Diane's up all night reading

I am retired and I tend to stay up most of the night and sleep past noon.

So far in 2021 - I've read:

Coming soon. Working on html

The Divide by Alan Ayckbourn

How Quickly She Disappears

West with Giraffes

The Push

The Trials of Ezra Pound

2020

Reserved

Looking forward to the comments on your reading!

>5 avaland: thanks. Trying to get to it.

I'm surprised I've read 5 books already.
Let's work backwards.
The Trials of Ezra Pound by Timothy Findley

The last book was a play about Ezra Pound by Timothy Findley. I don't know if it's ever been staged. The stage directions would really lend a lot to the drama. There's no surprise. Pound was declared insane so he wasn't put to death as a traitor. He was anti-semetic, racist and misogynistic. I am a poet but did not study literature in school. So I am not familiar with his work. And I have no understanding of why his work was so important. This quote from the book seems to be what many people believe.

EZRA: The whole of 20th century English literature is mine. you didn’t know that, Muncie? Eliot, Joyce and Yeats: all mine. And Mauberly. The whole of 20th century literature—all—to say nothing of the past, which I've reclaimed...

MUNCIE: I had thought Hugh Selwyn Mauberley was a fiction, Mister Pound.

EZRA: And he is—he is. So, doesn’t that tell you about the rest of them!

When I was 19 I lived in a commune. One of the women there was from DC. Her mother was a nurse at St. Elizabeth's mental hospital where Ezra Pound resided.

Pound is a curiosity, an uncomfortable one, that I haven’t explored yet. I’m interested despite him, I guess.

Happy to see your thread here. I’ve really enjoyed your posts in the past. Also, nice start to your year.

>8 dchaikin: thank you. What a nice thing to say.

Proceeding in reverse order (as I go back, I will forget more than I remember).

The Push is an odd book. It kept me interested but I also kept me wondering what was really going on. First I thought the speaker was a crazy stalker. Then it seemed she was just a bad mother. Kept reading but kept thinking wasn't this supposed to be a "literary thriller?" Approaching the last page I decided there was nothing thrilling about it. Then wham! Right in the last paragraph it became clear. I really appreciated that because another book I read this year explained nothing at the end and left me with so many questions. I gave this 4 stars because of the ending.

>10 dianeham: I'm intrigued enough to add it to the wishlist.

>11 rhian_of_oz: I just read some other reviews of it here on lt. Seems many readers knew the ending from the beginning. I was convinced the speaker was an unreliable narrator so - keep that in mind.

I've decided The Queen's Lover is just too boring.
What next?

>13 dianeham: The Library Book by Susan Orlean.

>14 rhian_of_oz: i have it but haven't read it.

Last night I ended up reading Murakami's interviews: Collections of Haruki Murakami's interviews, Studies and Thoughts

I read 88% of the book. It's a collection of interviews with Murakami. It's very repetitive. They all ask the same questions and he basically gives the same answers although he does contradict himself. I am very fond of Murakami's books. I have found in the past when I read bios or memoirs of people I like, I am usually disappointed.

>15 dianeham: That's why I suggested it :-).

I need more visitors.

>17 dianeham: Some of the visitors are catching up with the very active Club Read this January ;) So they are very slow in switching between lurking and posting (and this one actually needs to go write a lot of reviews in her own thread as well). :)

>7 dianeham: This reminds me that I have a play about Pound on my shelves: "Pound" by Sean O'Leary (which apparently noone had added yet) - set in the hospital in 1958. Interesting notes - I may need to learn more about Pound.

>18 AnnieMod: thanks for stopping by. I may need to learn more about Pound too.

I finished the Murakami interview book. The last interview was with a German newspaper and it was about his book What I talk about when I talk about running. I enjoyed that interview.

>14 rhian_of_oz: I took your suggestion and am reading The Library Book

>20 dianeham: I look forward to reading what you think about it.

Another book I've read this month is West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. It's not the best written book but honestly I really liked it. It takes place during the depression and features some dust bowl issues. It's about transporting 2 giraffes - who arrived in New York on a boat from Africa during a hurricane - across the USA in a trailer attached to a truck. They are headed to the San Diego Zoo.

The book is based somewhat on real events. The story is kind of hokey. It's like watching a movie from the '30s. But it's a movie I enjoyed.

Hi, Diane! I have that Pound play by Findley, very much on my radar, only it takes me a while to gather strength for tackling Ezra (again). It's always unnerving to hear him described as seminal for modern literature in English, but (and alas?) it's more true than not.

Oh--I wanted to make sure you saw Rhian's link to the "dog story" so am depositing it in your thread too. :)

Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving

>23 LolaWalser: Lola, I may have seen the book in your library? I'm a huge Findley fan but just found out about this play and ordered it. And thanks for the link.

I just finished Palm Beach Taboo a who done it. Liked it better than I thought I would. There was a millionaire Mensa cult but they weren't very interesting. I liked the 2 detectives. It was #10 in a series but I haven't read any others in the series. Picked this because of the cult but it was a pretty lame cult.

Currently reading The Sun Collective. I find it very strange so far. The ways people perceive things and talk about them - it's like they're all on acid.

Has anyone here read The Sun Collective by Charles Baxter?

Hi Diane. I’m slowly catching up on people’s threads. I started later in January, and I am having trouble catching up. Anyway, I’ll be interested to see what you are reading and will pop in once in a while.

>28 NanaCC: thanks for stopping by!

Well The Sun Collective was terrible. I really should have stopped reading part way through but I wanted to see what was going to happen. Basically nothing happened.

On a happier note, I've read 8 books this month. Hope the next book I read is better.

>27 dianeham: I haven't read it, but I've got it on the e-galley virtual pile. Bad, huh? That's a shame—I really like Charles Baxter. I'll probably end up giving it a try anyway, just to see.

>30 lisapeet: I hadn't heard of him before. Yea, really bad.

Last night I started They Threw Us Away by Daniel Kraus. It's a children's book - first in a series The Teddies Saga.

Now I'm reading Heidi

I wish I could find somewhere to get a vaccine.

Finished Heidi.

Heidi was a favorite when I was a kid. I read it several times.

Just started The year of the Witching so far I really like it.

Hi Diane, finally getting over here to see what you are reading. We have a shelf with 6? 8? or so of Murakami's book yet untouched. I picked them up when I was reading quite a lot of magical realism, but alas, my reading has changed over the years.

I'm so behind everyone's threads. When I get close to catching up, I skip a few days and then find I'm hopelessly behind again.

I keep thinking I've read some Murakami but actually I haven't. I'll maybe get to him this year - I find Japanese fiction appealing (although in small doses - it can be quite dark).

>39 AlisonY:. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a very entertaining Japanese fiction with time travel.

>38 avaland: I never liked South American magical realism. Makes me think of snakes.

It's snowing here. First time in 2 years. I made cinnamon muffins and going to make chicken and dumplings now. We have a german shepherd who we adopted a year and a half ago. Since it didn't snow here last year, this is the first time we've seen him in the snow.he's 4 1/2.

The Year of the Witching. What to say? Something I saw called this a horror book. I assumed it was fantasy but I don't read fantasy so I m not sure what qualifies. It takes place in an ancient City/kingdom ruled by a male prophet who is the head of a woman hating/torturing church. The city is surrounded by woods and in the woods are spirits of 4 powerful witches. Beyond the woods live real live practicing witches. There is a young woman in the city who has witch blood in her and her witchiness is awakened. Her witchiness comes with a feminist awareness of the fact that the church is built on the bodies of women.

The book is entertaining and held my attention. There is a sequel The Dawn of the Coven The book is well done but there was nothing in the whole picture that grabbed me. Maybe the arc continues in the next book. 3 1/2 stars

The True Deceiver the book is well written but I didn't care for it. I wanted there to be more there. I wanted there to be a point. And I think I need a character in a book who I can empathize with. The dog! The whole thing with the dog upset me.

3 stars.

I started Long Bright River last night. It starts out in Philadelphia which is where I am from.

I really need to find books that talk to me.

>41 dianeham: Diane, I have news for you. By your description, this is certainly fantasy, and that makes you a fantasy reader. I read a lot of it, but that's because there is so much of it that is good. I really do enjoy it.

I'm looking forward to reading more of your comments.

>42 dianeham: Thanks Sally. I guess I'm a fantasy book reader. I read one last year too. Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford. It's a very hard book to describe but it's really good.

>44 sallypursell: >45 dianeham:

Labels, labels :) It is probably best described as dark fantasy which gets categorized as horror often enough... or somewhere in the intersection between these two speculative genres :) As long as one likes it, genres are kinda secondary anyway. Follow Me to Ground is pretty much in the same corner. :)

>46 AnnieMod: thanks. I'll have to be on the lookout for dark fantasy. I was more aware of genres when I was still working.

I started reading Blindness but really couldn’t stand it so I stopped, deleted it and got my money back.

>48 dianeham: What didn't you like about it, Diane?

>49 sallypursell: It was really depressing and just one awful thing after another. I got to the part where one gang was keeping all the food. I was getting bored.

>50 dianeham: Oh, I see. Given that, I'm not too attracted to it. Thanks for taking a hit for the team.

>48 dianeham:

Had the same reaction. I was also bored by his travel books. But I have to give him one last chance with The death of Ricardo Reis because I love Pessoa.

>51 sallypursell: I assumed everyone had read it and live it and I was the cheese standing alone! :)

>52 LolaWalser: thanks, glad I'm not alone.

I have an appointment to get my vaccine tomorrow. It's at a community center next to the ocean about 20 miles north of here. My husband isn't allowed to go in with me so now I have this image of them leading me out the back door and putting me in a white truck.

Got my shot and visited the ocean.

>55 dianeham: A banner day! I don't even have an appointment yet. I understand my state is behind the curve on supply.

>56 sallypursell: Hope you get one soon. My husband hasn't gotten one yet.

Side effects kicking in - every joint in my body hurts.

Reading an interesting book Girl A about a bunch (5 or 6, not sure) of siblings who were horribly abused when they were kids. So far it is much better than I expected.

Girl A by Abigail Dean was excellent. I was so afraid it was going to detail the child abuse that took place but it was subtle. The effects were well stated. The book is narrated by the oldest girl and covers 3 time periods. Her adult life, the time when she escaped and saved her siblings and her childhood. The ending is ambiguous which I shouldn't mind because I usually think endings should be. But I was so attached to the narrator that I needed closure. I gave this 4 stars but may change to 4 1/2.

>60 dianeham: interesting about Girl A

Also interesting about Blindness. I haven’t read it, but the one Saramago novel i have read, Cain, I happened to find painfully boring. I assumed it was me.

>61 dchaikin: Thanks for stopping by.

I'm reading Ammonite now.

Considering Planetfall. Any thoughts on it?

>48 dianeham: Shame - I loved Blindness, but I remember when I reviewed it on CR that it had definite love it or loathe it reactions. It was one of my standout reads of 2020.

>62 dianeham: Planetfall has nice world building and decent characters work but the story felt flawed. I just realized I never add a review when I read it so just moved some of my notes into a short review.

I finished Ammonite and turns out I read it 9 years ago - according to Goodreads. Gave it 3 stars then same now. Strange it didn't seem familiar.

Reading the sample of The City Not Long After. I haven't decided if I reading the book yet.

I rejected The City Not Long After sample. Now I'm trying out Permafrost

Permafrost was a waste. It was a really short book. People were time traveling by taking over the bodies of people in the past.

Last night I started reading The Man Who Saw Everything

I lost this book somewhere in my bedroom.

>67 dianeham: Well, Permafrost is a novella... I liked it when I read it a few years ago but novellas and novels tend to have different dynamics so if you start reading expecting a novel, it may not work as well.

>didn't realize that. It was very short. Thanks.

Right now I'm reading Sand. It's not as good as Wool but it's holding my attention. I also started Tea with the Black Dragon. Both of these books were in my kindle collection for ages so guess they were part of a virtual tbr pile. I also started The Man Who Saw Everything and can't recall why I set it aside.

Happy Valentine's day!

>67 dianeham: (>71 dianeham:) The Man Who Saw Everything is decent the first time...but I really encourage you to immediately re-read it when you finish. (fortunately it's not that long). It becomes a completely different book once it clicks what she is doing. But I think you almost certainly have to re-read to get it (at least on audio I had to listen twice. And, I'll add, it wasn't difficult for me to catch the second time.) Hope you enjoy. It was one of my favorites last year.

>72 dchaikin: thanks. That's encouraging.

I finished Sand and like it better the more I read. Still reading Tea with the Black Dragon

Hi Diane, I saw your note on the "What are you reading?" thread. I could not remember who had mentioned the book. My review is on the book's page, but my beef was with the 'perfection' of the family relationships, but I did have theory why that was done.

>74 avaland: The Boy in the Field? Thanks.

Second time now that I picked a book on kindle that I bought and wasn't marked read. And it is on my goodreads as having been read. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang I don't remember anything about it. I'm really liking it but only gave it 3 stars in 2013.

>76 dianeham: Diane, I love that book.

>77 sallypursell: Sally, you and I have many books in common.

>78 dianeham: I have no difficulty believing that, but I have thousands of fiction books and several hundred non-fiction which are not catalogued. I decided to catalogue as I read. Doing all the older ones seems overwhelming.

Just realized that I read A High Wind in Jamaica and gave it 4 stars. Seems I don't remember many books that I read in 2012 & 2013.

So where was I? I finished and loved Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang. Seems I read it 8 years ago and didn't like it as much then. But I have no memory of it.

I read and hated The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You. I thought it was really creepy.

Still reading Tea with the Black Dragon. I like the book but can't read it for very long at a time, not sure why.

I started Half the Day Is Night on a kindle sample. Instead of buying the kindle book I ordered a use paperback because it was cheaper.

Still intending to finish The Library Book. I bought Rin Tin Tin also by Susan Orlean for my husband.

I finished Tea with the Black Dragon. It was good but it's a little dated. It suffers from Orientalism although it borders on fantasy in it's depiction of a Chinese man who is the black dragon of the title.

I am currently reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store and enjoying it.

Read The Wall Around Eden. It was okay. It held my attention but was a bit insubstantial. Seemed like a YA book to me.

If you stop by, could you leave a comment. I'm a little lonely.

I've had nothing to say but I am around :)

>84 dianeham: Some of the 1980s genre fiction which is on the soft side does feel like where YA developed these days so I am not surprised. Had not read that one personally but a lot of them can have that feeling so would not be surprised. And it depends on where the lines are drawn - they keep shifting...

>86 AnnieMod: Thanks Annie. Been a little down - no reason really.

Post apocalypse seems to be a YA standard.

>87 dianeham: Well, it is the middle of winter - everyone will be a little down. Hugs from the other side of the country :)

>88 AnnieMod: hugs back. Thanks.

>85 dianeham: I've been by several times, Diane. I wouldn't be surprised if you are a little down. We are all tired of the CoVid isolation, and how much more difficult life is a present. Read some Terry Pratchett, P. G. Wodehouse, or Carl Hiaasen. It would help.

>90 sallypursell: thanks Sally. I just saw Hiaasen mentioned somewhere. Was that you? Something funny, huh?

Do you like mysteries? Anthony Horowitz writes some that are fun. Magpie Murders is the first in a series. It only has two books so far. The Word is Murder is the first in another series he is writing that also has two books so far. Both are fun.

>92 NanaCC: Hi! I read Magpie Murders. I'll look for the other. Thanks.

>93 dianeham: I’m on a waiting list at the library for Moonflower Murders, the follow up to Magpie. I’m 19th in line.

>94 NanaCC: To get a library book here they call you when your hold comes up. Then you have to call them and make an appointment to pick up your book. At the appointment time they've left your book outside on a table and you pick it up. Not sure how they do the actual check out. Just annoying to have to be there at a specific time. And it's cold out.

They have it on ebook and I put in a hold and I'm the only one on the hold list. There are no holds on the hardback either.

>95 dianeham: This sounds awfully complicated :(

<91 Hiaasen is super funny. You might start near the beginning to get all the character arcs.

>91 dianeham: You might also try Burglars Can't Be Choosers by Lawrence Block It's fun. But be warned, the protagonist does break the law.

>97 AnnieMod: tell me about it!

>98 sallypursell: character arc - it's a series?

>99 sallypursell: I love Lawrence Block! I don't think I've read his burglar series just the Scudder ones.

I was so excited to see three comments in here. You cheered me up.

I just learned what "funeral potatoes" are.

I finished Black Widows which was about 3 wives in a plural marriage who are all suspected of killing their husband. Can't say much good about it although it did hold my attention.

I just started The Unit. I don't know why I'd never heard about this book before. I also have Burglars Can't Be Choosers and Double Whammy lined up for near future reading.

More rain expected this weekend and I'm feeling it in my bones.

>81 dianeham: I have read a lot of Kate Wilhelm, much of it in the 80s when my kiddos were small, and I was reading a lot of skinny SF books. I also have read all of Maureen McHugh; she was a favorite for a time. I think I just sent my extra copy of her short story collection Mothers and Other Monsters to someone.... (oh, dear, I see she has a relatively recent collection I haven't read. ack! too many books!)

I also enjoyed The Unit. I gave it 4 stars, Before the pandemic, I was for years and years attracted to dystopias. Hope you like it.

I don't know if I can keep reading The Unit. I hate when she remembers her dog. It really disturbs me.

I finished The Unit. What a disturbing book. I'm a bit speechless.

I preordered Klara and the Sun and was delighted to see that it was downloaded to my reader at midnight.

I saw on the 'What are you reading now?' thread (at least I think it was there) that you were reading The Unit so I came to see what you thought of it. I found it disturbing too, but for me that just added to the effect. I really liked it (though like avaland I'm a sucker for a good bit of dystopia (maybe less so at the moment!))

>107 rachbxl:. I keep thinking about over-population and I never felt like having children was any kind of obligation.

Here's what I wrote as soon as I finished The Unit :
This was very difficult to read. I found it very disturbing. But I thought it was well done. I liked the people in the book but don't understand why they so meekly accept their fate. Not sure this is correct but I chalk it up to the fact that they are Swedish. From other books I've read I get the impression that in Sweden people live with a lot of interference in their lives and are meant to feel that there is a correct way to act.

I'm not familiar with that book but this

I liked the people in the book but don't understand why they so meekly accept their fate.

caught my attention because it was a major problem I had with his Never let me go. (And since that rendered the people impossible to me, it ruined the whole point of the book.)

>100 dianeham: It's not really a series, but some of the characters show up again and again, and it's less rich, although still fun, if you don't know their histories. Double whammy is a good choice, because Skink is my favorite character to follow.

>109 LolaWalser: That was my biggest problem with A Handmaid's Tale. The book I was referring to isn't by Kazuo Ishiguro.

>110 sallypursell:. Thanks

I finished Klara and the Sun. I really like it but can't find anything to say about it just yet. Here is an excellent article about it from the New Yorker.

SPOILER WARNING - this article contains spoilers!
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/08/kazuo-ishiguro-uses-artificial-int...

>111 dianeham:

Oops, sorry I mixed up the references. But yeah, that sort of thing is annoying wherever. Too passive people, I mean.

>113 LolaWalser: for some reason it didn't bother me in Never Let Me Go.

It's hard to tell what one will trip over, or not. He writes so beautifully and I was utterly caught up in the atmosphere but the longer it went on the less credible the setup and the characters were to me. It's been a long time since I read it, although I do remember how angry I felt at the end. :)

My 2nd vaccine appointment is in the morning at 11am. I usually stay up unti around 4 an sometimes later. Instead of trying to get 4 or 5 hours sleep I 've decided to stay up and sleep after the shot.

So in my sleep deprived state I ordered a brand new super duper ipad. The one I have now randomly shuts down regardless of the battery charge.

I started reading a sample of The Family.

NYT review of Klara and the Sun
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/books/review/klara-and-the-sun-kazuo-ishiguro...

Got my 2nd shot yesterday. Slept 24 hours and have a fever.

My sides effects from 2nd vaccine are awful.

Fever up to 101

I hope you're feeling better. I hear that the shot makes people want to sleep for 24 hours afterward. I wouldn't know because up here in my corner of Canada I don't expect to get vaccinated until 2025 or 2027 or something. (I'm happy for you that you could get the shot, even if it made you feel terrible)

>121 Nickelini: hope you get it sooner rather than later. Feeling better today, fever coming down.

Been having stranger than usual dream since the 2nd vaccine shot. Last dream - I was in a mansion. There had been some kind of mass accident type event, lots of people injured but I don't know how. One of the adult daughters of the mansion family was hurt so I was setting up a computer for her that would be easy to use. Seems I was doing other stuff for her too. Like gathering items for her to use and making access to them easy. Eventually it seemed I had to move a lot of stuff from one place to another and pack things in boxes (This is a recurring dream theme of mine).

There was a man who wanted me to look up his library account but didn't want anyone else to see it. He was sitting behind a large desk and I was sitting on the other side. I was trying to find out his name. He said it was Jewish (don't remember the exact name something like Kleverberg). I thought the first part sounded Irish. I said I guess it begins with a K since you’re Jewish. He said the name had Celtic roots. He didn't like having Celtic roots and wasn't proud of it. At that point I started making a little mess on his desk. I spilled like 2 drops of orange soda and he started getting very upset. I said it's easily cleaned up but I kept dropping other things and making it messier and he got more and more upset.

Then lots of people who had come to pay respects to the mansion family were leaving and taking dishes they had brought food in. I saw a couple take 2 dishes and was sure one wasn't theirs. I wanted to show the girl the computer but was told I couldn't. Someone said to look out the window and there were all these injured people out there and rescuers. There were men who had exposed spines crawling along the street. They didn't seem to know they were hurt. They were talking and crawling and a man told them to stop because they would hurt themselves more.

I was trying to pack things up but people kept interfering with me. One was an elder drunken aunt of the injured woman and I got short with her. Then when I turned more lights on a group of women insisted they needed the light off.

Lol that’s quite the dream!

>124 Nickelini: I was reading a book about Leonard Cohen and Hallelujah before I went to sleep.

I've always remembered my dreams but they fade if I don't recall them. Maybe I will record some here if no one minds.

It's your thread - you can write whatever you want. I had an amazing dream on Friday night where I was having the best time traveling through France, and then last night I had another wonderful dream of traveling in Italy. Can you tell what's on my mind?

>126 Nickelini: That's great!

>125 dianeham: What book about Leonard Cohen?

>128 sallypursell:. The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" Sorry, I put in what are you reading and forgot to put it here.

The Cohen book gave me bad dreams last night.

Remind me never to read a book about one song ever again. Gets a little obsessive for me.

Finished The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah". It’s an excellent book.

Some excerpts:
But night after night, Cohen never betrayed the complexities of “Hallelujah.” It’s as if these performances were a culmination of all the years and all the interpretations of the song—like he absorbed all of these elements, and emerged with a comprehensive and unassailable version.

A venerated creator. An adored, tragic interpreter. An uncomplicated, memorable melody. Ambiguous, evocative words. Faith and uncertainty. Pain and pleasure. A song based in Old Testament language that a teen idol can sing. An erotically charged lyric fit for a Yom Kippur choir or a Christmas collection. Cold. Broken. Holy.

“There is a religious hallelujah, but there are many other ones,” Leonard Cohen once said. “When one looks at the world, there’s only one thing to say, and it’s hallelujah. That’s the way it is.”

I finished Machines Like Me. It was okay but there was just so much going on in that book.

“When one looks at the world, there’s only one thing to say, and it’s hallelujah. That’s the way it is.”

I like this a lot.

Woke up with pain in my left foot and I think it might be gout. I’ve never had it before but think I got it now.

>133 dianeham: I have that one and really ought to get around to reading it sometime soonish. I love Leonard Cohen, and I don't care how over-covered it is, "Hallelujah" is a powerful and amazing song.

Just started reading Honeymoon

Haven’t been reading much this week. Escaping into farmville. I’m so tired of the news and the world in general.

>133 dianeham: I love the song Hallelujah. Jeff Buckley's unexpected death was so sad - such a talent. Does the book suggest whether his death was an accidental drowning or not?

>141 AlisonY: Yes, it says it was an accidental drowning.

Started The Glass Cell tonight.

Strange dream last night. Part 1 had to do with traveling through some kind of time portal. There was some impending disaster but we survived because of the portal. Part 2 after returning via the portal I had a doctors appointment. When it was my turn, i went into her office but the doctor wasn’t there. I had to talk to her on her office phone. While I was talking to her, a German shepherd appeared. Then I lost the phone connection and couldn’t call her back. I told another patient that the doctor wasn’t there. And I didn’t know how she was going to help the boy in the waiting room because she was a gynecologist.

>143 dianeham: Yikes, that is bleak.

Stopping by while catching up, since I was away from home for a week with my new baby grandson.

>146 sallypursell: It is bleak but I love Highsmith. Thanks for stopping by.

Anyone know of a book about Patrick Modiano? In english

Wednesday morning I woke myself up screaming from a nightmare. Been tired all day. Hope tonight’s dreams are better.

I’m reading an Irish novel from 1893. And a Swiss novel from 1952.

If you stop by here, wave.

Now you made me curious - which Irish novel?

Hope you have better dreams tonight :)

I'm interested in Swiss literature. What are you reading?

>150 AnnieMod: Hi Annie, Through Connemara in a governess cart. Thanks for for the dream wishes.

>151 Nickelini: I’m Not Stiller

*waving*

>153 LolaWalser: *waving back *

From Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss

From New Collected Poems by Wendell Berry

A poem a day for poetry month.

Enchanting; please keep going. :)

>158 LolaWalser: thanks, I will.

I finished Through Connemarra in a Governess Cart. It was charming. It was nonfiction by 2 women who are cousins. I’m going to look for some more by them.

I think I’m going to give up on I’m Not Stiller. Has anyone here read it?

Sunday bonus - 2 short poems.

Anybody like the poems?

Just started First Person Singular: Stories by Murakami. I started some others recently The Man in the Queue and Dora Bruder

Yes, enjoying the poems. Great idea.

I just noticed from your first post that when you've named your post that's because you're literally up all night reading. Oh my - I'd feel all wonky donkey if I stayed up through the night, even if I caught up on my sleep in the morning. Is there a story behind how you've ended up nocturnal?

>165 AlisonY: I’m retired and stay up most of the night. I think it actually started when I was in high school. When everyone else was in bed, it was quiet and I had the house to myself.

By May Swenson

I ordered a new kindle yesterday. I’ve been using the kindle app on my ipad but now i’ll be able to take the kindle outside to read and not have to worry about the charge or getting it wet.

I just hugged my 42 year old step son for the first time in over a year. Funny thing was our giant german shepherd was trying to separate us by using his nose to nudge me.

Think I mentioned that I am reading new book by Jeff VanderMeer

Need to post a poem today.

This is one of my favorite poems. I always use this poem when I do poetry workshops. To me it’s a perfect example of using life experience in poetry. It’s very powerful.

>170 dianeham: Aren't those hugs great?!?! I’ll be so happy when all of my children and grandchildren have been vaccinated. I won’t be hugging anyone else, but those are the ones that mean the most to me.

>172 NanaCC: hope that happens soon for you.

Anyone liking the poems?

Me waving....

>177 NanaCC: waving back

Looks like I skipped a day. Here’s 2 short ones today.

Love both of these!

>174 dianeham:

(((Issa)))

I don't like reading poetry, Diane, and I have never found out why. Strangely, though, I write it occasionally. Isn't that odd?

(Waving)

>183 sallypursell: yes, strange. Sorry to hear that.

>184 dianeham: Oh, I have read all the ones you posted! I enjoyed some phrases.

>185 sallypursell: Oh, thank you! From the time I was a child I wanted to be a poet. So I’m rather fond of it.

I wrote this one...

>187 dianeham: Bravo! Enjoyed that.

>187 dianeham: I wanted to use those clapping hand emojis, but I’m not sure they work here. Well done!

>188 AlisonY:. Thank you so much
>189 NanaCC: you’re sweet.

Means so much to get some response. I would have felt bad putting that out there to silence.

Another written by me...

Good stuff, Diane!

>192 sallypursell: You read it! Thank you.

>191 dianeham: I’m an English major who doesn’t much like poetry but I think this is terrific

>191 dianeham: Well done, again. :-)

>194 Nickelini: thank you, thank you!
>195 NanaCC: merci!

A favorite of mine by me...

Happy birthday +1! Thank you for sharing your lovely poems with us.

Happy birthday! Enjoy.

>200 LolaWalser: I put that up before midnight. It’s today. And thanks.

>201 NanaCC: thank you.

I don’t know why but I’ve been listening to jazz all the time lately - specifically beebop. So today I picked a jazz poem. I got this book last week and I highly recommend it. African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song It’s over 1100 pages.

Starting a new page...