Mark's Reading Place: Chapter Four

-West Texas. In honor of our reread of Blood Meridian. Artist unknown.



-Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. Wildlife Rehab.

“We need the tonic of wildness... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

"The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag,
The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the fields and hillsides,
The feeling of health . . . . the full-noon trill . . . . the song of me rising from bed
and meeting the sun..."

-Leaves of Grass- Whitman

Audiobook:



Graphic/Comic:



January:

1- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 5 stars (shared read) *
2- Rooted: Science, Nature, and Spirit by Lyanda Lynn Haupt 4.2 stars (audio)
3- Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro 3.7 stars
4- Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook 3.8 stars GN
5- White Shadow by Roy Jacobsen 4 stars
6- Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart 4.5 stars
7- The Twilight Man: Rod Serling by Koren Shadmi 4.3 stars GN
8- Wild Child: and Other Stories by T.C. Boyle 4.4 stars
9- Queenie: Godmother of Harlem by Elizabeth Colomba 4 stars GN
10- An Immense World (Nature) by Ed Yong 4.6 stars (audio)
11- Earthlings by Murata Sayaka 3 stars

February:

12- My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones 3.2 stars
13- I Hear the Sirens in the Street: Sean Duffy Novel by Adrian McKinty 4.2 stars (audio)
14- Horse by Geraldine Brooks 4.8 stars Group Read
15- Sporadic Troubleshooting: Poems by Clarence Major 4.7 stars P
16- Baby Shark (Book #1) by Robert Fate 4 stars
17- M is For Monster by Talia Dutton 3.6 stars GN
18- Trees by Percival Everett 4.2 stars
19- On the Bus with Rosa Parks: Poems by Rita Dove 4.4 stars P
20- Waco: David Koresh by Jeff Guinn 3.7 stars (audio)
21- The Red Widow by Sarah Horowitz 3.6 stars
22- Foster by Claire Keegan 4.2 stars
23- American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America by Robyn Chapman 4 stars GN
24- Down From The Mountain: Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear by Bryce Andrews 4 stars (audio)
25- Moonlight Mile: A Kenzie and Gennaro Novel by Dennis Lehane 4.2 stars

March:

26- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy 5 stars w/Joe
27- Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky 4 stars GN
28- Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula by Barry Gifford 4 stars
29- Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty 3.8 stars
30- Clumsy by Jeffrey Brown 3.7 stars GN
31- Life on the Mississippi by Rinker Buck 4 stars (audio)
32- After The Wind: Tragedy on Everest by Lou Kasischke 4.5 stars
33- Scurry by Mac Smith 4 stars GN

Graphic Novel: GN
Poetry: P

^ I was able to do some shared reading, this past year, with a few of my book buddies and I really enjoyed it. I would like this to continue through 2023. Primarily, I would like to read books off shelf, but I am still catching up with a few titles that I missed in the past year. I also would like to do a few rereads. I will list some titles and if you are interested, we will set a firm date.

Demon Copperhead w/Stasia, Deb, Linda January
Horse by Geraldine Brooks Stasia, Lynda, Rhonda, Kim, Linda P February
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy reread with Joe- March
Empire of Pain w/Kim March
The Winners early April w/Stasia, Kim
Three Musketeers May w/Paul, Jim
Eventide by Kent Haruf Stasia, Benita, Karen O May?
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst w/ Jeff, Benita, MDoris June
East of Eden w/MDoris, Linda P, Lynda, Meg, Paul, Anita- July
The Singapore Grip w/Benita September

For the AAC:

April- Poetry
May: John Edgar Wideman- All Stories Are True
August: Percival Everett

Hello?? Great Horned Owl chicks.

The Beauty of Bareness

Jacob Lawrence
Could paint
The beauty
Of  bareness

Blacks
Moved North
Leaving
Empty
Rooms
Behind
Them

Lawrence’s genius
Was to paint
Those rooms
Left behind

Brown bare
Wooden rooms
Light brown plank walls
Dark brown plank floors

A single dark green
Shade
Covering
The window
Erasing the lush landscape

Creating a
Stark beauty
A simple beauty
A bare beauty

-William J. Harris



-Jacob Lawrence

Happy new thread, Mark!

If only all of Texas looked like the painting in your topper... ;-)

>7 katiekrug: Good point, Katie and thank you.

"Amanda McCready was four years old when she vanished from a Boston neighborhood twelve years ago. Desperate pleas for help from the child's aunt led investigators Kenzie and Gennaro to take on the case. The pair risked everything to find the young girl—only to orchestrate her return to a neglectful mother and a broken home. Now Amanda is sixteen—and gone again..."

I am a big fan of Mr. Lehane. Mystic River is one of my favorite crime novels. I have also enjoyed several books in his Kenzie & Gennaro series, (Gone Baby Gone is my favorite). Sadly, Moonlight Mile has been sitting on shelf for years. Thanks to the TIOLI Challenge #12, I finally started it. I have not heard Lehane mentioned around here in awhile. I know he has other fans around here.

Happy New Thread! I thought I must be getting in first, but 15 minutes is a lifetime of potential postings around here. LOL!

>6 msf59: Hi Mark - added this at the finale of your previous thread, so entering again here:

a hardcover of The Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence is not to be missed.

Tons of snow predicted here - looks like Chicago has mostly rain and drizzle.

Happy new one!

>10 mahsdad: Thanks, Jeff. Things do move fast around these parts.

>11 m.belljackson: I appreciate the Lawrence recommendation, Marianne. That sounds good. We are planning on going to Rhinelander this weekend with friends. We will have to see what happens the next day or 2.

>12 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Figs.

Off to see my Jackson...

>2 msf59: I see the future in that photo....

>1 msf59: That looks more like West Texas to me...South Texas has hills not mountains where West Texas has some pretty impressive mountains appurtenant to the Continental Divide. It made me wistful for the times I liked being a Texan.

Happy new thread.

Happy new thread Mark. I love the sky in that painting in >1 msf59:!

Happy new thread, buddy.

>1 msf59: Love the topper.

Happy new thread Mark!

>2 msf59: Two guys having fun. I bet Jackson loved the ride!

By the way, there is a Grizzly Bear Research Center on our campus. We frequently go there to visit with the bears.

>1 msf59: I like that juvenile!

>2 msf59: And that one too.

Happy new thread, Marc. Your threads are really moving along.

Happy new thread, Mark. Great sky in that topper picture. American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America looks like an interesting GN. The cover got me.

>9 msf59: I loved Lehane’s Kenzie and Gennaro series. Enjoy! He has a new book coming out this spring, Small Mercies.

Happy Thursday, and happy new thread, Mark!

Love the toppers.
And you forgot me in >4 msf59: reading East of Eden with you all in July.

‘Morning, Mark, and happy new thread!

From your last thread, thank you and Laura for reminding me of the Merlin App. I tried it a long time ago and didn’t find it useful, but I’ve re-installed it and although I haven’t used it for bird song yet, I identified the couldn’t-remember-what-it-is in my Crepe Myrtle yesterday as a Northern Flicker. I got a good long look at him, and his plumage is stunning.

>1 msf59: Beautiful artwork and even more beautiful bird. Thanks for sharing both.

>2 msf59: You and Jack – what a pair!

>3 msf59: I read Mystic River by Lehane before LT, tried Shutter Island and couldn’t handle the … horror? suspense?... and no longer have it on my shelves, but I do have Since We Fell on my shelves. I want to read it, just keep forgetting about it! I have just added it to my '2023 toberead' tag. Have you read it?

A lone female Cardinal and an unidentified Little BrownBird on the feeders. I filled them yesterday and had a lot of activity yesterday afternoon for sure.

>14 richardderus: Thanks, RD and Sweet Thursday. I corrected the topper. I mainly put down south because the novel takes place along the border. I appreciate the clarification.

>15 mdoris: >16 PaulCranswick: >17 quondame: Thanks, Mary, Paul and Susan. Glad you like the toppers.

>18 EBT1002: That is awesome, Ellen. Are these bears that they cannot release?

>19 EllaTim: Thanks, Ella. I like the juvenile heron too but they are very striking when they get to be adults:

>20 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg. I recommend American Cult. I was hoping to do a mini-review of it today. Some interesting cults I had not heard of.

>21 Copperskye: Hi, Joanne. I do remember that you were a fan of the Kenzie and Gennaro series. I have not been as impressed with Lehane's later work. Maybe he will bounce back.

>22 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. I will add you to the East of Eden list. It should be a nice group.

>23 karenmarie: Morning, Karen and thank you, my friend. Glad you like the toppers. Let me know how the Merlin app works and congrats on IDing the flicker. I thought Shutter Island was a decent read but the film was terrible. I really disliked Since We Fell. Maybe it will work better for you.

^He loves displaying that tongue. ❤️

American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America by Robyn Chapman 4 stars

"A graphic history of religious cults in American from the colonial era to today. From its earliest days, America has been home to spiritual seekers."

I enjoyed this graphic anthology. Each profile was done by a different writer/artist. Several I had never heard of, especially the early ones but it did cover Manson, Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, and Vanguard. I am really astounded how many people are seeking some kind of "higher place" and are willing to follow these various leaders down some very dark paths and to their own destruction, in many cases. The only cult I am interested in is the LT one. I like that kool-aid.

*Interesting, that I just finished the audiobook on "Waco".

>27 msf59: That graphic history looks interesting!

Happy New thread Mark!
Shutter Island and Mystic River are my favorite Lehane novels. Haven't read anything much lately.

>23 karenmarie:, >29 Carmenere: I though Mystic River was powerful stuff, and enjoyed reading it. But I couldn't handle Shutter Island either. I've more or less ignored Lehane since then.

>27 msf59: Ooh, you got me with American Cult! Going to try and track down a copy…

Karen O

>27 msf59: lol M10 is supposed to read a nonfiction book for school and I should get that one for him. But he's already started Fuzz by Mary Roach.

>28 EBT1002: It definitely is and it might lead you into searching for a more extensive work on that particular subject.

>29 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda. If you like private eye mysteries, check out his Kenzie and Gennaro series.

>30 laytonwoman3rd: Hi, Linda. I don't think Lehane is writing quality stuff these days so I don't think you are missing much.

>31 klobrien2: My aim is true! Yah! I think you will like it, Karen.

>32 The_Hibernator: Hi, Rachel. Does M10 do pleasure reading or just stuff for school? He may want to give this one a try regardless.

>33 msf59: He reads graphic novels just for pleasure. I "make" him read a chapter book for a half hour a day before he gets screen time, but always make sure he's reading something he enjoys. He loves the books I've helped him choose, but would rather be watching YouTube.

Hello, Mark! Happy new one. I love the photo of you and Jack - so much happiness!

>9 msf59: You are reminding me that I need to get back to that series. I read the first four or so and then took a break and did not get back to them. It's a great series but very gritty, so I can't read one right after another. Abby and I both LOVE Shutter Island. I have not yet read pMystic River, but I do own a copy. I know. I KNOW - get to it already you are going to tell me. Maybe this year.

>27 msf59: American Cult I'm about half way thru it. Its fascinating. Just into the Jonestown section. Never knew about Oneida, or the Cheesecake Factory connections to cults.

>34 The_Hibernator: Looks like you are doing a fine job with, M10. I sure hope I can help steer Jackson into being a reader.

>35 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. Glad you like the photo. I hope I can encourage you to both get back to Kenzie & Gennaro series and to FINALLY read Mystic River. BTW- Great film version too.

>36 mahsdad: I am glad you enjoying American Cult, Jeff. Yes, I agree, I had not heard of several of these cults either.

Happy Friday, Mark!
Thanks for suggesting Kenzie & Gennaro. I’ll add it to my TBR list.

'Morning, Mark! Happy Friday to you, and I hope your weekend jaunt is fun, even with 10" of snow on the ground.

My bird report is all the usual suspects, although I just saw a Crow flying, left to right, across our pastures.

>38 Carmenere: Morning, Lynda. Glad I got you with more BBs. Just what we all need, right? 😁

>39 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. The weekend should be fun. Most of the time we will be indoors, socializing, drinking and playing games. So far I have just seen a male cardinal at the feeders. 🐦

^We are going to the Northwoods in WI for a long weekend. Our camping friends have a lakehouse up there. It is about a 5 hour drive. The area just got slammed with a snowstorm, dropping 10-15" of snow. We are kooky die-hards, so we are still going. We will be mostly hanging indoors, socializing, playing games and enjoying a few beverages. I won't be online much, until we get back later on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

-Harry Bliss/Steve Martin

Have fun this weekend!

>41 msf59: Sounds like a great time! Have fun!

Have a great weekend, Mark. Drive carefully!

Happy Wisconsin, Mark!

From Robert Louis Stevenson:

"Ah, how short are the days! How soon
the night overtakes us!

In the old country the twilight is longer;
but here in the forest

Suddenly comes the dark, with hardly a
pause in its coming,

Hardly a moment between the two lights,
the day and the lamplight;

Yet how grand is the winter! How spot-
less the snow is, and how perfect!"

And, From OPERATION WANDERING SOUL - Richard Powers:

"Bitterly frigid, a February beyond speaking."

Have Fun!

>42 msf59: Harry Bliss is the best!

Hi Mark, have a great weekend up north!

>42 msf59: Love it!

When you get back, check out this review of The Quiet Girl, the movie based on Claire Keegan's Foster:

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/24/1158520033/quiet-girl-review-oscar-irish-film

ETA: It's been nominated for Best International Feature Film, but it's pitted against All Quiet on the Western Front.

>41 msf59: Have a terrific time you kooks!

Have a great weekend, Mark! Looking forward to hearing about it after you get back.

I echo Mary's thoughts. I hope you have a wonderful time away. I love the photo of you and Jackson riding the tractor. He brings such joy to your life, and mine when I see the smiles that you both have when you are together.

I started to read Eventide but put it down as it felt very depressing, and brought back memories of cases experienced when I was a social worker. I will read it another time as I very much appreciate Kent Haruf's books.

Have a great weekend away, Mark. Sounds like staying indoors is a good plan. Here too, if the weather predictions are correct.

Greetings from Rhinelander, WI. It is 11F and lightly snowing. I am drinking my second cup of coffee and gazing out the back windows. It looks out over the frozen, lake, blanketed with snow, and encircled by pines. A lone ice-fishing hut is the only blemish. A truly serene setting. The rest of the house is starting to stir...

‘Morning, Mark. I hope your weekend is going well.

>42 msf59: Huh. Bliss and Martin. I’d forgotten that they were collaborating, which is stupid since I have and love A Wealth of Pigeons.

>53 msf59: A lone ice-fishing hut is the only blemish. Says the non-fisherman. My first thoughts would be Ooh, can I go? What bait are they using? Will they share equipment? And, critical: reminder to self to keep cell phone in a zipped pocket. *smile*

Happy New Thread, Mark! I’m kicking myself for missing much of the last one.

I love what you’re reading these days. Your exchange with Benita got me to add Down from the Mountain to the WL. That cult anthology GN looks intriguing. I thought of you while reading It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, which is very good so far. I’m going to track down more by Zoe Thorogood.

I’m enjoying Stephen King’s Fairy Tale, my first by him. So far it’s a realistic tale of a kid helping an old man who fell off a ladder. It should segue well into “vacation mode” reading as we head off to LA on Monday. I’ll take Blood Meridian with me.

Have a great weekend, buddy.

>2 msf59: Aw you two are so sweeeeeet.

>41 msf59: Wow, that snowy scene looks amazing. Is that actually where you are going, or is that pic 'indicative'? Five hours is a fair drive though! I like your commitment.

'Morning, Mark! Too early for the bird report, but yesterday had all the usual suspects - Cardinals, finches, Chickadees, Titmice, Downy and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. No second sighting of the Northern Flicker, though.

Happy Monday!

>41 msf59: Looks quite beautiful. I hope you had a nice weekend in the North.

We are back! There is freezing rain falling all morning up in the Northwoods, turning to snow, so we headed back early yesterday afternoon. We didn't want to cut the trip short but also didn't want to take any chances. Funny, it is raining here but it will be nearly 60F. Crazy, right?

^The photo is out the back window of our friends lakehouse. They set up a bloody mary bar, so that is what I am enjoying. I also brought up one of my bird feeders and we immediately got some action. Only 5 species total but I loved watching the red-breasted nuthatches. You can see it on the right, near the red thing. Yep, I am a geek. That is their boat dock in the foreground. They have to pull it out of the water in the winter, otherwise it would be destroyed by ice. They have a nice pontoon boat. There were snowmobiles criss-crossing the lake, while we sat and watched. Winter activities are a huge thing up there and they are loving all the snow.

Thanks, Katie, Joanne, Shelley, Richard, Mary & Meg. A very enjoyable trip.

>46 m.belljackson: We had a fine time in the Badger State, Marianne. Despite the cold it was a beautiful sunny weekend. Thanks for the Stevenson poem.

>47 mdoris: He sure is, Mary.

>48 kac522: Hi, Kathy. I will check out the movie review. Thanks.

>51 Whisper1: Hi, Linda. We had a good time. Glad you like the photo of me and Jack. He sure likes riding things. I hope you give Eventide a second chance. We are doing a shared read in May.

>54 karenmarie: >57 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. We had a good time. I am a fisherman too, (although I haven't actively done it in a decade or more) so I did not mean any disrespect in regard to the fishing hut. LOL. I have to say, I have never really been interested in ice fishing. Sitting in the frigid cold, waiting for a fish to come by, does not excite me.

Thanks for the feeder report. I am sure mine are all empty.

>55 jnwelch: Morning, Joe. Thanks for the book report. My books are treating me fine too. I have Fairy Tale on my longlist. I am way overdue to read a King book. I hope you enjoy it. I am still waiting for my copy of It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth to come in. Have a great time in LA and I hope you get to dip into Blood Meridian.

>56 LovingLit: Hi, Megan. We had a good time in the Northwoods. That first photo is a stock photo but does represent the area well, although the main roads are well-plowed. My last photo is one I took.

>58 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita. We had a good time. Happy Monday.

Glad to hear it was a good trip, Mark! It's been awhile since I've seen a red-breasted nuthatch (I see white-breasted more often), but they are neat birds, aren't they?

Welcome home, Mark! Of course you took your own bird feeder with you - that made me smile. Glad you had a good time and got home safely. All that snow sure is pretty.

Great weekend you had, Mark. It had to be good for you to log 10 hours of driving. Hoo hoo; keep on truckin'.

I was entertaining, in a low-key, pretty much noncommittal spirit, the notion of signing on to your group read of Blood Meridian. But. While I do have five unread McCarthy novels festering in the TBR hellhole, Blood Meridian is not one of them. (Don't know if I am disappointed or relieved.)

I have established toe-holds in five titles, and I hope to finish one by tomorrow.

>62 bell7: It was a good trip, Mary. Thanks. Like you, we mostly see white-breasted nuthatch in our area. I did finally get a red-breasted at my feeder last fall, which was a treat. Yes, they are neat birds.

>63 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. We had a good trip and yes, I bring my portable feeder and seed wherever I go. Kidding...
Yes, the snow was beautiful up there and I am glad it is up there and not here.

>64 weird_O: Howdy, Bill. Yes, it was a lot of driving for just a long weekend but we had a terrific time and Sue drove more than half the distance back home. I got a little reading in.

McCarthy is not for everyone but I highly recommend him. Blood Meridian is probably his darkest and most challenging. You might want to start with All the Pretty Horses or No Country for Old Men. I hope you can bookhorn in at least one this year.

"A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home..."

^I am a big fan of Brian Selznick. Hugo Cabret is excellent. One of my top GN authors and probably my favorite illustrator. His artwork is stunning. All that to say, I am glad to hear he has a new one coming out in April. Mark those calendars...

"Life on the Mississippi is an epic, enchanting blend of history and adventure in which Buck builds a wooden flatboat from the grand “flatboat era” of the 1800s and sails it down the Mississippi River, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier...A modern-day Huck Finn, Buck casts off down the river on the flatboat Patience accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates."

In August 2016, I became completely enchanted with Buck's audiobook, The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey, which detailed his 2,000 mile trip across the American prairie in a covered wagon, pulled by mules. Now, he gives us Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure and it sounds just as fun and exciting. I started the audio today and I think this will be another winner.

Sorry your trip was cut short by weather, Mark. Freezing rain is nothing to mess with! We've had our own does of weather here with a dump of snow on the weekend that is still sticking around. Odd weather for us this late in the season.

>66 msf59: Thanks for the hot tip Mark. I just put it on reserve. i also really liked his book and art work Wonderstruck.

>68 Familyhistorian: Hi, Meg. We would have liked to stay one more day but we had to play it safe. Ice is scary. Sorry to hear about your late season snow.

>69 mdoris: You are welcome, Mary. I know there are Selznick fans around here. I also really enjoyed Wonderstruck.

Hiyah, Mark! Now that I’m back home, happy new thread!

>71 drneutron: Welcome home, Jim and thank you, sir. I hope you had a fantastic time.

>72 msf59: The snow is falling steadily here today. Estimates range from 3-10". I'm fortunate in that my mom lives on a pond with a view very similar to your friends, and she lives a mile away. When I was a kid, my grandparents camp was 4.5 hours north, still in Maine (a big state). I loved going there, and in the off-seasons I was allowed to use my grandfather's ice house as my clubhouse. My grandmother even made me curtains for it. My grandfather always teased me about desecrating his ice house.

>73 labfs39: Hi, Lisa. Good to see you. Yes, Maine sounds a lot like upper Wisconsin. Maine is on my bucket list. I sure hope to get there one of these days. Sounds beautiful.

-The New Yorker

‘Morning, Mark, welcome back, and happy Tuesday to you.

>59 msf59: Excellent photo, great idea about the bird feeder.

>61 msf59: Glad you had a good time. Having never ice-fished, I’d like to try it just once. Most likely will never happen, but that’s okay.

>65 msf59: For some reason The Road just blew my mind and even though I read it in August of 2008 and even then, only 10 months on LT, was stingy with stars. 4.5 instead of 5.

>67 msf59: Have you ever read Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi? I read it in March of 2008 and although I only gave it 3.5 stars, was absolutely fascinated by it.

>75 msf59: LOL

Morning, Karen. Thanks for catching up. Funny, my friends that own the lakehouse, went out and bought a bird feeder, after I left. B.A.G.

I also loved The Road. I have read Life on the Mississippi and also really liked it. A perfect companion piece to my current audio.

Morning, Mark!

>75 msf59: Oh, dear! That made me laugh.

>65 msf59:, >76 karenmarie: Like Karen, I love The Road - it got the full five stars from me, and it is a favorite of mine. I have also read All the Pretty Horses.

Happy new thread, Mark! Wisconsin looks beautiful. And Rinker Buck's books sound fascinating, I will have to check them out.

Happy new thread, Mark! Welcome back, and hooray for Wisconsin!

>78 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie. I loved The Road too. Did you like All the Pretty Horses?

>79 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda. We had a good time in WI. I hope you can give the Buck books a try.

>80 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. We had a good time in the Badger State.

>81 msf59: I did, but not as much as The Road.

Hi Mark, we are finally sharing a read! I noticed over at the TIOLI wiki that you are reading Rinker Buck's Life on the Mississippi and I am going to start it tomorrow when I pick it up from the library. I also loved his previous book and I am looking forward to this one!

Stopping by your thread to say...Welcome to the TIOLI challenges...and hurray for your shared read with Delta Queen! Yes!!

>82 Crazymamie: Did you read the other 2 books in The Border Trilogy, Mamie? If not, they both are excellent.

>83 DeltaQueen50: Hi, Judy. Good to see you. I love an unintentional shared read. I am not far into "Life on the Mississippi" but I am really enjoying it. Did you read his Oregon Trail book? If not, it is also excellent.

>84 SqueakyChu: Thanks for the welcome, Madeline. I am not going to able to keep up with all the TIOLI whiz-kids but I hope to dip in now and then.

"Blood Meridian is an epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, brilliantly subverting the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the Wild West."

I first read Blood Meridian in September 1992. My son was six months old. The novel was my introduction to McCarthy and it blew me away, leading me to read six of his other books. He has never disappointed. I have been thinking about doing a reread for a few years. While discussing it with Joe, another big fan, we decided to do a shared read. We had no other takers. I read a bit of it today. Some may find it challenging- I do not. Man, this guy can write. Joe has taken his copy to LA with him and hopefully will dip in.

>86 msf59: Did you remember much of it, Mark? I find that the books I reread lately are almost like reading something I've never cracked the covers of before.

Hello there!! Happy Wednesday. Thinking Empire of Pain in the second half of March. Does that work for you?

>75 msf59: LOL

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Wednesday to you.

>75 msf59: I saw this when I posted, should have edited in a LOL into my previous message, but was lazy.

>77 msf59: You got them interested in a birdfeeder! Yay. And two for two with books I mentioned.

Bird report: Finches, a Tufted Titmouse lurking, otherwise quiet.

>87 Familyhistorian: Hi, Meg. Good question- I do remember the tone and nightmarish atmosphere of it, along with the character of The Judge, but not much detail after that. On rereads, I may not remember much about it before I start the book but then begin to recognize it, as I start to read, if that makes sense.

>88 Berly: Happy Wednesday, Kim. I just started my current audio, so starting Empire of Pain in the 2nd half of the month will work just fine.

>89 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. Hooray for birdfeeders and first AM visitors. Too dark here...

Morning, Mark! Glad you are home, safe and sound with your books.
Looking forward to more Blood Meridian remarks.

Happy March! Wowza! Yep, February is the shortest month but I somehow managed to jam in 14 books. Not shabby for the Warbler. Of course, this included a few Gns and poetry collections but still an impressive feat. It was also a nice mix of NF, horror, crime & historical fiction. My favorite was Horse, of course, and I also really liked Trees & Foster. Lastly, I managed 5 challenge books- 2 for the AlphaKit and 3 for the TIOLI. My year is off to a fine start.

March Plans:

Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker Buck (audio) TIOLI
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy w/Joe
Omensetter��s Luck by William H. Gass Alphakit G
After the Wind by Lou Kasischke AlphaKit A
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe w/Kim
Runaway by Alice Munro TIOLI

>91 Carmenere: Morning, Lynda. Yep, back to the grind. LOL. I only read a few pages of Blood Meridian yesterday but plan on hunkering down with it this afternoon.

I see Chicago is getting itself a new mayor, Mark. Are there big differences between the two fellows in the run-off?

Happy mid week and beginning of the month!

The birds are slowly de-thawing here. I recon it won't take long until I see the first robin of the season :)

>94 PaulCranswick: Hey, Paul. Happy mid-week. Yep, Lightfoot is out as Chicago mayor. Not a big surprise. She wasn't well liked. The crime problem in the city was the major issue, the police hated her, but I also think her gender, race and sexual preference were also factors. I do not live in Cook County, so it is hard for me to rate her, since her policies do not effect us

The two candidates in the run-off are similar. I think Johnson is more progessive but Paul Vallas seems to be the front-runner. Both say they will fight crime as best as they can. We will see...

>95 figsfromthistle: Happy Wednesday, Figs. Our Spring migration is already in full swing. I have seen 5-6 FOY (first of the year) birds in just the past couple of days. Robins can be seen here through the year but their numbers will rise dramatically.

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd was released on this date in 1973. One of my favorite albums by one of my favorite rock groups. I am sure the first time I heard it, it was blasting from someone's 8-track player, at an outdoor party.

"The lunatic is on the grass
The lunatic is on the grass
Remembering games
And daisy chains and laughs
Got to keep the loonies on the path

The lunatic is in the hall
The lunatics are in my hall
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill

And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade
You make the change
You rearrange me 'till I'm sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
And there's someone in my head, but it's not me..."

-Brain Damage

>97 msf59: There was a pretty good story on NPR this morning about the 50th anniversary with a psychiatrist/neuroscientist talking about how the album was inspired by Syd Barrett's mental health issues and how that caused his ouster from the band.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/01/1159798950/psychologist-daniel-levitin-dissects-p...

>98 drneutron: Thanks for that, Jim. I will check it out. I think both Dark Side and the next LP Wish You Were Here were a tribute to Barrett.

Hey Mark! I'm here at work looking through new book blurbs for suggestions on what we should order for the library and I've stumbled onto this title: Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future. Have you heard of it yet? Looks right up your street, I think.

>100 scaifea: Hi, Amber. I have not heard of Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future but it sure sounds like my cuppa. It immediately made the WL. I like this quote by the author-

"Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down, but a thread running through the pattern of my life, so tightly woven in that there’s no way of pulling it free and leaving the rest of my life intact.”

Amen...

-Mike Luckovich

>101 msf59: Oooh, that *is* a good quote! I've put the book on our order list, too.

>97 msf59: That album cover brought back memories!

>59 msf59: Mark, I LOVE that you took a bird feeder with you on your short trip to Wisconsin. You had a beautiful view and you made some local birds happy. Win-Win!

Lots of good reading going on in your world. I was reading the Kenzie-Gennero series by Lehane a few years ago. I'm not quite sure why I stopped...sometimes I get my fill and call it good...

I'm glad to see some pictures of Jackson. I will never get my fill of seeing pictures of the two of you. ;-)

>102 msf59: Got her number in one image.

Sweet Thursday (when you read this), Birddude!

>97 msf59: Wow, Dark Side Of the Moon. 1973.... That was like 25-30 years ago, right?? Time flies. ;)

Glad you had a fun trip! Beautiful view, but brrrr, I’d much prefer that lake house in the summer.

Happy Thursday, Mark.

Not much to say, no birding reports, only spotted some of the usual birds last week.
In 1973 I was 10, and had no notion of music, that came much later.

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Thursday to oyou.

>97 msf59: and >98 drneutron: I heard this interview on NPR too, about this being the 50th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon. One of my favorite albums of all time, too, with lots of good memories tied up with it. We have at least one vinyl copy upstairs.

I also heard an interview with Joni Mitchell, since she was awarded the Gershwin Award for Popular Song yesterday. Mitchell followed by Pink Floyd, while I was making scones. Blast from the past for me, for sure.

>102 msf59: God, that woman is evil.

Bird report: A few bedraggled-looking finches since it’s overcast, cold, and rainy.

>103 scaifea: I will be reading that one too, Amber. Glad you are getting it for the library.

>104 Familyhistorian: Yep, a real classic, Meg.

>105 Donna828: Hi, Donna. As you know, I love spreading book joy and I feel the same way about spreading the bird joy. In regard to the Kenzie-Gennero series- if I hadn't had Moonlight Mile languishing on shelf, I may not have got back to the series either but I am glad I did.

I hope Jackson sits still long enough, for me to get more photos. Not easy these days.

>106 richardderus:. Yep, what a vile, moronic POS! Stomach heaves...Sweet Thursday, RD!

>107 Copperskye: Hi, Joanne. I was 13 going on 14, when that album dropped. A great time to be a music lover. And yes, we prefer our friend's lakehouse in the summer too.

>108 FAMeulstee: Sweet Thursday, Anita. I am not sure it is happening by you, by we are getting many early migrants and many of them are singing. I started enjoying music at a tender age- probably 8-10.

>109 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. Hooray for Dark Side of the Moon. I was even a bigger fan of their next album, Wish You Were Here. Great group. I also love Joni Mitchell. It is starting to lighten up in my backyard but so far...nothing.

Heya Mark. It may or may not interest you, but there's a nonfiction title due out in July about Lexington that's serendipitously timed with the publication of Horse. It's by Kim Wickens and is aptly enough titled Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse.

>112 MickyFine: Sweet Thursday, Micky. Good to see you. Thanks for the tip. I will have to add that NF title to my obese WL. Any intention to read Horse?

-Harry Bliss

>113 msf59: Not right now. Literary fiction isn't really joyful reading for me so I'm mostly hanging out with genre fiction this year.

>114 msf59: Awomen, Hawk.

Happy weekend-ahead's reads, Birddude!

>115 MickyFine: Hey, no problem with that, Micky. Enjoy those comfort reads.

>116 richardderus: Hi, RD. It will be a Jackson-filled weekend, so it will be all good here.

"Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice: on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks, and neglected backyards...A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama, and immersion in character."

Catton's last novel, the Booker-Prize winning The Luminaries was the buzz book around here, back in 2013-14. I read and enjoyed it '14. She is finally releasing her follow-up next week and it sounds like another winner.

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Friday to you.

Still dark out, so no bird report. I did visit Louise yesterday and saw a Brown Thrasher on her deck.

>114 msf59: Reminded me of Thurber’s Naïve Domestic Burgundy:



>118 msf59: Sigh. I still have The Luminaries staring at me reproachfully from shelf S26 in the Sunroom.

>119 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. Ooh, a brown thrasher. Nice. They will arrive here a bit later and stay for the summer. I like the cartoon. A nice companion piece. I hope you can find time to read The Luminaries. It's a good one.

Hummer

I think of the unspoken, his airless room,
the words my father coaxed from his lungs
with the help of oxygen. The suitcase I found
on the shelf above his bed, with its jars
of mummified occupants, how I unwrapped
the photo curled around each hummingbird couple
like a sarcophagus, the smell of honey
mixed with formaldehyde, and how, when I prised
the male from the female, their throats
glowed like embers just above slit chests.
I saw it all then—a boy with his slingshot
in the forest at dawn, his hands pinning
the hummer’s wings, the penknife slicing
through its narrow breast, its tiny heart torn out—
still beating, hot on my father’s tongue.

BY PASCALE PETIT

TGIF, Mark! Dark Side was released when I was 12 so I wasn’t drawn to it till my late teens but it quickly became one of my favorite albums. Now,I want to dig it out and listen again.

Thanks for npr link, Jim.

I just saw one of the book tubers thinks Birnam Wood for the women’s prize long list

Have a good one!!

>122 Carmenere: Morning, Lynda! Looks like we need to have a Dark Side of the Moon listening party! Yah! I was almost fourteen when it came out but really getting into music at that time. Yep, looking forward to Birnam Wood.

Morning, Mark! Your weekend should be a fun one. I had not heard about the new Catton - most exciting. I loved The Luminaries.

>114 msf59: Ha!

>119 karenmarie: I love this, Karen - thanks for sharing!

Birnam Wood sounds great. Thanks for the heads-up.

Although I read and enjoyed The Luminaries, it's length and number of characters were a bit daunting and I wrote in my review, that for those reasons I probably wouldn't ever reread it. And that, folks, is why I do reviews - too many books for my sieve-lke brain to retain the details that slip through the little holes. :)

>124 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! Hooray for both Birnam Wood & our Jackson weekend.

>125 streamsong: Happy Friday, Janet. I may have also knocked off a half star of The Luminaries for the exact same reason(s). Still a very good read, IMHO.

-Joe Heller

"Perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Fortitude is one of the safest towns on earth. There has never been a violent crime here. Until now."

^"Fortitude" was recently recommended to me and I watched the first 2 eps. I like it but it is not as strong as "Trapped", at least in the early going. It is more slick and polished. The scenery is stunning and they managed to snag a strong international cast.

I also just finished Narcos season 2. I absolutely love this show but the violence may not be for every taste. I am also enjoying "Irma Vep" and nearing the end of "Single Drunk Female", which has been terrific.

'Morning, Mark! Happy Saturday to you.

A finch or two, not yet time for second breakfast for the birds.

Morning, Karen. The snowstorm completely missed us and the sun is shining. Jackson will make the day even brighter.

^Jackson likes being outdoors, like his Mom and his Grandpa. He also doesn't mind yardwork. That may change...

They are working on getting him off his pacifer but he sure loves that thing.

>127 msf59: I’ll confess to a retrospective at work the other day… 😀

>132 drneutron: Nice, Jim. I am surprised I didn't. Hey, never too late...

>131 msf59: It's so nice to have a helper with the yardwork!

John's been watching Narcos. I'm not interested, but he likes it.

Hang in there with Fortitude.

Have you watched Bad Sisters on Apple? It was great.

>131 msf59: The darling! It's easier to like yardwork when you don't have to bend down so far. Oh, and when you just spring back up.

>134 Copperskye: It wasn't my yardwork! LOL. How far along is John with Narcos? So you were a fan of Fortitude? Did you watch all 3 seasons? I have not watched Bad Sisters. Thanks for the rec. I hope we still have Apple. On the dramedy front, I highly recommend Single Drunk Female on Hulu. Happy Saturday, Joanne.

>135 quondame: You got that right, Susan. It should be a fun summer with him.

-Drew Sheneman

>137 msf59: - This made me laugh out loud!

>138 katiekrug: Me too, Katie. Happy Sunday!

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Sunday to you.

>131 msf59: Sweet pics. We had issues with the pacifier, too. It will eventually not be needed. We had orthodontist bills later because of it, although we might have had them anyway since Bill’s side of the family has pretty crooked teeth.

>137 msf59: I am still very unhappy at the partial history I was taught growing up and am more worried now than ever about what is now the revisionist history that the GOP is peddling. Leaving events out is vile, putting out untruths to vulnerable people is pure evil.

Many finches, a Blue Jay in the Crepe Myrtle. I need to fill the sunflower seed feeder today.

>140 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. We are trying to do our part in keeping him off the pacifier. We love his expressive face without the plug in it. My daughter loved hers too but one day just gave it up.

Yep, BOO to the gang of psychos and hooray for the feeder report.

The Red Widow: The Scandal that Shook Paris and the Woman Behind it All by Sarah Horowitz 3.6 stars

If you are looking for an interesting and entertaining nonfiction title, filled with sex, scandal and murder, give The Red Widow a try. The setting is Paris, 1889. It follows Margeurite “Meg” Steinheil a French woman struggling to escape her middle-class origins, trying to fit into bourgeois society, by any means necessary. She reaches those heights...for a little while. TIOLI Feb #7

Down From The Mountain: Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear by Bryce Andrews 4 stars

Bryce Andrews is a Montana rancher and conservationist. He loves grizzlies and has been monitoring them for years. Here, he follows Millie and her two cubs as they face the many challenges of survival, on his land and off. He is a very good writer and really keeps the narrative flowing, as we cheer these bears on. Great audio too!

Moonlight Mileby Dennis Lehane 4.2 stars

I had not read a Kenzie & Gennaro book in years but I did have the final book in the series on shelf and decided to finally get to it. The team had solved a missing girl case, twelve years ago, when Amanda McCready was 4 years old. She is sixteen now and has disappeared again. This is a good solid series and I plan on getting to the remaining 2 or 3, that I have not read. TIOLI Feb #12

Hiya, Mark. Woodworking is crowding my reading time. I've got about 20 pages to go in Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich. I think it is interesting, though traditionalist historians view the author's report with suspicion. The cup's got some leaks, but it holds a lot of water. I've got some follow-up books in mind. And some change of pace things as well.

>137 msf59: Love Sheneman. I missed this one.

>142 msf59: I'm very interested in the Horowitz book...I'm always up for a snobbery-gets-its-comeuppance story.

Happy Sunday, Mark.

Hi Mark, I have completed my read of Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker Buck. I liked the book but not as much as his first book about travelling in a covered wagon. He certainly does his research and gives the reader lots of history.

I am curious about your reaction to Down From the Mountain. I thought it was very powerful and honest. It brought so many aspects of the problem of wildlife encroachment into a real world space. It hit me emotionally and environmentally. It may not have had as powerful of an effect on you and that's OK, because every person reacts differently to what they read.

‘Morning, Mark! Happy day-after-Sunday to you.

>143 msf59: Hmmm… I have been known to do that.

Way too dark for the feeder report, but I did see a Junco yesterday afternoon along with most of the usual suspects.

>144 weird_O: Howdy, Bill. Glad you are enjoying that woodworking. Different hobbies are important but let's not forget about those books.

>145 richardderus: Hey, RD. The Red Widow was a solid read. You might like it.

>146 DeltaQueen50: Hi, Judy. Thanks for your update on Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure. I am doing it on audio so I still have a long way to go. I am really enjoying it, though.

>147 benitastrnad: Hi, Benita. I posted a brief review on Down From the Mountain yesterday. I agree, I thought it was very well done. I also think you would really enjoy my current audio, Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure. Just sayin'...

>148 karenmarie: Morning, Karen. I haven't peeked out back yet. Glad to hear you got a junco. They are still hanging around here too but will be leaving soon.

"...Omensetter's Luck is the quirky, impressionistic, and breathtakingly original story of an ordinary community galvanized by the presence of an extraordinary man. Set in a small Ohio town in the 1890s, it chronicles - through the voices of various participants and observers..."

After finishing my stunning and devastating reread of Blood Meridian, I am turning to Omensetter's Luck. How and why did I acquire this novel? Did a certain LTer warble loud enough about it or did a fellow book lover send it to me? No answers from this Warbler! BUT, March's, AlfaKit: G gave me an opportunity to pluck it off shelf and dig in. Has anyone here read this or know of the author? Maybe someone can solve this mystery.

Happy Monday, Mark! I do love all the cartoons you throw in. Thank. ; )

>153 Berly: Happy Monday, Kimmers. Glad you like the cartoons and I hope you are having a good time with Demon Copperhead.

Ancestry

1.
I can’t believe what the moon wrote
For the valley’s dying to find

—something

About the musky scent of lilacs this
Late in the year, darkening

Further the songs of the trees—
Where does she get off upstaging me?

2.
Moloch—
The first angel banished from Heaven

For hocking his mother’s wedding band
for booze—

Wasn’t it you who first said, Sorrow
Cares nothing for how long one weeps—

Or was it Schumann—
You or Haydn’s oboes who first moaned,

Suffering—

Enter it through any gate you choose
And stay there, until the strings come in?

-Tommy Archuleta From Poem-A-Day

^Hooray! Murakami has a new novel coming out in April, his first novel in six years. It is called The City and Its Uncertain Walls. It will be another 1,200 page behemoth and if it will be anything like his last behemoth, 1Q84 it will be most welcome. That is one of my favorite of his works. Here is a teaser from the publisher:

“Must go to the city. No matter what happens. A locked up ‘story’ starts to move quietly as if ‘old dreams’ are woken up and unravelled in a secluded archive.”

^Yep, sounds like classic Murakami. Be forewarned- this is first being published in Japan, so no release date for the states. Boo!!

‘Morning, Mark. Happy Tuesday to you. I hope Rehab goes well.

>150 msf59: I’ve only seen a couple of Juncos this winter, and they’ll be leaving soon to head to Canada for breeding season.

>152 msf59: Haven’t heard of this author at all, sorry.

Various and sundry of the usual suspects and a female Downy chowing down on the suet. I'm not very good with Sparrow IDs, but have seen two different sparrows this morning.

Morning, Karen. Yep, our juncos will also be leaving. Not many takers on Gass. LOL. Thanks for the feeder report. Heading out...

I know you are a fan of Dan Egan's work, so I am just stopping by to remind you that his new book, Devil's Element, is out today. It is another captivating read about an important environmental issue. Hosting him tonight at the nature center!

Morning, Mark. I see you are already out the door. Have a day, buddy.

>159 alphaorder: Thanks for the heads-up on The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance, Nancy. I have added it to my list. I loved his Great Lakes book.

>160 weird_O: Howdy, Bill. Now, I am back from my Rehab duties and I have walked Juno. Now, it is time for the books. Lovely March day in Chicagoland.

>150 msf59:
Got Rinker Buck's book on my TBR list already. I enjoyed Oregon Trail so expect that I will like this one too.

>162 benitastrnad: As usual you are way ahead of me, Benita. LOL. I think you will like it.

^DNF! Hey, I gave it the old college try. I think 50 pages was an admirable attempt. Some good writing here but there was plenty of stuff I didn't feel like wading through.



^I wasted no time starting Wild at Heart: Story of Sailor and Lula. Another one that had been sitting on shelf for ages and also fits the challenge-AlfaKit: G. I am not sure I have ever seen this series of books or the author mentioned on LT. I did see film adaptation Wild at Heart by David Lynch many years ago. I wasn't crazy about it. I am already 40 pages in. I like it...

Well before I could say oh, I'll be interested in what you think of William Gass, Mark, you're done with him lol. I'm not surprised. Experimental writing I believe although I haven't read anything he's written.

>156 msf59: That is good news, Mark.
I have only read a few by Murakami, but it is good to have one more to read some day.
1Q84 is on my list for later this year.

>165 brenzi: Hi, Bonnie. Great to see you. I hate giving up on a book and it might have been worth hanging in there but 250 more pages did not appeal to me. Blood Meridian was a challenging dense read too at times, but always kept me hooked.

>166 FAMeulstee: Happy Wednesday, Anita. Glad you are excited about the Murakami news. I am hoping that he comes back strong. 1Q84 was fantastic. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter! We are very proud of her. Of course, we would love another grandchild, since she nailed it so perfectly the first time. ❤️❤️

Happy birthday to Bree! Nice to see a fellow March baby.

>169 bell7: Thanks, Mary. March is a popular birthday month for our family. My son is on the 20th. When is yours?

>170 msf59: Mine is the 25th. Funnily enough, the folks in my immediately family don't even share a birth month, we're all spread out, though my mother's family had four out of six kids born in July.

‘Morning, Mark! Happy Wednesday to you. Enjoy your BBA, books, and Juno.

>161 msf59: I’ve put this on my wish list.

>168 msf59: Happy Birthday to Bree! No pressure for another grandchild, right? *smile*

Got a Downy, finches, a male Cardinal, and a Carolina Chickadee fluttering about on the feeders. Earlier I had Cowbirds and Blue Jays in the Crepe Myrtle, too.

>171 bell7: It is nice to have those birthdays spread out. I am the only one in July. Jackson & Sean follow me in August.

>172 karenmarie: Morning, Karen and thank you. God, we would LOVE another grandchild. Maybe, my son will come through one of these days. I appreciate the feeder report. Mine have been quiet.

>156 msf59: Could be a couple of years before it gets into English Mark. Glad it's on the way. I loved Killing Commendatore, but need to get to a couple of his other classics.

>174 Caroline_McElwee: I wonder what takes so long, Caroline? Murakami has to sell a lot more books in the US & UK, than in Japan. WTH?

>168 msf59: So lovely. Hard not to be greedy, but one is really lots!

>176 quondame: I am sure it is, Susan but we are still greedy grandparents.

>168 msf59: Belated happy birthday to Bree!

And a happy Thursday to you, Mark, any plans today?
We have cold and rainy weather today, so it will be a short walk in our rainsuits in the afternoon. The rest of the day I will read :-)

>178 FAMeulstee: Thanks for the birthday wishes for Bree, Anita. I have Trail Watch duties for this morning and I am visiting Jackson this afternoon. Yep, a good day.

Sweet Thursday!

^At the Rehab center on Tuesday, I got close looks at a beautiful long-eared owl, although he was a bit skittish. It's ear tufts were laying flat, so I didn't recognize it at first. These very secretive birds will hunker down here in the winter but will be moving north very soon.



^There were literally hundreds of sandhill cranes flying over my house yesterday. It might be the most I have ever seen at one time. Wave after wave of small to large groupings flying a WNW direction. (NMP)

>180 msf59:. Both these images are BEAUTIFUL!

>181 alphaorder: Good morning, Nancy and thanks. The sandhills are not my photo. Very difficult to photograph them from those heights. At least for my amateur camera. Have you ever seen a long-eared owl in the wild? They are very tough to locate.

>182 msf59: Ah, that makes sense about the sandhill cranes.

I have never seen a Long-eared Owl. There was a pair a few miles from us for a while, but apparently, they haven't returned.

>180 msf59: Wow! Beautiful birds! This time of year must be a birder’s favorite, with all the migrations happening, right?

Karen O

Hello Mark. I have the Robert Bateman book on Birds home from the library and the paintings are stunning. and lots of great descriptions. I know you would love it! There is lots of bird "talk" in the E. Donoghue book Haven. I thought that was an amazing book too. Hope you have a great weekend.

>183 alphaorder: I have a good birder friend who travels up to the Milwaukee area to see the LEOs. They have been seen along our lakefront this season, so he probably hasn't gone up there.

>184 klobrien2: Sweet Thursday, Karen. Yes, spring is our favorite time of year. It is fun watching resident birds coming in and migration ones passing through. Never gets old.

>185 mdoris: Sweet Thursday, Mary. I should get the Bateman book out from the library and I have Haven on my TBR, along with a multitude of others. I love her work.

>180 msf59:
Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless

Hey Mark - looks like you will get the first hit of the latest storm
and we will be spared for awhile.

Mostly Juncos and one mourning dove at the feeders,
along with our Doe and now adult fawn,
and two possums beneath.

All the cranes flew to you - none visible under cloud cover.

Thanks again for all the inspiring photos!

>87 Familyhistorian: Hi, Diane. Great to see you stop by. I LOVE the Neil Young lyrics. I am a big fan of this rock n' roller and one of the finest songwriters that we have. As you can see, I am also a BIG bird lover.

>188 m.belljackson: Sweet Thursday, Marianne. The storm is moving in but we might only get 2 inches in our southern regions. Thanks for the bird report. We still have juncos too. Have you heard any red-winged blackbirds? They are everywhere here.

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy 5 stars

“A lobeshaped moon rose over the black shapes of the mountains dimming out the eastern stars and along the nearby ridge the white blooms of flowering yuccas moved in the wind and in the night bats came from some nether part of the world to stand on leather wings like dark satanic hummingbirds and feed at the mouth of these flowers.”

“Here beyond men’s judgements all covenants were brittle.”

“War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.”

“They rode out on the north road as would parties bound for El Paso but before they were quite out of sight of the city they had turned their tragic mounts to the west and they rode infatuate and half fond toward the red demise of the day, toward the evening lands and the distant pandemonium of the sun.”

The set-up is simple- The “Kid” is fourteen, when he flees Tennessee, hops a flatboat down the Mississippi and ends up in Texas. He soon hooks up with a group of ruthless, scalp-hunters and from then on, nothing is simple anymore, just a steady diet of bloody carnage. A razor-sharp indictment of Manifest Destiny. I could have shared many more quotes from this apocalyptic western tale but I felt a taste was enough. McCarthy’s prose is jaw-dropping and his vocabulary is dazzling, which is probably the only reason certain readers may continue this violent narrative. This was a reread for me and I got so much more out of it, this time around. I also think the “Judge” is one of the best and most memorable villains in literature. A masterpiece.

Paul - https://www.librarything.com/topic/348208#n8089839

My library doesn't have Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker Buck so when I was at the used book store today I picked up Flight of Passage and earlier memoir by the same author. Don't know when I will get to it, but I will try to get it read soon.

>156 msf59: Boo on no release date yet for Murakami in the US. I can't wait. I love 1Q84.

>168 msf59: No pressure on Bree, Grandad!! ; )

>180 msf59: Love the bird photos, as per usual. Thanks for sharing.

Enjoy your Friday and weekend!

>191 dianeham: I love the "Cranes, Mafiosos, and a Polaroid Camera" poem, Diane. Thanks for sharing. Paul?

>192 benitastrnad:- I am really enjoying Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure on audio, so keep that in mind.

>193 Berly: Happy Friday, Kimmers. It looks like we will have to be patient with the new Murakami and my daughter. Smiles...Glad you are enjoying the birds. I will keep sharing.

"Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy."

Recently, Joe texted me from CA and asked me if I had read Night of the Living Rez. I told him I had not but it sure sounds like my cuppa. It turns out I had it in my WL and decided right there and then to get to it. Thanks, Joe. I will start it today.

I liked my Sailor & Lula novella, (I will read the next one) and I continue to enjoy my time on the river in Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure.

-Drew Sheneman

Marshlands

A thin wet sky, that yellows at the rim,
And meets with sun-lost lip the marsh’s brim.

The pools low lying, dank with moss and mould,
Glint through their mildews like large cups of gold.

Among the wild rice in the still lagoon,
In monotone the lizard shrills his tune.

The wild goose, homing, seeks a sheltering,
Where rushes grow, and oozing lichens cling.

Late cranes with heavy wing, and lazy flight,
Sail up the silence with the nearing night.

And like a spirit, swathed in some soft veil,
Steals twilight and its shadows o’er the swale.

Hushed lie the sedges, and the vapours creep,
Thick, grey and humid, while the marshes sleep.

-BY EMILY PAULINE JOHNSON

>196 msf59: Perfect. Just PERFECT.

Happy Saturday, Birddude. Hoping all is well there.

>198 richardderus: Happy Sunday, Richard. I wasn't around much yesterday. Birding, Juno and the books. Only backyard birding today, the other 2 remain the same. 😁

^Jackson loves his laptop. It really cracks him up. How about that bed-hair?

>200 msf59: What was Jackson watching?!?

>201 m.belljackson: As far as I know, nothing. Lol.

Hey hey, Mark. I read po-eems yesterday. T. S. Eliot ones. And I didn't need a pony.* 'Twas Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

Last night, I tore into Demon Copperhead. Six pages and I was spent. Definitely reading more of it today.

* A word-for-word translation of a foreign language text, especially one used as an aid in studying or test-taking. Also: A translation of a Greek or Latin author used unfairly in the preparation of lessons. Thus: US, slang A translation used as a study aid; loosely, a crib, a cheat-sheet.

>203 weird_O: Howdy, Bill. I had no idea what "pony" referred to. Thanks for the explanation. I sure hope you can spend a lot more time with Demon Copperhead. It's a good 'un!

Back Garden

You crack a smile wide open.
I hear thunder in the sunshine.
Perfect breezes blow wild roses,
and I am lit to sense these surroundings.

You pick up your guitar
and play songs to the sparrows and robins.
Crows mob your evenings
like fans clamouring to hear you sing.

The garden grows peaceful
with the critters quieting for the night.
But some animals don’t need light.
They scratch around our midnight.

-PJ Thomas

^This one is part of a collection called "Waves", which I received from Early Reviewers. It was much lighter than my usual fare but I appreciated the nature aspect of many of the poems, although they didn't exactly rock my world. Thomas is a poet from Wisconsin.

>200 msf59: ohmygosh, he cracks me up just looking at his reaction. So great.

Hope it's been a good weekend, Mark!

>200 msf59: That ain't wild hair - that his halo! Great photo!

>200 msf59: Best baby pics! What hair! What brio!

I was dropping by to wish you a happy weekend but it flew by and it's almost gone! I spotted a robin a few days ago so spring is just around the corner. Happy week ahead.

>206 bell7: I am having a great weekend, Mary. Thanks. Yes, Jack really cracked me up with that one. I am lucky to have got a photo. It happened so quickly.

>207 streamsong: Hooray for Jackson's halo! Happy Sunday, Janet.

>208 quondame: Hooray for Jackson's Brio!!

>209 figsfromthistle: Happy Sunday, Anita. It sure goes fast doesn't it? I have had 2 robins visit regularly this past week. I have also had a male red-winged blackbird show a few times. Spring is fast approaching...

When I was in school, my classmates taking Latin would talk about having a "pony" to help them translate homework or otherwise navigate reading stuff in Latin. I still think of that term whenever I'm reading some novel or story I'm having difficulty comprehending. I've honestly never been sure if was a legitimate word or something unique to the school. So I looked it up.

>211 weird_O: I have heard that use of "pony", but had forgotten it until you mentioned it above.

>211 weird_O: >212 laytonwoman3rd: Funny, I don't remember coming across this use of "pony" before. A PA thing, perhaps? Grins...

^I want to congratulate the film, "Everything Everywhere All at Once", along with Michelle Yeoh for winning best picture and best actress last night. I ended up seeing the film twice and thought it was perfectly okay. My hands-down favorite film, (it should have won) is Tar, along with my favorite performance of the year- Cate Blanchett, who should have won handily. Oh, well...

I was very happy to see Sarah Polley win for adapting Women Talking to the big screen. My second favorite film of last year.

What is up with those mind-numbing commercials? They never seemed to end, making an already incredibly long broadcast even more painful.

>203 weird_O: A "pony" to me is this:

or this:

>214 msf59: I am thrilled that this complex, involving story won big!

I never, ever watch live TV because the constant prods in the ribs to "buysomethingbuysomethingbuy something" make me furious...DON'T BUY STUFF you do not *need* and save help the planet FFS!

>213 msf59: Well, I studied Latin in New York State, so that can't be it! Also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned pony bottles --i.e. little bottles of beer, once quite popular in PA, but not exclusive to our famous Rolling Rock brand.

>180 msf59: Your friend does look a little cautious Mark.

>200 msf59: haha to bed hair.

>214 msf59: I've still to see this one. Agree 'Tar' would have been my choice. I'm glad Brendan Fraser was recognised for his outstanding performance.

>215 richardderus: >216 richardderus: I like your ponies, Richard. Yep, I am sure many people are happy with "Everything Everywhere All at Once" winning." You sure didn't miss much on missing the Oscars.

>217 laytonwoman3rd: Ooh, I remember those ponies, Linda.

>218 Caroline_McElwee: Hi, Caroline. Yep, that long-eared owl wasn't happy about me being in his space. Jack's hair has been growing out, we love it but it is fine and silky. Sad, that Tar was completely overlooked. Such an excellent film. I have not seen "The Whale".

Out here where I grew up the expression "pony up" means to help somebody out. As in "pony up" to the bar and buy somebody a beer. Likewise it is also used like "pony up" with your chainsaw and help somebody cut wood.

I listened to two books on the trip back to Kansas and started a third one. Long road travel is good for listening time.

pony up
verb
ponied up; ponying up; ponies up
Synonyms of pony up
transitive verb
to pay (money) especially in settlement of an account

>220 benitastrnad: >222 mdoris: Funny, "pony up" is the only expression that I have heard. You don't hear that anymore or rarely.

>220 benitastrnad: What books did you listen to or would you rather not say? 😁

"Near the top of Mount Everest, on 10 May 1996, eight climbers died. It was the worst tragedy in the mountain's history. Lou Kasischke was there. Now he tells the harrowing story of what went wrong, as it has never been told before - including why the climbers were desperately late and out of time. His personal story, captured in the title AFTER THE WIND, tells about the intense moments near the top."

Another one that has been sitting on shelf far too long. I think my initial plan was to listen to this on audio. Well, that didn't happen. Thanks to March's AlphaKit, I finally pulled After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy—One Survivor's Story down and dug in. This is the same Everest tragedy that Jon Krakauer documented in Into Thin Air, which is one of my very favorite NF adventure tales.

"In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew."

^Mark your calendars! Ms. Patchett has a new novel coming out this summer, (Aug). I am happy to report that this author is still at the top of her game and also delivering both fiction and nonfiction at the highest level. I also love when she writes about family dynamics. I also have a copy of her earlier novel, The Patron Saint of Liars which I hope to bookhorn in this year.

Gorgeous cover!

I'm so far behind on my Patchett reading...

>225 msf59: Wow, great news Mark, thanks for the heads up! I'm a huge Patchett fan.

>225 msf59: Ooo, thanks for the heads up Mark.

Finished Waco the other day. Guinn scored another good one!

HI Mark, Thanks for the hot tip of the new Patchett novel. i have just put it on reserve at the library but not sure when it will be available. Really surprised that the library is listing it when it won't be published until the summer. Perplexed!

>226 katiekrug: >227 vivians: >228 Caroline_McElwee: Glad to see I am not alone on the Patchett love. More to look forward to.

>229 drneutron: I am so glad you got to "Waco", Jim. I had a feeling you would like it. Guinn has quickly become a NF favorite.

>230 mdoris: You are welcome, Mary. You should be at the top of the "Hold" list for that one. Maybe we will do a shared read in the fall.

>231 msf59: You would think that but I am #4 on the list. Good idea to do a shared read!

>232 mdoris: It looks like it will be a tough copy to get so we may have to wait awhile, until we can do a shared read. Happy Wednesday, Mary.

"The CNN Film follows Russian opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, through his political rise, attempted assassination and search to uncover the truth."

^"Navalny" recently won Best Documentary at the Oscars and it is a damn good one. I did not know much about Alexey Navalny, other than his poisoning. You have to admire anyone that would take on Putin. This guy is a modern hero. Streaming on HBO Max.

I am also nearly done with the first season of Fortitude. I am enjoying it well enough but still deciding if I will continue the series. I am watching it on DVD.

I've got 'Navalny' on my to be watched list. Maybe this weekend?

>235 katiekrug: It is very good, Katie! Being up against that monster and his demonic regime is pretty scary stuff.

Happy Wednesday, Mark! Gone a couple of days and I've missed so much.
Happy belated to Bree! I'm s March baby too. The 22nd.
Jackson is getting sooo big! I love that bed hair too.
Nice review of Blood Meridian! A masterpiece?! I've really got to read it soonish

Hoping your Wednesday works out well for you, Birddude. It's my last day here...home tomorrow. Partings are always bittersweet, and I've met lots of terrific folks here. BUT I'M GOING HOME! *happy shuffle* (dance is right on out at this point)

>225 msf59: OH! OH! A new Ann Patchett novel! Thank you so much for the alert, Mark. I "follow" her on Amazon so they usually let me know about new releases, but not as early as my buddies here do. I can't wait.

New thread for the “John Huston Film Fest”!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/349424#n8094672

Karen O

>237 Carmenere: Happy Wednesday, Lynda. Thanks, in regard to Bree's birthday. My son's birthday is the 20th. March is a popular month. Hooray for Jackson and his famous bed-hair. I hope you can get to Blood Meridian one of these days. It can be challenging but oh so rewarding.

>238 richardderus: Hey, RD. My Wednesday is singing along. Looking forward to hunkering down with the books. Glad to hear that you are finally going home. You worked for it, my friend.

>239 lauralkeet: You are welcome, Laura. This is what book buddies do- spread that book joy. Very few authors have been as consistent as Patchett has. She is a treasure.

>240 klobrien2: Yah, Karen!! You know I will be participating in the John Huston Film Fest. Thanks for the link.

California

Finally, friends are leaving for New England—
Haddam, CT, and, God help them, Vermont—

which means plowing, slipping, freezing
but not, they hope, burning up in Paradise

as the Golden State furiously consumes itself.
I miss them though I won’t go East again.

I can’t—not to where all the seasons differ
gorgeously in the ways they make me ill,

where it’s okay to just be fucking mean,
especially in Little Rhody, or Rogue Island,

as it was called in the eighteenth century,
recently voted home of the worst accent,

beating West Virginia. No more bubblers
for me, and nothing’s wicked where I live

among nice folks, who say, beautiful day,
because we have beautiful days (whales,

pelicans, otters, and hummingbirds), then
a week of Martian skies, this sick orange.

We catch the ash and smell of toasted trees
and buildings. After this, rain refuses to soften,

pushing down on us. I jump at loud cracks
as long-lived, dried-out firs give up the ghost.

Mind the burn scar, authorities warn. Water
and rocks and everything else have nothing

to stop them. If  you hear the mudslide, you are
already too late. But I haven’t heard it yet.

-CATHLEEN CALBERT

>214 msf59: I went over to a friends' house for the Oscars and we had a lovely finger food feast and drinks while we watched. No desire to see "All Quiet on the Western Front" -- I've read the book and there's just way too much war on the news right now. I thought "The Banshees of Inisherin" should have had a few more wins, but now I definitely have a long list of movies to go see!

Nice pic of Jackson with his "laptop" and the hair!

>243 Berly: Hey, Kimmers. That sounds like a nice Oscar party. I haven't been to one of those in many years. The latest film version of All Quiet on the Western Front is a decent adaptation but not a Must See. I hope you get to see some of the top films like Tar & Women Talking. The Fablemans was very good too.

>244 Familyhistorian: Hi, Meg. Glad to see that Jackson with the bed-hair was a big hit.

Happy Thursday, Mark!

>200 msf59: Jackson with laptop and bedhair is adorable.

>224 msf59: After the Wind isn't translated (yet), but you did remind me that I still want to read Into Thin Air.

>246 FAMeulstee: Sweet Thursday, Anita. I will be seeing Jackson and his bed-hair shortly. I hope you can get to Into Thin Air soon. After the Wind makes a very good companion piece, if it ever gets translated.

I made it to Munden, but haven't even opened the computer until today. I have been busy dealing with lots of stuff and getting the family on board for a real life family meetup. I don't have much choice for TV out here, and am still trying to get time to hook up my DVD player so I can watch the DVD's that I checked out from the library. I brought the Longmire series, as I have never seen the entire thing. I only had the opportunity to watch part of one season. I have the house to myself and that means the TV as well, so will be taking the time to watch that. I also brought "Walking Through History." This is a BBC production about a guy who walks all of those hiking trails around Britain and tells about the history of the various places along the foot paths.

The weather here has been miserable. It was cold when I got here on Sunday (I missed the Oscars for the first time in years and I feel so out of it because of that) and it was cold. Then it got windy. I mean WINDY. Yesterday the wind was out of the Southeast at sustain winds of 35 MPH with gusts to 45MPH. It was so windy that the windmillers had to spray water on the roads to keep the dust down. Yes. The beautiful view from the patio of the Prairie Redoubt is about to be spoiled by 300 windmills. Each of these will be 250 feet high. But with all this wind it was only a matter of time before they would arrive here. It won't be long and you will be able to drive the 250 miles to Kansas City and never be out of sight of a windmill farm.

Today the wind is out of the northwest and it is raining, snowing, and freezing rain. I am going to stay inside today and bake a cake. Maybe I will get around to making some chicken noodle soup for supper as well. It is the perfect day for baking and soup.

You asked about what I listened to on the road.

German Wife by Kelly Rimmer This one is a work of historical fiction. It is a fictionalized account of the life of a German rocket scientist and his wife. It is about the decisions that they made starting in 1932 and ending in 1950 in Huntsville, AL.

This one was one I had wanted to read because I keep trying to understand how a documented commandant of a concentration camp (Mittlewerk/Dora) could become the venerated hero of the US space program and have buildings and streets in Huntsville, AL proudly named in his honor. This one was also a selection for my Alabama book club.

Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor This one is the book that the movie is based on.

Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard This is a book of compiled novellas and short stories that are part of the Red Queen series by this author. I enjoyed the series and I am enjoying listening to this book. The recording is outstanding - full cast.

I also figured out how to Zoom while driving using my hotspot. It turned out to be a bit more difficult than I thought - but it worked!

I finished reading All the Presidents' Gardens by Marta McDowell the first night on the road. I was a bit disappointed in this work of nonfiction. I thought it would be full of anecdotes about the presidents, their wives, the various gardeners and garden designers. It really wasn't. I wanted to know which of the presidents were gardeners. Didn't find that out. I did learn that one of the most involved presidents was John Quincy Adams. He had a love of gardening instilled in him by his mother Abigail Adams. The other big surprise was John Kennedy. He hired his friend Bunny Mellon to design the Rose Garden and specified what varieties of roses were to be included in the plantings. He was in the middle of designing what is now known as the Jacqueline Kennedy garden when he died. Mrs. Kennedy wanted the garden named for him because he was more interested in gardens than she was, but the White House Historical Society prevailed on the choice of names. Poor Ladybird Johnson was pictured as a rather "common" gardener who didn't influence much of the gardening at the White House, but did on the gardens around the city of Washington. The snobbishness of her treatment was a surprise to me. Michelle Obama got a head nod for her "kitchen garden" but it was pointed out that there had ALWAYS been a kitchen garden at the White House. Mrs. Obama moved its location to a more prominent spot. Again - a bit of snobbishness? Who knows. In my opinion the book about Beatrix Potter's garden, by the same author was much better.

>248 benitastrnad: Sweet Thursday, Benita. Thanks for the detailed update. Sorry to hear about the nasty weather and all those windmills. I hope this benefits the local residents.

It sounds like you are getting some reading in. German Wife sounds the most interesting. Not familiar with Lady in Gold, the book or the film. Good?

I am enjoying both of my NF titles: Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure & After the Wind.

Remember

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.

-Joy Harjo

^This is from an earlier collection by Harjo- She Had Some Horses. I prefer her later work but this one is definitely a gem.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Be careful out there!

>252 msf59: Hello Mark, i often struggle with poems but I really did like this one, thanks for posting. I like that it ended about language. Language here on LT must be super important to many of us!

>255 mdoris: Hi, Mary. Yes, this was a very accessible poem. Glad you liked it.

>256 msf59: Check out Rock 'n Roll = Poems with Music!

>253 msf59: "Amateur drinkers' day" as I call it...scary stuff. I'll hide inside until they're hung over, thanks.

Happy weekend-ahead's reads!

I spent a happy two hours this morning reading in a sunshine filled dining room. It is cold here. Outdoors it is in the 30's and there is a breeze today - not a wind, like that last two days. The sunlight was warm and perfectly golden. When I put my book down I thought that this was the reason I retired. Good book, warm sunlight. The book is Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow. My nonfiction book of the moment is Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes.

Lady in Gold is the story of the "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907. It is the famous painting where the woman has a very seductive look and is dressed all in gold. It was famous even in Belle Epoch Vienna as soon as it was painted. It was confiscated by the Nazi's in WWII and after the war, it was claimed that it was "given" to the Austrian state by the family. The niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer was 80 years old and an American citizen, so she sued the Austrian government to get the painting back. Eventually, the portrait was sold for what was then a record 135 million dollars that went to the Bloch-Bauer descendants. The book was written by a Los Angeles Times reporter and the story was made into a movie titled Woman in Gold that starred Helen Mirren. I listened to the book and really should have read it as there are parts of it that I want to mull over, but it was a very good work of narrative nonfiction. If you haven't read it - I highly recommend it.

>257 m.belljackson: Thanks, Marianne. I will check it out.

>258 richardderus: Happy Friday, RD. I am staying in for ""Amateur drinkers' day". A safe spot and Juno is good company. Have a great weekend too.

>259 benitastrnad: Hi, Benita. I am glad you had a nice sunny AM with the books. I will add Lady in Gold to my list. Sounds really good and in regard to the film version, I am a big fan of Helen Mirren.

"Runaway is a book of extraordinary stories about love and its infinite betrayals and surprises, from the title story about a young woman who, though she thinks she wants to, is incapable of leaving her husband, to three stories about a woman named Juliet and the emotions that complicate the luster of her intimate relationships."

I have read 4 of Munro's story collections and she is a favorite. I read Dear Life in 2021 so I am ready to read another and since I have had Runaway: Stories on shelf for eons, this was my pick, thanks to another TIOLI: #5 Challenge. I read the first story and it is off to a good start. What is your favorite Munro? Mine might be The View from Castle Rock.

Hello, Mark! I am finally all caught up with you, and I had fun doing it. Thanks so much for the link to the Huston film fest - greatly appreciated. I love the photos you share of Jackson - he is full of adorable. The one with the two shovels cracked me up - he is ready to help.

Thought you would like to know that our bluebird couple from last year is back and are building a nest in the birdhouse again. We are thrilled. The male bluebird still taps on my window each morning to let me know he is here. I love getting to see them so up close.

>262 Crazymamie: Happy Friday, Mamie. I am glad to see you catch up over here. I always enjoy your visits. I am also glad to have you join us for the John Huston Fest. I know you are a film buff and this should be a fun one. So many good films.

Hooray for adorable Jackson and the returning bluebirds. Look forward to more reports.

Morning Mark! I read a few of Munro's collections several years ago; LT says I read Runaway in 2010 (gulp, how could it be that long ago?). I rated it 4 stars and in my review made specific mention of two stories: Silence and Tricks. I don't remember any of the details, but know that I enjoyed her writing very much. I also really liked The View from Castle Rock, which I read a few years later.

>264 lauralkeet: Morning, Laura. Thanks for chiming in on Munro. Glad to hear that you read and enjoyed Runaway. That one doesn't seem to get mentioned much. Funny, I always think she is going to be a safe, easy writer but I am always surprised how edgy many of her stories are. I am sure that it what attracts me to her.

Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula by Barry Gifford 4 stars

March: ALPHAKIT G

Here we are introduced to Sailor and Lula- a pair of young free spirits hitting the road and heading west. I thought it would be a more violent and action orientated tale but it was a mostly an easy-going journey, until Sailor, an ex-con, decides to break the law again. I saw the film Wild at Heart many years ago. I am a big David Lynch fan but that one didn’t work for me. That said, once I discovered that the film was based on a series of books, I thought I might want to give one a try. I am glad I did, plus they are novella size, so you can get through them quickly.

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty 3.8 stars

It is no surprise that I enjoy Native American literature and when I heard about this debut story collection, I knew I wanted to give it a try. It also takes place in Maine, on a Penobscot reservation, a tribe I have not read much about. It is linked stories, following 2 different young characters, as they struggle with various challenges, living on the “rez”-abusive parents, drug and alcohol issues and joblessness. Not very pretty. This one didn’t quite reach the heights I expected but the writing is solid and Talty is an author to keep a close eye on.

^Not sure how many classic film buffs we have here but Karen O decided to host a John Huston Filmfest. I have been a die-hard film nerd all my life, so I am up for it. We will watch them, in mostly chronological order, selecting the many highlights of his storied career. Of course, we will kick it off with The Maltese Falcon, his impressive debut. The group will watch it next week but jump in whenever you want:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/349424#n8096632

Happy Saturday, Mark. The Maltese Falcon is so good! Have fun.

>97 msf59: Those Pink Floyd lyrics for Brain Damage are new to me and haunting. I love seeing all the poetry you're posting! Did the Robert Service collection turn out well for you? I need to get back to more poetry reading.

Sorry to hear that Night of the Living Rez wasn't better. Darn it. Good comments on and quotes from Blood Meridian. I agree - it's a masterpiece.

There's speculation that Murakami's new one will be a sequel to Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I'd love that. Can't Wait!

If John Huston gets you in the mood for noir, Every Man a King (touchstone won't work) is one of Mosley's best. What a treat.

For deep philosophical musings, I'm looking forward to John Wick 4 (!). Did you watch the Last of Us series? I thought it was genius, start to finish.

Have a great weekend, Mark

>268 jnwelch: Happy Saturday, Joe. Always good to see you. Hooray for The Maltese Falcon & Pink Floyd. Night of the Living Rez seems to have received very good reviews, if you want to just give it a try yourself.

Like you, I am looking forward to a new Murakami and the Mosley sounds very promising. Such a dependable writer. I did watch the final ep of "Last of Us". I agree, it was very good.

>269 PaulCranswick: Happy Weekend, Paul.

>265 msf59: I have read 5 of Alice Munro's collections but it has been a very long time since I have done so. "Edgy" is a perfect way of describing her work. I MUST read more very soon and thanks for reminding me of that. I think she is amazing!

Hi Mark! I have been meaning to read Night of the Living Rez, as we heard Talty read and talk at the Portland Book Fest, and he was pretty funny and interesting.

>267 msf59: I don’t think I’ve ever seen The Maltese Falcon. Key Largo is one of my most favorite movies!

I love Munro but it’s been awhile since I’ve read her. Runaway has been languishing unread on my shelf. I should really get to it.

I am not a Munro fan, mainly because I am not a fan of short stories. That said, I did enjoy The View From Castle Rock, go figure. Did you know that Munro's Books, in British Columbia, was started by her and her husband? I haven't been there but have visited the website and it looks lovely.

Munro's bookstore in Victoria, B.C. is a beauty. It is downtown in an old building with a very high vaulted ceiling. It is large and has a great stock of interesting books and a very good kids section.

>271 mdoris: >275 mdoris: Thanks for chiming in on Munro, Mary and I am glad to see you are a big fan. If I ever make it to Victoria, (fingers crossed) I would love to visit her bookstore.

>272 banjo123: Hi, Rhonda. I hope you can get to Night of the Living Rez. I would love to hear your thoughts. He is definitely an emerging talent.

>273 Copperskye: Why don't you see if you can locate a DVD copy of The Maltese Falcon and join us? You will not regret it. Glad to hear you are a fan of Key Largo. Soooooo good. I also hope I can supply the nudge that you need to finally get to Runaway. I definitely needed one.

>274 jessibud2: Hi, Shelley. If I remember correctly, Castle Rock were closely linked stories and almost read like a novel. Maybe that is why you enjoyed it. I did not know Munro's husband started Munro Books. Very cool.

^Munro Books of Victoria (B.C.). Established 1963- owned by Alice Munro and her husband. All I can say is- WOW!!

Happy Sunday, Mark! We've got snow flurries this morning. What the heck?!
Wow! To Alice's bookstore! That's what a few best sellers will get cha.

>278 Carmenere: Happy Sunday, Lynda. Yep, winter is still here. Sunny today but it started out in the teens. I still did some birding today and now for the books.

Sweet Sunday, Mark! Sounds like yours is going to be good. We’re experiencing spring just now after cold and snow last week. I hope that was the last of it, but we’ll see. The birds seem to think spring is here. We’ve had a huge flock of some kind of bird hanging around our oak tree in back, right over where we park our cars. I’ve had to take mine to the carwash twice last week. 😆

It's fun catching up with you, Mark.

>225 msf59: Thank you for the heads up on a new Patchett book coming later this summer. I'm excited to see it is set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula...my happy place.

>252 msf59: I loved the Remember poem by Joy Harjo. I am trying to get more poetry in my life and do appreciate you sharing those gems. I've read two of her memoirs now and really like her work.

Enjoy the week ahead. I hope you get some of that warm spring weather I am anticipating.

Hi Mark!! Happy Sunday (although I realize that every day is Saturday for you).

>277 msf59: We used to go to Victoria at least once a year when we lived in Seattle. We could hop on the Victoria Clipper and be there in just over two hours. We always went to Munro's Books and it remains a favorite bookshop for me.

I don't read a lot of short story collections but I read The View from Castle Rock in 2013 and gave it 4 stars. I read Dear Life in 2020 and gave it 3.5 stars. I hardly remember either of them, to be honest.

Just another note on Munro. I did read a memoir by her daughter, Sheila Munro, several years ago which I really liked. It's called Lives of Mothers and Daughters. You might be interested in that if you like memoirs.

>277 msf59: What a great spot for an LT meetup! :)

>276 msf59: I'll check the library for The Maltese Falcon.

>280 Storeetllr: Happy Sunday, Mary. Good to see you. Winter weather is lingering around here, the past few days but we have a warm up coming. Yah! Thanks for the bird report. Bummer about the bird poop. My feeders have been hopping with the usual suspects.

>281 Donna828: Hi, Donna. Hooray for the new Patchett. Glad you like the Harjo poem and I am happy to hear that you have been trying more poetry. Looks like we will be in the 50s next week. Looking forward to it.

>282 EBT1002: Happy Sunday, Ellen. Always good to see you. I sure hope to get to B.C. one of these days and of course I would LOVE to go to Munro Books of Victoria. Glad to hear that you have been there. Thanks for chiming in on Munro. She consistently delivers. I hope you can try more of her work.

>283 jessibud2: Hi, Shelley. Thanks for the memoir tip. I think I would find that one to be very interesting and yes, I am a fan of memoirs.

>284 Copperskye: Ooh, wouldn't a Meet up at Munro Books be fantastic, Joanne? I hope you can join us on viewing The Maltese Falcon. Have you ever read the book?

Go. To. Victoria. B.C.

That is all.

>287 EBT1002: That is all the endorsement I need, my friend. 😁

Happy first day of Spring! You sure couldn't tell that yesterday morning, when it was 17F, when I went on my guided bird walk. Brrrrr....Back to seasonal temps today, inching back up to 50F.

>277 msf59: Oh wow! That looks like a bookstore I could spend a lot of time in. Although I think I have not read anything by Alice Munro.

>225 msf59: I will have to reserve the new Patchett book. Looks like its going to be a good one.

Enjoy your day volunteering :)

>290 figsfromthistle: Morning, Anita. Being a Canadian yourself and being a reader, isn't it required to have at least tried Alice Munro? Grins...I could probably say the same thing about Margaret Atwood, although she is not for all tastes. I am a big fan of both.

>291 msf59: Ha! I am surprised that Munro or Atwood was not required reading for any english classes. In hindsight, it would have been a great class had they been included. I enjoy Atwood's writing ( I have only read 3 books). I will put Munro on my list.