The Library

[BarbStAubrey]

The Library Our library  is open 24/7; the welcome mat is always out. Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

With all my downloads I ended up starting on Wednesday and finished last night - A Grand Old Time: The hilarious and feel good novel - Yep, that is the title - by Judy Leigh - not a short quicky as so many of these chit chat books are - this one goes 50 chapters but a delight and a bit more then the typical chit chat or light fiction or women's fiction or whatever is the latest category -

Woman in her 70s maneuvered into assisted living - up and leaves in the middle of the night - goes with the flow and ends up betting her bank account on a horse that paid 100 to 1 and of course won - deposits her huge win- she had bet 500 pounds that I think is about $700 - and first thing is a make-over with a new coat, hat and shoes - takes a trip to France and the story only gets better and better - Her only son is a school coach and now older so also a teacher of lit - daughter-in-law is the receptionist in some sort of health clinic - takes place in England so I am not familiar with the terms being used - but the shadow story is they are having their difficulties after 10 years of marriage that does get sorted out when they finally get a text from Mom that she is in France and they go after her - they think - Mom found herself and new a life - really enjoyed the read

What I like about the book is how the author weaves in classics that further the understanding of her story and she includes titles that are both French and English authors with a few Russians thrown in - result I have now several other books on my to-read list including Simone de Beauvoir who was mentioned in  Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature that I've been slowly reading --- 

I do have two others by Judy Leigh on my kindle - one, French Hens I did not get into since I did not like the start but I may go back now. Her books all have principle characters who are in their 70s -

[BarbStAubrey]

Haha found a few books I think I'll read

Duplicity by Stacty Dlaflin--- Alrekur Vidarsson had to wait three thousand years to finally fall in love. He spent two thousand years searching for her, but then she found him, awaking him from death.

Unfortunately, she was engaged to another, and Alrekur had to wait another eighty years. Finally, he won her over and they got their happily ever after...except that it won't be that easy.

The birth of their daughter has awakened the entire dragon species, who had been sleeping since before Alrekur was born. The dragons have their sights set on Alrekur's family, and they'll stop at nothing to get what they want, not caring if they destroy everyone he loves in the process.

After being riveted by his novel published last year, Deep State I did download his new book as soon as I was alerted it was available this week, Savage Road: A Thriller by Chris Hauty - the duplicity shown this weekend and the outright lies to cover the piracy of our votes are right in line with the series written by Chris Hauty.

Now we need an author who will tackle how Oil and its by-product industry, Pharmaceuticals that set up labs anywhere to create new dangerous viruses that they already have 200 in the pipeline, have brought England, Germany and now the United States to its knees with France not too far behind. Italy... the Pope managed to influence leadership with his partner Soros - ah so and around we go... 

[jane]

I'm not ignoring the elephant. I want to see it all, and I'm watching news endlessly.  I want to hear the pathetic excuses and see who has a spine and guts and who is part of the sedition.  I'm an angry old woman for whom 12 days cannot come soon enough.  I don't want to just "go forward," I want all those rioters/traitors arrested and brought to justice.

So...between bouts of the above, I'm reading what Barbara calls "chit chat" books...but what I prefer to call "comfort" books...ones where people are decent and those who aren't don't fare so well.  Escapism?  You BET!  Between that coup in DC and thousands of people dying from Covid because some won't wear a simple mask, I'm between wanting to know what's going on in the world, who's a patriot and not a lying, evil conspiracy freak and who isn't.  AAAAGGGHHHHH!

So...now back to other saner and calmer minds to post here.

Thanks for a place to rant.

Enraged jane

[ginny]

 I don't see a rant?

It's a shame you all can't see the Latin 305, THERE are rants. hahaha

I don't know anybody not disgusted and appalled by the actions of  those goons and thugs, on, of all days, Epiphany.

 I see no reason to ignore it either, that's how we got in this mess.

All that it takes for evil to triumph is for one good man to stay silent.

It's just fine to stand up for decency and honor.  NONE of what we saw erupt at the Capitol  is who we are.

[PatH]

Rosemary, you have such a lovely countryside to walk in.  Thanks for sharing.  What are those red fruits?

I agree with your remark a few days ago about Ian Carmichael.  He's definitely Lord Peter Wimsey.

My reading hasn't been much to talk about--mostly rereading old science fiction.  I did have a great success in giving books for Christmas, though.  I gave my SILs the sequel to a sci-fi book they had liked.  They didn't even know there was a sequel (it had just come out at the end of November), and really liked it.  With one daughter, I did the same thing with a fantasy book.  The books were; sci-fi, Ready Player One and Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline, and fantasy, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell and Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke.

[Frybabe]

Sad to report that George passed away last night. Now it is a matter of finding a home or homes for the three cats remaining at his house.

Pat, what did you think of Ready Player Two? Did it live up to the hype?

I haven't read much the last few days.

[rosemarykaye]

I am so sorry to hear your news Frybabe.  You were a true friend to George.  Thinking of you across the ocean.  I'm sure I can speak for everyone in saying we are all very much here for you. Be kind to yourself.

[rosemarykaye]

Jane - I am so thrilled to see you back on here, please don't go away!  And as Ginny said, that's not a rant (and I should know, they're my speciality...) I see someone speaking truth to power, as I believe the term goes. These things have to be called out - I have some other US friends (whom I know, of course, through books) and they are of exactly the same mind as you. Horrified, furious, mortified, frightened about what the next 10 days might bring.

Just know that people around the world are with you. And as I hope you've seen, Scotland's First Minister has told Trump that he is not welcome here, and certainly can't pop in to play golf at any of the horrible golf resorts he inflicted on us.

In better news, I have just opened a package containing Crowdie and Cream, Finlay J Macdonald's memoirs of his childhood in the Outer Hebrides. And I've (quite sadly really) just finished Bill Richardson's lovely, escapist, book The Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast. It made me happy despite everything.

Take care.

Rosemary

[PatH]

Frybabe, I'm sorry.  It's hard to lose a good friend.  You certainly did all you could to ease things for him.

[PatH]

Frybabe, I haven't read Ready Player Two yet, but my SIL was super ecstatic about it, said it definitely was that good.  I suspect it depends on how you felt about the first book, and I liked it, but not as much as he did.  If you intend to read it, don't read any reviews, because the book is full of little surprises that the reviewers give away.

[Dana]

Frybabe, I am sorry to hear your news.

[ginny]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Frybabe. Now I am more worried about you. Please take care and I hope those appointed  will be the ones to arrange for the further care and treatment of the cats. I know this is a very stressful time! {{{HUGS}}}

Amen, Rosemary,  to all you said. (And what beautiful photos!!)  I second the need for Jane to be  here with us as well. According to the Guardian there was an application at least a week ago  for permission to land in  Scotland  in the days before the Inauguration by the plane which carries "The First Lady,"  which has to follow protocols in its landings. And they don't want him,  as you've said.

We are living in an historic  moment and so anybody with thoughts on it is more than welcome to express them. This is a national,  not a political or partisan issue.


In other news a new book out on Patricia Highsmith (Ripley) reveals she was a very nasty person: and in person was mean, anti semitic,  racist,  and....just horrid.  Her books are very dark, and I guess that has to come from somewhere. Her awful mother tried to kill her by drinking turpentine when she was pregnant and said afterwards something nasty about how Highsmith then liked the smell of turpentine  from then on.  Sounds like the entire family was nuts.

Her books explore the other side which often is covered over with wealth and sophistication. I've always liked the Ripley books and I'm in good company there, they are brilliantly written but it's like reading Jurassic Park books,  you want to experience the monster from afar so you can control it, you don't want it in your living room or personal life. They (I have just read another article  on children and dinosaurs)  say that's why little children love dinosaurs and little girls love horses, these huge powerful things represent danger,  and they can control it an out of control world.

We here in the neighboring county of  Greenville SC have the highest incidents of Coronavirus cases in the country for populations of 100,000, and our own county is right behind them.  Scary times call for extra precautions. Furman's Osher is shut down  until the 19th so there would have been no classes at all had we not gone to zoom.

Random thoughts for a random mind kind of under siege at  the moment, not to mention my car drove itself with nobody in it  with me standing on the sidewalk looking at it down a hill into our woods and impaled itself on a  tree. It's really nice to have this forum to keep in touch with real people, in such times,  and I'm very grateful for it.

Felix Dies,  as we say in Latin, have a happy day.

[BarbStAubrey]

Sorry Frybabe - good luck finding new homes for the cats - I'm thinking you will also have to arrange to empty the apartment - you're in our thoughts and prayers...

[nlhome]

Frybabe, so sorry to hear. You have been a good supporter through all this. I hope the cats are soon re-homed so you no longer have that responsibility.

[nlhome]

Rosemary, lovely pictures. Thank you. We have had so little sunshine here, all has been gray, and until today covered in frost rime or whatever the meteorologists are calling it. Beautiful but all so monochrome. Reading has been sporadic these days - hard to concentrate. I have rarely seen my husband so upset about what happens in government, not that he was comfortable before, but this was an assault on the Capitol itself. He worked and lived within blocks of the Capitol building for a while, served active duty and reserve Navy, and he finds it hard to believe that these people got into the building.

[Tomereader1]

Frybabe, thinking good thoughts for you. So sorry for the loss of your friend, George.  The girlfriend will just have to step up.  I think you have gone above-and-beyond for such a long time.  Bless You.

[jane]

Frybabe...you've been a very devoted friend to George. 

Rosemary...fabulous pictures and thank you for the kind words.

Nlhome...I sure understand your husband's anger;I'm still raging, too. 

jane

[rosemarykaye]

Pat - so sorry, I realise I forgot to say, those red berries are rose hips. Wild roses (or dogroses) grow all along the old railway line path, so there are a lot of berries in the winter time.

I do remember as a child being given Delrosa syrup, which I believe was made from rose hips and was supposed to boost our Vitamin C.  I imagine it was mostly sugar. My mother got it from the child health clinic, where it was given out free. I don't think it's available in the UK any more, but according to my Google search it may still be available in the US.

I'm so glad you feel as I do about Iam Carmichael and Peter Wimsey

Rosemary

[BarbStAubrey]

OK the elephant in the room - I am not going to share any personal opinion - we all have our own opinion -

This is what I have learned - it does not match the news that most of us watch on TV or for that matter even on Social Media - I have included some of my sources

There are now 4 videos from 4 different locations in the capitol showing the police waving in hesitant Trump Supporters who mostly mill around once inside -

The distant photo shot when they crowd was behind the man breaking the window with a hammer is now made closer and they were trying to stop him till a Trump supporter wrestled him below the heads of the crowd. The Crowd is also telling each other Antifa.

There is a member of the capitol police who say many in the force was let off that day and they had memos of Antifa mixing in the crowd dressed as if Trump Supporters wearing MAGA caps. 

There is another video of 2 Trump Supporter finding a good size cache of pipes that each looks to be about 3 feet long, handing them to the police

The video of the women, a vet of 14 years service. surfaced and it seems she was not killed - she is CIA - her reported death is part of this, whatever you want to call it - I'm calling it an assault on our freedom - maybe assault on the Capitol would be more accurate - 

I wondered why they were so quick to flood the news and social media with the story - Several reporter report the assault was pre-planned and actually started before Trump finished his speech on the Mall by at least 15 minutes - the talking heads now who have the benefit of this and much more information are saying it was a way the fraudulent election could be certified without making public all the instances of voter fraud that would have come out during the debates in the separate chambers - and some are saying it was a plan to demoralize the Trump support.

in order to get news now I learned I have to search for outlets other than those we knew from the past - I found NewsMax and AmericasVoice as well as Populist Press and Revolver - yes, they are conservative stations but that side of what is happening is not shown on National News and so to learn anything I need information from both sides -

Also, only one but one report is that Facebook, Twitter etc closed the President's accounts including his email by direction - The report was that there is a group in the CIA that directs social media - as I say, only one report on that one - so take it for what it is worth to you.

AmericasVoice had several new to me authors who have been aware of how this is happening and Stephen Coughlin explained it is following the model used during the days of street insurrection in Cairo back nearly 20 years ago now. And Michael Rectenwald was especially riveting - his recent book is "Thought Criminal"

Since the Republicans abandoned their voters there is still a question how much they are involved - The latest talk of impeachment may not happen since it was predicated on the concept of insurrection which means, making public the ins and outs of this assault as well as, how the election was certificated without debating the fraudulent votes, the number, kind etc. Also the fraud informaton would be made public - it is suspected most Republican House and Senate representatives have also been a part of this so called insurrection.

All this information is public but not in the mainstream - there is also a report online that I have not read yet, or for that matter located yet, of over 2500 pages explaining each voter fraud transgression.

I am trying to stay neutral sharing this - but I do think it is information few have that may not change your thinking and that is fine - but it does change the nature of what has happened the last few days.

[jane]

Barbara...you certainly are entitled to your views/opinions.  It’s best, at this point, to state you and I cannot discuss this, since we come from extremely different points of view.  Perhaps it’s best to move on to books and how we’re coping in this world.


Jane

[BarbStAubrey]

Yes Jane I agree, we all have our viewpoint, I tried to only share facts as they have surfaced - I would not like it either if another pointed to their belief as a way to dismiss mine - as I said the information is not my opinion but information being discovered - lots of photos on Facebook however they are attached to statements by the poster that would be rude and so I did not share the facebook video links - and I do not know how to copy a link to a film from a news site... However the two author's mentioned are worth looking into -

Stephen Coughlin was the Intelligence Directorate at the Joint Chiefs of Staff to work in Targeting. He earned recognition as the Pentagon’s leading expert on the Islamic-based doctrines motivating jihadi groups that confront America. He was a trainer and lecturer at leading commands and senior service staff institutions, including the National Defense University, the Army and Navy War Colleges, the Marine Corps-Quantico, the State Department, and the FBI. So effective were his presentations that some in the special operations community dubbed them “Red Pill” briefings.

Recterwald, a Professor of AI-neuroscience and Theory of Mind was a professor of liberal studies and global liberal studies at NYU from 2008 to 2019. He holds a PhD in literary and cultural studies from Carnegie Mellon University, a master’s in English literature from Case Western Reserve University, and a BA in English literature from the University of Pittsburgh.

Neither appear to have an ax to grind

[Frybabe]

It doesn't look like my post from yesterday made it. Must have hit the wrong button.

Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. I have known George since the mid-80's when we were both going back to college. He was fun to be with on trips and interesting to talk with on many subjects. I will miss him.

[ginny]

Barbara:

I tried to only share facts as they have surfaced - I would not like it either if another pointed to their belief as a way to dismiss mine - as I said the information is not my opinion but information being discovered

OK, let's share some more fun facts.

You shared:

Recterwald, a Professor of AI-neuroscience and Theory of Mind was a professor of liberal studies and global liberal studies at NYU from 2008 to 2019.

Professor Rectenwald's (let's spell his name correctly)  vita is clear for anybody who would like to read it.

And it should  be obvious to anybody that three degrees in English  literature do not qualify you to be any sort of Professor of Neuroscience and in fact he was and is not.

His specialty is British secular literature and he has always taught literature. He was asked to take a disputed  leave of absence in 2018 from NYU and left in 2019.

HE is not the professor of A-1 Neuroscience and Theory of Mind mentioned on his own website home page?  You have misquoted him.  He was giving an excerpt of his own fiction novel. To wit:

He states:

 Criminal (A novel by Michael Rectenwald) 

New! Thought Criminal: “The 1984 of the COVID era.” 

"A distinguished Professor of AI-neuroscience and Theory of Mind, Cayce Varin  has dissident thoughts. He differs from acceptable opinion on matters of grave importance to respectable Human Biologicals and the Federation of Pandemos, the global state. Upon confessing his divergent theories to a Graduate Student Assistant, his life is never the same. He is labeled a Thought Deviationist, among other damning designations. He is arrested by a Robot Police Agent and soon released but remains a covert Thought Deviationist living under the constant fear of future arrest, the treachery of friends, and the loss of his identity. "


He himself lists his current job as:

"Professor Rectenwald is a pundit and champion of free speech and opposes all forms of authoritarianism and totalitarianism, including socialism-communism, “social justice,” fascism, and PC. The notorious @antipcnyuprof (now @TheAntiPCProf), he has appeared on numerous major network political talk shows (Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox & Friends, Fox & Friends First, Varney & Company, The Glenn Beck Show), on syndicated radio shows (Coast to Coast AM, Glenn Beck and many others), on The Epoch Times’ American Thought Leaders, among numerous podcasts and online shows."

No Neuroscientist here.

 I don't have time to research all the other claims and people and  if we're ONLY posting facts and not opinions (a decision I don't recall our making here),   I won't give mine on the above, either.

[PatH]

Well, though I didn't get to see the painted bunting, a bald eagle must have read my post and sensed my nostalgia for my days of eagle watching, because one flew over my street yesterday.  It was our weekly neighborhood get-together on one of the lawns, and we all saw him flying low across the sky and perching in a nearby tree.

Rosemary--I should have recognized the rose hips, though I've never seen such big ones.  They're probably bigger in wild roses.  They seem to be still used here for various purposes, but I've never taken any, not even as a child, and the huge amount of vitamin C can cause problems.

[nlhome]

We have had rose hips on some of our roses in the past, the wild ones and the big bush ones. I tried to dry them for tea, back in the day when we ate a lot of different "weeds" and herbs and fruits we found on our hikes. I don't remember the tea being particularly good, but then, I am a black coffee and black tea kind of person.

A young friend posted this on Facebook this morning. I don't remember seeing this particular list before. I recognized many of the titles, just wasn't sure if I read the books or just remembered that I should have read them. I read 13% for sure, maybe more.

https://www.listchallenges.com/if-youve-read-10-of-these-books-youre-very?score=98&fbclid=IwAR1w4RAO5X-prtzN2oyYf64Qsj0nH0-ANw0S5ysBiKrIZ1Xv2Nb5XsGrwPw

[Tomereader1]

Your Results
 
180 of 500  ·  36%
You did better than 97% of users on this list
Your rank: #4,287 of 126,111 users on this list
You beat the avg. score of 83

I didn't count the ones I started but didn't finish!

[PatH]

131 of 500  26%
better than 86%
15477of 126,827

So 700 or so have tried this in the last 2 1/2 hours.

That was fun.

[Tomereader1]

THANK YOU FOR THIS, NLHOME

[Frybabe]

You did lots better with this list than me, nlhome. Here is my score

64 of 500  ·  13%
You did better than 50% of users on this list
Your rank: #63,061 of 126,884 users on this list
You didn't beat the avg. score of 83

Like you, there were about a half-dozen I started but didn't finish,  about as many or a little more of those I still have in my TBR pile, and those that I can't remember if I read or just saw the movie. I wonder how they pick the books for these lists, but it does look like they tried to get a cross-section.

Lily is very quickly making this her home. She is sleeping on the floor beside my chair down here in the media room as I type. This is a first, because she was going up stairs and under the bed to sleep the first few nights she has been here.

I am continuing my read of Gerta   by Czech author Kateřina Tučková  and translated by Véronique Firkusny. The novel is set during and after WWII and involves the fate of the German residents of Czechoslovakia, including those who where born there but  had one German parent. who was German. This is the award winning author's first book translated into English.

Hopefully I will be getting back up to speed with my book and audible reads soon. Still in the middle of several, but with all that has been going on I've slowed down considerably this last week or so.

[Frybabe]

Well, almost well-rounded. Here are some I read not on the list, as extensive as it was: Lorna Doone (Blackmore), Seven Pillars of Wisdom(Lawrence) , Salt (Kurlansky), John Adams (McCullough), Cicero (Everitt), Two Years before the Mast (Dana), The Early History of Rome (Livy), The Map that Changed the World (Winchester), Snow Leopard (Matthiessen), The Martian Chronicles (Bradbury), Something Wicked This Way Comes (ibid), Seven Years in Tibet (Heinrich Harrer), Kim (Kipling), The Three Body Problem (Cixin Liu), The Raj Quartet (Scott).

[PatH]

Frybabe, you probably read more books than the rest of us combined.  There're gaps in the list, and arbitrary choices, such as which Greek plays, plays by Shakespeare, and novels by Jane Austen to pick.

[ginny]

 Thank you, Nlhome, what fun.

There were some very strange books on there. Some, however, looked really good, I may go back and make a list, of some I have heard of and missed.  And I love doing it by the covers.

Of course they don't ask WHEN  you read those books. If it were a survey of fiction read  in the last 3 years I wouldn't have had one, except Wolf Hall. I just don't read fiction like I used to.

If it had been Si Fi, Frybabe, you'd have had them all. I'm not even sure why some of them were on there. Not sure what genre or category they were. I tanked on Roald  Dahl, can't stand him and it seemed that every other one was his for a while there.


And some VERY good books not on there, too.


220 of 500  ·  44%
You did better than 99% of users on this list
Your rank: #1,410 of 128,267 users on this list
You beat the avg. score of 83

When a failing grade of 44/100 is better than 99 percent, something is wrong with the sample.

[nlhome]

It is fun, isn't it? Many of the ones I read were several years ago, but some recently. I try to track what I read each year, but sometimes I forget.

Our library is still only open by appointment, except people can come inside one at a time also to look at the new books. Most people get their books via "book it and bag it" which means they order on line and the books are put in a bag and set out alphabetically in the front entry.  But, we got the city to help us rent a storefront 2 blocks down the main street for an "annex" that will also have computers and wi-fi and the large print and genealogy collections. This is because the city took over the meeting room for office space, to separate people who used to share offices, so the library cannot have more people in for things like Zoom meetings, tutoring, etc. So by moving collections, there will be more room in the library itself. One staff member will also move. Today I picked up a book, and the two tables were filled with bags for other people to get. Seems to be a popular service.

[rosemarykaye]

I'm not even going to tell you what I got, because it was terrible! 

I tried to be very honest and not count any books where I couldn't remember if I'd actually read them or just seen the film.

And I agree, there were some very odd choices in this list - but I find that with most such lists.  Somewhere we have one of those '1000 books to read before you die' compendia, and I hadn't even heard of most of the books in that. I think I read in a very insular mammer - I've read very few books by authors not from the UK, the US or Canada. A few from France. Very little in translation. I know I ought to make more effort to read 'outside the box', but at the moment the box is quite a cosy place in which to hide.

Went for a walk this afternoon - what a horrible, grey day it has been here. Rain on ice (thankfully it had already melted off the roads, so I stayed on those and didn't venture onto the field paths), dark skies, hardly anyone about. I does make you appreciate coming home to a warm, dry house and a cup of tea.

Husband has booked the big TV for watching football tonight. He very rarely does this so I'm not complaining, but this house is small, and we don't have anywhere else to sit apart from the sitting room with the TV in it, so I'm not sure what I will do. Of course I could read, or indeed watch, in bed, but I have a horrible feeling I will just drop off to sleep. I suppose there are worse things!

I finished listening to Simon Brett/Jeremy Front's Charles Paris mystery, The Cinderella Killer, while I was out. It was fun, and I do enjoy Charles's unrepetant loucheness and his semi-affectionate banter with his 'estranged but living in the same house' wife Francis.

Last night we watched the first instalment of the new Great Pottery Throwdown series, and it was so lovely. Keith Brymer Jones, who is just wonderful, is still one of the judges, and is now joined by their former pottery technician, Rich Miller, who is equally good. They are both really nice, encouraging people - no Paul Hollywoods in this programme. Best of all, the new host is Siobhan McSweeny, the Irish actress who plays the Mother Superior in Derry Girls. She is brilliant, so funny. Apparently she has recently taken up pottery as a hobby. The competitors are all of a very high standard, but I must say I was pleased to see that this week's star potter was Sal, who is 60+ and not glamorous at all (three of the others are stick-thin 30 somethings, one is a model) but my, could she make beautiful things.

[Tomereader1]

Going back through the list, there were several that I distinctly remember "starting" but not finishing.  But I didn't count those.  Also, it was amazing to me that so many of the ones I read were in some college English classes I took back in the '80's.  Several were by authors I had never heard of, even though I have always been a prolific reader.  Several were read in the Book Clubs I belong to (back before Covid put an end to almost everything that provided sustenance to our lives...can't even go into the libraries now to roam the aisles, find something by a favorite author that you somehow missed, while reading an author who was unfamiliar to you).
A lot of the books on the list were what I would call "current", while many were classics.  A few were books that they made into movies (and the movies were never as good)!  Oh, well, I blather on when the subject is books.
And NOW (I printed off the list --all 500- - without the covers; saving ink) I must go back through the list and pick out the ones I haven't read that sound interesting to me.  I may have copies on my TBR stack(s), or will have to get online with the library, order one or two, and see what luck I have in getting them through their confusing call-in program.  First you find out if they retrieved it for you, then you drive up, use your cell phone to dial a special number, and they bring it out in a plastic bag.  I have done that "once" and shortly after that experience, they halted the program for a good bit.  Think they were simply engulfed in reservations, etc.  I heard that they were using that program again recently. 

[PatH]

Tomereader, one thing that surprised me was how many of the books I had read here on SeniorLearn.  Some were ones that I had read anyway, but especially some of the "current" ones would have escaped my attention.

[nlhome]

Tomereader, we can call to request books, but we can also request on line through the system catalog, and then our notifications when the books are ready for pick-up come via e-mail or a call if no email is available. Maybe that wouldn't work for larger libraries, I don't know. I also believe our library has decided it's more important to get books out to people than to have staff supervise the pick-up, which is why the vestibule has tables set up for people to go in and get the books. I think someone who couldn't walk up the path would get delivery to their car. Hopefully it will become easier for you soon.

My son-in-law recommended "Caste," which is nonfiction and, I think, an Oprah selection. I requested that from the library, see there is a waiting list.

[BarbStAubrey]

there was a fun quip on our neighborhood page about the nation going crazy but we had Snow - and what a snow - it lasted on the ground for nearly two day but more the snow that fell all day and night was so heavy at one point it weighed down trees, branches, bushes and of course knocked out power lines and for some their internet connection - I was out and it was a challenge to keep warm then it came back but only temporarily - enough to take a hot shower and get the coffee up, then out again - you would think I would have all this reading but instead I was too anxious - then I got scared but finally realized it was the cold that when I slept I needed something on my head to keep my exposed head warm because i came down with what ended up only being a sinus cold that I have got it about knocked out - OF course I will have the offending branches removed and of course we will not see snow again for another 6 years - tra la and such is life...

frybabe I was thinking about you these past few days and hoped you were taking care of yourself - sounds like there are some good memories - listening to Dr.Yan who gave up everything, her husband and family along with her positions in hospitals and science labs to come to the west and warn us there are several more man made viruses that are in the pipeline ready to be unleached - looks like we are in this nightmare for awhile.

Been reading  Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature by
Christine Valters Paintner and it struck me that looking for peace, beauty, the hand of God if you will we instinctively turn to gardens, woods, forests but never a city - I think of all the poets, mostly nineteenth century who set nature as above all as the icon of peace, well-being used as symbolic of mankind etc. and I started to wonder why a city is not looked at as a place of meditation urging us toward soul satisfying thinking -

My first thought was we can name a tree and for many even its attributes - many of us have a family history tied to the land so we identify out of nostalgia -but what about those who never get out of a city and the closest thing to nature is the flowerpots on their window sill, maybe a tree on their street and a nearby park that is far from the silence of the woods - are they denied then all the wonders that happen to us when we meditate or have an almost prayer like experience living or hiking or sailing or maintaining a more rural garden all places in a more natural place... we never see books about the city being a church or monastery.

Then I wondered what if when we look at a building we knew where the dirt, sand metal ore came from that makes the bricks, cement, beams etc and who designed and who built each building from a two story single family to a small 2 story commercial to a large apartment building etc. Is it knowing that gives something a sense of wonder

And so I've downloaded Love Where You Live: How to Live Sent in the Place You Call Home by Shauna Pilgreen which so far is showing the relationship to pride of place more than intimately knowing the components of place - However the book is opening another few point of our feelings that a place evokes - and so why the feeling of almost holiness comes up when walking in a more secluded natural setting versus a city street - is noise the factor - is humanity with a bouquet of intentions and interests the distraction versus a place that is as simple as life creating protection from weather while dependent on weather and how to survive receiving or hunting food - but then isn't that what humans do - hunt food and see to their protection from weather - Added though, humans also try to protect themselves from other harm -

hmmm lots to sort out because there has to be a way for the thousands who are not wealthy enough to take weekly or monthly or for some, not even yearly breaks to enjoy or struggle in a natural setting without the sounds of a city and seeing only the man made products that used natural elements. Maybe that is it, to embrace the makeup of a city rather than be distant accepting what is man-made as a blessing - if we see the skills and materials used as gifts there is a difference - I'm sure there is a way all can have their special place to create an intimacy with their God outside their place of worship.  More to ponder why one scene is given more value than another - we certainly were not born knowing the distinction -

[Frybabe]

I have finished Gerta. While interesting, it seemed a bit overly long, possibly because of the subject matter. The last lines of the book were unexpected. The book followed a woman from the beginnings of WWII until her death.  It included the brutality, dislocations  and hatred endured by the German and part German residents of Czechoslovakia and how it affected their lives (those who lived) and the lives of their children and grandchildren.

The Labyrinth of the Spirits by  Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which is the fourth of the Cemetery of Lost Books series.

[Fran]

I just started to read “The tattooist of Auschwitz” written by an author who actually had
an interview with a Holocaust survivor. Will wait awhile before I continue. Right now it’s
back to my light reading.