Maggie1944 Autumnal Readings 2014

Here's a new thread.

Today, I read a few pages in 1. The Discovery of France; 2. The Bully Pulpit; 3. a recent edition of
"Real Simple" magazine; and 4. a recent edition of Elle Decor (my guilty pleasure). My new job as a grocery shopper puts me in the car, in parking lot, for hours at a time. Good chance to read balanced with some scheduled walking so my back can recover from sitting too much.

I love the job. I do not love the pain the the back, and down my leg. So Read, then go for a walk, and read some more, and go for another walk. I think it will all be good.

I have Significant Others by Armistead Maupin started (it qualifies as a September Series); also I am listening, and reading, The Guns of August still (part of the World War I reading for this year). There are some other books sitting around and tomorrow, I'm going to go see Louise Penny talk about her newest book. I might have to get it. Maybe I'll visit the library.

Hi Karen44!

hey, good buddy! Thanks for stopping by.

I was on-call today for work so couldn't leave town. I thought about going over to Atlanta for DragonCon but nixed that because of all the football traffic. (UA played West Virginia in the Georgia Dome.) DragonCon is held in four of the big hotels in downtown Atlanta and the Georgia Dome is right there as well so I decided to not go this year. Besides, I don't have a new costume so maybe by next year I will be readier to attend.

I did go shopping at the Friends of the Library used bookstore and purchased 14 books for $27.00. I think I did good.

Earlier this month I purchased Discovery of France at a used book store I visited on my trip home. It will be some time before I get to it, but am glad that it is a title that caught another eye as well as mine.

Benita, the book about France is very unusual I think. I learned all sorts of things about France which I did not know. But I also recognize it is not a book everyone will like.

Happy Sunday! Happy New thread, Karen! Squeeze in plenty of R & R today.

Rest and Relaxation: Yay! What a good idea.

Thanks for the good wishes, Mark.

Actually, the first R is for Reading! LOL. Same thing, right?

Absolutely correct! Reading is Relaxation and Rest.

Ok, I'm on the verge of heading out to Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park to hear Louise Penny. Should be fun. I am going by myself so I plan on having a book in my bag so I can read while waiting for the program to begin.

Louise Penny at Third Place Books was great! A wonderfully warm and humerous lady who was a delight. Here's an iPhone photograph of her:

>11 maggie1944: Sounds marvelous! I hope today was a good one for you. It was rainy, then sunny, rainy, then sunny. For the most part, I stayed in PJS and slept and read. Then, got a few groceries, came home and back in pjs.

A good day all in all. I hope yours was the same.

Yes, a good day in all. I had a very restless night with lots of pain in my leg waking me up. You know that damn sciatic nerve hurts in the back and down the leg. I'm working on sitting for only 30 minutes at a stretch and then getting up and walking about doing stuff for 15 minutes. By the time I was ready to go see Louise Penny the pain was pretty much contained by the pain med. Now, I am feeling some pain again but won't take the pain meds until closer to when I go to my shift. I have a 6 pm to 10 pm shift and I do not want a good deal of pain to be bugging me. I want to be able to read, or listen, to my heart's content. I doubt I'll get an order for groceries this evening, but you never can tell.

I am taking The Bully Pulpit with me as I need to make up for the reading I've not done in the last two-three days. As for audio, I think I'll take my hard copy of The Guns of August as well as the Kindle where I can listen to it, and read along in the book. If it gets too dark, there is The Farm to which I listened a couple of weeks ago. I need to finish it, too.

Should be a pleasant evening.

I'm sorry for your pain. Have you ever had, or considered injections via a pain management doctor? When my lower back pain keeps me awake, I head to the pain doc. The injection works for a good six months.

I am glad you enjoyed the author talks. That kind of thing really charges me up and keeps me going at my job. Thanks for the pictures.

Thanks for the suggestion, Linda. I am just starting this journey of lower back pain. I need to take it all one step at a time. Tomorrow I need to go get an xray and see if the osteoporosis is causing some cracks or breaks in the vertebrae.... not a wonderful thought, but it must be investigated.

Benita, I too love author talks. I really appreciate their willingness to let us in on their process.

Sounds like a fun time! You'd have loved the National Book Fest - wish you could have been here with us!

I have *almost* calmed my wild, enraged jealousy at your Personal Viewing of Louise Penny enough to wish the xrays to show some OTHER cause of your sciatica.

*Almost*.

She was drop dead delightful. Her sense of humor was excellent. And her warmth just came through and made everyone love her. Too bad you were not here!

I am glad you enjoyed the Louise Penny author talk. How very nice. I NEED to get back to that series.

Me, too. Richard's review of her latest volume has me thinking I'd better get to it, soon. However, I am so behind in reading The Bully Pulpit. The dang job has me actually shopping rather than sitting for my shifts. Better for my back and legs, but not better for my reading program. Sigh.

School starts today. I'm back to my early morning drive up north to assure the kids get there on time. Yay!

How great, Karen! I'm another one envious of your seeing Louise Penny. So glad you made it. I thought of you when I saw on FB she was going to Third Place Books.

It was good to hear how much you enjoyed Louise Penny because it added to the anticipation. I saw her tonight at the end of her tour in Vancouver. She is a wonderful presenter and very inspiring and encouraging to aspiring writers.

Happy Saturday, busy busy busy

went to the doctor yesterday and she gave me some stronger pain meds (Yay!) and ordered a MRI for me. This may be a little more complicated than just an irritated nerve. We may be talking pinched nerve. No wonder my leg hurts like hell sometimes.

Nevertheless, I'm limiting myself to 4 hour long shifts and that is a good idea, peppered with several brief walks. The cushion for the car seat is helping, too. Also, I got a new bed with a lovely firm mattress. Slept really pretty well last night.

The Bully Pulpit is a fat tome, no doubt but Goodwin's writing style is so smooth that it reads really easily! Love it.

Happy Saturday, Karen. I hope you have a nice weekend and can get in plenty of reading. I have The Bully Pulpit on my To-Read list.

Happy Saturday back at you Mark! I have The Bully Pulpit on my agenda! And four hours of Instacart; and then in the evening I get to be the "Party Attendant" for a Hispanic AA group who are celebrating two years as a group. Wonderful fun! As there will be no drinking, ahem, there will be much less drama. Also, a good occasion for reading.

I hope you can find relief for your leg pain soon. I'm also glad to hear that the Instacart gig is working out well for you.

Any thought of going to Oregon for a meetup later this fall? Due to health issues, my friend won't be travelling with me, but I am still hoping to get out of town a bit before the bad weather sets in for good.

Karen

Please keep us posted regarding MRI results. Pinched nerves are no fun!

I hope today is a good one and that your pain is manageable.

I've never been to an author chat/presentation. My dream is that Harper Lee would come out of her self imposed seclusion and give a talk about To Kill a Mockingbird. I'd jump through all kinds of hoops to see her.

Janet, is there a meet-up in planning? I'd not heard of any but I may not be "in the loop" yet. I would consider it, but I also have a Hawaiian trip in the planning stages for November. 70th birthday on 11/11; which will be excellent for a Hawaiian celebration.

Linda, I certainly will share what I learn. I am taking it very slowly. Lots of sleeping, as well as much walking about as I can manage. Today the pain has moved down into my foot which makes walking and standing difficult. I am hopeful that there is healing going on and that there will be an end to this soon.

Hi, Karen. Sorry you're having trouble with your leg and foot. Hope both improve quickly.

The Bully Pulpit caught my eye, too. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

I am well into The Bully Pulpit and I'm loving it. So much of the description of that era of Robber Barons and the Muckraking Press who helped TR, and others, overcome all the corruption reminds me of today. Sigh. So much money at the top, and so little for the bottom.

No, I'm not aware of any Portland meetup plans. I'm just remembering that when the previous one didn't happen, there was some talk of doing one this fall, instead.

Your trip to Hawaii sounds great!

Turning 70 in Hawaii! What a *wonderful* idea. I hope my Gentleman Caller and I can spend my 70th in Hawaii.

If it's still above the waves.

ha ha ha

plan change: may not make it to Hawaii until after I am 70! Hopefully, it will not have sunk yet.

I need to bring this list forward. I'd somehow forgotten how The Fault in Our Stars ended. And I was not sure I'd put it on my list. Wow! I am making progress in The Bully Pullpit but it will be a while before I am able to put down book #33 here! Dang.

Books Read in 2014

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, as a part of the American Authors Challenge
2. Maisie Dobbs, as a participant in reading about World War I
3. Stardust - read just because I bought it and it looked fun! by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
4. Redwall
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel (Audio CDs - read by Jeremy Davidson)
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. The Wives of Los Alamos
11. The Steady Running of the Hour
12. Gone Girl
13. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
14. Batwoman: Hydrology
15. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
16. daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
18. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
19. The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames
20. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
21. Regeneration by Pat Barker
22. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
23. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
24. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
25. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
26. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
27. A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
28. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
29. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
30. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
31. Renegade Champion
32. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

On an entirely different note: The trip to Hawaii planning has gone through a few iterations... first these dates, now those dates, no wait back to these dates. In any case the last news suggests I will be on Kaua'i just in time for celebrating my 70th birthday.

The MRI results show that I have a disc which has slipped out of its normal place, and it is sitting on a nerve! No wonder my nerve is complaining. Ouchie! Ouchie! Ouchie! The good news is that it will most likely not worsen and I'll go see a Neurosurgeon soon, and probably be scheduled for a "minor procedure". I am constantly amazed at the improvements in medical procedures. I confess I had a moment of "fear" for "back surgery" but I think I'm responding to historic information. I expect this will not be a big deal. Keep your fingers crossed, or please do whatever else you do when you are sending positive energy out to a friend. I think I can use some positive energy to put up with this pain until it is "fixed".

Ooh, ouch on the disc! Definitely sounds like good news, bad news, and I sincerely hope that you're in good shape for your birthday trip. I'm sending lots of good back-whammies your way.

I wonder if your doctor will suggest various physical therapy back stretches. There was one particular exercise that was able to squeeeeeeze my disc slowly back to where it needed to go.

The Bully Pulpit is now on the tbr pile. How are you feeling today Karen?

I am feeling pretty good today. I slept well, and the rest which the pain meds give me when I am in bed is very helpful. I was stiff for a few minutes this morning but it walked off quite easily and now I'm getting ready to go to a seminar. I will sit in the back, near the wall so I can get up when I need to do so.

Then, later, much later, I have an Instacart shift. I love it that I can read and earn money. That is the dream we all have, isn't it?

Thanks Janet, and Linda, for stopping by. I'm sure there will be exercises in my future.

Sending positive vibes to your back! I am glad you are enjoying Bully Pulpit. It took me MONTHS to read, and I was kind of mixed on it by the end.

Some back procedures are indeed very easy, a matter of 'tweaking' more than surgery I think. My best friend's mother was in agonising pain, mainly sciatic pain, after a herniated disc (which I've just read is the same as a slipped disc) but she had surgery on it and was able to come home the day of the procedure and although it was a while until she got strength back in the affected leg, the pain was reduced to mild discomfort immediately. Hopefully if you do need surgery it will end up as easy.

I'm not looking forward to my first experience of serious back pain, although being a horse rider it is inevitable rather than possible. At least three of my friends have fractured vertebrae after falling off their horses with various degrees of severity, and the accumulative wear and tear on riders' bodies is pretty extreme. Somehow our bodies don't think it's natural to be sat on half a ton of rather unpredictable animal, much less trying to control said beast with only our own strength and two small strips of leather ;)

Ha ha ha ! Of course, falling off horses.

When I needed to have both my hips replaced at a relatively younger age I was curious how this could be. So I did a little reading and discovered that kids who fall off horses frequently have small hip fractures which do not always heal just exactly right, and that might start early on-set arthritis, and eventual hip replacements. Yup! Sure enuff, I fell off horses quite often between ages 8 and 16.

I don't know what I'll blame the back on. Maybe excessive alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking and coffee drinking as a very stressed school teacher.

Any way, I'll focus on the idea that it is a simple, relatively straight forward procedure and that recovery will be swell. Thanks for the information! That helps a good deal.

I love that you're making your way through the Tales of the City series. Had you read it before?

Ellen, I think I read one or two, but I did not continue to follow it. I'm on book 4 if I ever finish The Bully Pulpit. Instacart is definitely giving me good reading time, but RL keeps giving me too much non-reading time. Like driving to Bellevue for the MRI, and then next week driving into Seattle for the Neurosurgeon appointment. Gawk!

Ouch on the slipped disc! I hope it gets to feeling better soon.

Thank you, Jim. My experience right now is that it usually does not bother me much except in the very early mornings after I first get out of bed, and in the evening when I'm tired and want to just sit. I think the "sleeping" and the "sitting" are the activities which the spine is not enjoying.

I'm very optimistic that it is fixable.

Karen

When I sleep on my side, I awake with back pain. When I sleep on my back, it is better.

Thinking of you and hoping surgery isn't necessary.

I forgot we shared bionic hip-ness on both sides, Karen. That's been a happiness-saver for me, and I suspect you'd say something similar. It's amazing what they can do these days, and I like what you're hearing from the docs about the slipped disc.

Linda, the is the opposite for me. On my back: ouchie! On my right side with a pillow between my knees, and a pain pill: sleep. Other side, sometimes works. Sometimes I just have to get up and walk it out.

Joe, that is right! My hips have been wonderful. I've almost forgotten how much the pain handicapped me back in the day. So, I'm very optimistic. As long as my condition is similar to one that many others have suffered, I'm pretty sure the docs will know what to do.

Four hours last night on Instacart taught me that doing this in the dark is less fun. Sitting on the hard chairs in the grocery store so I could use their lights for my reading was considerably less fun than my car seat. I know I will be making myself not available into the night hours.

The Bully Pulpit taught me a lot about the Philippines after the Spanish-American War and Taft's time there as Governor General. Very interesting how class and racial prejudices put down the seeds of much of the turmoil we have seen there in the 20th Century.

Oh yes, bionic hips. Definitely a hint of the future. Mine already 'crunch' a bit but thankfully no pain yet (given that I'm 28 I'm hoping to stave them off for a bit!) - I'm anticipating new hips before I'm 50 however.

Perhaps you can blame the back on the riding? Also - not to sound personal, but are you well endowed in the chest area? My mum, my grandmother, and my friend's mum are all overly blessed in that department and have had problems with lower back pain whereas my mum's sisters (3 of them) are all much less blessed and haven't had any problems at all. Of course if you're not then I'm out of guesses! ;)

Hi, Jenny, thanks for stopping by.

More wonders of modern medicine: breast reduction surgery a few years ago. The only down side was that my boobies used to provide me a visual barrier between my eyes and my overly well endowed tummy. Now with less boobies, more tummy is seen by me.

Tomorrow I begin the diet! (no, really, I'm enjoying my eating life these days and am not too too heavy)

I don't know what I really think about all this modern medicine changing our lives. Some good, some not so good, I guess. Learning to love who I am with all my flaws has been a very big challenge in my life, but I'm happy to say today I feel pretty comfortable in my skin (metaphorically speaking, of course).

I have one of those buckwheat filled bags which I heat up in the microwave sitting on my leg right now giving me some relief from early morning pain.

I watched the PBS program on vaccines and every time I see one of those I think how lucky I am to live in the age of penicillin and vaccines for diseases like polio. however, I still think that people have the right to question the use of antibiotics and vaccines and make the decisions that they think are correct for their families. I know that opens the door for lots of diseases but we should be able to choose.

I know that everybody loves the bionic hips and knees, but perhaps they will prove to have a down-side. Like breast implants did.

As for the back pain - I recommend Yoga. It is a very slow cure, but it works. Even for older people.

I sometimes think of the breast reduction option, but so far, not heading that way. It would make my clothes fit more easily, that's for sure, but no other pressing reasons at this time, and Jim would probably mourn.

I do hope the disc work helps you. and soon!

There are advantages, and some disadvantages, to the boob reduction. And certainly disappointing an important person in your life would be something to take into consideration. But I was surprised to learn that the newly configured breasts were difficult to fit into a nice bra. I've worn athletic "bandaid" bras for years, recently I did find some nice bras that fit pretty darn well, but this was after years of looking.

I am tired of the intermittent pain, and will be happy to talk with the neurosurgeon tomorrow. I hope the suggested work will fix this up, and soon is important, too. I want to be all better by the 10th of November as that seems to be the day when we are flying to Hawaii! And on the 11th I'll be 70 years old, feeling not a day over 50!

I am watching "The Roosevelts", Ken Burns latest made for TV history book. Loving it, and it is a great companion piece to The Bully Pulpit.

Today is a RED Letter day for me: appointment with neurosurgeon with hopes for an excellent plan to get rid of my Pain in My Butt; and also, it is the last HOA meeting I will have to run. Yay!!!

The best of luck with your appointment today. Here's hoping you find the relief you need so you can enjoy your amazing trip to the fullest.

Good luck! Eager to hear that help is on the way.

*anticipating good results from neurosurgeon consult*

Thank you, Janet! I feel as if my life has been filled with good luck so I'm confident the pattern will hold.

Judy, thank you so much for coming by with your good wishes. About "good luck" see >58 maggie1944:. Enough said.

Richard, hold that thought until about 2:30 - 3:00 pm your time. I should have those good results by then. I'll let you guys know as soon as I can get to it.

The love and good wishes which surround me are truly awesome and help keep spirits bright.

Fingers crossed for good things and some plan to reduce your pain.

Hi Karen! We are slowly wrapping up our Hawaii adventure and of course we loved every minute of it. I prefer the more bucolic setting of the Big Island over the city madness of Honululu but it did have it's charms.

Hope all is well in your world and I bet you are looking forward to your Hawaii trip, which is coming up soon.

Well, the good news from the land of neurosurgery is that my misplaced disc and bulging tissue is not severe enough to require surgery. Just Physical Therapy. Which is what I wanted from the start, but I'm not a doctor.

Sigh.

Pain continues and now I have the difficult task of getting a prescription filled quickly when they don't like to do any thing quickly.

I'm not a happy camper right now but things could be incredibly worse so I'm just chalking my mood up to the pain and not taking it seriously. Think I'll go take a nap.

That's really good news you don't have to go through the trauma and anxiety of surgery. Even if it is a simple procedure, no surgery is what you'd call pleasant!

It's a shame it's taken so long to get the suggestion of PT though. I've learnt, through many accidents and mystery illnesses, to go into the doctors armed with as much information as possible and to push for what I think is right. I'm not always the best at this, and it has put some doctors noses out of joint, but my best friend is a fantastic 'mama loin' and keeps talking till they give her what she wants.

Hopefully they'll hurry up with your painkillers and you'll be able to get some relief soon.

Eek, apparently my friend is a mama loin instead of a mama lion.

Napping is excellent as a non-invasive, non-narcotic way to alter mood and pain.

So glad that it's just PT not surgery; sorry to know about the pain issues.

Well, progress is made. Although it took pretty much the whole day, plus an introduction to the Urgent Care PA (a darling young woman named Maggie, which of course made me love her immediately), I did get the pain meds + an appointment with the Primary Care Physician tomorrow. These good results came from my continuing to say, to myself mainly, this is not acceptable. I hate the pain in my leg, and foot. I do not do well with pain. But I have the pills now... so I'm happier.

Also, a friend who will be using my spare bedroom on occasions, took me to a nearby Korean Spa! Wonderful. Multiple hot tubs of differing temps, plus a dry Sauna, and a steam room, and some hot rooms where you lay on the floor which is either hot sand, or mud, .... there is even more, all ending with a wonderful Korean Body wash... where they exfoliate you like you've never been exfoliated before. (Doesn't sound wonderful in the writing of it, but the experience is quite wonderful). All this did make my back feel better for a few hours which was very very nice.

I am now having a late dinner. I forgot to buy dog food, but being dogs they will forgive me when I do have food to give them. I'm going to take my pain meds and go to bed early, maybe read my new "Taking Care of Your Back" book.

Thank you all for checking in on me. It is a bit of a roller coaster ride around here, but the HOA work is done, and finished, and I'm glad that one stress is gone.

I hope all is well with all of my good friends. I'll try to answer more individually, and do a little surging about on the morrow!

There's a saying that there's no such thing as "minor" surgery, so this seems like good news, Karen. Yesterday's events sound positive, and what a good idea to go to the Korean spa!

I hope your pain diminishes and the instruction manual you've been given helps.

Thanks, Joe. I hope so, too! Woke up this morning at 4 am after a good 8 hours of sleep, thanks to two pills. Love it! Leg hurts but it will walk out.

"...the good news from the land of neurosurgery is that my misplaced disc and bulging tissue is not severe enough to require surgery."
Whew! PT won't necessarily be fun but better than surgery! Karen, I'm so sorry you continue to have back pain. I have been very lucky (so far) with my healthy back. I think it must be miserable to have that center of you hurt so much. I've heard wonderful things about the Korean spas... maybe I'll try that even though I'm not in pain.

You know the instacart thing may be less appealing as the days get shorter. I hadn't thought of that but will be interested to hear how it goes for you as we move quickly toward the winter solstice. I was somewhat surprised this evening to look up around 7:50 and have it be pretty much dark. Sad face.

Still, I'm ready for some precipitation.

Thanks for stopping by, Ellen. The back is a on-again, off-again, proposition these days. If I do a little stretching in the morning and do a few light housekeeping chores which involve walking about I usually feel pretty good. The hardest moments come when I first get out of bed, and at the end of the day when I'm tired. The bed is a little bit of a torture couch as it is hard to get comfy until the pain pill kicks in. But I do have good feeling that this will be manageable and will continue to improve as I learn more about how to protect the back from the wrong kinds of use. Degeneration and osteoporosis are definitely part of the picture so I'm not looking for "cure", just a way to live with what I have without too much stress and pain.

Counting blessings is definitely one way to make spirits rise: I can walk, I can talk, and I have nothing to worry about, really! I'm not without food, shelter, clothing, and love. I have it all, don't I?

I hope the weekend brings a little of the moisture from the sky which we are craving, and a little of that sunshine which makes us smile, too.

Morning Karen! Just trying to come down after that BIG Hawaii High. Glad I have the weekend to recover. Been slowly working on my photo gallery, over on my thread. It's pain-staking but will be worth it.

Hope you have an R & R weekend planned yourself.

Thanks, Mark. I have Instacart shifts for Saturday, and Sunday as they are the best days for orders but then I did schedule a week off to try to get a good grip on this back issue so I can continue with my life in good order.

Reading is definitely on my agenda for today!

Ok, This is a really really Stab Stab Stabbity kind of an event: innocently eating a flour tortilla for lunch and #crack - front tooth, sometimes called the eye tooth, broke right off into my mouth and I could easily have swallowed with the flour tortilla. I "rescued it, or the pieces of it" and called the dentist. Of course, this was Saturday at lunch and I have no hope of being called back until beginning of business on Monday.

On the silver lining side: no pain, no blood, no strain. A big black hole in my smile so I'll just be grumpy all the rest of the weekend, except when I'm reading.

Think I'll do do that now.

>74 maggie1944: Oh HELL no!! I'm so sorry.

I'm so glad no surgery's needed!

I know, Richard. The body is falling apart under my eyes. Hopefully I can have a nice looking peg tooth put in there.

Thanks, Jim, I think I am glad, too, although I need to live through this period of time until I fix the problem with exercises.

That Korean Spa sounds wonderful. I decided, after a hellicious week at work, that I am going to use my massage gift certificate on myself. I had originally purchased it for my mother, but that didn't pan out last spring so I am going to use it.

I had a most wonderful beginning to the work day on Friday and a few hours later I was in the depths of despair. My students treated me to doughnuts that they got for free from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. They dressed up like pirates and got a dozen free doughnuts for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. They brought one to work for me at 8:00 a.m. Then a few hours later I got a severe reprimand in an official e-mail for sending an e-mail to an associate dean because I could not find any person in that department to help with a technical problem. The incident occurred on August 29 - the Friday before the Labor Day holiday and I think many people started their holiday early. I was told that I had not followed approved procedure, and had not followed the chain of command.

I am trying to focus on the doughnuts.

I am sorry you did not take off early on Labor Day weekend yourself!

I was "corrected" a number of times during my 31 year long career and although I can remember the reasons for most instances none seem very important now. The important stuff I remember are people I helped, and enjoyed; some teams I worked with and loved; and some notable accomplishments. Best of all I remember tough kids with whom I developed a bond. Focus on stuff like that and let the rest of the crap flow on down the rivers of yesterdays. 😎

>50 maggie1944: I also had this surgery, but it was more than a few years ago. It was the best thing I ever did for myself. It was a painful recovery, but worth it. Developing at a very early age, I grew very weary of the constant bullying from little boys. Then, as an adult, the little boys became big boys, only they were just as insensitive and idiotic as ten year olds.

How interesting that we have this surgery in common.

>74 maggie1944:, Oh, no, I just read that a front tooth is broken. Drat! I'm sure your tongue wants to go to this spot. My dentist reminds me that as we age, our teeth crack more easily. I'm so sorry you are experiencing these health woes.

And, since you are interested in American presidents, are you watching the excellent Ken Burns series on The Roosevelts?

Yes, I have the series being recorded on the DVD system my cable company provides, so I can watch at my leisure. This is very good because I really cannot sit still for long periods of time, and with this I can pause it and go clean a couple of dishes and come back. Yay.

Yes, it does seem as though I'm in a "when it rains it pours" kind of time. I like my dentist and I'm sure he'll be able to help me very soon, but meanwhile I feel very odd about my smile.

My sister e-mailed me about the poor state of the teeth of all those prominent people in the Roosevelt series. Her comment was that if the rich and famous people had teeth like that she hated to see how the rest of the country fared. I told her the number 1 reason for rejecting people for the draft in WWII was bad teeth as the result of poor childhood nutrition. She said that TV series gave her a new appreciation for her dentist.

I like my dentist very much. So far he is the one person on earth who tells me that I am perfect whenever I go see him. I wonder how long that will last?

Interesting thoughts about teeth. So many issues come together with teeth: genetics, childhood nutrition & care of teeth, advent of orthodontics, adult teeth hygiene and visits to dentists, quality of dental services and materials, new technology..... Wow!

I have not had good luck with teeth right from the start. My mouth was a mess, and the orthodontia my mother could afford was dental students at the University of Washington, for 7 years! Seven years! And as far as I can remember there was no emphasis on teaching me any dental hygiene. How could that have been?

And then all the mistakes I made as a young adult: too much coffee, too much alcohol, too many cigarettes, too much stress.... yada yada yada

So, not surprised I've got issues now.

sending positive thoughts that physical therapy and medication will help.

Thank you, Linda. Tomorrow I'll be chasing down pain meds, a referral for the PT which says "urgent", and an appointment with the dentist. Taking a week off from the job.

So, how did the chasing go today?

no go

Doctor's "hard copy" did not make it to the pharmacy, yet. It is 3:25 pm here, now, and I can call them again. Thanks for the reminder.

Appointment with dentist was fine. I'm having a retainer type appliance made with a tooth to wear while we do all the steps to the new implant.

Will pick it up on Thursday. Will look OK, but I may still have to lisp.

Morning Karen! Glad the dentist appt, went fine, sorry about the lisp. Hope the day goes well.

Thanks, Mark. I am taking time off from the Instacart job and I am finished with the HOA stuff so I should be able to relax and hope that the back/leg sciatica issue continues to improve. Reading seems like it might be the thing to do! First full day of Autumn! Yay!

Yeesh, I can't believe you had the tooth come out at the same time you're dealing with the slipped disc. Your positive attitude is inspiring. I had a temporary tooth earlier this year, and it kept coming out. A little embarrassing at times, but I'd just slip away and glue the darn thing back in. The permanent one has been no problema.

I haven't been a zealous watcher of Ken Burns documentaries, but this Roosevelt one sounds awfully good. I'm still making my way through the Cosmos series, and trying to figure out how time and space and speed and gravity work.

I am impressed, Joe, to read you are contemplating the entire Cosmos! Wow! A larger subject than The Roosevelts, but only by a smidgeon. (-:

Positive Attitude. I learned some years ago that no matter how much junk life hands me, I do better if I keep that attitude of "I am so rich in so many ways" and these little bothers will go away, and in a year I'll have forgotten they even were in my life.

:-)

I'm taking notes on that positive attitude. I like that.

>93 maggie1944: Agreed. My thinking is, "You can have bad things happening in your life *and* be miserable about it or you can just have bad things happening." I'll skip the suffering part. OkThankYouvVeryMuch.

Hi Karen! Passing by to say Hello. Hope you have a good weekend.

Hi Abby! Thanks for the good wishes, and I am happy to see you stopping by my thread!

I am glad to hear that you have a day off. I am really tired and so glad that today is Friday. I don't plan on doing much of anything this weekend except baking some Rye Bread and cooking some Indian Cabbage in the crock pot.

Hi, Benita. I've enjoyed having this week off, and expect to see next week's schedule sometime today.

Saw the Physical Therapist and I was impressed with this first appointment during which he did lots of diagnostic stuff and told me in detail what was going on. Evidently one of the vetebra is slightly out of alignment, and one disc, between veterbra, is bulging. One would bug me when bending forward, the other when bending backwards. Yes, sitting for long periods of time is not suggested, and for now neither is lifting heavy boxes, lose the heavy purse, and do core training exercises. Must improve the posture! And walking. As much walking as the dogs and I can handle. I am not to take this lightly as the fact that my pain has moved from my upper leg down to my calf, that is not a good thing. He hopes we can put the pain back up in the thigh, or get rid of it totally.

Smile: exercising 2-3X a day. Oh, cheers.

Good to have a plan, even if it's a pain in the calf, right, Karen? That all makes sense. My sympathy on the lack of delightfulness, but it still seems much better than surgery.

At least you've got a fantastic reason to be exercising - getting rid of that pain! I reckon that's about the only way I'd ever get the incentive to do so, apart from riding that is, and I don't really count that. Hopefully you'll get added benefits over and above losing the pain to make it all worthwhile.

Joe and Jenny, thanks for cheering me on! Getting rid of pain is a great motivator, no doubt. And avoiding more of this will be good, too. Tai Chi promises to be helpful, too.

Oh, sigh. The pain does tire.

I did finish my book "of long time reading" today. I have no idea how long ago it was that I started reading this book in the bathtub, but I know I enjoyed it. The History of France was highly unusual. Very well researched the author dug back into the dim past, post Romans, and pre World War I, and attempted to explain all the various parts of France which eventually came together. I now understand why so much emphasis in the modern era on "Properly Spoken French". So many parts of what we now know as modern France did not speak any version of French at all. There were all sorts of dialects. And some parts of France were not really even known until the 19th and 20th Century except by the few people who eked out a living on less than rich lands.

The genre is called Historic Geography and I found it very cool. No emphasis on "famous" and "rich" people, all the emphasis on what the land was like and how the people lived. Fascinating.

And so, here I am, on September 26:

Books Read in 2014

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, as a part of the American Authors Challenge
2. Maisie Dobbs, as a participant in reading about World War I
3. Stardust - read just because I bought it and it looked fun! by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
4. Redwall
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel (Audio CDs - read by Jeremy Davidson)
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. The Wives of Los Alamos
11. The Steady Running of the Hour
12. Gone Girl
13. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
14. Batwoman: Hydrology
15. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
16. daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
18. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
19. The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames
20. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
21. Regeneration by Pat Barker
22. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
23. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
24. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
25. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
26. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
27. A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
28. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
29. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
30. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
31. Renegade Champion
32. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
33. The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography

A remarkable book digging into the history of the land, rather than a history of important people, and wars, and inventions, etc. I loved it. I realized that those of us raised after World War II think of the nations of western Europe as pretty much settled, set in stone. Many are woefully ignorant of the reasons why Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Norway and Sweden, are "nations" today. The very fact of a group of people finding enough in common to create a nation is fascinating, and the U.S.A., Canada, Mexico and all of the S. American countries followed a very different path.

France did not follow an easy path to the "finding enough in common" to build a nation. This book gives light to many of the interesting challenges the French faced. I recommend it to any one who finds history fascinating.

I know what you mean about the exercising - especially about the core exercises. I have gained about 40 pounds in three years and now my back hurts. I know from 20 years of doing yoga that the reason is that I am suffering from hanging too much weight on the front and not enough on the backside of me. Like many women my age I have gained most of that weight around my middle and my core muscles aren't dealing with that really well. I truly hate core muscle exercises. I would rather walk or run than do them. At least if I am running or walking on a treadmill I can read on my Nook at the same time. I can't do that while doing all those weird core things.

I will have to dig out my copy of Discovery of France. I have been fascinated by all the different versions of French ever since I read Kate Moss's book Labyrinth which is set in Languedoc. The part of France where they spoke Ocitian. That language almost died out and is now being revived using the same model that Ireland did with Irish Gaelic. It fascinates me that Europe can be home to so many different languages and all in such a small space!

I also saw on FB a couple who bought an abandoned troglodyte home, carved into a stone mountain, for a couple of dollars & then spent a couple of years savings to up date it with electricity, plumbing, etc. Now there's some history brought to life. Search for troglodyte on FB and see if you find it.

Morning Karen! Hope you have an R & R weekend, planned. I am enjoying Cress. I know you blew through this trio, earlier in the year. I like her writing style.

I'm curious - did you have to only read the book in the bathtub? ;) I can just imagine taking extra baths in order to finish a good book, and staying in there for hours at a time to keep reading.

Hi, Mark. Yes, I've planned a couple of relaxing activities, much needed. Going to explore a local organization which encourages urban gardens for food. And tomorrow, I'll join a small group who meets occasionally to make some music.

Glad to have finished reading The Discovery of France and now am concentrating on The Bully Pulpit to try to finish it before our book group meeting in October.

October! How did it get to be October so soon? I hope your autumn is mild and comfortable. Last Winter was way too tough for your part of the world.

Hi, Jenny. Nope, I did not limit the book to the bathtub moments but it was mostly read there. I love to sink into a nice warm bath and spend a few minutes reading a page or two. Seldom stay there long enough to read much, so to make real progress I would read it elsewheres, too.

I figured as much but it's a fantastic image, being desperate to finish the book and so darting off for the tenth bath of the day :).

you made me smile and chuckle. Well, done.

When I was in my teens and twenties I would spend hours in the tub reading. I'd have to let some of the water out and re-heat it now and then or I would have frozen!

>112 Morphidae: I do the same thing now! I love reading in the tub.

It seems so often that we book lovers are cut from the same piece of cloth. Although, I guess reading in the bath tub appeals to only some of us.

>99 maggie1944: >103 maggie1944: >104 benitastrnad: The Geography of France sounds like a really interesting read. But I wouldn't read it in the bath - how do you avoid getting the book wet? I'm really not a bath person anyway - and it's not easy to read a book in the shower!

I'm also suffering from pain I could have avoided if only I'd done my exercises and lost 20 lbs! I empathize totally. So now I'm back to my exercises to avoid piriformis syndrome (sort of a sciatica, but centered in my rump), and get my hips level again (my pelvis tends to rotate to an angle, which doesn't help the other stuff). Walking helps, but is not sufficient, alas. And I'm thinking of using the website Terri Loeffler uses, MyFitnessPal. She and her son Keith were in town this weekend; she's lost 30 lbs, and Keith, who's a lot taller, lost 70 lbs this year! They both look great. (She took the pix - check her thread for them.)

When I read a lot more 'real' books as opposed to on my Kindle, I used to read in the shower a lot, even doing a full wash including shampoo and conditioner on my hair, shaving my legs etc, all achieved while still reading and not getting the book very wet. It would have a gentle spray and the slight wrinkling of pages, no more.

It's a simple matter of coordination but I daren't try it with a Kindle. Now I just have my ipad propped on the windowsill and watch a programme with subtitles on while I shower.

>116 lunacat: Wow! I thought I was joking!

Thanks, you guys, what a fun dialog.

I have heard of people putting an e-reader in one of the large zip lock bags to read in the tub; also, I think I might do that for reading on the beach in Hawaii. The wind usually constantly blows a bit and so there is a bit of flying sand particles. Not something you want in your Kindle's crooks and crannies.

I like my showers without other distractions. I like the sensuality of washing and showering and feel it is good all on its own. Different from how I feel about the baths.

Ooooh, that's an idea with the Kindle. Genius. If I'm going to read the Kindle in the bath I normally sit cross legged, lean my forearms on the edge of the tub and have it so it's over the edge of the bath and therefore not likely to end up taking a swim.

My anxiety riddled brain doesn't like being left to it's own devices - I think far too much if I don't have external stimulus. And given that I have extremely low self confidence, I don't like focusing on my body and how it looks.

Showering with a book isn't that difficult, especially as I don't like getting my face wet, even if I'm washing my hair. You stand so that the spray hits just below your shoulders, and hold one arm with the book in that hand out of the stream of the shower, doing all washing/shaving etc with the other hand. The book can transfer to the other hand when it has to, like when it comes time to shave your other armpit! But it's perfectly feasible to get all the way through with no difficulties at all.

We didn't have a shower growing up, only a bath, so not being able to read while washing wasn't an option. And I've only ever had over the bath showers with small showerheads and low water pressure, not a dedicated shower unit with a lovely large head where it is much more difficult to read. You need decent arm reach to be able to achieve it.

Karen. You are going to Hawaii. When? We have plans for early March.....

Not having a Kindle, I hadn't really thought about the issue of being able to read in the tub. When we lived in Oregon we had a wonderful tub which we had designed specifically with reading in mind (the light was just right). But we haven't done the remodeling that would be required for such here in Seattle. I never take baths any more. I miss them (hot water, book, glass of wine.....).

I hope to see you at Book Group in October (as you said, how did that get here already??), even though I won't have read the book.

Hi, Ellen.

I actually printed out an inventory of the books I have on my Kindle. Whew. I have lots to read in Hawaii and I think I could go with just the Kindle, no dead tree books at all. Hawaii is scheduled for November 10-24, we will be flying stand-by just like college kids, so having good reading material will be crucial. As will packing light.

I look forward to seeing you. I think the The Bully Pulpit is a solid read, as is usual for Doris Goodwin, however I'm a bit discouraged as I don't know how many will show up in October having read it. It is a big book!

I also picked up In The Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country, a memoir of growing up in Idaho. It has captivated me right from the get-go. Kim Barnes starts by describing her family's origins in Oklahoma where they were unable to make a living off the land, and then moving to the logging country in Idaho. It is near the part of Idaho where I spent my summers as a kid and so I'm fascinated in her descriptions. This will be my new "bathtub" book as it is light in weight, and paperback. Easy to hold. But I am afraid I may read it right up, and have to find another new "bathtub" book.

Happy Sunday, Karen! Hope you have a R & R day planned. Mine is simple: Books/football! Grins...

reading, planning what to read in Hawaii, and supervising some painting on my deck. Last sunny day, perhaps.....

I'd love to visit Hawaii one day but it's a bit far from the UK! As is every warm, tropical place. Looking forward to the pics and news from your trip though, I bet you're going to have a fantastic time.

Hope it's not your last sunny day as well, seems winter is determined to make an appearance despite my attempts to believe it's not possible ;)

Planning what to read in Hawaii sounds like an awfully pleasant pursuit. Look forward to hearing what you decide on.

You sure make History of France sound good. I'm mulling. I know I want to try The Bully Pulpit at some point.

The rare double post, spotted only in exotic climes.

Oh, look: squirrel.........

Here's an interesting article about the on going controversies with Amazon's treatment of some books, and some authors - "Literary Lions Unite in Protest Over Amazon’s E-Book Tactics" - found in this morning's NY Times. (sorry it is not a link, but I goofed)

I am so tempted to boycott Amazon, and yet and still, am finding it hard to do. What do you all think about this?

Okay, wait. When are you going to Hawaii?

I think it's funny (and kind of cool) that we both seem to be on a schedule of annual trips to that lovely 50th state.

I am trying to purchase less from Amazon and more from my local indies: U Bookstore, Elliott Bay Books, Third Place Books (on those not-quite-monthly Mondays when I get up there). But I agree that it is hard to do.
I want the book. If I just click on "purchase," it arrives two days later. No need to squeeze the bookstore visit into my totally overwhelmed Real Life.
Sigh.

>129 EBT1002: trips to the bookstore are not my problem, here in NYC. Bookshelf space is. So I'll keep buying for my Kindle when deals are available, but dead tree books - maybe not.

Ellen, I totally take my Hawaiian aspirations from my friend Robin who went to college there and is totally BONDED to the islands. She tries to go 2X a year, but I only try to accompany her on one of those trips. This year we are scheduled for November 10-24 which gives me the gift of celebrating my 70th birthday there! Kaua'i here we come!

I also am short on shelf space as I'm trying to "downsize" so I've repurposed some of my shelves. But I don't know. I keep getting dead tree books. My Kindle and my Nooks are already plumb full up (I don't mean they are FULL) with books I need to read. My little visual habits means when I see a book I've not read I want to remember to pick it up. When it is on Kindle, I forget that I own it. Sigh. I do not have a very good management system.

I could stop buying books right now and have enough to read for the rest of my life.

hmmm

now there's a thought.

I just spent a rare day at home. I have had a sore mouth for the last month and yesterday I finally gave up. The pain was just too much. I made an emergency trip to the dentist. I had an abscess. I don't know which was worse the problem or the cure. I was in PAIN last night - even with the medication. However, it has been getting better all day and I will be back at work tomorrow. The dentist wants me to get the tooth pulled and I wonder why since there is nothing wrong with the tooth. No cavities, no cracks, no nothing, just solid tooth. The problem is that I am aging and my gums are getting loose. I wonder if he has a cure for aging?

Go see a second dentist. If it does not make sense to you, tell the dentist that it sounds crazy to do that. Ask Why, why, why. Losing a tooth is not a small matter. I think we do not realize how important our mouth is until we age a bit, and then we realize any infection, or disease, is right there: next door to the brain. "food for thought"

I finished reading In The Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country by Kim Barnes and loved it. Love, love, loved it because it reminded me of the wonderful land I knew as a kid, of the dry prairie, the hawks circling in the sky above the wheat fields, the magpie's playing in the trees by the creek.

Books Read in 2014

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, as a part of the American Authors Challenge
2. Maisie Dobbs, as a participant in reading about World War I
3. Stardust - read just because I bought it and it looked fun! by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
4. Redwall
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel (Audio CDs - read by Jeremy Davidson)
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. The Wives of Los Alamos
11. The Steady Running of the Hour
12. Gone Girl
13. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
14. Batwoman: Hydrology
15. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
16. daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
18. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
19. The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames
20. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
21. Regeneration by Pat Barker
22. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
23. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
24. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
25. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
26. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
27. A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
28. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
29. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
30. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
31. Renegade Champion
32. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
33. The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography
34. In The Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country by Kim Barnes

Kim Barnes grew up in a part of Idaho within a short drive of the part of Idaho where I spent my summers. The Idaho she knew was of the loggers, and the rivers, and hunting in the woods, small towns, and fundamental Christian churches. My Idaho was only in the summers, and was hot and dry, and filled with wheat fields, and barley fields, and hay fields and cattle, chicken, pigs, and long long days. I loved my Idaho and continue to love the great outdoors because of those summers. Kim Barnes loved her Idaho with a passion, too, her forests, deer, fish, creeks, rivers, and long cold winters. She did know a different Idaho but she expresses her love for country so clearly and with such luminous language that I am grabbed by the heart, and grieve with her for our loss of the great wild west. The forests are not the same with so much clear cutting, the rivers are not the same due to dams to give us electricity, and the prairies are not the same as they are farmed by corporations, not families.

I felt a deep sadness for my lost childhood, and hers.

Her books are more than that, too, as she goes into depth about her family's participation in a fundamental Christian church, and her experiences as a child and teenager. I do not share this with her and I feel she was abused by this church, and her father's unwavering commitment to his version of the Christian bible, where women are told to follow their men, and submit with no talking. Women find their glory, according to this view, by submitting to their husband's leadership, no matter how misguided.

I don't want to make this review a review of my thought about all that. I'll just say that Kim Barnes does a remarkable job of describing her upbringing and her path out of there.

I listened to a Books On The Nighstand podcast yesterday and was stimulated to buy Shot In The Heart (for my Kindle) by Mikal Gilmore, Gary Gilmore's younger brother. I did not know that the Gilmore family is another case of Mormonism gone wrong, horribly. I don't know much about Mormons but have read a couple of books about the violence of its early days. Fascinating that this younger brother was able to remove himself from his family history and traditions, and live to examine the whole deal, and share it with us.

I also bought The Alienist as a result of the podcast, and The Thirteenth Tale as a result of Audio.com advertising the best multiple reader audio books. Then, just because I could not stop myself I bought a copy of The Wind in the Willows with some delightful artwork, and another book about the artists who illustrated that lovely children's book.

Books!

I finished reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki by Murakami and I have to say that I enjoyed it. Joe reported that it is much more like Norwegian Wood than it is Kafka on the Shore and he is correct. It is a modern Japanese coming of age story. Well written as always.

The great thing about books is that there are so many and they fit so many different needs and people. That is a good thing. LT is also good at accommodating all these differences of opinion as well.

I forgot to tell you that the tooth is much better. No pain for three days now, so I am hoping this episode is over and that the tooth won't bother me for another 16 years.

Hi Karen! Just checking in after my Lost Weekend. Boy, was it chilly and Chicago is not much warmer. I will be going to long pants for tomorrow.

I was also intrigued by Shot In The Heart and it is also on my WL. The Executioner's Song is one of my all-time favorite NNF reads. Have you ever read it?

BB's fpr both In the Wilderness and Shot in the Heart. I'm struggling to finish my ROOTS challenge this year, so probably won't get to new suggestions until 2015, but both of these sound very interesting.

Mark, I am so sorry you are finding yourself back in long pants. Your summer was pretty good and it is sad to see the back end of it, but it is more chilly here, too, so I know it is time. I've not read The Executioner's Song and I'm not sure I'm up to reading more about this sick family. Wow. I am sympathetic with Mikal who was born late into the family and did not suffer as much abuse, and has somehow been able to live a more reasonable life. He certainly is a good writer.

Janet, I think In the Wilderness is quite an unusual book and well worth your attention. Set in our neck of the woods, it is.

Did you mean Shot in the Heart?

Whoops, yes. I had no idea Gilmore came from such a troubled background.

I think his book about the abuse his father and mother visited on the four brothers would be more than enough evidence to convince all parents that harsh punishment, especially corporal punishment, is totally, and unequivocally wrong for children. I think one very important point is clear to me from this book - children have an inborn sense of justice and will accept consequences for bad behavior, but if the consequences are out of proportion to the wrong doing, the child will know this and will build resentments equal in proportion to the severity of the punishment. What the child will do with those resentments is another whole discussion.

I also think it might be seen as an argument against capital punishment.

I haven't listened to many audiobooks but The Thirteenth Tale is at the top of the heap. I could listen to those ladies read a phone book.

Books Read in 2014

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, as a part of the American Authors Challenge
2. Maisie Dobbs, as a participant in reading about World War I
3. Stardust - read just because I bought it and it looked fun! by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
4. Redwall
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel (Audio CDs - read by Jeremy Davidson)
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. The Wives of Los Alamos
11. The Steady Running of the Hour
12. Gone Girl
13. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
14. Batwoman: Hydrology
15. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
16. daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
18. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
19. The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames
20. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
21. Regeneration by Pat Barker
22. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
23. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
24. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
25. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
26. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
27. A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
28. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
29. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
30. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
31. Renegade Champion
32. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
33. The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography
34. In The Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country by Kim Barnes
35. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore

I really appreciated Mikal's book; he had the courage to open his heart as well as his mind to his readers. Having a family with so much dramatic dysfunction, and living within a culture which unfortunately reinforces some of those dysfunctions, made for fascinating reading. Mikal was born the last of the four sons and did not experience some of the worst physical punishments his other brothers experienced, from both father and mother. Your heart is broken for these children as they are beaten and punished completely out of proportion to any thing the child did, or did not do.

And yet Mikal is clear that he knows that this family background in no way justifies the criminal behavior some of the brothers chose. And he also knowns that he believes that society's way of dealing with criminals which includes abuse, physical harm, and complete lack of any understanding of the individual's personal challenges, is one more factor which contributes to the increasing criminality of some of the men after they are set free from incarceration.

His brother, Gary Gilmore combined the worst possible responses to all these influences in his life. His response to his father's unreasonable and arbitrary authoritarianism, to the schools' efforts at teaching him some self discipline in arbitrary ways, to the police assumption that once a kid begins to flirt with criminality that the die is cast, to the prisons many abuses, and eventually to anything which he perceived as blocking his desires results in his acts of murder.

The heart of the book is Mikal's efforts to understand why his brother insisted on giving up on all legal challenges to his death sentence, and walking to the firing squad with a sense of having finally won. It is a fascinating question which attracted attention from Bill Moyer, and Norman Mailer, as well as much media attention; but, in the end I think Mikal's effort brings real light to a puzzling and dramatic event.

Highly recommended.

Good review of Shot in the Heart, Karen! I wasn't familiar with the abusive background. It sounds like quite an enlightening book.

I am busy, busy, busy with "work" which allows me to read. So smart, am I to have found "jobs" which let me sit and read. Last night I was the Party Attendant to a Baby Shower for some Muslim women. While they ate, and sang and danced, and walked around in stiletto heels (some of them), I read The Alienist. I am hooked completely, and can't wait to get started on my early morning shift with Instacart so I can keep reading.

The bad news is that the sciatic nerve irritation has caused the bottom of my foot to hurt like crazy. Believe me walking around Costco shopping with a bad foot is not so fun. Oh, well, life has its ups and downs.

I'm ashamed to say I don't know much about the Muslim faith - is it a requirement in certain situations for them to have an attendant present? What exactly is your role in doing so? I'm fascinated by different cultures so I really should become more educated.

Sorry to hear that you're still in a lot of pain from the sciatic problems. Hopefully you'll be able to find some solution, or at least some decent drugs :)

My home owners association owns, and operates, a clubhouse. We rent it out to parties of all sorts. Muslim women get together for baby showers and have all women parties, we always have Party Attendants when we rent the clubhouse in order to be there to answer questions, and to encourage the party to end when they said it would. No problem with the nondrinking Muslims, but sometimes we have parties where there is lots of drinking, and a DJ for music which can become too loud for a residential area.

No requirement from the religion as far as I know. It is our requirement, not theirs.

Ahh, I see, thanks for explaining. I'd been prejudiced and assumed it was a religious requirement as I know that women, specifically unmarried women, often have to have an escort of some kind in some conservative Islamic cultures. I didn't know if it was this type of thing, although I was wondering how it would be required with an all women party as you describe.

Happy Sunday, Karen! I enjoyed your thoughts on Shot in the Heart. That is on my list. Have a good day.

I hosted a dinner party last night - Tuscan style. We ate outdoors accompanied by the setting sun and some nice chianti. It was fun, but today I have to do the clean up.

My patio looked very nice, but I do have to say that the patio was in its prime about two weeks ago. The greenery was very lush and the flowers sparkled. Things are still blooming and very green but they are looking tired. Or perhaps it is me.

I read Shot in the Heart some years ago and still think about it. The Portland connection was really interesting to me as well.

Hi, Mark. I think you'll find Shot in the Heart interesting. Especially since you enjoyed The Executioner's Song.

Benita, I would have loved to have dinner at your house. Sounds quite idyllic. Next time have your guests do the lion's share of cleaning up, right?

Rhonda, I noticed you read the book about the Chinese massacre, on the Snake River, was it?. I did too. Very interesting. Back in the old wild west people sure got away with a goodly number of atrocious behaviors, didn't they? I like reading northwest history, especially that of areas a ways away from Seattle.

Books Read in 2014

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, as a part of the American Authors Challenge
2. Maisie Dobbs, as a participant in reading about World War I
3. Stardust - read just because I bought it and it looked fun! by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
4. Redwall
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel (Audio CDs - read by Jeremy Davidson)
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. The Wives of Los Alamos
11. The Steady Running of the Hour
12. Gone Girl
13. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
14. Batwoman: Hydrology
15. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
16. daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
18. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
19. The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames
20. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
21. Regeneration by Pat Barker
22. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
23. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
24. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
25. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
26. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
27. A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
28. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
29. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
30. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
31. Renegade Champion
32. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
33. The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography
34. In The Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country by Kim Barnes
35. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
36. The Alienist by Caleb Carr

An excellent combination of history, and mystery. Author is an expert in history and uses his skills to bring together well researched information about serial killers, the history of crime in New York City, and the development of crime detecting methods using the beginnings of psychology. And he does all this with a heart stopping mystery well crafted to keep you reading even when you have other things you should be doing. Like sleeping, perhaps.

>153 maggie1944: Yes, the Gregory Nokes book. It was very interesting, and scary. I have been meaning to read his book about slavery in Oregon as well.

The sciatica pain sounds horrid. I hope you get it under control soon.

Back to the PT this morning. I need something to get rid of the pain in the foot; I do not want to walk when it is active and this is not good! I am sleeping a lot, and that has helped.

Oh good. When we last talked you said it would be a week or two before you'd get back to PT. Yay!

Morning Karen!

Boo! Hiss! Dang!

Physical therapist called in "sick". So, I have to wait for my help.

Sweet Thursday, Karen. Hope the week is going well. I read The Alienist, years ago, so I am due a reread.

What have you started next?

I loved The Alienist!

I have picked up The Executioner's Song: follow-up to Shot in the Heart; but I also have myself somewhere into the following: The Bully Pulpit, for my book group; Kafka On The Shore, because Murakami is so highly praised here on LT; The Wind in the Willows, because it is a comfort re-read; The Ultimate Kaua'i Guidebook, because of my upcoming vacation; How to Read Literature Like a Professor, just for fun; Significant Others, the 5th in the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin; and All Good Things: an early reviewers book.

OK. Color me crazy.

I also called Instacart and put myself on "leave" so I can concentrate on getting this back issue resolved. I am sorry to have missed my PT appointment but now I can focus on doing what I think will help: avoid long bouts of sitting, do some PT exercises, tolerate pain in my foot and continue to walk. Wish me good luck. Going to call an acupuncturist today, too.

Oh no, sorry to hear that the PT had to be cancelled. How annoying when you're in so much pain. I'm glad to hear that you are taking what steps you can to help things along. Hopefully you can get in with an acupuncturist soon and that it will be of some benefit. I've never dared acupuncture - not because I don't like needles but because I'm a bit skeptical about it helping and I know some people think that believing in it is part of the process. I guess I'm just an eternal cynic!

I used acupuncture while awaiting my first hip replacement surgery. It, and massage, kept me on my feet teaching school through that very long year. Hip replacement did get rid of that pain for good but the other therapies were extremely helpful.

What a good idea to follow up Shot in the Heart with Executioner's Song, Karen! I haven't read either, but that makes perfect sense to me.

Sorry about your PT being under the weather; I hope the acupuncture helps. Debbi and our daughter swear by it.

I am a firm believer in acupuncture. I think it works better than the medical establishment wants us to believe. I just finished reading Never Let Me Go and was impressed with the quality of the writing and will start Place of Greater Safety tonight. It will be interesting to see which of these two authors I like better, or if I find them equal in talent and ability to tell a story.

I think you will like Kafka. It is an excellent book with which to start reading Murakami.

Looks like you are juggling a few books, Karen! Welcome to the party! LOL. I hope Kafka works for you. It remains my favorite.

Thanks, Benita, and Mark. The first acupuncture session went well. Of course, he picked up my diet and inflammatory issues. Bah humbug, back to the anti-inflammatory diet which is a pain in the butt. But I do like the ability to walk without pain, so I guess I'm good to go.

Yes, juggling books. Normal stuff for me.

37. All Good Things: From Paris to Tahiti: Life and Longing by Sarah Turnbull is a book given me by the Early Reviewer program. I don't know why it took me so long to read it, but probably I can chalk it up to eye surgery and recovery. My reading was definitely on and off this year. Selling my house and moving back to my "manufactured home" might have been at fault also.

She wrote Almost French also which I did read and enjoyed. I think I'm a little put off by what might be termed "rich people writing memoirs as if they were literature"..... and in both this book and the earlier one I did find spots where I felt ennui of reading about her "hard life in Paris, and Tahiti".

But she does write well, and I was curious about her life (which I'd love to try to live), so I carried on; and then, she did a switcheroo on me and began to plumb the depths of a personal challenge. I do not want to spoil the book for someone who might like to read it, but I was converted. I began to like Sarah, and care about how her life was turning out. So, I think I'll give her four stars and suggest people who liked Eat, Drink, Pray* will like this book.

*what was the name of that book??? I obviously have remembered the wrong title.

ETA: ha ha ha The book is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Morning Karen! Hope you have a good week. I'll be starting a Wharton for the AAC. Are you a fan?

I am but I don't think it is wise of me to take on one more challenge. I need to finish some of the books I already have my bookmark in them. The Bully Pulpit is today's plan.

I decided to go ahead and join Darrell and read Place of Greater Safety and that is going to take some doing as it is 800 pages. However, it is my only group thing going on right now so I should be able to finish this before the end of the year. I just hope it doesn't turn out like it did when I joined Mark in reading David Copperfield. I still haven't finished that book. Or when I joined him in reading Midnight's Children. Haven't finished that one either, even though I do hope to finish both of them someday.

Maybe.

I feel your pain, Benita. It is my pain, too. Sigh. And now they are talking about next year's challenges.

Interesting reading, Karen. You made think of "Know thyself" - sounds smart not to take on another challenge. Plus I'm remembering you were liking The Bully Pulpit a lot.

I just started one about what it's like to be a bird by a biologist (he's more specialized than that, but I can't remember the term) called Bird Sense. His goal is to translate the current science into plain English, and I'm optimistic because so far he's succeeded.

I just have some bad luck every once in a while! I started reading Kafka on the Shore and then, I think I left it at the Niece's house this morning, and I won't be back there until Thursday morning, and I want to read it NOW! I think Murakami might be like that, eh?

" I want to read it NOW!" Murakami has that affect on people! You are down the rabbit hole...

*waving* at Karen

Mark, Ha ha ha... I found it. I just put it down in an unusual place in the house. i will be reading it this evening! Love being down this rabbit hole, I think.

Hi, Stacia. Nice to see you on your break from classes. I have seen on FB that you are doing very well indeed. Congratulations.

Thanks!

Waaaaay up there, you said: "I could stop buying books right now and have enough to read for the rest of my life."
I think the same is true for me. It would be interesting to try, in any case. But it won't happen.
We have decided not to buy any wine until (at least) 2015. :-)

You are reading Kafka on the Shore and loving it. Maybe you can help me with my phobia about reading that novel. I have been told there is a scene that might be more than I can handle.

ah! well, so far it has not delivered any of that. We'll wait and see.

I was so glad to have found the book yesterday, after I had misplaced it. Golly gee, one of these days my house will be so orderly I'll not know what to do with my spare time, recovered from all the hours I spend looking for things I've misplaced.

>177 maggie1944: >180 maggie1944: Okay, now you have to tell us what the "unusual place" was.

Not too dramatic: I put it down near where the clean dishes dry, and by the dog food. It is an area I usually visit in the early morning to make my breakfast, and get the dog's food dished out. Then I don't look at that spot, nor visit it much after I'm done with the morning routines. That is until it is time to do doggie dinners. That is when I found the book sitting there innocently being quiet.

>182 maggie1944: :-) Seems like a perfectly sensible place to leave it.

My problem is more when I'm done with a book and shelve it, and then try to remember where I've shelved it. We've got bookcases all over the house, and we've migrated a lot of "fun" books upstairs. It took me a while, but I just found (reminded myself?) where we keep the Montalbano mysteries, in what we call our "quiet room".

You might have a fun question going here - where's the oddest place you've lost and then found a book?

>183 jnwelch:

Following a head injury and a week in Neuro intensive care, I was extremely confused when I got home and did a lot of totally bizarre things. Mostly, items ended up in the fridge that didn't need to be - books, a mug of hot water, a packet of crisps....the list goes on. I think I was so focused on putting things back that needed to be there, I overcompensated.

I also ran a bath, got my book ready and put it on the side of the bath, got undressed, got dressed again, walked downstairs and left the bath full of bubbles and lovely hot water. It sat like that for a good two hours before someone else came home and asked why there was a bath full of cold water?!

>104 benitastrnad: :-) Most importantly, I'm glad you're recovered from the head injury, Jenny. That sounds scary.

Your travails made me think of "Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder". Have you ever seen this funny video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oHBG3ABUJU I can relate.

So sad: another school shooting. Marysville-Pilchuck High School is just north of where my Niece, and her family, lives. Breaks my heart when young people experience these trauma.

Two news reporting agencies have reported that the shooter is dead, of a self inflicted wound.

Sad face.

OK. Too much. Goll durn it. Gov. and Mayor of New York are putting all medical people returning from W. Africa in quarantine, even when they are not showing any signs of Ebola. No fever, no nothing. They are imprisoned in their home, or somewhere else, for having gone to W. Africa to help. The money can be thrown at W. Africa but if there are no trained medical personnel, they will not contain this epidemic.

No one would want to go if on return their home country makes them stay in their house for 21 days, all alone, with no work, no friends, no family, and maybe even no pets.

I hate it that the U.S.A. seems to think science is worthless and scientific information can be debated as if it was all opinion.

Shunned? For what??? Who will pay them for staying in quarantine?

Can you lose 75% of your monthly salary with no harm?

OK

deep breath, I can't do anything about it except bitch, and now I've done that.

If it helps - I agree with your rant. There is no Ebola problem in the U. S. this is all manufactured news.

Ditto

Karen, I'm so sorry you are dealing with both back and tooth issues. Your outlook is so positive! I send lots of good thoughts that you will soon feel much better.

Benita, and the thing that is perhaps the most irritating is that you know all the politicians are smart enough, and well informed enough, and sufficiently lacking in paranoia to know better, themselves. They know better!

Yes, it helps to be able to rant here and know there are some who agree, and if we disagree we can do so in a civil manner.

Hi, Stacia, it is so nice to see you amongst us again, even if it is only during your school break. Thanks for stopping by.

Linda, yup dealing with some sh*t these days. But the tooth is just money. Does not slow me down. The back/leg/foot issue is different. It has slowed me down about to 50% of my previous busy self. When I first wake up there is little to no pain, and I've been practicing walking with excellent posture and saying to myself, "I am strong, I am healthy, I am beautiful". I am a huge believer in the efficacy of positive affirmations and I'm going to start using my belief to help fix the back. I am also thinking about buying one of those good for your back chairs.

I think I now have two habits: when confronted with a problem, get a book, and buy a chair.

**smiling**

I like the way you deal with your problems, Karen! LOL. Sorry, to hear about the continuing discomfort. Boo!

It is a beautiful fall day, in Chicagoland. Hope you have a good weekend.

We are having the sadness and grief from the high school shooting in the air, plus a windy rainy day which says "leave the curtains closed, put on some nice Bonnie Raitt, and drink some fresh squeezed apple juice, while reading and posting". Yup. That's the trick. And maybe there'll be treats later.

I hope your beautiful fall day hangs in there for your next week, too.

Life is just so much fun. Last night (Saturday night) at about 8:30 the power went out. Big storm, rain, and lots of wind, trees down, etc.etc.

Today (Sunday, at 12:45pm) as far as I know the power is still out. I am at my Niece's using their electricity to charge my phone, and to spend some time on the computer. At home it is cold, and getting colder. The dogs are in the back of the car and in a couple of minutes I'll go give them a walk. I'll "kill" time here until dinner time, or bed time and then go home to a possibly cold house. Rumor had it that we'll get power tomorrow morning. We shall see.....

Weird weather. It will be close to 90 today here in Tuscaloosa. I have the AC running and yesterday when I was baking it ran most of the afternoon. My plants were starting to think it is winter and then all of sudden it went back to summer so they are really drinking the water right now in an attempt to deal with the heat and the lack of rain.

I need to go shoe shopping. My pair of closed toe Merrill's went to pot last spring and I need to replace them. That means the dreaded shoe shopping expedition this afternoon. Not my favorite activity.

My baking yesterday as successful. I made some great onion rye rolls. The heat probably helped the yeast rise as it is hard to get rye rolls to be light and tasty.

Latest estimate from power company, power will be restored by midnight tomorrow, Monday. Dang! I'll probably spend tomorrow here at the Niece's house, after I send the kids off to school. Should be able to read a good deal.

>191 maggie1944: In all ways, I admire you!

Oh, Linda, there's not much to admire here. I just dug out the sleeping bag, and was snug as a bug in a rug when the power came on at 10:30 pm, evidently the estimate was way too pessimistic. This morning I'm washing my bedding and plan to make the bed back up for regular sleeping tonight. The dogs will be happy as the mummy bag type sleeping bag is very hard to share with even a little old lady. Ha ha ha

This morning I also was able to have coffee straight from the "He Man Thermos" Schelie and her husband lent me yesterday. I stopped by Starbucks and picked up 32 oz. of fresh black coffee and left it sitting on the counter for me to have first t thing this morning. I must say, no coffee might be the worst thing about no power. And Starbucks charged me less than $5 for 32 oz. of coffee.

OK. I'm a happy camper this morning. Still enjoying Kafka on the Shore.

>195 benitastrnad: Benita, I think Merrill is having a sale now. You might check on line to see if you need to print out a coupon.

hi, Judy. >199 ffortsa:

I hope Benita will come back and read your comment. You might want to put a PM on her profile page.

Glad to hear that you were nice and cosy in your sleeping bag and that the power came on much sooner than anticipated. Coffee is a good thing to wake up to as well!

The last time our power went off I was very glad I had my Kindle paperwhite so I could still read before bed. Sadly our power outages are fairly common as the little electricity sub station that feeds our half of the village (about 400 homes) was oh so sensibly placed a) just by the pond and b) on a concrete plinth base where a shallow ditch previously ran. Of course the moment we get significant rains, it all pools round the bottom of the substation and hey presto, it shorts out!

Last time it did it, someone I was with who had been in the forces said it sounded like a grenade going off! The whole thing was smoking. Hasn't happened all summer but now the rains have started again so we'll see how much their patch job can withstand.

I have lived in a relatively rural part of this region where the power went out whenever we had a big rain/wind storm, or a big snow/ice storm. I lived one week without electricity and I loved it, but I was prepared: wood burning stove, plenty of wood, plenty of food, water did not stop because I was not on a well using a pump, comfortable comforters to keep warm at night, lovely big windows facing south/west which mean we had good sunshine during the day, plenty of books, and friends within walking distance, and oh, yeah, a little neighborhood store which never never never closed because of weather.

Last night was not as fun, but it was OK, and I was happy to be awakened at 10:30 with lights going on.

I'm glad the power came back on, Karen. It can be kind of an adventure to lose it, as long as you're prepared, as you say. Sorry last night wasn't so great, but good news on the power coming back on earlier than predicted.

Isn't Kafka on the Shore something? Still my favorite of his.

Yes, I am enjoying it a good deal, but I did stop by B&N today and bought .... a book!

title, author and details will be added later

*runs off*

>200 maggie1944: good idea. I did.

OK, here's the impulsive buy: The Casual Vacancy by.... yup: J.K. Rowling

I read a page or two and I think it will be a good one, grabbing me from the start.

I was notified that ER awarded me The World Before Us, a novel which seems like it might be a good story.

I also spent some time this afternoon showing some photographs to a friend who is doing some art with colored pencils, and graphite. She asked me to print about 15 photographs and she will look at them carefully. She would like to maybe copy one or two of them with her medium. I think that is exciting. And it was very affirming to get her "oh, I like that one" on numerous pictures which I, too, liked. I'm going to go make copies of the photographs at Costco and then she can pick which ones we will enlarge.

A nice gift in this otherwise relatively crappy day. My tooth implant is giving me a little grief, so I had to go see the dentist. He thinks it is an inflammatory response, not an infection, and we'll watch it for a week. If it reduces in irritation = good; if it increases, the implant may have to come out, and a different one put in later.

Books Read in 2014

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, as a part of the American Authors Challenge
2. Maisie Dobbs, as a participant in reading about World War I
3. Stardust - read just because I bought it and it looked fun! by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
4. Redwall
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
6. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel (Audio CDs - read by Jeremy Davidson)
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
10. The Wives of Los Alamos
11. The Steady Running of the Hour
12. Gone Girl
13. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
14. Batwoman: Hydrology
15. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
16. daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
18. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
19. The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames
20. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
21. Regeneration by Pat Barker
22. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
23. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
24. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
25. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
26. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
27. A Month in the Country by J.L.Carr
28. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
29. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
30. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
31. Renegade Champion
32. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
33. The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography
34. In The Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country by Kim Barnes
35. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
36. The Alienist by Caleb Carr
37. All Good Things: From Paris to Tahiti: Life and Longing by Sarah Turnbull
38. Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti

It is the regular fairy tale, not prettified by Walt Disney, or others who steal the darkness from folk tales. This one has the darkness, but the kids to triumph, which is how I remember it. The illustrations are dark, and not to my taste, but remarkable.

>208 maggie1944: Oh, I'm #4 in line at the library for Hansel and Gretel, Karen. It sounds like a good one - I've seen some of the illustrations on my computer, and they do look dark.

Hey! I'm getting a copy of The World Before Us, too! Shared ER read -- a first for me!

Karen, I'm so sorry your power went out the other night. I was supposed to be working at the UW football game but the organizer let me off the hook. I was so relieved because that was some wild weather. Our cable went out but power stayed on so I could read. I got sick anyway. Ha.

The shooting in Marysville was tragic, as they all are. I'm voting for the increased background checks for gun purchases at shows and swap meets (give me a break). I don't know how much good it will do but I'm all for closing whatever loopholes we can.

I hope you're having a good Wednesday!

I think it would be fun to read that book together. We'll have to put our head together when we get the copies and see when we can start reading.... it looks like it might be an interesting book.

Happy Mid-week, Karen! I hope it is going well. Suddenly everyone seems to be talking about Gaiman's Hansel & Gretel. How was it?

Hi, Mark. I thought the writing of the fable was excellent. A believable, not overly sweet, folk tale which I enjoyed reading. I do not like the way folk tales, fables, and "fairy tales" have been sweetened out of a misguided (in my opinion) fear that the tales are too harsh for youngsters. I think these tales have been a long traditional way of having parents, and grandparents, slowly let the youngsters in on a secret: life is not fair. At the end of the tale, the authors added a couple of pages explaining the history of this specific story which suggests that during famines families did indeed sometime "lose" their children in the forests, and there are some examples of possible cannibalism in Europe during periods of famine. Interesting. It does seem as though we have come a long ways since then, or at least I hope that is true.

The illustrations were too dark. I don't mean negative, depressing, I mean dark. Graphite on paper, perhaps, and too much dark, not enough light. Not very easy to interpret, although I did see the story in some of them.

I'd give it a C+ or B-

I like Gaiman and I think he did his part very well.

Happy Mid-Week back at you. My day off is tomorrow and I'll go see the Physical Therapist again, finally. It has been too long between appointments and I very much hope that these next two appointments give me some very good suggestions. I am sick of this issue. The pain I feel in my left ankle and foot has reduced my walking about to 1/2 of what I am used to doing; and I did have to put myself on leave from Instacart.

I want my ability to walk in comfort back. And my job, too. I'll need it to pay for the Hawaii trip which is looming.....

Leaving 11/10, celebrate 70 years old on 11/11, and then back on 11/24. Hopefully, laying on the warm sands of Kaua'i will cure what ails my back.

Physical therapy, power outage, a painful tooth and back -- all this and you handle with grace. You are amazing.

You are the same age as my partner Will who will turn 70 in December. Happy birthday in Hawaii. I hope it is everything you envision it to be.

Thanks, Linda. I am sure Hawaii will be sweet!

What a (hopefully) lovely way to spend your 70th. And PT meaning you can enjoy it without as much pain would be great as well, so fingers crossed you are able to ease the symptoms somewhat. But lounging on a beach in Hawaii sounds like a pretty good cure-all to me!

What a lovely day on which to celebrate your 70th, Karen - the 100th anniversary of peace breaking out across much of the world following the carnage of the misnamed Great War.

Thanks for your visits to my threads during the times when I have not been quite with it this year. Am slowly making strides to catch up. xx

The British Author Challenge thread is up and would benefit from your wisdom. https://www.librarything.com/topic/182355#4900465

>lunacat.... Jenny, (is that right name?) thanks for the good wishes. I agree that the lounging on the beach is excellent medicine for whatever might ail one.

And, yes, >217 PaulCranswick:, Paul. I've always appreciated the fact that I was born on what was then known as Armistice Day, and now it is known as Veterans' Day. I've appreciated reading about that "world war one" this year, following a suggestion which I think I first saw in your thread. Good deal! Fascinating. I may find that I continue the theme into next year, too, given my very slow reading speed these days.

The trip to the Physical Therapist was excellent. The back issue is well on its way to healing, and what is left to do on that front is to spend some time learning how not to create a new occurrence of the pinched nerve. Some gentle back exercises.

New problem: I've created some Achilles tendinitis, which is why my heel and foot have been so sore. This can be handled I think relatively quickly with stretching, and ice, and rest, and more of the same. The good news is that the pain is not related to the back! Yay!

So now I've got a couple of weeks when I will be religious about my exercises. New behavior for me, but I'm sure if I set specific goals and keep track, I'll be able to do it!

Yay!

I'm back. I have had a very busy week and so only got time to read some threads each day and not time to post much to the threads I did get read. I will look and see about the sale on the Merrill shoes.

Life isn't so good right now. My new boss has laid some ground rules that illustrate a very different kind of supervisory style than mine. He flat out told me he would rather that I took more frequent vacations instead of saving the days up and using them all at once. He can't forbid me to do it my way, but he has to OK my requested days off and can make that more difficult. I wanted to take a nice long vacation this fall but it never worked out and since I had taken so much time last spring I am down to 3 vacation days but 2,000 hours of sick leave. I know it is just a difference in style but it has been just about the perfect end to the week. I can't wait for Saturday and the chance to sleep in and go to knitting class.

Ellen, you've been peeking into my day dreams! Yes, the is exactly the kind of beach I'll be on in just about 10 days, but who is counting? ME!

My vacation buddy called last night and said her nephew, his wife, and two small kids will be joining us for the second week. It will be great to have some young blood in the house. And kids to play on the beach and in the waves. I am very happy. And am looking forward to it!!

Yesterday's trip to the PT resulted in

1. the back seems to be healing well, and I'm not showing any symptoms of pinched nerve
2. the pain in my left foot, and heel, is Achilles tendinitis which is very treatable with ice, and stretching, rest, and an occasional warm bath.... This is definitely good news as I'd much rather have something which I can do something about.

Reading has been lacking, but I'll get back at it.

Happy Friday, Karen! Ten days - that's very close. We had snow flurries here this morning, and word on the street is they had none at all in Hawaii.

That's positive news about your back and left foot. I'm sure that's a mental relief as well as a bit of a physical one.

You might like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, a novel centering around an island bookstore. I just finished it and found it charming, although there are a few well-earned teary moments.

Bam! You got me, Joe. I went immediately and bought the kindle version of this book. It looks like it would be fun to read while on vacation!

>222 jnwelch: Ha! That's got to be one of the fastest successful bb's I've ever had! I'm glad. I agree, it should be perfect for your vacation.

happy Halloween, Karen! I hope your day is going quickly. I am sure you getting very excited about that upcoming trip...sighs with envy.

I also really enjoyed A.J. Fikry. A nice vacation read.

cool! I am seated with ice on my Achilles heel, letting the ice cool my inflamed tendons. I have Kafka On The Shore here beside me. When I finish trolling my way through LT threads, I think I'll read for a bit. I've been too busy recently and need to chill out a bit.

Thanks for good wishes, Mark. I'm glad both you and Joe enjoyed the Fikry book. I'm sure I will, too.

Halloween night should be quiet around here. I don't know of any kids nearby who are young enough to do the Trick or Treat rounds. But I do have a bag of my favorite candies just in case. And then when none show up.... all the more for me!

I'm really glad that the heel is a separate issue rather than being related to your back - at least you can treat them simultaneously rather than having to wait for one to fix before the other improves!

Hopefully the regime works quickly, and the improvements you've seen with your back also occur with your heel, so you're fighting fit soon.

Thanks. Yes, those were my thoughts, too. And I was glad to hear from the PT that the back issue has improved remarkably. He tested some strength of my left foot and remarked that it was wonderful! Yay!

I think the tendinitis should follow suit toute suite!

Silly me: I just followed Mark's lead and listened to Books on the Nightstand pod cast and was moved to buy Kindle versions of The Book of Strange New Things: A Novel, and The Secret History of Wonder Woman which should beef up my feminist credentials.

This is on top of having just bought The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry on Joe's recommendation.

I fear I will bore my vacation pals to death as I will have my nose in the Kindle, day and night. Paradise!!

I Capture the Castle
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Glass Castle: A Memoir*

thinking of books with "castle" in the title.... any suggestions?

*Amazon tells me I bought this book in 2008, I'll have to look for it.

Morning Karen! I loved The Glass Castle. Excellent memoir. I've had I Capture the Castle on my TBR list.

I was also intrigued by the Wonder Woman book.

Enjoy your Saturday!

I do love memoirs and now I'm thinking of reading Dancing Fish and Ammonites: A Memoir by Penelope Lively as a part of the British Authors Challenge in January, 2015. I can't believe I'm planning what to read in January.

Browsing my shelves:

Howl's Moving Castle
The Man in the High Castle
Lords of the White Castle
I'm the King of the Castle

OK, this is totally not my style but here's some thoughts for next year's reading:

Edited to add: I'm moving the Castle theme list to another post farther down..post 241.. This post will be just the British Authors Challenge after Nov. 3, 2014.

Then there's the challenges:

British Authors Challenge:

January: Dancing Fish and Ammonites: A Memoir** by Penelope Lively and Kazuo Ishiguro

February: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (which I have in an old, beaten up, paperback version) and Sarah Waters

March: Birds by Daphne DuMaurier, because I want to see how close it comes to the Hitchcock movie*; and Un Lun Dun by China Mieville, a kids book which is advertised as entertaining for all ages.

April : Angela Carter & W. Somerset Maugham - book choices to be made later.

May: Margaret Drabble - The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws*** and Martin Amis

*purchased for Audio on the Kindle.
**placed on my Christmas 2014 wish list on Amazon
***ordered a used copy from Amazon for $4 total

More castle books: The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, and The Castle by Franz Kafka.

That's 9 I think. Hopefully, I will find 12 so I can read one each month next year. Maybe.

Castles in the Air looks like it might be a hoot!

Ok Karen, I'll help:

Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
Windsor Castle by William Harrison Ainsworth (a favourite 19th Century author of mine)
Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope

Those three classics makes 12.

oh, that is it! Thank you, Paul.

Now I need to do a little research to solidify a commitment to read.

OK, this snippet from a review has me willing to try Castle Richmond - Set in Ireland in the 1840s, Trollope developed a passionate and disturbing tale of the fortunes of the Desmonds and the Fitzgeralds, two upper-class Irish families in the south of the island.

More good Castle ideas. I will need to sit still for some minutes, and not while I'm watching the Seahawks playing Am. football, to sort through all these excellent ideas.

The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit; Castles Made of Sand by Gwyneth Jones?

Madame MBH has requested The Secret History of Wonder Woman as a holiday gift, so she'll be able to discuss it with you down the line. I read what must have been an excerpt from it in The New Yorker, and it was fascinating.

I wish I had known you were interested in The Book of Strange New Things, as I have a copy I've been asked to read and pass on to someone else, and you could've been the someone else.

ETA: My Castle recommendation is the graphic novel Castle Waiting by Linda Medley, which is well done and a lot of fun.

Castle theme is here now:

Castles theme:
1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith,
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson,
3. The Glass Castle: A Memoir* by Jeannette Walls (I have on my Kindle, I think),
4. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones,
5. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick,
6. Lords of the White Castle by Elizabeth Chadwick,
7. I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill.
8. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro.
9. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole,
10. The Castle by Franz Kafka.
11. Castles in the Air by Christina Dodd
12. Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
13. Windsor Castle by William Harrison Ainsworth
14. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope
15. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
16. Castles Made of Sand by Gwyneth Jones
17. Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
18. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery (one of my fav. authors)
19. The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

Joe, I look forward to discussing the Wonder Woman book with Your Better Half. Smiling face. I did not know I was going to be interested in The Book of Strange New Things, I think I am caught up in the hype, and wanted something more on the Kindle for Hawaii. I have a large library now that I'm taking with me in the little electronic wizard thing.

I think I may have to just move to Hawaii to read all these books.... oh, well, maybe not. But it does seem tempting to go to the beach each and every day to read. On Kaua'i it might be hard, they have rain there and that is one of the reasons so many people from the pacific northwest part of the USA go to Kaua'i. We never let rain stop us from doing stuff... except perhaps sitting on the beach and reading.

OK, enough blathering on my me, I'm going back to my book.

>242 maggie1944: :-) Most excellent blathering, seems to me.

I'm glad your back is feeling better! I wonder if those back bend things helped. For me they are the 'magic bullet', but my abused disc must be in exactly the right position to benefit from them as they don't help everyone.

I love your castle theme. This year I committed to far too many challenges, so I'm contemplating how much directed reading I want to do next year.

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery (wrote Anne of Green Gables)

The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

>244 streamsong:, Janet, I know what you mean. I did, too, commit to too many and then I had all the slow down in reading due to the cataract surgery and adjustment to new eyes, and new glasses, etc. etc. And then I moved. My books really did not hold me hostage this last year. But I do see the new year as a new start, and I don't know how much I'll read, but I love all the new ways to find books I might never have stumbled upon. I know one thing for sure: not many of these ideas will turn up on the book shelves, on sale, in the grocery stores. Ha ha ha. Only on LT.

I don't know if the stretches helped, but I enjoy doing them. The physical therapist said yes, and those were a variation of his suggestion that I lay on my stomach 2-3 times daily for 5 minutes each. I have not been doing that religiously, but I have been using the ice and the other stretches he suggested. I feel as if I am right on the edge of complete recovery, but not there quite yet. Each day after I spend about 1.5 - 2.0 hours on my feet dealing with getting the kids up, breakfast, and make lunches, and hunt for lunch boxes, and coats, etc. I usually am pretty foot sore. Today I did come home and spend about 30 minutes picking up leaves in the yard. It was not raining..... happy face.

Thanks for your suggestions, and support! Happy November to you!

Morphy, and Blue Sally, thanks for your castle ideas!

Well, this thread is getting a bit long so I guess I will start a new one. Come on over.