A Fifth for the Holidays - streamsong#5

It seems like we're all in this mode right now, tucked safely away from Covid and hibernating with a book:



But hoping that we will soon be back to in-person with your favorite cuppa:

Welcome to a Montana winter!



I'm Janet.

I've been a member of LT since 2006.

I retired in the fall of 2016 from my career as a technician in an NIH research lab. I'm now enjoying all the things I never had time to do.

I live in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana along Skalkaho Creek. I'm about half way between Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks - so if you're traveling or vacationing in the area, I'd love to meet you.

What do I read? A bit of everything. I enjoy literary fiction, mysteries and the occasional feel good cozy. I'm slowly working my way through 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (actually 1300 + books since I use the combined version spreadsheet). I'm also working my way around the world in a global reading challenge. About half the books I read are non-fiction.

I have Appaloosa horses and raise a foal or two each year.

And a bit of holiday decorating with an ornament painted by my cousin, artist Helen Brown



Link to last thread of 2019: https://www.librarything.com/topic/313018

FIRST QUARTER BOOKS READ

January

1. Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoptopion - Susan Devan Harness - 2018 - library
2. Only the End of the World Again - Troy Nixey - Neil Gaiman - graphic novel - 2000 - library
3. Blow-Up - Julio Cortázar - 1960 - ROOT 2019 ROOT #1 2019
4. The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) - N. K. Jemisin - 2018 - library
5. The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead - 2019 - library
6. Heal Yourself With Sound & Music - Don Campbell - 2006- audiobook - library sale 2019; ROOT #2
7. The Moravian Night - Peter Handke - 2007 -November Literature Seminar; 2019 Nobel Prize - Global Reading: Austrian author/location begins & ends in Serbia; - Kindle (Unfinished Challenge Pile Book); ROOT #3 - 2019
8. The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries - Emily Brightwell - 1993 - MysteryCat: historical mystery; ROOT #4 - 2008 (Part of omnibus)
9. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid - 2007 - GeoCat "stans' & others; Global Challenge: Pakistan; 1001; ROOT #5 2015
10. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017 - RLBC- Reread - purchased 2020
11. Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder - Kent Nerburn - 1994 - library
12. Grass - Keum Suk Gendry-Kim - 2017 - graphic non-fiction; global reading: South Korea - library

FEBRUARY

13. In The Frame - Dick Francis - 1976 - Group Read - Root #6 acq'd 2019
14. News of the World - Paulette Jiles - 2016 - audiobook - library
15. The Singing Bones: A Novel of the Life and Times of Naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller - Stephen Spotte 2019 - LTER; ROOT #7- Kindle app
16. Still Waters - Viveca Sten - 2008 - Kindle App - group read - Global Reading - Sweden (translated Swedish) - ROOT #7 acq'd 2018
17. American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment - Shane Bauer - 2018 - PBS/NYT Now Read This- Kindle app - acq'd 2019 ROOT #8
18. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive - Stephanie Land - 2019 - audiobook - library
19. A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith - Timothy Egan - 2019 - library
20. Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi - 2018 - Fantasy February - ROOT #9 - 2019

MARCH
21. The Company of Cats - Marian Babson - 1999 - Mysterykit - Furry Detectives- ROOT # 10 - acq'd 2008
22. Broken Places, Outer Spaces - Nnedi Okorafor - 2019 - library -
23. Women of Copper Country - Mary Doria Russell - 2019 - library
24. Three Bags Full - Leonie Swann - 2005 - MysteryKit - Furry Detectives - audiobook - library
25. Tracks - Louise Erdrich- 1988 - Group Read - acq'd 2020
26. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love - Dani Shapiro - 2019 - PBS:Now Read This - library
27. Mermaid in the Mountains - C. M. Arvish - 2018 - outdoor book club- purch 2020
28. Cleaning Sucks: An Unf*ck Your Habitat Guided Journal for Less Mess, Less… Rachel Hoffman - 2020 - audiobook - LTER 2020
29. Whose Body - Dorothy Sayers - 1923 - MysteryCat Golden Age Mystery and March Murder and Mayhem- library

SECOND QUARTER BOOKS

April
30. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday - 2007 - GeoCat:North Africa; Global Reading: Yemen; ROOT #11 - acq'd 2014
31. Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey - 2020 - LTER audiobook 2020
32. Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer - 2019 - 75'ers April Adventure Read - Global Challenge: Mongolia - library -
33.Disappearing Earth - Julia Phillips - 2020 - April PBS Now Read This - Global Reading - Kamchatka - acq'd 2020
34. One Goal: A Coach, A Team and the Game That Brought A Divided - Amy Bass - 2018; 75'ers NF - Refugees and Identity; Global Reading: Somalia; library
35. The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan - 1915 - Mysterykit-Espionage; 1001; library
36. The Dutch House - Anne Patchett - 2019 - April RLBC via Zoom; purchased 2020

May
37. The Butterfly Girl - Rene Denfeld - 2019 - library
38. A life on Gorge River : New Zealand's remotest family - Robert Long - 2010 - GoCat New Zealand & Australia' Global Reading: New Zealand; ROOT #12 - acq'd 2017
39. The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow - 2019 - library
40. When the Mob Ran Vegas - Steve Fisher - 2005 - 75'ers April NF crime and justice; acq'd 2020
41. The Street - Ann Petry - 1946 - PBS Now Read This; purchased 2020
42. The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of - Kent Nerburn - 2009 - library
43. High Country - Nevada Barr - 2004 - Geocat: Somewhere you want to visit (Yosemite) - ROOT #13 acq'd 2016
44. Talking to Strangers - Malcom Gladwell - 2019 - RLBC - purchased 2020 - Kindle app
45. All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - 2017,- 75'er's Group read - space -Kindle download 2020

June
46. Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard - MysteryCat - made into a movie; 1001; ROOT #15 - acq'd 2017
47. The Hollow Kingdom - Kira Jane Buxton - 2019 - library
48. The Starch Solution - John A. McDougall - 2012 - ROOT #16 2019
49. Nairobi Noir - Peter Kimani - 2020 - acq'd 2020
50. Darwin Comes to Town - Menno Schilthuizen - 2018 - Global Reading: Netherlands (author, partial location); library
51. Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries - 2018 - Martha Wells - GeoCat: Space: The Final Frontier; acq'd 2020
52. Closed Circles - Viveca Sten - 2009 - MysteryKit - police; Global Reading - Sweden; Kindle app - acqd 2020
53. American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson - 2019 - PBS Now Read This; Global Reading - Burkina Faso - acq'd 2020
54. The Overstory: A Study Guide for Book Clubs - Kathryn Cope - 2019 - (89 pages) preparing for RLBC - acq'd 2020

THIRD QUARTER READING

July

55. Hospital Station - James White - 1962 - Acq'd 2020 (Part of Beginning Operations omnibus - 75'ers group read - acq'd 2020
56. Go Tell It on the Mountain - James Baldwin - 1952 - 1001 - library
57. Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine - 2014 - July PBS Now Read This - purchased 2020
58. The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson - 2012 - Global Reading: North Korea (location; US author) - library
59. Invasion - Robin Cook - 1997 - MysteryKit - Cross Genre mystery; ROOT #17 acq'd 2008
60. Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury - 1957 - 75'ers July Juveniles; ROOT #18 acq'd 2016
61. They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers by Sarah Scoles - 2020 - LTER - audiobook - 2020
62. The First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom - 2014 - library
63. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett - 2001 - GeoCat Latin and South America; ROOT #19 acq'd 2016
64. This House of Sky - Ivan Doig - 1978 - RLBC - Reread - ROOT #20 acq'd 2016
65. Smokescreen - Dick Francis - 1972 - DF group read; Global Reading- location South Africa; library

AUGUST
66. She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman -Erica Armstrong Dunbar - 2019 - library
67. The Eye of Zoltar - Jasper Fforde - 2014 - July Juveniles - library
68. Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells - 2018 - library
69. How to Be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi - 2019 - acq'd 2020
70. Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2020 - Global Reading: Dominican Republic - YA -
71. Guiltless - Viveca Sten - 2010 - Viveca Sten group read; MysteryCat International mystery; Global Reading: Sweden; Kindle 2020 purchase
72. Possession - A. S. Byatt - 1990 - 1001 - 75'er's group read: Romance; - Root #21 - acq'd 2011
73. What Rose Forgot - Nevada Barr - 2019 - library -
74. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - acq'd 2020
75. Beijing Payback - Daniel Nieh - 2019 - PBS Now Read This - Library
76. A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me - Jon Katz - 2002 - library

SEPTEMBER
77. Star Surgeon - James White - 1970 - group read; part of Beginning Operations omnibus purchased 2020
78. The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin - 2020 - library
79. White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America - Nancy Isenberg - 2016; acq'd 2019 = ROOT #22
80. The South Pole Ponies - Theodore K Mason - 1979 - GeoCat Arctic and Antarctic; ROOT #23 acq'd 2017
81. The Bitterroots - C. J. Box - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club (RLBC) - library
82. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace - Carl Safina - 2020 - LibraryThing Early Reviewer - audiobook
83. Tonight You're Dead - Viveca Sten - 2011 - Viveca Stenn group read; MysteryCat series - Kindle acq'd 2020
84. Boxers (Boxers & Saints) - Gene Luen Yang - 2013 - Global Reading: China; Graphic Novel - library

FOURTH QUARTER READING

OCTOBER

85. Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past Present, and Future of American Labor - Steven Greenhouse - 2019 - PBS Now Read This (August) - library
86. New Poets of Native Nations - Heid E. Erdrich - 2018 - library
87.Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield - 2019 - library
88. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell - 2020 - library
89. The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue - 2020 - library
90. Book Love - Debbie Tung - library
91. The Ungrateful Refugee - Dina Nayeri - 2019 - Global Reading: Iran - library

NOVEMBER
92. In the Heat of the Moment - Viveca Sten - 2012 - Viveca Sten group read; Kindle acq'd 2020
93. Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - 2020 - LTER book - Kindle - acq'd 2020
94. Major Operation - James White - 1971 - James White group read; acq'd 2020
95. Helping Children Succeed - Paul Tough - 2016 - PBS Now Read This (October) - library
96. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout - 2008 - ROOT acq'd 2017
97. The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2018 - Reread - Nov PBS Now Read This - purchased a copy for myself 2020
98. Olive Again - Elizabeth Strout - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
99. Miracle Country: A Memoir - Kendra Atleework - 2020 - audiobook - LTER - Aug 2020
100. The Edge - Dick Francis - 1988 - Dick Francis group read - library (reread)
101. The Eighth Detective - Alex Pavesi - 2020 - library
102. Empire of Wild - Cherie Dimaline - 2020 - library

DECEMBER

103. Exit Strategy - Martha Wells - 2018 - library
104. Severance - Ling Ma - 2019 - PBS/NYT Now Read This - Library
105. Running With Sherman - Christopher McDougall - 2019 - Library
106. IQ - Joe Ide - 2016 - Library
107. Running to the Mountain- Jon Katz - 1999 - library
108. Fever Dream: A Novel- Samanta Schweblin (Argentina) - 2017 - library
109. Second Wind - Dick Francis - Nov/Dec group read - library

**** 107 BOOKS COMPLETED IN 2020 ****

YEAR CATALOGED OR ACQUIRED

1 - 2006
3 - 2008
1 - 2011
1 - 2014
1 - 2015
4 - 2016
4 - 2017
2 - 2018
7 - 2019
30 - 2020
53- Library

FORMAT
9 - Audiobook
88 - Print
10 - Kindle App

GENRE

- 69 Fiction (may fit into more than one category)

12 - general fiction
6 - historical fiction
8 - literary fiction
20 - mystery/thriller/crime
2 - short stories
10- SFF/dystopia
7 - SF
2 - supernatural

5 - 1001

2 - novel in verse
3 - graphic novels


- 39 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
1 - Alternate Healing
4 - Animals
2 - Biography
1 - Business/Labor40 - black experience
1 - cleaning/organizing
1 - Cooking/Eating/Health Recipes
1 - Education
1 - Environment
1 - Global Reading
4 - History
1 - Horses
1 - Literary Criticism
1 - Graphic Non-Fiction
18 - Memoir
6 - Native American
1 - poetry
1 - prisons and justice
1 - psychology
1 - Refugees
2 - Science
2 - Sociology
2 - spirituality
1 - sports
1 - Travel
1 - True Crime

AUTHORS

48 - Male Authors
56- Female Authors
2 - Combination of male and female

62 - Authors who are new to me
41- Authors read before
1 - Combination of authors new and read before

Rereads:
- The Edge - Dick Francis - 1988
- Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017 - RLBC- Reread - purchased 2020
- The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2018 - PBS Now Read This - purchased 2020
- This House of Sky - Ivan Doig - 1978 - Reread for RLBC; acq'd 2016

Multiple books read in 2019 by same author:
- Viveca Sten - Still Waters; Closed Circles; Guiltless; Tonight You're Dead; In the Heat of the Moment
- Martha Wells - All Systems Red; Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries; Rogue Protocol; Exit Strategy
- Dick Francis - In the Frame; Smokescreen; The Edge
- James White - Hospital Station; Star Surgeon; Major Operation
___
- Elizabeth Strout - Olive Kitteridge; Olive Again
- Nevada Barr - High Country; What Rose Forgot -
- N. K. Jemisin - The Stone Sky; The City We Became -
- Jon Katz - Running to the Mountain; A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me
- Kent Nerburn: Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder; The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of

Nationality of Author:

1 - Argentina
1 - Austria
2 - Canada
1 - German
1 - Iran
1 - Ireland
1 - Kenya
1 - Netherlands
1 - New Zealand
1 - South Korea
1 - Pakistani
5 - Sweden
15 - UK
75 - US
2 - US/Nigeria


Birthplace or residence of Author if different from nationality:
Julio Cortázar - Argentine author; born in Belgium; lived in France
Robert Long - New Zealand; born in Australia

Setting of book if different than author's nationality:

1 - Antarctica
1 - Burkino Faso
1 - Canada
2 - China
1 - Dominican Republic
1 - Mongolia
1 - North Korea
1 - Russia - Kamchatka Penninsula
1 - South Africa
1- Yemen

Language Book Originally Published in:

95 - English
2 - German
1 - Korean
1 - Spanish
5 - Swedish

Original Publication Date

1 - 1923
1 - 1946
1 - 1952
1 - 1957
1 - 1962
1 - 1967
1 - 1970
1 - 1971
1 - 1972
1 - 1976
1 - 1978
1 - 1979
2 - 1988
2 - 1990
1 - 1993
1 - 1994
1 - 1997
2 - 1999
1 - 2000
1 - 2001
1 - 2002
1 - 2004
2 - 2005
1 - 2006
3 - 2007
2 - 2008
2 - 2009
2 - 2010
1 - 2011
2 - 2012
1 - 2013
3 - 2014
4 - 2016
3 - 2017
12 - 2018
29 - 2019
13 - 2020

The Global Challenge: Read five books from each of the 193 UN members plus a few additional areas. (Ongoing project over **Many** years!)

Thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/188308

COUNTRIES VISITED IN 2020


visited 20 states (8.88%)
Create your own visited map of The World

ALL COUNTRIES VISITED


visited 93 states (41.3%)
Create your own visited map of The World

44 Books Acquired 2020
✔ - 23 - Read (+2 in omnibus)
- 6 - Reading/Listening in progress
- 20 - TBR
- 1 - Previously Read

✔ 1. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017 - RLBC- Reread - purchased 2020
**Reading** 2. Beyond Babylon - Igiaba Scego - lit seminar
✔3. Nairobi Noir - Peter Kimani - LTER - 1/30/2020
✔ 4. Mermaid in the Mountains - C.M. Arvish - 2018 - 2/2020 RCKN Bookclub
✔5. Tracks - Louise Erdrich - 1988 - freebie - Bit Pub Lib 2/8/2020
6. Proof - Dick Francis - 1985 - freebie - Bit Pub Lib 2/12/2020
7. The Pilgrim's Progress- John Bunyan - Harvard Classics - gorgeous binding! - freebie - Bit Pub Lib 2/12/2020
8. A Wilderness Original: The Life of Bob Marshall - James Glover - Bit Pub Lib 2/14/2020
✔ 9. Cleaning Sucks: An Unf*ck Your Habitat Guided Journal for Less Mess, Less - Rachel Hoffman - LTER audiobook 2/17/2020
**Reading**10. Flights - Olga Tokarczuk - 2007 - lit seminar - Nobel laureate - Ammy 02/18/2020
✔11. When the Mob Ran Vegas - Steve Fischer - 2005 - from Jim 2/2020
✔12. The Dutch House: A Novel - Ann Patchett - 2019 - RLBC 3/05/2020
✔13. Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey - 2020 - LTER audiobook 2020
✔14. Disappearing Earth - Julia Phillips - 2020 - April PBS Now Read This -
✔15. The Street - Ann Petry - May PBS Now This
✔16. All Systems Red - Martha Wells - Kindle - 5/02/2020
17. Girl Woman Other - Bernardine Evaristo - passed along by friend - 5/5
✔18. How To Talk to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell - Kindle App; RLBC
✔19. Study Guide for Book Clubs The Overstory - Kathryn Cope
✔20. American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson - PBS Now Read This
✔21. Closed Circles - Viveca Sten - Kindle 99 cents
✔22. Guiltless - Viveca Stenn - Kindle 99 cents
23. Strong Poison - Dorothy L. Sayers - Kindle special
✔ 24. They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers by Sarah Scoles - 2020 - LTER - audiobook - 06/07/2020
✔ 25. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace - Carl Safina - 2020 - LTER - audiobook
✔26. Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus: Hospital Station, Star Surgeon,… - James White - 2001 - group read - Ammy 06/07/2020 ✔Hospital Station; ✔ Star Surgeon;
✔27. Artificial Conditions - Martha Wells - 2018 - 6/10/2020
✔28. How to be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi - Chapter One 6/24/2020
Prev Read 29. The Overstory - Richard Powers - 2018 - Chapter One 6/24/2020
✔30. Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudine Rankine - PBS Now Read This - 6/24/2020
31. The Choice: Embrace the Possible - Edith Eger 6/24/2020
✔32.Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - 2020 LTER - digital 7/4/2020
**Reading**33. A RECIPE FOR DAPHNE by Nektaria Anastasiadou - 2020 LTER - digital (Turkey) 7/13/2020
**Reading**34. Be Joyful - Warren W. Wiersbe - Phillipians NT Bible Study - 2008 - August 2020
✔35. Miracle Country: A Memoir - Kendra Atleework - 2020 - audiobook - LTER - Aug 2020
✔36. Tonight You’re Dead (Sandhamn Murders Book 4) - Viveca Sten - Kindle - August 2020
✔37. In the Heat of the Moment (Sandhamn Murders Book 5) - Viveca Sten - Kindle - August 2020
✔ 38. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson - RLBC - Aug 2020
✔ 39. Cane Warrior - Alex Wheatle - 2020 LTER - Sept 2020
40. Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - Kindle special Nov 2020
41. Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick - Kindle special - Nov 2020
✔42. The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo - prev read - bought for my library. Reread with Nove PBS Now Read This
43. A Bigger Table, Expanding Edition with Study Guide: Building Messy,… - John Pavlovitz - LTER Nov 2020
44. Nasty Women - Samhita Mukhopadhyay - Chapter One bookstore 11/2020
45. The Bridge of San Luis Rey- Thornton Wilder -1928 - 75'ers Holiday Exchange
46. Lost in Translation - Ella Frances Sanders - 75'ers Holiday Exchange
47. On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the… - Tim Cope - 75'ers Holiday Exchange
48. Homesick for Another World - Otessa Moshfegh- 2012 - 75'ers Holiday Exchange
49. Finding Mother God - Carol Lynn Pearson - LTER

Currently Reading:

Continuing with my November reviews:



92. In the Heat of the Moment - Viveca Sten - 2012
- Viveca Sten group read
- Kindle
- acq'd 2020


It’s the Midsommer Festival on Sandhamn Island. Tourists have flocked to the island. For the teens and college agers, it’s the biggest party of the year. The well-to-do have borrowed their parents’ million dollar yachts and sailboats. Alcohol and drugs abound, not only on the high—priced sailing vessels, but also on the beaches.

The local police force work double and triple time to keep it in bounds. But the next morning, the body of a rich young man is found, partially hidden, making murder a certainty.

Of course Thomas, with his knowledge of Sandham investigates.

After a cliff hanger of an ending in the previous book, we have jumped ahead in time and at the beginning of the story, Thomas has remarried his ex-wife Pernilla and is enjoying being a father to baby Elin.

Nora has also found love with her tenant, Jonas. But Jonas’s daughter Wilma resents Nora, and Wilma is also missing the night after the Midsommer Party.

This is a thriller within a mystery as the father of the murdered boy is told that his son’s best friend is the suspect. Frustrated by the slowness of the police investigation, the father decides to take justice into his own hands.

As usual, there were some good twists and turns to the tale. The characters are engaging, and Nora and Thomas continue to evolve and grow.

Definitely a series that I’ll continue reading.

Starred!

I love the illustrations in the op, too.

Happy new thread, Janet!

>1 streamsong: Looks like a cozy place to be in winter :-)

Happy New Thread, Janet. I have been curious about Severance. Are you liking it?

Happy new one, Janet.

Happy new thread, Janet.

I love the topper and, of course, all the stats.

>1 streamsong: Janet, love your toppers! They both capture life as it is and what we want. : )

>3 streamsong: Great ornament! What a fun project.

And, of course, gotta love the stats.

>12 streamsong: I just started Viveca's #6 book today. ; )

Happy reading!

Thanks for the good wishes on my new thread, Lor, Anita, Mark, Figs, Paul and Kim!

>15 msf59: Hey Mark! I'm not sure about Severance yet as I've just started it. It's the PBS/NYT Now Read This book club choice for December. For those who haven't heard about it, it's a satirical apocalyptic novel where the infected do the same mundane tasks over and over again until they die.

I really need to finish Blowout by Rachel Maddow but it's a bit too political for me to easily pick up right now.

The third book that I'm reading, A Recipe for Daphne, is an LTER book. It is a romance set in Istanbul among the Rum, or Greek speaking Orthodox Christians who live there. It's very enlightening about the culture and I'm rather enjoying it as an armchair travel book. It encouraged me to rewatch the Nova program on the Hagia Sophia which PBS recently showed (must be part of their favorites shown during their fund raiser week).

>18 Berly: Hi Kim!
I love the ornaments. I would love to say I that I crafted it and them, but they are made by my cousin Helen Brown.

Here are a few more to decorate my thread:



My library doesn't have the next Viveca Sten book - #7 In Harm's Way - so I will need to decide whether or not to purchase a copy. I just added it to my Christmas wishlist in case my Santa is lurking. Hmmm I see I have both a 'Wishlist' and a 'Christmas Wishlist' going. I just checked and although I just created the Christmas list, the other wishlist is still current, too.

. duplicate post hmmm

>20 streamsong: love the black bird ornament!

>20 streamsong: Hope your SS sends you #7! What a talented cousin you have. Has she given all those to you? I am jealous! : )

Happy new thread, Janet. I love your topper, and the ornaments are lovely.

Happy new thread!

>22 fuzzi: Hi Lor! The blackbird is great, isn't it? She has other bird ornaments, too.

Her art is a combination of paint and batik and I think it is stunning. I would love to have one of her larger pieces in my home. You can see more of her work at Helen Brown Art on Facebook.

>23 Berly: Hi Kim! No, I just have the one ornament that I posted in >3 streamsong:. I purchased several for Christmas gifts last year and Helen sent me photos of many ornaments that she had available. I think I need another one this year.

>24 BLBera: Thank you, Beth! Thanks for stopping by.

>25 drneutron: Thank you, Jim! I need to visit your thread.

Long overdue LTER review:



93. Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - 2020
- LTER book
- digital/Kindle
- acq'd 2020


In 1962 the first baby elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in forty four years was born at the Washington Park (now Oregon) Zoo in Portland.

Roger Henneous stood in line with thousands of other visitors to see it.

“Perched on his toes, Roger caught his first surprising glimpse of the infant and was instantly smitten. With his baggy skin and wooly reddish hair, Packy looked more like a miniature mammoth than an elephant. He toddled around Belle’s legs as aunts Rosy, Tuy Hoa, and Pet looked on with obvious delight and reached to touch him with their trunks each time he passed. Every so often, he squealed like a leaky balloon and lifted his mouth to suckle briefly from the incredibly human-looking mammaries located behind Belle's front legs.” P 42

He was smitten. Little did he know how much his life would be changed.

In 1967 he applied for a zookeeper’s job, eventually becoming an elephant keeper and moved to head elephant keeper.

His career spanned thirty years; beginning when elephants were seen as performers for human enjoyment to the evolution of respecting them as the magnificent wild creatures they are. He devised ways of handling them safely and enriching their environment.

I enjoyed this – not just as the biography of a zookeeper but for everything I learned about elephants.

“This was infrasound, the silent speech of elephants; a wave frequency too low for humans to hear, but which can be perceived by sensitive individuals. An elephant can adjust the volume and rate of this communication by opening and closing their mouth, moving their ears, changing the position of their body, and raising or lowering their head. Infrasound can travel for up to twenty miles and pass through trees, rocks, and buildings, enabling elephants to communicate even when they can’t see one another.”
P 76

Recommended for those with an interest in elephants, animals in general and the Portland Oregon Park Zoo.

3.8 stars

Brrr - mornings here are in the 12-14 degree F range. As the day progresses, they are warming up to just above freezing. I'm hoping we have some more warmer days soon as my trees are still shedding leaves. When cold weather comes earlier than usual the leaves freeze onto the trees and make leaf cleaning last forever. I did get all my plants and flower bulbs in the ground before this deep freeze struck: peonies, columbines, astilbe, and allium which are all supposed to be somewhat deer-resistant.

I planted a lovely amaryllis bulb for my indoor garden and also replanted lettuce inside. Next indoor planting will be a small pot of wheat grass for the two cats.

And with the last of my gift certificate I bought I new bird feeder that attaches to the outside of a window. I had bought a similar (but smaller) one for Dad when he was the in nursing home. I was surprised how many birds found his window feeder. I need to acquire some fresh bird seed before putting mine out, though.

Next week is the book selection (via Zoom) for the Library Book Club for next year. I nominated Hamnet and Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson.

I know I've said that I thought Hamnet was heart rending and I doubted I'd reread it, but it's such a great book .... well ..... I haven't yet read Caste so I'm relying on everyone here who have written such great reviews of it. I don't think we have quite enough books yet nominated to cover the year. If not, I'll also nominate The Eighth Detective which I thought was the cleverest, most original mystery I've read in years.

>27 streamsong: BB...

Happy new thread Janet. Love the pictures!

>27 streamsong: I did have a wish to be an elephant keeper, once upon a time, sounds like a good one for me.

>28 streamsong: A bit of indoor gardening!

>29 fuzzi: :)

>30 EllaTim: Hi Ella! I hope you can find a copy! One LT'er, who I think is not on here anymore, used to volunteer at a zoo. I think that would be fun!

Yes, I was doing quite a bit of indoor gardening when the pandemic first started. But then over the summer, the pandemic slowed enough that I felt safe to go to Farmers' Markets. Now, with the pandemic worsening and the local fresh produce at a minimum, it's time to take it up again.

I bought a small bag of fresh potting soil, so hopefully I won't be plaqued by the mildew that took over my last attempts at gardening indoors.

Today, physical therapy for the knee (unfortunately the cortisone shot only lasted a very short time - I'm waiting to be set up for an MRI so it can be determined what is really going on).

This afternoon I am giving blood. It's the first time I'm doing the 'Power Red' where you are hooked up to a machine which extracts two units of red blood cells, but recycles the plasma back into your body. It's supposed to be less fatiguing than giving one unit the standard way. (I'll let you know.) It takes about an hour. I have a book picked out a light book Running With Sherman to take with me. And I have more books on the Kindle app on my phone of course. :)

My brother is a gastrologist in the Phoenix area. Although you don't hear of it, many Covid patients have GI bleeds due to the clotting inheritent to Covid and the anticoagulants many patients are given. So blood is at a premium. Give if you can.

And then tonight, I'm signed up for a virtual "Brews and Books" gab fest talk-about-anything sessison through the library. I'm interested to hear more about the new librarian/sponsor's self sufficient lifestyle. I believe he lives 'off the grid' in a house made of straw bales covered with stucco.

>33 streamsong: interesting about your giving blood. At one point my son was donating plasma for cash. I think they took the plasma and returned the rest, but I am not totally sure.

>34 fuzzi: Hi Lor - Giving the double unit of blood turned out to be basically the same procedure as giving plasma, but they use a different machine and save the plasma to be returned to the donor rather than the blood cells as in plasma donation. It wasn't unpleasant. It's all automated. The machine withdraws one unit of blood, centrifuges it, separates the plasma and then mixes the plasma with saline so the same volume is returned to the donor and then return the plasma/saline. Then a second unit of blood is withdrawn and the same procedure is used.

I was a bit cold because the returning saline/plasma is cold; I had a metallic taste in my mouth which I was told was from the anticoagulant mixed with my blood. I took a long nap when I got home, but feel great today. I'll do it again. You can only do it every four months as opposed to giving a single unit every two months.

I'm not sure what the advantages are to the ARC - maybe they just don't need O plasma since it can only be given to O patients, while the O blood cells can be give to any blood type patient.

>35 streamsong: interesting description, thank you. I was not aware that O plasma was not part of O as a universal donor status.

94. Major Operation – James White - 1971
- James White group read
- acq'd 2020



Description: “The five short stories in the book are related to a new world called Meatball. In the first story, Invader, a series of strange accidents at the hospital lead Conway to suspect an alien presence. In the second story, Monitor Corps discovers an alien spinning ship near Meatball and brings it to the hospital in order to rescue the pilot. And finally, Conway joins a Monitor mission to Meatball for a major operation.

• Invader - (1966)
• Vertigo - (1968)
• Blood Brother - (1969)
• Meatball - (1969)
• Major Operation - (1971) “

I did not realize these had been published as five separate short stories over a course of five years. (It does make sense in the light that someone tried to revise the series book numbers on LT, and the series listing on LT seems to be a bit of a mess - although it's looking much better than the first time I tried to enter this book. Someone has been fixing it. )

Now, I feel that I ‘should’ go back and read these again and see how White’s writing progressed over the five years these stories were written. Roni and others have said that White’s storytelling gets better as the series goes along. However, at this point, I am more interested in going ahead with the series than rereading. 😊

An interesting take on the complexity possible among intelligent life forms. This time they range from very tiny to covering most of a planet. I found it thought provoking and enjoyable.

3.7 stars

I did not realize these had been published as five separate short stories over a course of five years. Now, I feel that I ‘should’ go back and read these again and see how White’s writing progressed over the five years these stories were written.

It's an interesting take on the complexity possible among intelligent life forms. This time they range from very tiny to covering most of a planet. I found it thought provoking and enjoyable.

>36 fuzzi: ABO blood types have antibodies for the the other blood types which they are not. O blood plasma carries anti-A and anti-B antibodies. A carries anti-B antibodies, B carries anti A antibodies. O is O because it does not carry either the A or B protein spike antigens.

Before I went into a research lab, I spent about ten years in clinical labs and loved blood banking which can be a challenge.

My brother is a gastrologist in the Phoenix area, which has been hard hit by Covid. He has told me that GI bleeds are not an uncommon with Covid patients. Patients that have Covid induced blood clots are often given anti-coagulants like heparin to break up the clots. This can cause bleeding in the GI tract. It's one of the reasons blood is in short supply right now. I know many people can't donate, but if you can, do!

>38 streamsong: Here too we are getting calls for blood donations. I hadn't donated for quite a while (don't know why), and then during Covid it's been difficult to keep safe on transportation and then get to a center and back. But now there's a pop-up facility right around the corner, so I'll set up for my next donation some time this week or next. I'm A+ but don't know which fractions, if any, are more needed at the moment. They can have whatever they need.

Hi Judy! Thanks for stopping in!

I feel pretty useless with finding things to help stifle the pandemic. I do everything I can to avoid it - mask, hand sanitizer in my pocket, social distancing and (unfortunately) staying home which is beginning to take a toll on me.

I guess giving blood is the one thing I feel that I do that feels like a truly active part of helping out.

Kudos for you giving blood, too!

This was an odd choice of book for me, as it doesn't relate to anything happening in my stage of life. It was the October PBS/NYT Now Read This book club selection, and since, it was only 119 pages, I gave it a shot - even though I didn't read it until almost a month later than everyone else.

There was speculation on the Now Read This Facebook page that perhaps it was chosen due to the number of parents currently homeschooling. But there was very little discussion on the FB book club page, so I think the book was a miss - perhaps the wrong target audience.

95. Helping Children Succeed – Paul Tough – 2016
– PBS Now Read This Book Club - October
– library (119 pages)



“Our usual intuition when children and adolescents misbehave is to assume they’re doing so because they have rationally considered the consequences of their actions and calculated that the benefits of misbehavior outweigh the costs. And so our response is usually to try and increase the cost of misbehavior by ratcheting up the punishment they receive. But this only makes sense if a child’s poor behavior is the product of a rational cost-benefit analysis. And, in fact, one of the chief insights that the neurobiological research provides is that the behavior of young people, especially young people who have experienced significant adversity, is often under the sway of emotional and psychological and hormonal forces that are far from rational.
“This doesn’t mean, of course, that teachers should excuse or ignore bad behavior in the classroom, But it does explain why harsh punishments so often prove ineffective over the long term that school-discipline programs might be more effective if they were to focus less on imposing punishment and more on creating a classroom environment in which students who lack self-regulatory capacities can find the tools and context they need to develop them.” P54

So, increasing consequences doesn’t cause better behavior.

The flip side is also true: rewards also don’t seem to motivate, since, as soon as the rewards are withdrawn, performance often goes down.

Instead, author Paul Tough argues that motivation must be intrinsic – spurred by autonomy, competance, and relatedness. These are the foundations that can produce the basics for true success which Tough believes rely on self-control and grit – the ability to care about the result and the courage to try again.

Since this is a very different system that was encouraged for parents (like me!) to use in earlier decades which relied on good and bad consequences, he examines how one can produce these characteristic in children, especially those who have not learned these behaviors due to difficult home situations or conditions making such learning more difficult.

Plans for today:

Regular PT session this afternoon, but next week I'll be starting PT in a pool, which sounds fun - or at least different. I have my MRI scheduled for next week, too. Let's get this knee under control so I can do good stuff!

>41 streamsong: Sounds interesting, and i keep thinking that most of us still have some growing up to do. Or that it could be applied in more places.

>42 streamsong: Good luck. PT in a pool is supposed to be nice, at least when the water is warm.

HI Janet, I am so far behind but you have a lovely new thread and it's wonderful to see all the books you have read with their ratings. Hoping that your knee is better these days. The Christmas ornaments are gorgeous! Take care!

>43 EllaTim: Ah yes, all that growing up still to do is very true. And yes, I did think about it as a useful strategy for a boss.

I have been told that the water is indeed warm for my pool PT; and supposedly it also supplies compression while you exercise to help with swelling. They use bromine instead of chlorine in the water, so it is more gentle to skin and sinuses. The only downside is that snow is predicted this week and I'm not sure how much I want to get out of nice warm pool, dry off and out in the snow.

When I was a kid, we lived a while in Glenwood Springs, Colorado which had a huge outdoor pool. We did a lot of winter swimming in the snow - but the appeal has worn off for me.

We did take our kids to a resort with an outdoor pool and both of them did a hot pool plunge followed by a snow roll' What is growing up in Montana if you can't say you've done that?

HI Mary - Thanks for stopping by. I'm also way behind both in doing reviews and in visiting others' threads. I apologize for both.

It's been a nasty autumn injury wise - first that finger sprain which is still sore and the knuckle quite enlarged. And now the knee.

I'm avoiding cheese with my new diet, but I'll certainly take some wine.

Catching up here, Janet, and wishing you a happy new thread!

>45 streamsong: The idea sounds fabulous but the reality may be less appealing, Janet!

Have a lovely weekend.

>47 ronincats: Thank you, Roni! It's always good to see you!

>48 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Yeah, Polar Bear Plunges (or some other variation of the name for hot dip and then roll in the snow) have lost their appeal for me. I have the bragging rights for having done them in my youth and I think I'll leave it at that.

Yesterday I did a zoom through the North Valley Library at Stevensville (population 2502) with Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire mystery series. What an engaging guy he is and a real raconteur. I tried to take a screenshot of him in his wonderful western kitchen, but failed.

There were just over 40 of us on Zoom, plus a few more in the live audience, so it was very intimate. I've fallen behind on his mysteries, but his newest book Next to Last Stand sounds great. He said that although his last two books were a bit dark, this one is more humorous.

He also read his newest Longmire Christmas story for us.

I feel like I just had a chat with a good friend, although, as usual in these small author events, I was completely tongue tied and didn't do anything more than nod my head a lot.

ETA: Is it possible to take a screenshot of a Zoom? Can anyone walk me through it? I have Windows 10.

Today's plan is another Zoom performance - I bought a ticket to the Hip Hop Nutcracker which has peformances online for another week.

https://hiphopnutcracker.com/

No Nutcracker in person for me this year and this sounds pretty amazing.

The pandemic is bringing online performances and author talks to small town Montana. I would be going more bonkers than I am without being able to access these type of events.

>50 streamsong: printscreen key?

Janet, have you seen the news about an all white thoroughbred filly winning a Grade 1 in Japan?

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/245204/white-filly-sodashi-capt...

Her dam looks kind of like an appaloosa:

https://www.horsenation.com/2016/01/26/buchiko-the-spotted-racehorse-turns-heads...

Hi Lor - No, I hadn't seen that. Thanks. Although I haven't kept up with the genetics of that type of gene, I think the dam is sabino. At one time, back in the 60's a few 'cropout' TB's were registered as Appaloosas. Now they know there are differences in how the genes are expressed.

I read this in November because Olive Again was the book chosen for the November RLBC.

There are so many reviews of this popular book that I don’t have much new to say.



96. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout - 2008
- ROOT acq'd 2017
- 3.7 stars

We see Olive Kitteridge mostly through the eyes of others. The thirteen chapters are almost- stand-alone short stories telling the lives of people in small town Crosby, Maine who know Olive. Olive appears in each story – either as a main character or a bit piece.

We get to know this retired school teacher very well. As she taught math to most of the residents of the town, she knows almost everyone. Many of her former students see her as a terror. Others found her inspirational.

Olive is a bit of a self-involved curmudgeon. She can be totally oblivious to the emotions of others, but she also has a soft interior.

Death, loss and even suicide haunt the pages of this book. The sad truth is, that as we age, we lose more of our friends and family, including beloved spouses.

Well written. I would recommend this book and its sequel to fans of small towns and character studies (especially I you are interested in stories of aging.)

98. Olive Again – Elizabeth Strout – 2019
- November Library Brown Bag Book Club
– library


This sequel follows the next ten years of Olive Kitteridge’s life, and continues many of the story lines. Having been widowed in the first book, can she find love again? Will she ever understand her son and his family? (While often not having empathy for others, she seems particularly bad when dealing with her son). And then of course, there are the new people, the Somali refugees.

One of my favorite stories was one in which a longtime student becomes a nationally renowned poet and uses Olive’s life in a poem.

And it was also nice to have one story where the Burgess’s of Strout’s book The Burgess Boys are featured.

As in the original Olive Kitteridge, there are themes of aging and death, so it’s not a lighthearted read, but the characterizations captured me.

This is a sequel that I enjoyed more than the original.

What happened to Book 97? It was a reread as the PBS/NYT Now Read This book club decided on The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo as its November choice.

It was one of my favorite books last year so I was happy to reread it. I even bought a copy so I would have one. I'm sure it won't suffer from more times of reading. And now I have it on hand if I want to give it to someone.

I was pleased the PBS book club chose this - great diversity in their reads. This is the first YA novel they have chosen.

If anyone's interested, here is Elizabeth Acevedo's interview with PBS. She wrote this as individual poems. How is that for mind-blowing?

Here's my review from last year:

97. The Poet X – Elizabeth Acevedo - 2018 - Reread
- Nov PBS Now Read This
- purchased a copy for myself 2020

Ninth grader Xiomara is a first generation Dominican American living in Harlem. Her mother is a strict Catholic and wants Xiomara to be that way too – but Xiomara has too many questions about God to be allowed to be confirmed with her other classmates.

Her body is becoming curvacious, but her mother has mandated no dating until after college. How can her friendship with her biology partner be wrong?

Her closest ally in the family is her twin brother. He's also grappling with his sexuality, but he understands Xiomara in a way no one else in his family can. He buys her a special leather bound journal to write her thoughts – which often take the form of poems.

And then she is invited to join the school poetry club which once again, causes conflict with her confirmation classes.

A great coming of age story as Xiomara 'The Poet X' stretches her wings to learn who she is and what is truly important to her.

I really enjoyed the Zoom of the live performance of HipHop Nutcracker last night (>51 streamsong: ).

The dancing was amazing. The story was a bit different - now I want to watch it again as I never catch everything the first time through. I should have bought the VIP ticket which allows rewatching for 72 hours.

Today's Zoom-y event is a presentation this evening on preserving native flora courtesy of my local Audubon Club linking with another Audubon chapter.

And I am reading - Monday update: Currently my main read is IQ by Joe Ide, recommended by so many of my 75'er friends.

I'm also still working on A Recipe for Daphne by Nektaria Anastasiadou as well as steeling myself to keep reading Blowout by Rachel Maddow.

Two books until you reach 100... 😁

Hi Janet!

I’m sorry the cortisone shot wore off so soon, hope the MRI gives a clear answer.

>50 streamsong: Very nice to Zoom with Craig. *smile* I’ve read the first Longmire, have the next 13, but see that there are 3 I still need to acquire. One of these days I’ll pick up #2 and then will read every one I have and acquire the ones I don’t. Bill and I watched the series and loved it, too.

>55 streamsong: and >56 streamsong: I loved these books and see myself re-reading them one of these days.

>59 streamsong: I hope you’re liking IQ.

>60 fuzzi: Hi Lor! - I'm so glad you are keeping me company! I've passed 100 books read, I'm just really behind on reviews. Hooray! I've met my goal of 104 books (two books a week) for the year.

>61 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks for stopping in!

I'll hear the MRI results in a week or so .... hopefully before Christmas.

I am enjoying IQ even though I would have said that Gangsta rap and pit bulls are not really my thing. :) Yours must have been one of the (many) threads that I read a review of it.

I really enjoyed the Audubon zoom “Nature’s Best Hope: Sustaining Plants and Animals that Sustain Us” with Doug Tallamy. He is a professor at the University of Delaware, and well known in the native plants community.

Here's the takeaway for my bird friends:

Nesting birds tend to feed their babies nice, soft caterpillars instead of seed. Many species of moths/caterpillars have evolved that only can survive on native plants (some only exist on one native plant!) Most species of caterpillars native to an area, can't exist on non-native decoratives.

While feeding birds is good, if you want to encourage nesting birds, you need to encourage local moths and caterpillars - and have some native plants.

Although the examples he gave were from the Eastern part of the US, it holds true for well, ... everywhere.

He's written and coauthored several books, so I requested The living landscape : designing for beauty and biodiversity in the home garden from our library. More insights after I read the book, I'm sure.

fuzzi /Lor I see this one listed in your books. Have you read it?

>63 streamsong: which book are you referring to?

>64 fuzzi: The living landscape : designing for beauty and biodiversity in the home garden . It's coauthored by Doug Tallamy.

The PA called back with my knee MRI results. I have a 'deep bone bruise' on the inside of my knee. These are usually caused by falls or striking the bone, but since neither of those has happened, it's probably due to the looseness in my knee after last year's ligament tears. I'm heading back to Missoula today to be fitted for a new sort of brace that will shift my weight to the outside of my knee so it can heal.

This means that I will miss today's library book club zoom where we are choosing the books for next year. I put in my proxy vote - we'll see what happens.

>66 streamsong: I'm glad they figured out what was wrong, and what can be done to let it heal.

I don't see The Living Landscape listed in my books.

I am so far behind. But back to your prior thread -- The Pull of the Stars sounds compelling!

>66 streamsong: Sounds like a good news, bad news scenario? I'm glad it's not worse but bad enough.... take care, Janet!

Hi Janet!

I hope the new brace helps the deep bone bruise heal properly. Bummer about not being able to participate in the library book club zoom meeting.

>66 streamsong: Glad they found out what causes the trouble with your knee, Janet.
I hope this brace is going to work.

>63 streamsong: Isn't that kind of thing interesting? And zoom is a good new thing in this respect. I saw a lecture last week, also on zoom, about making food forests. I thought it very interesting, also the whole thinking behind it, trying to unite nature and agriculture, instead of pulling them more and more apart. He gave an example, when you have a garden full of bugs you don't want, birds can help you get rid of them. But you need birds year round in your garden, so you have to help them along by planting food for them. So the bugs feed the birds, but the birds help you get rid of most bugs. Nicely interdependent.
And then some hints for further reading and a link to watch the whole lecture again on YouTube.

I hope that brace will help!

>67 fuzzi: Hi Lor - I must have been looking at the wrong book. Do you have another one by Doug Tallamy called Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants? That's where I see your name under the 'Your Friends' with the book.

>68 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! I think you'd like The Pull of the Stars.

>67 fuzzi: >68 EBT1002: >69 karenmarie: >70 FAMeulstee: >71 EllaTim: Thank you, Lor, Ellen, Karen, Anita and Ella. It is a big relief not to need surgery. The brace has to be ordered, so with two short holiday weeks ahead, it may be a while before it comes. :( In the meantime, I am doing PT in the pool. I had misgivings about this but it feels wonderful.

>69 karenmarie: I'll be anxious to find out what the BC picked for next year. All the books sounded intriguing - I'd be happy to read any of them.

>71 EllaTim: That sounds really interesting, Ella. I see there are several videos on YouTube about Food Forests. Are any of them by the speaker you mentioned?

I zoomed another interesting author talk from the North Valley Library. It was with Bob Quinn and the book he has written about restablishing an ancient wheat variety called Kamut.

He was originally told that this wheat came from Pharaoh's tomb. Further research, while traveling in Turkey to look for growing areas to feed the expanding European market, showed that in Turkey and Armenia it is known as 'the prophets wheat' with the prophet being Noah- and the wheat being on the ark.

His book is Grain by grain : a quest to revive ancient wheat, rural jobs, and healthy food. It was co-written by Liz Carlisle the author of Lentil Underground which I enjoyed so much a few years ago.

He says this wheat can be eaten by many who have gluten sensitivies (although not those with celiac disease). He also believes many of the gluten sensitivities may also be sensitivies to chemicals used on the wheat.

>72 streamsong: I have both of those books in my To Be Read (unowned) collection. One was recommended to me by 2wonderY (Ruth). I've not seen them at my usual used book haunts, yet.

>74 fuzzi: I used to love Ruth's / 2wondery's posts in Birds and Blooms. If she recommended them I'm sure they are good!

Tuesday update:

Reading:


- Not as good as I had hoped -
---------------------


This is a funny bone tickler for sure! Read it and laugh!

------------------------------------------------



LTER fun romance set in Constantinople contrasting the Orthodox Christian and the Turkish Islamic communities

--------



Very readable, but struggling to read anything about politics right now.
----

>73 streamsong: I don't think so Janet. My speaker is Dutch, you would probably not find him. But it's an international movement, with lots of English speaking gurus in it;-) I think it's very interesting, trying to get away from the mainstream dead end agriculture. Finding new ways to do things, trying to solve problems by getting closer to nature.

The book about Kamut seems interesting as well. I wouldn't be surprised if food sensitivities are provoked by all the chemicals that are used on our food.

I don't know the full results of the Real Life Book Club voting for books for next year, but I do know the two I nominated, Hamnet and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent were chosen. Now I have to decide if I want to lead those discussions or not. I know there are people in our club far more literate about Shakespeare than I am; and we are a standard white, mostly middle class club so there probably isn't anyone knowlegable about the second title at all.

Hmmmmmmm

And oh yes, I'm listening to this, which I picked up at a FOL sale a few years ago:



It's a dramatization for radio, and to my disappointment is quite condensed, even though it's on 9 CD's. It's been years since I reread Tolkien. I used to do it every year when I was in my twenties and they were the first of the real chapter books I read to my kids. I miss those days!

I recently started following a FB group called Funny Middle Earth. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2585843618101224 It has chuckles, groaners and trollish remarks but is mostly putting a smile on my face.

>77 EllaTim: Hi Ella! "trying to get away from the mainstream dead end agriculture. "

I think this will become more and more important and become more mainstream.

A lot of the western US/Rocky Mountain region has land that is good for grazing cattle, but not for crops. So I imagine grass fed cattle will always be with us here in the west, but the grain fed cattle slowly phased out.

Who knows what we will have to deal with in the future with climate change, but I fear that food shortages will be part of the picture.

Hi Janet!

Congrats on both of your books being chosen for the RLBC.

>27 streamsong: My 27-year old daughter, having loved the LOTR movies for a very long time, is finally reading LOTR. I personally don't get it, but she's really, finally, enjoying it.

...

... and here's to a better 2021!

Hi Karen- I fell in love with the LOTR when I was in HS. I have been wondering about watching the new extended versions of the movies.

Thank you for the Christmas card and New Year Wishes!

Merry Christmas, Janet! And fingers crossed for a much better 2021!!

I had my eye on Blowout. I will watch for your final verdict.

Lovely card, Mark. Thank you. I would love to see an oriole in person.

Blowout is well written and very informative. It's just that I am very disturbed by the political scene right now.

>77 EllaTim: >80 streamsong: Fascinating conversation about the future of food. I need to check out the book and the idea of food forests.

Meanwhile, I cam to wish you a blessed holiday and new year!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
May 2021 bring you less need for masks, loads of peace and joy, good health and, of course, books!

>79 streamsong: Groan!!! LOL

I hope you get some of those at least, Janet, as we all look forward to a better 2021.

Wishing you a merry Christmas Janet!

Happy New Thread and Happy Holidays, Janet!

Gosh, maybe 15 years ago now (before I knew you, unfortunately), my sisters and I took our parents on a trip in your area that included Glacier and Yellowstone, and Helena, a town one sister lives in. Such an extraordinary part of the world. We had a great time.

I'm glad The Poet X worked so well for you. One of the top books of recent years for me. Her subsequent two (With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land) are really good, too.

Happy Holidays, Janet. I hope the new brace does the trick with the knee. Your Zoom programs sound like fun. I'll be interested to hear what other books your book club chose. I loved Hamnet; it is a lovely book.

>85 witchyrichy: Thank you for the holiday wishes, Karen. Peace and light sound wonderful.

I agree that more food self-sufficiency is an important topic. It tickles me to be growing a teeny teeny bit of lettuce and herbs on my windowsills.

I live in a very Republican part of the country and am anticipating a bumpy ride in January as most residents feel that the election has been stolen from Trump. And they are rattling their guns and making 'crossing the Rubicon' noises. It's time to add to my windowsill gardens.

Thank you for all the good wishes >86 Berly: Kim "less need for masks, loads of peace and joy, good health and, of course, books!" Perfect wishes! I hope you have the same

>87 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I can't wait for your wishes to come true. I've been eight months living a pretty solitary life in the country and can't wait until we can gather with friends and family again.

>88 EllaTim: Beautiful ornament, Ella. Thank you!

>89 jnwelch: Hey Joe, I think it's past time for you to visit your sister and Glacier, the Tetons and Yellowstone Parks again. I hope this is the year we can travel again!

I've loved all three of Elizabeth Acevedo's books. I can't wait to see what she produces next.

>90 BLBera: Hi Beth! Thanks for stopping by! I still have not received the new offset brace, but hopefully that happens this week. In the meantime, the pool PT is going really well and I am having significantly less pain.

These photos are from our Christmas Sunday service last week. We are doing parking lot services with people staying in their cars and tuned in to an FM radio station. I was hoping to get a photo of the beautiful mountains, but instead we had rain and clouds.

We also had a Christmas Eve candlelight service in the parking lot. There was enough light where I was to be able to read the hymns and responses. Others had their car dome lights on.

It's nice to wave at friends, take part in communion, and pray together. Nevertheless, it doesn't always work out really well. If the temperature is in the low 20's F or below, I pass. I have a small Honda Civic and having my knee curled up for the length of the service leaves it rather stiff.

I believe they now also have services on YouTube now, but I haven't checked it out.

99. Miracle Country: A Memoir – Kendra Atleework - 2020
- LTER
- audiobook
- acq'd Aug 2020

Author Kendra Atleework grew up in the eastern side of California’s Sierra Madre range in the Owens Valley.

She lost her mother while in her teens. With her death, her adventurous, outdoor loving family lost their center and gradually fell apart, each struggling in their own way.

Atleework left the valley for a while pursuing a graduate degree in Minnesota; but the valley called her back and she returned with new eyes to appreciate it.

The book also details the history of the Valley. The native Paiutes were massacred. What was once lush land became desert as the water rights in the valley were acquired by Los Angeles and transferred there via aqueduct for their ever larger population’s unquenchable thirst.

It’s also a story of climate change; the opening chapter is a horrific wild fire, which spared Atleework’s childhood home and brought heroic efforts from her troubled adopted brother.

Is the author writing a parallel story with the loss of the water in the Valley and the loss of a nurturing mother? I’ll leave you to decide.

Recommended for those interested in family memoirs and the Sierra Madres.

I received an audio copy of this book through LIbraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an unbiased review. Cassandra Campbell was the narrator and did a fine job.

Hi Janet. I'm adding The Poet X to my wish list. She would be a new author for me.

I didn't get around to visit threads with holiday greetings so I'm doing some quick Happy New Year drive bys. I really hope we have a better time in 2021, on so many fronts!

^ It turns out that The Poet X was already on my wish list, thanks to Joe!

>96 EBT1002: >97 EBT1002: Hi Ellen!

I also didn't get around to Christmas greetings.

I think the Covid isolation is wearing on me. I definitely need to make more of an effort.

It's good to see you! And I think you'll love The Poet X.

I'm just now finishing the November/December Dick Francis selection Second Wind. I'm happy the group will be continuing reading Francis in 2021.



100. The Edge – Dick Francis – 1988
November Dick Francis group read
– Root 2006

Tor Kelsey is the epitome of Dick Francis’s good guy ultra-competent heroes. In this case, he’s rich enough to pursue whatever he wants in life. He’s intrigued by mysteries and race horses and often does a bit of undercover work to keep boredom at bay.

So he’s highly intrigued when asked to go undercover for a train trip from Toronto on Canada’s eastern coast to Vancouver on its western coast. The trip include wealthy race owners and their grooms, a train car of well known race horses, and the plan to race horses as they cross Canada. It also includes a troop of actors, performing a mystery aboard the train.

But worst of all, it includes Julius Apollo Filmer, recently rumored to have caused the suicide of a wealthy European owner. Somehow, Juilus has finagled his way onto the train as part owner of a horse, as only owners area allowed on the train.

This one has Francis’s usual twists and turns as well as spectacular Canadian scenery.

One day, one day, I shall make it to Lake Louise.

Two more books and I'll be finished with the November reviews. I'll be starting my new thread soon. I'll try to add my December reviews as I get to them, but I want to keep up with my January book reviews this year.

The two Novembers left to review were both great books and actually both were favorites of the year:

The Eighth Detective - my favorite mystery of the year!
and
Empire of Wild by Canadian author Cherie Dimaline.

My goal is to finish the books that I'm currently reading before the clock strikes on December 31st:

✔Fever Dream: A Novel- Samanta Schweblin (Argentina) This is actually very short and I read it through once quickly; now skimming through again to make sure I have the details straight.
✔Second Wind - Dick Francis - Nov/Dec group read
A Recipe for Daphne - Nektaria Anastasiadou LTER (Turkey)
Blowout- by Rachel Maddow
and listening to the Lord of the Rings condensed radio dramatization.

Hi Janet!

Wow, still lots of good reading to go before the new year. I may, if I'm lucky, start and finish The Standing Chandelier by Lionel Shriver, one of my favorite authors.

Looking forward to Clap When You Land as I enjoyed her other two books.

Best wishes for your reading...I'm trying to get The Mirror and the Light done before the ball drops. I needed some long afternoons to devote to the book as I feel like I have been reading it for months now.

Janet, I'm so glad you loved The Eighth Detective and Empire of Wild. They were two of the best for me as well.

>99 streamsong: How did I not know there was a Dick Francis group? I love him! I will try to join in next year. Yay! And happy wishes for New Year's Eve tonight. : )

Hi Janet!

Happy last day of the annus horribilis 2020.

>104 Berly: Kim - I'm going to be administering the Dick Francis group for 2021 and, following my stubborn refusal to start any new year threads before January 1 meaningful tradition of starting all new year threads on the first of January, will have the General thread and the first book thread up tomorrow. First book is Banker.

Janet

As the year turns, friendship continues

>101 karenmarie: Hi Karen!

I only finished two of the four I had hoped to do.

I finished Second Wind by Dick Francis. I have Banker ready to go, having read it quite a few years ago,

I am really glad that I re-skimmed Fever Dream (and also read the Wikipedia summary) as I had missed the main point. Sometimes I am very dense. I had previously enjoyed her short story collection Mouthful of Birds by this same author and should have realized that things are not quite what they seem in her writing.

It means I have finished the goal for Argentina, having read 5 books set in or by Argentinan authors. (see post >9 streamsong: ).

Argentina
1. Alive - Piers Paul Read - 1974 - NF (location, UK author)
2. Mouthful of Birds: Stories - Samanta Schweblin - 2019 - ss - (location, author) Intl Booker Longlist - 4/2019
3. Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges - 1962 - ss, essays, (author) - 1001 - Aug 2019
4. Blow-Up - Julio Cortázar - 1960 - (location, author) short stories; read 1/2020
5. Fever Dream - Samanta Schweblin - 2017 - novella - (location, author) - library - read 12/2020

>102 witchyrichy: Thank you, Karen! See you in 2021!

>103 BLBera: Hi Beth! I wish I had gotten my reviews finished for The Eighth Detective and Empire of Wild. Oh well. I'm glad you loved them, too

>104 Berly: Hey Kim! I'm glad you'll be join the Dick Francis group. The more the merrier!

>105 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'm looking forward to it! Happy moderating!

>106 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! See you in 2021!

Heading off to start my new thread now ...

This is one of the 2020 book reviews that I didn't get finished in 2020, so I will add it onto this thread. :)



Catchup review 2020 #101. The Eighth Detective – Alex Pavesi - 2020 – library

My favorite mystery/detective story of 2020!

A publishing agent has discovered a long-forgotten book of short mystery stories. She visits the reclusive author on his Caribbean island hideaway to attempt to convince him to republish them.

The author, Grant McAllister, was a well-known mathematician who conceived of writing mysteries by reducing and intertwining their components as four groups: victim(s), suspects, detective(s), and murderer(s). His stories then illustrate the permutations of this; how few groups can there be and still have a murder mystery? For example, a detective could be the murderer and may or may not be one of the suspects. If the victim is also the killer, can you have anything besides a tale of suicide?

At first glance, this may appear to be a collection of short stories; but there are many secrets in this novel. Each of the stories turn into something else, as do the lives of both the author and the publishing agent. And then the whole turns into something completely other.

Twisty, twisty, turny and the most original mystery I’ve read in a long time. I did not see the ending coming!

Thread #1 for 2021 : https://www.librarything.com/topic/328116

I hope you join me!

I'm going to continue to finish reviewing the books I didn't get reviewed at the end of 2021.



102. Empire of Wild – Cherie Dimaline – 2020
– library


The Metis are a Canadian people of mixed indigenous and other blood. Many are poor. Many also live by the old ways.

One of the traditional beliefs is that of the rogarou, a werewolf type creature that is created by hate.

Joan, a Metis, has been searching for her missing husband for over a year. She believed they were both in love and happy – but he walked out the door after an argument, leaving no trace.

And then one morning, she wanders into a Bible-thumping tent meeting and is astounded to see her husband as a charismatic preacher. He insists he doesn’t know her; he doesn’t recognize his name. She fears that he is ill or has been brain-washed and vows to get him back. But the tent meeting has folded its tent and stolen away – and seems to be trying very hard not to be found.

In the meantime, evil is stalking the people around Joan. There is a horrific murder where someone she loves is torn apart by a wild animal. There is her beloved nephew who is clearly at risk.

I found lots of wonderful details about the Metis, their history and way of life. Woven throughout are many of the political issues affecting them today.

I loved the protagonist, Joan. She’s both ancient and modern and a woman to be reckoned with.