The Library

[jane]

Tome...nothing received from you yet.  Maybe try sending it again, please?

jane

[Tomereader1]

I sent it.  Let me try again!

[jane]

Here's Tome:

[ginny]

TOME!!! What a HOOT!

Talk about making it come alive!!

BRAVO!!!

[Tomereader1]

Thank you so much Jane.  Wondered why it didn't get thru when I sent it yesterday.  Pilot Error I guess!

[Tomereader1]

Ginny, you should have seen the wonderful maps I had for embellishment!  Thanks, Ginny for the "bravo".  You made my day, which has been a bummer so far!

[BarbStAubrey]

How fabulous Tomereader - just wonderful - down to knapsack and the perfect hikers hat - I bet everyone had a good time and you made the discussion worth remembering - I know I would remember - when there is a good book group it can be a fun experience sharing in a book discussion in ways that just talking about the book and our reactions cannot come near the experience your group had...

[Tomereader1]

Thank you, Barb!  I don't know how well-remembered it was by the group, but I darn sure had a ball doing the presentation, and I learned so much from my efforts. 

[Tomereader1]

Since we meet in one of the classrooms at this branch library, we don't do too much in the way of food or drink, but I did one of Alexander McCall Smith's books, and I made homemade scones for the group.

We have a separate Mystery Book Club too.  And our moderator for a mystery, set in Japan, brought Wasabi Peas and some little dessert sticks (called Chockies, or something similar). That was fun, and I still remember it.

[Frybabe]

Morning, Tomereader, et.al

Love the pix Tome. Wonder what the Mystery Book Club was reading. I have the first of a series called The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino in my library hold list. It should be ready soon. I had to postpone reading it twice and I don't want to postpone it again.

[ginny]

You're a model for all of us, Tome!  That's the spirit in anything, I think. Makes it so memorable.

Tried to do too much on the sprained knee and now it's....set back a bit.....so in the interim, a nice afternoon of reading ahead.

I finished the Dominick Dunne, tho it was a lot about the famous people he has known etc., sort of as Dana says social climbing, but unabashed. The bit on the Von Bulows was interesting. Sort of a Dallas in real life, I guess. Or why not to envy the rich.

Reading is so strange, isn't it? Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

In the rejected pile was  The Lost World by Michael Crichton. I don't like  Crichton as an author, 99 percent of the time,  but now I'm really enjoying it. No idea why. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote one by that title too, it's sci fi supposedly. I think it might be fun to start Sherlock Holmes, the books, over again.

Frybabe, would Jurassic Park qualify as Sci Fi? If so I read more of it than I thought. No space ships though.

But I really want to first reread Beast by Peter Benchley (the author of Jaws). He wrote Beast which I really enjoyed some time ago, it's about people out to sea disappearing and a huge creature rumored....which people immediately classified as sci fi . He was a passionate  ocean advocate, https://www.peterbenchley.com/   and when he wrote this book a lot of people in the book and those who read it  scoffed at the very idea, and then....and I wish he had lived to see it, but it seems he knew about it anyway, these creatures began to wash up in different parts of the world one by one and they actually were more than he described.  A giant squid type creature  from the very deep, very unbelievably  large. They do exist after all.

I am finding out as I looked it up to see him being vindicated again that it was made into a movie years ago BUT is NOW a new movie out in 2022 with Idris Elba starring!

So once again here we are au courant. I remember it as good.  I am about to find out, but first Michael Crichton.



Watched the young man who does luxury travel on youtube (one of many who travel and film it) take the Orient Express from London where 11 other people got on to  Paris where 20 more got on,  to Venice and they gave him the premier suite (I'm sure for the commercial plug but he named the agency if one wants to dabble), and you  might want to watch that to see how the other half might live if they want a 2.5 day trip by train, paying  20,000 British Pounds for the journey.  Then he also took one on  Amtrak from Chicago to San Francisco, something I did with both my children when they were younger. It is a great way to see the vastness of the country. He made a point of getting out of the train every time it stopped for any reason. He's a likeable young man. One thing he did not seem to do was consult the maps and information they give you so you can know where you are.

I have to say that is NOT the way to see Denver, however.


What's everybody reading?

[Frybabe]

Jurassic Park could be put in either Science Fiction (genetic engineering) or Action/Adventure.

The only Michael Crichton I actually remember reading is Andromeda Strain. Saw both movies too and like the first better. Saw the movies, The Great Train Robbery, Sphere, Jurassic Park and the 1st sequel. I have his Pirate Latitudes but haven't read it.



 

[Tomereader1]

Frybabe, I researched my f2f  Mystery book club notes and found the following:

The book set in Japan was "Red Chrysanthemum" by Laura Joh Rowland.  (Wasabi peas, etc)  Story was rather gory.
The Alexander McCall Smith book was "the Sunday Philosophy Club", featuring Isabel Dalhousie, set in Scotland.  (Scones)

[PatH]

Doyle's Lost World Is the first of a series of several sort of sci-fi books.  It's a standard kind of plot, the finding of an isolated bit of the earth containing otherwise extinct creatures, and some new species.  It's been so long since I read it that I've forgotten all the details, and I haven't read the others.

But I did recently reread a number of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories, and enjoyed them.  I'm a fan though, not to be trusted to be impartial.

[ginny]

Me, too, Pat, I love Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. I also like the old Basil Rathbone films and the old radio series and they are available on the iPhone as audio so I can play them in the car.  I haven't totally mastered the art of the apple phone Car Play as CD in my car, but I'm gaining on it. Such new technology we've all had to learn and deal with, it's mind boggling.

Frybabe, I see I have a lot of Crichton to catch up with. I very much disliked  one of his books we read here together and had not read another.

Tome, I wish I had kept notes like you have on what I have read. I don't know why I don't keep a journal, do the rest of you?

I'm almost finished The Lost World and have enjoyed it, it's not at all like the movie which I also enjoyed. In fact I think I'll read another Crichton for escape after the Benchley. I'm into escape at the moment, too much going on in the real world  that's really not enjoyable at all.

But I started Tina Brown's The Palace Papers, on the ipad, which begins with Megan and Harry's Interview and appears to focus on the Windsor Women. So far it's well written...it's all gossip, of course.

There was an interesting article the other day on why we can't seem to focus any more in involved plots: Just Read the Book Already: Digital culture doesn’t have to make you a shallow reader. But you have to do something about it.

This is not a new article, but it was newly featured on att's website where I get the mail:  https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/reader-come-home-by-maryanne-wolf-reviewed.html

Ii was glad to read it because it's exactly what I was finding about my own reading. Somewhere in it, it says that we no longer read to immerse ourselves and escape but for information and that's why we have problems trying to follow a complicated plot. And here I thought it was because the book was poorly written. I'm glad it's the fault of the internet and not me. But it appears that like so many other things, I have to change my own approach to combat it. That's interesting, isn't it?

[Frybabe]

Huh! If I wanted to read for information, I would not be reading so much fiction. Having said that, my next major reading genre is History, mostly Roman. I don't consider reading history just for info either, however they classify that. I like curiosity better.

My current listen is Robert A. Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy. This is the third of his novels I have read, the other two being Starship Trooper and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Naturally, I am working through another SciFi series, the Forgotten Colony (five books I think) by M. R. Forbes. Forbes is good with character development. I am not so fond of the losing Earth to aliens and having to fight them off the last colony ship out thing. The last time I read one of Forbes series, it was War Eternal. The major element that drives that series is time-recursion. Very interesting read.

Don't remember if I mentioned it, but I spent the bucks and got a Kobo Libra 2. So far, most of the not Kindle SciFi and Westerns that I downloaded from elsewhere are now downloaded to it and removed from my Paperwhite. Now that there is a little more maneuvering room on the Paperwhite, it is responding faster. It was almost out of space. After using Kindles exclusively for so many years, it is slow going to get used getting around in the Kobo. Because I can't just copy downloads to the Kobo, I had to download the Adobe Digital Editions app. That also took a little to get used to, but I am finding it rather handy.

[Tomereader1]

Ginny, your question re: do we keep journals?  For years I have thought I would make journaling a "good thing" (as Martha Stewart would say), but back when the kids were growing up, there was not time; empty nest syndrome did not encourage me to Journal; my writing classes at the Community College stressed, emphatically, the benefits of journaling to embellish our writing skills (gee, I've not yet written "my book", wonder why?); being fully involved in 9-5 work schedule, normal home-keeping, etc. didn't light the fire under me--to write down the mundane scenario of my life.  So, other than serving as the amanuensis of my two book clubs, my journal keeping fell by the wayside!  I did manage to keep track of the book titles, authors, name and number of attendees, moderator's name and snippets of the group's reactions to the book.

I really thought that, in my retirement, I might try my hand, but other than a few personal scribbles to friends, posting reviews and commentary on SL and S&F, I rather let my Muse go searching for some other worthy inhabitant.

I might add that I looked forward to my retirement as a time to Read, Read,Read.  Except for the "Ennui of Covid-19"  I've done that.  The older I get, the more I realize I'll never have time to read all the books on my TBR stack, all the ones that come recommended by the library, the Publishing Houses, et al.  I feel sure that there are some of you who are "Members" of this club as well.   “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”  My thanks to F. Scott for that closing quote.

[ginny]

Oh me, too, Tome, I truly thought that the Great American Novel was mine for the writing. Funny thing about that.

I also tried several times, took a couple of courses, (those were a good reason to stop my efforts, to be blunt). I've once or twice thought if I lived here or there I could write, say at the beach, but it doesn't seem to be forthcoming.  hahaha

I do admire Penelope Fitzgerald who took it up at an advanced age. I must read another one of hers. Such economy of words.
 We discussed her The Bookshop here years ago, in which an older woman starts a bookshop in  a small town, and how nasty a small town can be. No cozy anything here. But there's a great calmness and wisdom in her writing. It's quite striking. I think I'll try another one.


Penelope Mary Fitzgerald was a Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist and biographer from Lincoln, England. In 2008 The Times listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Observer in 2012 placed her final novel, The Blue Flower, among "the ten best historical novels".

But not me. I do like the idea of keeping a journal.

Nearing  the end now of The Lost World, Jurassic Park on steroids, but you find yourself, once again, not breathing in the excitement,. hahaha If this keeps up I won't BE breathing. Am enjoying the difference in the total  escape it offers.

[jane]

Re: Ms. Wolfe

As Frybabe said, I’m not reading for information.  That, to my simple mind, would be nonfiction.  I only read nonfiction “manuals” when I can’t figure out how to turn off the alarm on a gift I received. 

I do read Twitter and political opinions…but I never know if those are fiction or nonfiction. 

I’ve come to believe the line between fiction and nonfiction has become so distorted by current events and politicians that it’s difficult to know the truth. 

So, I escape for my own mental health to true fiction for enjoyment and peace in this frantic world.

Jane

[BarbStAubrey]

Lordy Jane yes, yes, and yes again - keeping our sanity seems to be the name of the game of life here of late... my sister is the one who wants to write fiction - I tend to keep track of what to do and what I've accomplished - must say though found some diary like entries from my high school senior prom and was I glad to read what we did - where we went - who was with us - what we saw and did - how we traveled and what time we were where - it was fun reading

Clearing out yes, more books than time - however - seriously thinking shutting off the TV - nothing much on and reading as I did years ago before TV - so much more done back in those years.

Katha has been here for over a week now and have we been doing - painting and power washing, putting boxes together and boxing up things, emptying the high cabinets that I can only reach climbing on a stepladder - we emptied out an entire pantry and only put back those things I will use in the next 8 to 10 weeks, got rid of CD player that does not work and old coffee grinders - on and on - reminds me of that WWII poster with the women who tied her hair in a kerchief, rolled up her sleeves and shows her arm like a boxer.

[ginny]

"I’ve come to believe the line between fiction and nonfiction has become so distorted by current events and politicians that it’s difficult to know the truth. "

That's the living truth, Jane!  What IS fiction and non fiction?  Awfully hard to tell lately. I read, for instance, a quote yesterday from  or supposedly from a famous scion of a famous family who seemed to declare (if I have it right but according to the quote it doesn't matter) that "reality is not real. It's what you THINK is reality that's real.}

No wonder our politicians see....how to put this politely....many alternative facts. But more than enough on that subject.

I dread doing what you are doing  Barbara, and it must be done.  Good on Katha and you for making such headway!

I finished The Lost World which was a breathless cliffhanger to the last minute. I've got 3 more of his which I see are labelled SciFi, I think his premise is that....well......I like his pairing the dinosaurs with what was the scientific thought of the day (which I don't understand)  when he wrote the book. Next up is Peter Benchleys' Beast. I'm hoping that it's a good a read as it was when  it came out.

What ways are you all  finding to cope with the crazy world we're living in? It's definitely different and definitely requires something in response to keep one's sanity.

I start every day translating some Latin, believe it or not. I recommend it to bring order to a chaotic world. I started doing it because of the somewhat helpless feeling I've had with the sprained knee which I re-sprained about 2 weeks ago.  Since I can't do any of the physical projects I had planned,  and the world seemed to be going to you know what in a hand basket, I thought it would be nice to try to have a feeling of control again. So I turned back to Caesar, who wrote,  of all things,  a war diary, but the beautiful control,  and calmness, and precision,  and just spectacular grammar is just what's needed to put my day in order.

I've got several classes here in Caesar and two in person, and I've now finished both in person classes handouts/ translations and parsing for the 9 week  fall semester,  and have started with Pliny the Younger's Book X, the third of 4 in person classes.

So by necessity I've shifted around my order of doing things, mental first, physical if and when I can do it, and feel much more in control of things as a benefit. I figure when I am once again mobile, I will have the entire fall semester done and it's amazing how that little bit of discipline in the morning just makes the whole day in order. For me.

You feel a little bit of accomplishment as a result, and it was a pleasure as always.

Am still reading The Palace Papers, at night, not much news there, right now we're getting into more about Camilla. Watching a lot of travel videos on Youtube, somebody just put one up of Rome as of May 2022, wow, the crowds, wow. Shoulder to shoulder.

[Tomereader1]

Which "Lost World" are you reading? (finished) Author?

[PatH]

Frybabe, what did you think of Starship Troopers?  I think I should read it, it's such a classic, and was so influential, but never get around to it.  I've only read two of his books as an adult: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, with I thought was very good, and Stranger in a Strange Land, which was pretty dreadful.

I see Andy Weir now has two more books: Artemis, and Hail Mary.  Have you read either of them?

My one non-fiction read, The Pursuit of Power, is going rather slowly.  I'm still interested in the subject, though.

Ginny, I can see the soothing effect of Latin, such order and logic.  I knew a physician who said learning Latin is what taught him to think.

I think journal keeping is a great idea, and one I would never stick to.  I might last a week. 

[BarbStAubrey]

Pat The Pursuit of Power your reading is it by Evans or McNeill

Frybabe took me forever to figure out what in the world you were talking about with Kobo and now that I finally had sense enough to google it I am wondering the advantage over a notebook with a downloaded app to kindle

what drives me insane - I've two computers and when I organize my books on the one it does not affect the organization on the other even though the source of both is  Kindle for PC or in the cloud.

Did not realized that Cannon Doyle's Lost World was 100 years old in 2020 - Like Tomereader I'm also anxious to know Ginny which author your reading.

Talk about oldies that are classic - the other night Katha and I watched H G Wells made into a movie The Time Machine - filmed back in 1960 - caused an interesting chat between us as we decided our 3 books

[ginny]

 Tome and Barbara, The Lost World I read  is by  Michael Crichton. I really, however, very much like Arthur Conan Doyle, what harm would there be in seeing if I can find a copy of his Lost World  online and read it ?

Although I must say as huge a fan as I was and am of E.F.Benson's Lucia series, I could not get into his Dodo series which preceded it. Strange. I think he honed his craft perfectly with Georgie and Lucia. I still laugh over her  Roman ruins in the basement.

Pat, I love that quote, I hope you'll let me quote you, it's wonderful: " I knew a physician who said learning Latin is what taught him to think." We seem at present to have a large and welcome number of physicians in our Latin courses here and in person.

Frybabe, I did also not know a thing you were saying, you always seem to be on the cutting edge of technology. I can't get The Palace Papers to display on the ipad, only on the i phone, and that's as far as I can get as a guru.

Here is the strangest thing. I went looking for the book  Beast,  which is, as I said before, about a sea monster written by Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, who was a keen ocean activist.

There it was on the shelf, in its nautical blue. I took it down only to find (1) it was a very handsome paperback about 5x7", (2)it contained 3 books of his, Jaws, The Girl from the Sea of Cortez (or something like that) and Beast.  All 3.  And stranger than that!!!! (3) It was a Reader's Digest Condensed book thing!!!!!!!!

I was disappointed, at first, because I recall the original book Beast as big as all 3 here in one volume. But I couldn't FIND the hardback original.

And it looks new? Remember those? I used to be quite hooked on those and had no idea they still existed? But they do, apparently? I stopped reading them because I realized (1) I don't like people editing something I might have found useful and (2)...the most important thing: they seem all of one voice?

What I DID like about them was they would include something normally I would not have read? So I was inadvertently exposed to a lot of genres I did not like, but the editor's voice prevailed throughout, despite the different authors.

How interesting is that? This is a nice edition, the front and back flaps act as bookmarks. There's not a lot to criticize.

But it seems quite simplistic and I don't remember him as such. I have the original Beast somewhere, if I find it it will be interesting to compare, but I'd have to put it down, first, and I have to say that for those of us with short little attention spans seeking escape, it's spot on. In 3 pages we're breathlessly hanging on, in our boat out to sea and it's absolutely wonderful writing....such suspense!! Such ....it's hard to describe. This couple has retired and put their savings into a sailboat to sail around the world and were returning home.  Wonderful trip, but looking forward to getting back, making plans,  and then something of a chop on the waters, he goes to bed, she takes over and notices that some water is sloshing over the side where the batteries are...and then......You can't put it down. A real ride in more than one way.

No gore or such. So far 3 pages in. Sympathetic characters living their dream but there's a creature (which as I've also said people laughed at him about, he died, and then these very creatures  began to wash up all over the world). He was right. There's a certain vindication in reading it, too. And no body parts flying about gruesomely or gore. But it's early days yet, only 3 pages in.

It's actually been a while since I "couldn't wait" to get back to a book. I've got the days segmented now and now is not the time to read, so I'll move on.

What's happening, reading wise, with everybody??

[Frybabe]

A little late making my "rounds" today.

Barb, my sister was given a Kindle years ago and went back to her IPad(??) with the Kindle app on it. I really hadn't considered a notebook or an Apple product. The advantage of the e-reader is that it goes everywhere with me, fitting nicely into my fanny-pack. I am kind of committed to Kindle e-readers at the moment because most of my e-books are in Kindle format. What I decided to do was try out another e-reader brand that had other file formats and Kobo got high marks. Also, I was running out of space on my Kindle e-reader. Yea! now I can read .epub books, and believe it or not, some are not available in .mobi or .azw (Amazon), especially from the online library.

I don't usually find the auto-update function on my Kindle very useful. I mostly read off-line, so the cloud files don't get much of a chance to auto-update. Sometimes, I will go up to the Kindle settings and click update, but I don't to it often and certainly not every day.

PatH , I remember I liked reading Starship Troopers. I tried watching the movie at least three times before reading the book. Once I read the book, I was actually able to get through the movie and enjoy that too.

I did read Artemis. As I recall, I remember thinking it was just okay, good, but not great. I suspect it would make a good basis for a TV series (mini or otherwise). I haven't read Project Hail Mary yet. Ray Porter narrates the Audible version, so I may pick that up eventually. He is so good at reading snarky, wise-cracking, smart-mouth, and ironic scenes. 

[BarbStAubrey]

OK clear frybabe - makes sense --- Interesting Ginny how some books lend themselves to watching the movie version and some for me since the movie usually eliminates some of the side issues I am disappointed

OK an ALARM - my monthly bank statement arrived yesterday with an unusual $00.00 deposit from Pay Pal prenote - I never use pay pal (had a bad experience years ago with them holding a refund for a year so I just n-e-v-e-r use pay pal - what in the world was prenote - Well thank goodness Katha was here - she quickly googled and it is a scam...!

By arranging for a deposit they can access all your information - quickly called the bank who checked if anything was withdrawn since this happened the first day of the new record keeping for June on May 26 - she found no activity and was going to check with her supervisors

And so she calls this morning and the decision is to change my account and open a new account - Katha had to leave here to pick Gary up at the airport but rush rush we go down and switch the account - get all the identities that I have set up to pay directly from the account listed that I now have to notify that I have a new account and of course those identities that deposit monthly checks - and on top since my son Paul in on the account I have to get him to sign off on all of this - thank goodness on Katha and Gary's way home they were going to stop at Paul and Sally's for a visit and then down to I-10 that runs through Houston so they can take the paper work to Paul who can sign and mail it - Now I've got to notify gas company, electric and water company, on and on... the glories of our computerized life...

But please if you ever see a zero deposit from any identity on your bank statement - it is a scam to get all your information. You can google it and get tons but you must put in your search 'prenote' - if you just put in 'pay pal' nothing about the scam comes up... 

[Frybabe]

Barb, I get a .00 or very small charge on my account once in a great while, but mine have been when I set up new direct payments or automatic deposits, so I was prepared to see it. It is a good thing you closed that account and opened a new one. I would do the same if I saw something like that I didn't initiate. It sure sounds like someone got ahold of your bank account info. Either that, or somewhere, someone entered the wrong info and accidently got your account (not very likely).

Yesterday, I downloaded The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino and started the first chapter. I have finished listening to Citizen of the Galaxy. The ending surprised me a bit, like it could have been expanded into a sequel. The book has a definite anti-slavery theme with big business power and politics in a secondary role. Now I am browsing the audio books for my next listen next listen.

While I was doing that, I ran across Kevin Hazzard, who is the author of two books about paramedics. He was one for nine years. The first is a memoir, A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back. The second, scheduled to release in September, is American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics. The second is already in my wish list.

[ginny]

That's scary, Barbara, and interesting, Frybabe. I am not sure what to think, I use PayPal all the time. I will keep a heightened watch on it.  Perhaps they need to be sure that their accounts are backed up with real funds? At any rate I will watch it.

I've come in with another security issue, which is quite interesting.... to me, anyway.

I have an ATT account for email and can go into the server online to use the email, too. I have recently been inundated by spam mail, just floods of it, it's unreal. I kept on using the "This is Spam" indication but they kept coming? And I mean floods of them. Literally 100 by the end of the day, it's totally unreal.

Yesterday I found a new designation, having ignored the so called "yahoo help" thing that keeps popping up, I distrust pop ups.

This one is Ban Senders on the ATT site, kind of hidden actually, the Ban Senders is not on the main menu, you have to use "more..." and find it there,  and by George, it does work!  It not only bans the sender, it removes all their previous letters and it works.

This morning there is nothing but people I want to see in the inbox. I thought for a minute something was wrong, no email!!!

I thought if you did not know this exists, you'd like to, if you have ATT.  But you have to REALLY be careful who you ban.

I finished Beast, and really enjoyed it. I may try the other two in my new Reader's Digest edition, certainly a fast read. I don't think I'll buy any more, but I've enjoyed this one.

I also found Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World online and in paperback, and IT is about dinosaurs, go figure. I'll read it after the two Benchleys.

So enjoying this reading. OH and the new IOS upgrade for the IPad restored my ability to read  The Palace Papers on Kindle  at night, and it's getting pretty good. I had no idea about Camilla's early influence on Charles.

[Frybabe]

Sounds good on the ban spam app/setting, Ginny. I don't have ATT. I am not sure about internet, but we definitely don't get their TV service. I've been getting a lot of spam lately, but not even close to what you described. The odd thing I noticed is that all but one or two have been coming from gmail addresses, most of them from other countries. This is one reason I don't like Google, although I rarely use it. When I set it up, I gave my regular account as backup in case I could not log in. I very strongly suspect that is where they got my regular email address from, but I can't prove it. I change my email address when spam email gets too annoying. The other interesting thing is that my sister is bombarded with spam phone calls, but I am not. Her provider is FIOS. I used FIOS for two years and was getting lots of spam calls that I hadn't before. I went back to my old provider and the spam calls mostly disappeared.

My latest audio book listen is The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serii Polkhy. It was published in 2019, before the current conflict.

[Frybabe]

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino was a bust for me. I was not in the mood to read a story that let you know up front who did it and why. Instead, I pounced To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini which had been sitting in my library wish list for quite a while.

[ginny]

Happy Fourth of July, Everybody!

That does sound kind of deja vu, Frybabe, if you already know the crime and the reason, what, I wonder, is left?

I'm deep into Crichton's Jurassic Park, now. I don't know why I disliked him so much in the one book I did read but I am enjoying these no end. Escape, escape, escape, escape. Dinosaurs are preferable to a lot of what I see on the news.

Oh yes on the spam, I had to go in and unblock 3 people I had inadvertently blocked for good on ATT, (and am glad to know I can do that), and it said it was currently blocking "807 of the 1000"  submitted. Can you believe that? I got to where I hated to look at the mail. I had set them on spam but some of them can bypass it somehow. What they apparently do is change their sender email address, continually,  it's all bots, I think.

At any rate they are getting very clever, VERY. We all need to be careful. I had a letter sent by the US Post Office, supposedly from "Price Waterhouse"  about an account on google, telling me the last time I logged into the account (!!!) and  they were wanting to pay me or deposit in SC coffers, as noncollectable, or some such thing, which you do hear about. Unfortunately for them, I knew no balance was due and in fact the account wrote me the same day an email, but it really REALLY looked real.

Be careful out there, by phone, email or mail in the regular PO. It seems those who like to spend their time trying to cheat the public are getting a lot smarter with it.

 

[BarbStAubrey]

Big neighborhood shindig in the schoolyard across the street - We have had a neighborhood parade for over 20 years that was cancelled the last two years and the parade route ended at the school but this year they have gone all out with booths and rides and and and - they advertised and people are coming and coming and coming - my street is packed solid with parked cars and the middle school down the hill is packed solid with vehicles and I can see across to the next street horizontal to mine and it is solid and so where I was going to go over I think on my wobbly legs I won't - I will stand in my driveway and hear some of the sound and enjoy the band music at 10:30 but walking in a crowd is not feeling easy enough to be safe for me... I am so glad though to see folks doing fun things again and making their own enjoyment without some city planner taking over.

Katha and Gary left yesterday - my oh my was the house quiet - but I laugh inside - to this day Katha is like the peanuts character pig pen - nothing that child does without creating a huge mess and then leaves everything that is being worked on with all the materials and implements 'in case' she has to go back and do something and so after a few days every corner of the house has an unfinished or 95% finished project - No sense making a fuss - the important thing is I was getting the help however someplace along in the second week I just had to start organizing and cleaning up - I was exasperated hearing 'now where is this or that or where did I leave this or that'- to each his own - after sixty some odd years if the habit is part of you all I can do is laugh and know it is not going to last - I must say though Katha did spend hours the last day of her visit cleaning up after herself and had Gary help by vacuuming

The house is quiet again but now that I am back on my schedule when I need a break I can get back to reading - not sure what I want to tackle - I'm intrigued - For my  Prime freebee this month I chose All The Lies They  Did Not Tell - Evidently there was a Satanic scare in Italy that sounds like our Salem Witch trials but on steroids - the book is a mystery based on history - haha just hit me I do with books what Katha does with household tasks - anyhow I have a few books about 70% completed but this bit of history I did not know about and my curiosity is brimming over...   

[Tomereader1]

I posted this over in Seniors&Friends in the Soda Shop about my week, should anyone want to visit there and follow the various responses to my post. Like the old HeeHaw song says: If it ain't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all! So we all seem to be having some of "that kind of luck".  Here's my story: Last Sunday morn woke up with a black eye. No reason I could think of then, but texted pic to my daughter, who said I had to see the doctor so I make an appt. (she'll see me Wednesday) she checked me out and said nothing to worry about. I recalled while I was there I had an awful coughing spell during Sat. night, and she said yes, that would cause it. Daughter was happy (that I didn't have a concussion from a fall that I couldn't remember (ha ha)So, everything's good until Thursday evening when I go to take the recycle bin out for next day's pickup.  Coming back in from the gate, which I have done probably 50,000 times in 59 years here, I tripped on the 2" concrete patio stepup, fell, split my eyebrow open, skinned both knees.  Call my neighbor friend to come right over as I was bleeding badly from that eyebrow laceration, and we tried and finally got it stopped.  Again protective Daughter wanted neighbor to take me to emergency room. I've had experience with ER's and wanted no part of that at 10 PM.  Next morn, huge hematoma on 1 knee, a genuine black eye, so I agreed to have neighbor take me to E.R. They did CT Scan on my head, the orbit in the cheekbone, and Xray of left knee.  Spent four hours waiting various times, first to see a doc, then to get scans done, then to get results from scans.  No head fracture, no brain bleed, no busted knee, no cracked orbit checked out just fine and sent me on my way. Made it four years + one month since I had fallen in my living room and busted my humerus and left wrist.  I think I need to buy BubbleWrap by the  roll and wrap myself up securely before I attempt anything.  Bah, humbug on getting old and injuring yourself which never happened when I was young!  The E.R. I went to is in the hospital.  My doc's office is in Bldg.#3.  It's really a huge medical complex.  I know a lot of you familiar with Dallas have probably heard of Presbyterian Hospital, which now goes by the name Texas Health. Just to indicate how busy their ER is, the CT Scan guy said he had run 200 CT's in one day. That seems a bunch to me, but I guess when they think you need one (maybe) it's best to find out if you have bleeding on the brain, or busted bones in your leg, etc. (that was just regular Xray).  All of the people I dealt with there were friendly, professional, helpful with great attitudes. Awhile back, the Critical Care folks were building a lot of neighborhood CC offices. After many people locally had really bad experience with being charged gigantic bills for something simple like a shot, they got bad publicity and one-by-one they closed up.  There were two or three within 2-3 miles from me, and would have been handier to go to, rather than the hospital proper.  My balance is not always the greatest because of an inner ear problem, but this accident wasn't balance, just being slew-footed. Your old standard trip-and-fall.  It could have been a lot worse.  I have been catching heck from daughter and two neighbors for not having my cell phone on me. (I tell them I will not be tied to that phone..basically I hate it)In the ER waiting room, everyone was staring down at their phones, playing videos or live conversations at decibels I don't even use on my stereo, plus the various annoying ring-tones.  Oh, well, I have griped enough about everything except the world conditions, and I don't think I'm up to that just yet.  We are supposed to be in the 100 degree plus for most of next week, with no real chance for cooling or rain. So will just sit in the A/C, read and binge movies and try not to fall over the furniture!!My best to all who are having real serious health problems. As I said Grace today, I asked for blessings for "all my Seniors & Friends". (I did manage to make me a fairly tasty, nutritious supper - that's why I was asking blessings during Grace instead of regular prayer time). I love you all, and my life is richer from being able to read all the posts here. It's like having a "girl-friend" party right here in the living room! The blessings are also asked for my Senior Learn friends!

[ginny]

TOME!! I am so sorry to hear about your latest falls!  You have really had quite a week!

I am glad you were checked out and found to be OK (except of course for the damage, I know all that hurts). So many places, too!!  It sure is no fun, is it? Are they recommending anything to help with balance?  {{{{HUGS!!}}} Just absolutely no fun at all.

Please take extra care with all motion till all this is healed, it really sounds a lot, that last bit. What did they say about recuperation?  I personally need to take careful steps this time because what I've been doing is not working.

It sounds like you will be joining me in the easy chair for some good reading and some careful navigation. I keep swearing to self I will never have to say again the words "I was just...."

I've got my whole day just about regulated, now, and it's nothing like what I thought it would be, but it's added order and more purpose so this summer.  I've just added yesterday   20 minutes practicing Italian (we can see who has not given up hope for future trips) better,   also to the mix, as it's been...what....3 Covid years since I've heard it and had a chance to speak it, (and considering the current state of the airports I'm not all that sorry)  and am enjoying the discipline.  I am just here and seeing your post, so it takes me about till 1 pm to get my "schedule" done, and then lunch and then time for reading.

Can't garden with the knee at present, but I've got a lot of ideas for the poor plantings  when I will be able to,  and will commandeer a force to make some changes when I can, as well, it's good to see what works and what did not.

It sure would help if it ever rained again. We're in a terrible drought. My youngest son watered the porch plants for me yesterday without being asked and the long garden as well, which was a surprise, and I told him he would be a gardener yet if he kept on. The oldest came and did quite a lot of things for his dad  on the farm here also without being asked, which needed doing as well.

We'll get through this!

Meanwhile am deep in Crichton's escape Jurassic Park and have two more here of his to read when it's over.  Yesterday I watched John Cleese in Clockwise (OLD movie) because I heard Joan Hickson's very unmistakable voice in the back seat of the car in it (she was 80 when it was made)in it and that sent me back to Miss Marple Series 1, which I probably have watched 100 times, so I watched it for the 101st  and am enjoying it no end. I love the way it's presented...just everything about it.

Ah nostalgia for a period of time that probably never was, and certainly never will be again. When did we lose a sense of manners?


What's everybody reading?

[Tomereader1]

Ginny, it was just one fall (this time).  The previous fall was 4 yrs. ago and inside the house.  This time, as I said was outside, and just a trip on a 2" concrete step-up on patio.  I went down quick and heavily.

I've done the senior's course, offered through the hospital, called "A Matter of Balance".  Although interesting, it seemed to me "a matter of common sense" for most of their recommendations, i.e. trip and fall items in the home, rugs, cords, etc.  I took the course twice, just hoping I didn't miss anything.  The group dynamic was very good, and the instructor was great. They did have some balancing exercises that were good.  However, with this inner ear problem, it is tough to do standing balance things, unless you're holding onto  chair or countertop.  That was allowed during the sessions.

I don't know if the course is available on YouTube, it might be.   

I sure hope you recover quickly from your knee problem.  I didn't wreck my knee, but it had a great big hematoma, along with some "sidewalk rash".  The bruising around my eye is fading --today a yucky combination of faded purple with yellow undertones!
 
Take care of yourself!  Enjoy the reading and staying inside where it's cool.
Joanne

[ginny]

Well that was SOME one fall! It only takes one, too. Your balance course sounds interesting.  I read an item the other day that said your life expectancy is what you can do second wise standing on one foot not holding on to anything? Or something like that. I tried it, and hope that's not the case.

Still enjoying running from dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. I like reading it better than seeing the movie, there's something about a book you can put down that gives you more control than the thrills in the theater. Easier on the gore, too, the saying "I can't 'unsee' it," does not pertain to this one as it does the movie.

Also enjoying learning that I knew next to nothing about Italian, and here I thought I was so fluent. I am enjoying the Babble program and using the mike, that's my biggest challenge. Lots of fun, I recommend it. Hopefully it will offset the nightly Tylenol PM with its Benedryl causing dementia.

Today at 6:40 am I think we had a minor earthquake. I will check and see from those who report such things. It seemed that the bed settled about 1/2 inch or so it felt. That was all. It could have been a lot of things.   The bedroom is not hanging over a cliff by any means but it's close to one, a steep hill,  I'd say about a car width from the slope. My oldest son used to say that he expected one day to end up at the foot of the hill, I keep thinking about that.  We've HAD the Ramjack people out years ago for some settling...anyway, am still at the top of the hill.  So far.

 Folks here think there are no fault lines, but that IS one thing I did get from a geology class in the 60's: there IS a fault line here, it's an old one, but somewhat lengthy,  and lately it seems to be kicking in, actually, from time to time. Little tremors, etc. Anyway.

What's happening with you all? Barbara, are you moved yet? Still enjoying Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, even though I swear I can recite the part with her.

[BarbStAubrey]

I'm bushed - Katha and Gary left the other day and the next day I slept 13 hours straight through and still took a nap - I've another week or maybe two before I can go on the market - our market slowed some but no significant drop in pricing - so that will be the next trail - I'm thinking the earliest I would be moving is sometime in September - have not even gone down to Magnolia to choose a house but there is no sense since their market is moving at a fast clip as well and anything I see would not be available when I'm ready.

[Frybabe]

I am still reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars which is a very long book and very good.

Likewise, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine is longish but very dense info wise. There were a lot of groups passing through or migrating to the area, some stayed some didn't, but they all left their mark. Just yesterday I was trying to follow the Kosaks and how they formed, and somehow, it melded into the church goings on and the break between the Holy Roman Church and the Orthodox Church. Oh, and let's not forget about the Turk/Muslim invasions and influences.

Ginny, I also just started The Fort (City of Victory, book 1), by Adrian Goldsworthy.  It is now 105AD and Flavius Ferox (first met in his Vindolanda series) has left Britania and is now in Dacia. Interesting to note: Dacia sat between the Bulgars and the area of Ukraine is above. They all shared similar invasions and migrations from the north and east.

[Tomereader1]

I just finished reading, what for me, has been the best book all year.  "Dear Edward" by Ann Napolitano. I'm sure it won't contribute to your edification, but it certainly was an eye opener in several areas.  In briefest review, the primary character is a 10 year old boy who is the only survivor of a commercial airline crash.  The novel goes back and forth, giving us pictures of some of the other 191 passengers on that flight; then forward outlining Edward's continuing story.  There is great insight and research about the effects on a "survivors" life. (now that we seem to be plagued by situations that involve survivors, this is a pertinent look into that). Of course there is sadness, in the lives of the other passengers, which we learn about through the skipping to and fro; and I feel the author handled that very well.  The characters in Edward's on-going life are beautifully drawn, and I kept thinking  "this person would be great in another novel".  The book is not overly "long" but in places, I wished it were.  I had a terrible time trying to put the book down (2:30 AM on two nights). This is a five-star read IMHO!