Clam Shares Books & Cheese ❂ 2024 ~ Part III ❂

Time for a new thread! (I meant to do it on the first day of Summer, but I forgot.)



I finished listening to What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds read by the author, Jennifer Ackerman. I read her book The Genius of Birds last year, and listened to Birds by the Shore last month. She's awesome. Owls are very different from other raptors, and many of them are difficult to find and track. They are smart, but not in the same way other birds of prey are.

I've already started listing to Dr. Anthony Fauci's new book On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service and I am reading The Lincoln Highway. I needed to pick something new, and after all the heaped on praise for A Gentleman in Moscow in Jill's thread I decided to blow the virtual moths out of this other book of his and give it a go. (I actually only bought the Kindle version back it in May, so there were no virtual moths yet.)

I am also ashamed to admit that I completely missed my Thingaversary. :o( It was 18 years for me back near the end of April. I made a donation to my old library in CT and another to my new one.

>1 clamairy: Happy New Thread and happy Thingaversary too.

Happy New Thread!

I bet the owl book was really interesting.

I read The Lincoln Highway when it first came out. I thought it was a good book. I’ve debated on getting Towles’ newest, but I’m not a huge fan of short stories, just as I’m getting into the characters, the story is over.

>1 clamairy: Thank you! That was great! I so rarely show up and you pointed me to Jill’s thread which happened to reference me and I felt all remembered and it was really great!

I’ve forgotten how to link to a post, but post #185 in her not most recently started thread

Happy new thread, Clam!

Happy New Thread!
Belated Happy Thingaversary!

>2 Karlstar: Thank you!

>3 catzteach: I'm not great with short story collections either. They are too easy to set aside and forget about because you're not invested.

>4 stellarexplorer: I'm so glad you found your way back in here. Please stick around. We'd love to know what you've been reading.

>5 haydninvienna: Thank you.

>6 pgmcc: Thank you X 2!

>4 stellarexplorer: Seconding the motion that we see you more frequently.

>4 stellarexplorer: and >8 MrsLee: Echoing what Lee said here. We do keep an eye out for people!!

Happy New Thread and Belated Thingaversary! :)

Happy new thread! :)

>10 Alexandra_book_life: & >11 curioussquared: Thank you both!

Ooops, I forgot to post this one before I posted the owl book.



I think I will be listening to The World Before Us: The New Science Behind Our Human Origins a second time, as there is a lot to process here. Tom Higham spends much of the time describing just how hard it is to find usable fossil remains of the Denisovan people who lived between 50,000-200,000 years ago. They overlapped with early humans and Neanderthals, and there seems to be some residual DNA in us. (Just as there is with our trace Neanderthal DNA.) Fascinating stuff! One of the fossils found was a Neaderthal/ Denisovan hybrid.

I am at 54 books read/listened to for the year so far. (35 books/19 audio books)

>7 clamairy: Thank you!

>8 MrsLee: Thank you! Nice to see everyone!

>9 jillmwo: Thank you, and as per your profile, I think we may be neighbors now -

Oh boy. Looks like missed another one. Not only didn't I mention it in here, I forgot to add it to my LT library.



I've been hearing about A Morbid Taste for Bones and the rest of the series for decades. I finally took the plunge. It's well written and quite humorous, which I was not expecting. I can relate to Brother Cadfael quite easily, which I am not sure I could have done 20 years ago. I also loved the descriptions of everyday life in this time period. I will be continuing the series at some point.

>17 clamairy: I have long enjoyed the Brother Cadfael series. I'm glad you found them at a time that allows you to enjoy them as well!!

>17 clamairy: Very glad you enjoyed it. That is a series I have reread only to be with the characters. It gets even better when Hugh Barringer makes an appearance.

>18 jillmwo: & >19 MrsLee: I was willing to bet money that you two were part of the chorus of praise for that series, along with katylit. (Not to mention half of the library book club I used to belong to in Connecticut.)

I love me some Brother Cadfael! You have many hours of satisfying reading ahead of you.

>21 littlegeek: Nice. Yet another member of the Cadfael chorus sings a song of praise.

>17 clamairy: Lovely! I haven't read any of the books, but I am planning to. The tv-series is something my husband and I watch on a rainy day when our brains can't handle much.

>23 Alexandra_book_life: there's a show?!?! I need to find it. I only read one but love the concept.

>24 Darth-Heather: Yes, it's was made in the 1990's. Derek Jacobi is Cadfael :)

>23 Alexandra_book_life: They did a fairly good job of the TV series to the books, but I may be partial because I love Jacobi.

>26 MrsLee: And in that love of Derek Jacobi, we are "twinsies"... And >24 Darth-Heather: yes, you need to track the whole series down. They're excellent adaptations of the books. I have been able to watch them via streaming on Britbox.

Sorry that I haven't been around. I have had my kids coming and going, a couple of social engagements to attend, and a grandpup to dog sit. (My son returns from Seattle tomorrow, and collects Mochi the Wonder Dog.)



I only managed to finish one book, On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service and I highly recommend it. There is quite a bit a humor, but also a heavy dose of heartache in this one. Fauci was such a huge part of the fight against AIDs and HIV for decades. I listened to the audio as read by the author.

I've already started listening to Penric and the Shaman. I would prefer to read these but the eBooks are not available through Libby or Hoopla.

Penric and the Shaman was a fun listen. (This is the 2nd book in the Penric & Desdemona Series. I didn't love the narrator, but his slightly ponderous tone was greatly aided by me bumping the speed up to 1.2 times the normal playback. :o)

Onward to Our Inner Ape.

>20 clamairy: Well, that’s all the recommends I need. Ordered it just now. I really didn’t need another book, but *shrug* that’s not the point, is it? Two choices of narrator. I chose the male who takes 2 hours longer to read it.

>30 2wonderY: It's not a long book, so is it possible that the shorter one may have been slightly abridged?

>31 clamairy: Possibly; but I listened to samples of both. It’s mostly pace, I think.

>32 2wonderY: Very interesting!

>33 clamairy: Patrick Tull reads the 9 hour version. I already love his voice.
Joanna Ward accomplishes it in 7 hours. And I note the cover says it is unabridged. Sometimes you want leisurely.

>34 2wonderY: I could see a 20 or 30 minute difference due to pacing, but that seems ridiculous. Does she drink massive amounts of caffeine before she reads?

Tull is a rather sonorous reader, but I've always liked him. Could be that there are lots of spaces between everything like sentences, chapters and paragraphs/changes of scene. Seems like a lot though. Could be bad estimates on both editions.

>36 Bookmarque: I've recently started bumping up the speed just a smidgen on most of my audiobooks anyway.

>34 2wonderY: Let us know how it goes.

Yeah, I do the same thing occasionally - nothing nuts, maybe 1.2 times. When I read a book by a man who went blind as an adult, I was a bit shocked to learn that some blind people listen to audio books at 3 and 4x speed. Must be crazy, but not that different than the skimming we do with our eyes. Maybe not all books all the time, probably more like articles etc.

Sounds like there's an untapped market for a series of great Russian novels as audiobooks read by Alvin And The Chipmunks on helium and caffeine.

War And Peace read in 20 minutes.

>38 Bookmarque: Yes, so far I've only experimented with between 1.1-1.25 X playback. I'm surprised at how much it helps improve my listening experience.

>39 MrAndrew: Ha! I'd sign on for that, but play it at a slower speed. (Which I am not sure is even an option.)

Hmm. I am not quite sure where to start with The Lincoln Highway. I definitively did not love it as much as I did A Gentleman in Moscow, but I did like it a bit more than Rules of Civility. I wish I could give it an extra ¼ of a star, but LT does not allow that. Parts of it are hilarious and just plain wonderful, and some of it is briefly terrifying and heartbreaking. It's beautifully written, at least.

I have already started my first ever Georgette Heyer. It's Frederica.

>41 clamairy: Frederica is one of Heyer's best! I hope you enjoy it.

>41 clamairy: You'll have fun with Frederica!

>41 clamairy: I see that A Gentleman in Moscow is already on my wishlist. Perhaps I should do something about that.

>42 Sakerfalcon: Thank you! So far so good.
>43 jillmwo: I believe you are correct.
>44 2wonderY: Can you borrow it? Then if it's not your cup of tea you can jump ship.

>45 clamairy: Yes, I’ve requested it on Libby.

Sharing this one as a gift article, so no paywall.

Which books should be dropped from school curriculums, and which ones should be added? I don't agree with all of these subtractions, but I do like many of the additions.

https://wapo.st/3Wvf7VG

>47 clamairy: Oh, that was an interesting read because of specific titles readers thought should be dropped and why. And the alternate options -- titles like Ceremony and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- strike me as good fill-ins.

>48 jillmwo: There were quite a few suggestions I have not read and even a couple I had never heard of. I also read the comments and most of them were not thrilled with all of the classics being dumped. The general consensus was that The Catcher in the Rye needed to go. I don't agree that To Kill a Mockingbird should be pulled off the list, though I did understand some of the complaints.

>47 clamairy: Interesting list. I think I only had to read two of them in school, but I think some they wanted removed are classics for good reasons. I despise A Confederacy of Dunces, so I'm ok with removing that one if it is on any required reading lists. As usual these lists are just adding to my TBR pile.

How old does a book have to be to be declared a classic?

>50 Karlstar: I don't know. I'm not sure why A Confederacy of Dunces would have been on any list to begin with. That book was published in the early 80s, wasn't it? Someone who likes to torture high school students must have added it.

>47 clamairy: That link says a subscriber has given me free access to read the article, but won't let me read it without signing in.

>52 MrsLee: That doesn't make any sense. I don't think anyone else had trouble reading it. Are you using your phone or a computer?

>53 clamairy: It did the same for me, but I have my own WaPo account so was able to log in and read it for myself.

>53 clamairy: Have you shared the max number of articles this month?

>53 clamairy:
It was the same for me.

>56 pgmcc: I wouldn't be surprised if the post had some weird international block turned on.

>55 Karlstar: It says I have 9 left, so no...

I'm regifting it here:

https://wapo.st/3zQwK9v

>57 clamairy: Maybe the international thing? It still works fine for me.

>59 Karlstar: Hmmm... does not appear to be an international issue as both links result in the 'create an account to continue' message.

>58 clamairy: Nope. It says I can read it for free, but I have to sign up with Mt email to do so. I don't want any more emails or sign ins, so will skip it.

>60 ScoLgo: & >61 MrsLee: I will share it through the GD Facebook group. Maybe that will work, but I suspect it might be a browser issue.

I bought Our Inner Ape as a trade paperback at least 15 years ago and never read it. I decided to listen to it instead, and I was not disappointed. I was bit shocked though, to say the least. Chimpanzees are often nasty. They can be extraordinarily kind and then completely brutal to each other. Bonobos are not violent, and though they can be loud they are quite peaceful. They also spend a lot of time engaging in sexual activity. We seem to be somewhere in the middle. We all share a common ancestor who may have been more similar to bonobos than to either chimps or humans. We still haven't figured that out yet.

Recommended if you are fascinated by anthropology, biology and human evolution.

I've already started listening to The Wolf in the Whale.

>63 clamairy: Our Inner Ape sounds good. I read and enjoyed Theory of Bastards last year. Bonobos play a large part in that near-future cli-fi tale.

>64 ScoLgo: Shot point blank in my own freaking thread... :o)

Frederica was simply delightful. I cannot tell you how many times I laughed out loud, sometimes in shocked mirth. The Marquis is such a lovable cad, you can't help but root for him.

‘Children of your own, my lord?’ he said, as he closed the door.
‘Not to my knowledge.’

I've never read such of collection of obscure terms and insults in one place before. "Bacon brained?" Bwahaha...

I will definitely be reading more of Heyer's books.

>66 clamairy: FWIW, I'm partial to Venetia.

>67 jillmwo: I will try to remember to keep that in mind. I will add that to the evergrowing wish list. Despite all the words I didn't recognize I found the book extremely refreshing for something that was written 60 years ago.

>66 clamairy: Heyer's insults deserve to be slipped into everyday conversation!
I'm so glad you enjoyed Frederica. Delightful is the perfect description.

>67 jillmwo: Venetia is one of my favorites, too.

I bought this via Audible three years ago, and finally got around to it. I did enjoy it, but I won't be recommending The Wolf in the Whale to too many people. I was expecting a predominantly Inuit tale, but there is also quite a bit of Norse mythology in here. The Inuit and Norse gods are all real, and are often petty, jealous and vindictive. There is quite a bit of violence, some against children, and some sexual violence. So... yeah. Proceed with caution, or maybe don't proceed at all.

I've already started to listen to The Year of the Puppy.

>69 Sakerfalcon: I loved all of the unusual references to bacon (chawbacon, bacon-picker) but I think I liked nodcock and pea-goose the best. I don't imagine anyone would approve of being referred to as either.

>70 ludmillalotaria: Good to know!

I decided to read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue after I read a piece written by the author, V. E. Schwab describing the massive amounts of misogyny she's faced since she became a published author. I am not sure why but I thought she wrote horror not fantasy. So when I looked her up in here and I found some very highly rated books I decided to pick out the standalone with the highest ratings. It was a bit slow to grab me but I found it to be a very good read.

I have already started book seven in the Tracy Crosswhite mystery series.

>73 clamairy:
I have not read any of her books but I have been intending to remedy that situation. My memory fails me concerning where I had read about her work and been attracted to it.

>74 pgmcc: I am embarrassed to say I had her mixed up with VC Andrews.

>73 clamairy: I'm glad you liked it! I enjoyed the writing very much, but I kept wanting to make Addie and the other characters more interesting and put them into a more complicated story. But that's just imo ;)

>76 Alexandra_book_life: There were glimpses of more interesting events, but they were very brief. I think the repetitiveness of her early existence was one of the reasons it took so long to grab me.

>73 clamairy: I read Addie after I’d already read a couple of others of hers. She writes YA as well. I really like her work. One series I keep meaning to grab and just haven’t yet is Villains. I read Vicious and really liked it. I’ve also read Gallant.

>78 catzteach: Good to know. Thank you. I will check out the reviews. (And mostly like go with the stand alone.)

>79 clamairy: To answer the question you posed over in Richard's thread: "Booooookkkkssss".

>80 Karlstar: Hahaha!

A Cold Trail is the seventh Tracy Crosswhite book, and it was another solid entry.

I think I'm going to read Harlem Shuffle next, by one of my favorite authors Colson Whitehead.

>82 clamairy: Robert Dugoni's name is familiar to me for some reason but, when I reviewed his listed works here on LT, nothing seemed familiar. Is this the only series of his that you have read? Also, does the series tend to the angst-y side of things?

>83 jillmwo: I think there is another series or two, but this is the only one I've read. Amazon gave me the first book for free when I first got my Kindle, and then I borrowed a bunch from Amazon with Prime Reading. I don't think I ever would have bought the first one, but once I read the first few I was hooked. Tracy seemed too good to be true at first, but she's gotten much more human and relatable (for me) as the series has gone on.. They aren't particularly angsty. Tracy always gets in trouble but she always gets out of it. But if you're looking for a new mystery series to start I would definitely go with the Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series. Ruth is just so awesome.

I believe Dugoni won a few minor awards for the historical novel The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. I own the Kindle version, but I haven't read it yet.

Before I listened to The Year of the Puppy: How a Puppy Becomes Your Dog I had myself convinced that my next dog would not only be a rescue, but would most assuredly NOT be a puppy. Now I am not so sure about the 'no puppy' thing. There is so much bonding and shaping that goes on in that first year. This was a great listen for anyone who love canines.



Penric's Mission is the third book in the Penric and Desdemona series. I think this was the best so far, but that might only be because I have been growing increasingly fond of these two characters.

I've already started listening to The Song of Hiawatha. I absolutely adored this one as a youth. So far the Suck Fairy has not made an appearance. (Although I could complain about a bit of sexism.)

>85 clamairy: Oh, it's so nice to see that you are enjoying Penric and Desdemona!

I've read The Song of Hiawatha ages ago ;) I was probably 11? Loved it at the time.

>86 Alexandra_book_life: Thanks, they are such good fun.

I am thoroughly enjoying having this poem read to me, and I realize I need more poetry in my life... but I don't love reading it myself. Audiobooks to the rescue!

I think the Penric & Desdemona books get better and better as they go along. You're in for a treat!

>88 reconditereader: That great news. I'm trying to pace myself. I don't want to race through them all at once, but it's so tempting.

Oh, I race through them and just re-read on a regular basis.

>90 reconditereader: I am not a huge rereader, only because I know there are so many books on my TBR list that I haven't gotten to yet. But I've recently discovered that listening to things that I've already read works very well for me.

>85 clamairy: I will have to see if these are available via Hoopla from the library, I've been meaning to read this series for ages. Typically I don't find much Bujold, if any, at the bookstore.

>92 Karlstar: I only found the first one to borrow for my Kindle through OverDrive. I have had to listen to the 2nd and 3rd because the ebooks are not available. I think I got the first one through Hoopla and the second from Libby.

I think you'll enjoy them!

For the most part listening to The Song of Hiawatha* was very enjoyable. The Suck Fairy was never visible, but I heard the sound of her wings a few times. I might have even felt a rush of air in my face from her flitting about. That was due solely to some casual racism, a bunch of sexism, and one brief but still horrifying bit of antisemitism. It was published in 1855, almost 170 years ago, so I will cut the author a wee bit of slack.

I have already started listening to If on a Winter's Night a Traveler and I am enjoying it immensely. It definitely has an 'anything goes' 1970s vibe to it.

*I feel the need to point out that the neighborhood I live in is called Laughing Water, and my house is on the corner of Hiawatha's Path and Nokomis Road. :o)

>94 clamairy:
Wow!
Listening to If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller must be quite surreal.

I am glad your initial reaction is positive.

>95 pgmcc: I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but this is definitely not it. I have laughed loudly several times.

>96 clamairy:
I think it is a book that nobody is expecting. :-)

My grandmother used to recite The Song of Hiawatha very dramatically. She memorized the whole thing in school. I can't hear the title without hearing her voice. :)

>94 clamairy: *I feel the need to point out that the neighborhood I live in is called Laughing Water, and my house is on the corner of Hiawatha's Path and Nokomis Road. :o)

That's just lovely!

>94 clamairy: As long as the unfortunate attitudes of 170 years ago didn't spoil the poetry for you!! Poetry ought to be heard, so I'm glad you enjoyed the audible version. I used to have more of Hiawatha memorized than I can call back to mind this morning...other than "stood the wigwam of Nokomis".

>98 MrsLee: Such a wonderful memory to have. I hear my mother when I revisit A.A. Milne's poetry.

>98 MrsLee: I knew parts of it, I guess I still recall my favorite bits. But it's over four hours long, so kudos your grandmother!

>100 jillmwo: It made me gasp a couple of times, but overall it was lovely.

I think if I had read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler back in the late 70s or early 80s I would have been crazy about it. It's sort of a collection of short stories that overlap or are interwoven. I would just get used to being in one world only to be slapped awake and then plunged into another. Some of these stories are just hilarious, and some fascinating. I did find one to be just plain icky. The one with the student who is pursuing his professor's daughter and end up with his wife.

I almost got the impression the author had started about a dozen different novels that went nowhere and he found a brilliant way to throw them together. That way he didn't have to find a way to end any of them.

There are some beautiful bits about books and reading.

I think I am reading The Hunter next, but I am not 100% sure.

>104 clamairy:
I think my favourite bit was the section on publishing.

>105 pgmcc: I was really enjoyed the dark humor in the one about disposing of a body in Paris. I also found the one about computers deconstructing and reconstructing books to be quite timely.

>106 clamairy:
Exactly. It was a bit too prophetic there.

>104 clamairy: Calvino was my favorite writer when I was a teenager and in college. I've not enjoyed his works upon rereads, but that's because I no longer have patience for metafiction.

I almost got the impression the author had started about a dozen different novels that went nowhere and he found a brilliant way to throw them together. That way he didn't have to find a way to end any of them.

Ha, a fair interpretation! It's one of his later works, and—especially toward the end—he combined his interests in neorealist and magical realist writing styles. Calvino was a member of Oulipo and often placed mathematical or logistical constraints on his writing. He also was really fascinated by the idea of what we might term folded spaces. It's most obvious in Invisible Cities, but it's a thread in a number of his works, including some of his essays on the meaning of literature.

If you want more of Oulipo, I recommend Michèle Audin's One Hundred Twenty-One Days. Audin is an actual mathematician, as well as a novelist. I believe she still is the only member of Oulipo who's also a trained mathematician. The novel considers the trauma of war and the responsibility of scientists during wars. The author's mathematician father was an activist for Algerian independence who was tortured and murdered by the French. It's a personal and layered novel that uses math in an interesting way.

>108 libraryperilous: Oh, interesting. My Bachelor's degree is in mathematics and English... I'm very tempted!

I loved Harlem Shuffle. Finally a Colson Whitehead book that didn't leave me in tears. Oh, there was still a fair amount of heartbreak, but not the soul wrecking kind. 4½ stars from me, only because I found it a little slow to get going.

I've already started The Hunter, and my audiobook is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Ooops. Forgot one.



Slow Time Between the Stars is a John Scalzi novela. Very interesting quickie about a probe that achieves consciousness and makes some interesting choices.

>111 clamairy: I liked this one! It's very unlike Scalzi's other books, it's nice when authors try something different.

>112 Alexandra_book_life: Yes, it's very different, but still quite enjoyable. Even the humor was of a different type than his usual, I thought.

I found reading The Hunter to be a much more satisfying experience than reading The Searcher, which is the first book in the Cal Hooper series by Tana French. I hope she keeps going.

I felt like I wasn't ready to leave Ireland just yet, so I started Foster by Claire Keegan.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was a Heinlein book that I hadn't read. I decided to do the audio and it was the right choice for me. There is less sexism than in the other books of his I have read. And there is a lot he got right, although the moon being colonized by now obvious was not in the cards. I didn't check to see when it was published, so I assumed late 80s, but it was actual 1967.

I have started listening to Temporal which was recommended by Bookmarque, and it is quite good so far!

>115 clamairy: Those old writers were optimistic, they assumed a steady achievement curve when it came to space.

>114 clamairy: I liked The Searcher a lot, just like most things by Tana French. I'm planning to read The Hunter this year (hopefully).

>115 clamairy: I devoured many books by Heinlein as a teen, I have no idea what I would think of them today ;) This one I read as an adult, and liked it, with some reservations. I can't remember what they were, though.

>114 clamairy: Do you have to read The Searcher before you read The Hunter? I like French as an author but may not want to commit to a series.

>114 clamairy: That's good to know. I didn't like The Searcher much at all and felt her story-telling went WAY down hill with that one. I haven't ordered or read The Hunter so maybe I'll give it a go. Might get it from the library to be safe. I really wish she'd stop with the navel gazing and get back to procedurals. Cal is just too hazy and unsure for me.

>116 Karlstar: Oh, definitely. Sometimes it's a little depressing, and other times I am happy to see that we've gotten a lot further than he expected us to in some areas, like wireless communications. They are still using landlines on the moon in 2070 something.

>117 Alexandra_book_life: I'm glad you enjoyed them both. I thought the first one was a bit flat, but I realize now that's because she was starting a series. I think I would be very upset at the overt and rampant sexism in some of the Heinlein that I loved when I was 16.

>119 jillmwo: Not really. You can probably just read a summary somewhere. My niece loved it without having read the first one.

>120 Bookmarque: The library is definitely your best bet for this one. There is still some naval gazing, but there's a bit of that in all of her books.

>121 clamairy: Very true, almost all of the old writers completely missed on how fast computer circuits would be miniaturized.

>119 jillmwo:
I was disappointed with The Searcher. In The Wych Elm and Dublin Murder Squad novels French demonstrated that she understood Dublin, its social mix and nuances, and its local political history. She could not have made her Dublin books more authentic (ignoring the drinking Guinness straight from a can episode), but in The Searcher, set in rural Ireland, she showed no understanding of rural Irish culture. She has lived and worked in Dublin for a long time and has obviously absorbed the environment. I suspect her experience of rural Ireland has been sporadic, limited, and possibly based on perceptions rather than reality. For this reason I will be staying away from any other novels by her set in rural Ireland. I strongly recommend her other books.

Foster by Claire Keegan was almost as good as her Small Things Like These. My only real complaints about her work is that she only seems to write short stories and novellas. I want something exactly like these, but that I can sink my teeth into. Once again I realized I did not want to leave Ireland, so I have started The Pull of the Stars. Not the happiest setting perhaps, (it's Dublin during WWI and the influenza epidemic!) but it's well written so far.

Thank you, Bookmarque for recommending Temporal. Good fun, with lots of timeline shenanigans. It was perhaps the perfect follow-up to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

I've started a Great Courses audio called The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity.

Yay!! So glad you liked it. I thought it was a lot of fun and thought provoking.

I borrowed The Pull of the Stars because it's set in Ireland and because of the high(ish) rating it has here on LibraryThing. It was a very intense read, taking place over just a few days around Halloween in 1918, during the worst of the influenza epidemic. I can't recommend this for anyone who is even vaguely squeamish about nursing or obstetrics. I did enjoy it quite a bit despite not loving some of the more grotesque details of the influenza symptoms. (The obstetrics didn't bother me as much, except they didn't have epidurals in those days!) I was on the fence about giving it an extra ½ of a star, but then I remembered not loving the lack of quotation marks. I kept having to go back and reread paragraphs to figure out where the speaking parts began.

I'm already ⅓rd of the way through Death at the Sign of the Rook. Many thanks to Peter for letting us know this had been published.

>127 clamairy: Have you read The Wonder, also by Emma Donoghue? My book club picked it up a couple of years ago and we all liked it. I haven't read anything else by her, though.

>127 clamairy:
I am glad you are enjoying Death at the Sign of the Rook.

>128 Alexandra_book_life: I have not, but I will definitely be reading more of her work. (Though I think I will be staying away from Room
because of the tough subject matter.)

>129 pgmcc: I'd forgotten just how delightful her sense of humor can be.

Death at the Sign of the Rook is the latest of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books, and it's definitely one of my favorites. It might be me, but I think it's funnier than any of the previous books. I listened to an interview from the NY Times books section the other day and Atkinson said she had the idea for a while and then she wrote it during the Covid lock-down. It's a bit of a riff on all the usual players in an old style murder mystery set at a manor. One of my favorite characters is the dithering vicar, who is in fact an agnostic.

Simon didn’t believe in God. Not at all. And when he had finally given word to this apostasy some years ago now, no cock had crowed. The sky hadn’t fallen in, the devil hadn’t come calling for his soul. Not that he’d expected him (or her) to, although it was easier to believe in the devil than it was in God. The devil was everywhere, whereas God was, clearly, nowhere to be found.

It did sort of peter out just a bit at the very end, but it's getting 4½ stars.

I have already started JRR Tolkien's The Fall of Arthur.

>131 clamairy: I look forward to your thoughts on the Tolkien book.

>132 MrsLee: Sometimes I feel like I'm reading something that was dictated by Yoda. I think I'd be much better off listening to this read by someone else, but I couldn't find it as an audio.

>133 clamairy: I tried to put myself in a mood where I was sitting at a fire and listening to someone recite it. The voices in my head did a pretty good job. ;)

>134 MrsLee: I find myself having to reread passages two and three times before I can figure out what exactly is going on.

I guess I should have read the blurb on The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity a bit more closely. It just covered the Mediterranean area. It was still interesting, but there was a bit too much detail about the Romans for me. Also the author/narrator Hans-Friedrich Mueller almost sounded a bit bored. I sped it up a bit.

Not sure which audio is up next.

I've started listening to Music as a Mirror of History, and while it's heavy on the history and very light on actual music I am enjoying it quite a bit.

>136 clamairy: This is an honest question. Are you speeding up the audio because it makes the author/narrator less bored? Does that make audio consumption (and comprehension) of the content itself more palatable when the narrator is less than ideal? (I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't be speeding it up to the point of sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks, but I am unclear.)

>138 jillmwo: Technology has advanced so much that you can speed it up and the person's voice doesn't change. (I'm almost a little sad about this.) I've had to speed up a couple of narrators before. (I sped up Dr Fauci.) This particular professor just spoke a little too slowly for me. And no, it did not affect my comprehension or I wouldn't have continued doing it. I returned the playback to normal for my current listen.

too much coffee. And speed.

Shared as a gift from The Washington Post, so no pay wall. Here's another take on the great debate about rereading.

Rereading, with trepidation, the fiction I loved long ago https://wapo.st/4d6pWmg

>141 clamairy: I think that sums up the better re-reading experiences well.

>141 clamairy: Yes, so true of all of us in an initial reading encounter --> I had been a more unguarded, tolerant reader, allowing myself to be totally immersed

The Fall Of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien was a bit difficult for me until I learned to pace my reading a bit. I realized that extra spacing was there between the words on each line to help me know when to pause in the correct place. I really want someone who knows exactly what they're doing to read this to me, but it is not available as an audiobook sadly.

I only skimmed some of the extra material, but I do plan to go back and read the poem itself again. I did find this gem in the commentary, though. This is CS Lewis speaking of Geoffrey of Monmouth's ridiculous version of Arthurian legend, wherein Arthur conquers all of Europe and sacks the Roman Empire.

We cannot suspend our disbelief. We don’t even want to. The annals of senseless and monotonously successful aggression are dreary enough reading even when true; when blatantly, stupidly false, they are unendurable.

4½ stars from me.

I borrowed The God of the Woods by Liz Moore because it was one of Barrack Obama's favorite books this Summer. This one did not disappoint. It takes place at a Summer camp in the Adirondacks with the story jumping back and forth in time between the 1960s and the mid-1970s. It's told entirely from the perspective of females. It was a little slow to grab me, and I wasn't sure I liked having the point of view switch so often, but then I really got sucked in and I couldn't put it down. I will definitely be reading some of this author's previous books. I could relate to the campers being attacked by the Black flies, having spent a little time in the area myself back in the 1980s.

Good to hear about that one, I have it on my wishlist at audible. Not read any Liz Moore in the past so it will be new.

>146 Bookmarque: I wonder how easy it will be to keep track of which character you're following with the audio. I found my eyeballs straying back to the character name & date at the top of the page after ever switch in the POV. Just to be sure I had the right one.

Hm. Good point. The audio has a single narrator and so I guess I'll have to try it and see. Can always return it if it doesn't work out.

>148 Bookmarque: Hopefully it will be clear enough. The characters are VERY different, so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out which one you're following.

Ok, that's good to know. With the current trend to multi-narrators, I wonder the decision didn't go that way.

>144 clamairy: It helped me with the pacing that I had recently read some of his other poetry and learned about medieval poetry and alliteration.

>151 MrsLee: I actually think that having listened to The Song of Hiawatha recently help me with this. I was almost halfway through when I noticed the extra spaces between the words where the slight pauses belonged. That's why I plan to reread it.

>147 clamairy: maybe the narrator will do funny voices. I would.

>145 clamairy: This is on my wishlist. I'll have to prioritise it based on your review!

>153 MrAndrew: I would listen to that!

So looking back on it you do get a few very brief viewpoints from male characters. Just to correct my previous misstatement.

>154 Sakerfalcon: I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I'd do accents.

Ov course i em french. Vy du u think i 'ave theese outraaaaagous french eccent?

Fetchez la vache!

>156 MrAndrew: & >157 Bookmarque:

>158 clamairy: >156 MrAndrew:. >157 Bookmarque:. Silly English Kun-nigets. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time...

>159 jillmwo:, >157 Bookmarque: & >156 MrAndrew: Please, let us not forget about what species your mothers were, and what your fathers smelt of.

>160 clamairy: Run away!

Shared as a gift, so no paywall.

This time the readers of The NY Times chose their 100 favorite books of the 21st century. I've read 46, and bailed on at least 5 other titles. I don't agree with all of them, of course, but there are quite a few gems.

Readers Pick Their 100 Best Books of the 21st Century https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/reader-best-books-21st-century.ht...

After you click on the link don't click on the first link, but scroll down and look at the books that were picked by the readers.

>162 clamairy: Which five? Enquiring minds want to know.

>163 jillmwo: I bailed on these two because I was not enjoying them:
A Little Life
The Corrections

I bailed on this one because the foreshadowing implied one of my favorite characters was going to die, and I was not in the mood:
The Great Believers

And these three I bailed on because there was too much going on in my life at the time and I was not able to make much headway before they were due back via OverDrive:
Between the World and Me
All the Light We Cannot See
The Book Thief

I definitely plan to finish The Book Thief because I own a digital copy now, and I will be restarting All the Light We Cannot See at some point.

>164 clamairy:
I thought The Book Thief was great.

All the Light We Cannot See is on my TBR mountain after a recommendation from a work colleague.

>165 pgmcc: Yes, everyone I know who read it loved it, including my daughter. But I started it at a point when terrible things were happening in my life, and I needed much lighter stuff to read.

>166 clamairy:
It contains events from a bad time. The key thing for me was the fresh point of view it presented for less well off people in Germany. It was very refreshing. The dark things were really just there to set context.

>164 clamairy: I understand your choices. I do think I want to read All the Light We Cannot See eventually, particularly if what >167 pgmcc: says is true -- that the dark things were there to set context. But like you, I suspect one might need to steel oneself against the dark and one has to be in the right mood to do that.

My husband enjoyed The Book Thief but I'm not sure that I would.

>168 jillmwo:
I was talking about The Book Thief. I have not read All the Light We Cannot See.

>168 jillmwo: & >169 pgmcc: Yes, we were talking about the Zusak, but both books are set in the same era. (Not one I like to revisit often.)

>165 pgmcc: The Times thinks I've read too many free articles. :(

>171 Karlstar: Oh no!

>170 clamairy: I too thought The Book Thief was excellent. Another Zusak that is not quite as heavy is I Am the Messenger. An earlier work that I greatly enjoyed as well.

>173 ScoLgo: Thank you. I think I will add that to my Libby wishlist.

Yikes. There There by Tommy Orange was a very rough ride for me. I'm glad that I read it, but I do not feel comfortable recommending this one to many people. Or perhaps one could just read the introduction, which was heartbreaking enough, and then skip what comes after. This is about the struggles of multiple people in the Oakland area, some of whom are 100% Native American and some that are of mixed heritage. The POV switches constantly, and some of the teenage boys started to blend together for me.

His writing is lovely, it's the story that is so tough to face. But here are a couple of quick bits.

This was the sound of pain forgetting itself in song.

There’s a secret war on women going on in the world. Secret even to us. Secret even though we know it...

She handed me a laminated card from her purse the size of a playing card. It was that picture you see everywhere, the sad-Indian-on-a-horse silhouette, and on the other side it said Crazy Horse’s Prophecy. I read it: Upon suffering beyond suffering; the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of seven generations, when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again.

I need something much lighter in tone to read. I have already started The Riddle-Master of Hed, but if one of my OverDrive books pops up I might read that instead.

>175 clamairy: Is this your first reading of Riddle-Master?

>176 Karlstar: It is indeed.

>175 clamairy: The Riddle-Master series is so nice! Have a good read :)

There There sounds like a really rough one. I've heard of it, but haven't dared to approach.

Yeah, There, There was a DNF for me. I wanted to like it but it was too bleak, too hopeless, too repetitive, too many characters, too little connection or cohesion. I lost interest and gave up.

>178 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you! I am enjoying it so far.

>179 Bookmarque: I think if I had borrowed this from OverDrive I might have bailed, but I bought it when it was on sale for my 15th Thingiversary so I forced myself to keep going. I was glad I made it through, but I will definitely not be rereading this.

>175 clamairy: While in my view The Riddlemaster of Hed is not McKillip's best work, it's a more-than-decent read. Admittedly, I haven't revisited it in years so I'll be interested to hear your response to it.

>181 jillmwo: It is good enough so far that I kept reading it even after a new book (The Hypocrite*) popped up as an OverDrive read.

*I read two pages, saw the mediocre rating here on LT, and returned it to OverDrive. I'm pretty sure this one was recommended by the New York Times a couple of months ago.

>181 jillmwo: I think because it is a trilogy, McKillip gets a chance to delve deeper into both the places and the characters, for me it is my favorite. I know it isn't her only multi-book 'series', but I thought it was much better than the Cygnet duology.

>183 Karlstar:. For me, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has proven to be the most memorable. Although The Book of Atrix Wolf is right up there with Beasts!

>184 jillmwo: I enjoyed both of those, but I think I'd give the edge to Atrix Wolf. I also absolutely adored Od Magic and Winter Rose.

Oh! This looks good!



The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien

Shared as a gift, so no paywall.

How Tolkien and Lewis Re-enchanted a War-Weary World https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/27/books/review/john-hendrix-the-mythmakers-cs-l...

Oh, it's October 1st. Time for a new thread.

>186 clamairy: That does look good.