196753986

This was reminding me too much of the slog I found Irish Fairy and Folktales, so I decided not to continue.

189leslie.98
Editado: Feb 27, 2021, 7:02 pm

>186 pamelad: Funny - I never think of Leave it to Psmith as part of the Blandings series, though it absolutely fits there. Did you know that this book is the 4th one featuring Psmith? I found it a much funnier book once I had read the previous Psmith books, though it has plenty of hilarity even as a stand-alone.

The earlier books are: Enter Psmith (aka Mike and Psmith) in which Psmith & Mike are still at school, Psmith in the City and Psmith, Journalist. The first one is for me the least amusing - all the school stories have too much about cricket in them for me!

There is another short series that intersects with the Blandings series featuring Uncle Fred - the first one is Uncle Fred in the Springtime which is hilarious but probably best to read at least the first Blandings book before this one to get the full humor.

>184 MissBrangwen: & >185 Tess_W: If you don't want to deal with a series, Wodehouse wrote plenty of stand-alones - Picadilly Jim or Money for Nothing are two great ones.

190Tess_W
Feb 27, 2021, 8:46 pm

>188 rabbitprincess: the Welsh Trilogy is up next for me after I finish Lionheart.

191MissBrangwen
Feb 28, 2021, 4:41 am

>188 rabbitprincess: I don't listen to audiobooks much, but I can totally imagine Tom Hollander being a great narrator!
I read my first Inspector French novel in December (Mystery in the Channel) and I think I will continue the series - I enjoyed the boating and the maritime setting a lot.

>189 leslie.98: Thank you for pointing these out!

192dudes22
Feb 28, 2021, 8:11 am

>188 rabbitprincess: - re: Crofts book - Sounds like my kind of mystery. When I looked to see if the library system here in RI had any, I see that almost all the books available are only at one library. Someone must have been a fan. Unfortunately, they don't have the first one. And I do like to read in order. Still - a BB for me.

193rabbitprincess
Feb 28, 2021, 9:22 am

>189 leslie.98: Glad to be warned about the cricket in Enter Psmith ;) I read the first Blandings a very long time ago and would love to pick up the series again.

>190 Tess_W: Excellent! I still have to go back and read A King's Ransom and The Land Beyond the Sea.

>191 MissBrangwen: Yes, he does a good jaded, cynical spy ;)
Some of the Frenches involve airplanes and trains rather than boats, but in all of them I appreciate his methodical ways of investigating. Also his fondness for travel and snacks :)

>192 dudes22: The first book, Inspector French's Greatest Case, *is* available through Faded Page, which makes ebooks out of works that are in the public domain in Canada: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20160822

194dudes22
Feb 28, 2021, 1:30 pm

>193 rabbitprincess: - Oh - I'll need to check that out.

195rabbitprincess
Editado: Feb 28, 2021, 1:54 pm

>194 dudes22: Enjoy!

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Decided the end of February was as good a time as any to start Thread 2! Click the continuation link below to join me.