EllaTim's Reading in 2023

Hi Everybody. I'm Ella, living in Amsterdam, with Marc.
We have an allotment garden together. Love to go out in nature.
I'm the reader, he's the movie lover. We like listening to music together.

I read all kinds of everything, but I love fantasy.

Here's to a good new year for everybody, and welcome to any visitors!

New Years Resolutions:
- work on improving health
- spend time with family
- get to be a better cook!

The image is the cover of Het Lied van de Spreeuw, just out, and on my TBR! The bird is a starling, and there are masses and masses of them in our backgarden, ever evening, at the moment. It’s wonderful, they’re such lively birds, chatting away till late in the evening.

Reading list for 2023:

January
1. De Mooie Voedselmachine by Giulia Enders ****1/2
2. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (UK, historical fiction) ****1/2
3. De Goudsmit en de Meesterdief
or Verhalen van de Tweelingbroers by Tonke Dragt (dutch, audio and ebook) ***1/2
4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (USA) ****
5. The Little House in the big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (USA) ****
6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (USA) SF ****1/2
7. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (USA, fantasy) ****

February
8. Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien (UK) ***1/2
9. Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten (Sweden) ***
10. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (USA) ****1/2
11. Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker (Fr, UK)***1/2

April
12. ‘t Hooge Nest by Roxane van Iperen (dutch, historical) ****
13. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (sf) **
14. The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis (UK) ****
15. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (UK, SF) ****1/2

May
16. De Liefde van Jabba by Catalijn Claes (Dutch) ***
17. To serve them all my days by R.F. Delderfield (UK) ***1/2
18. Long Bright River by Liz Moore (USA) ****1/2

June
19. Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher (fantasy, USA) ***
20. In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (UK) ***
21. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (UK)***1/2

July
22. All the Light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr (USA) ****1/2
23. Het Geheim van de Klokkenmaker by Tonke Dragt (Dutch, children) ***1/2
24. Doorzakken bij Jamin by Hanneke Groenteman (Dutch, ***1/2)
25. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (USA) ****1/2
26. Bitter Herbs by Marga Minco, read by the author (Dutch) *****
27. Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett (UK) ***1/2

August
28. Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper (USA) ***1/2
29. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (USA) ****1/2
30. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (UK) ***1/2 (reread)
31. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (UK) **** (reread)
32. Haar Naam was Sarah by Tatiana de Rosnay (Fr) ***
33. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (USA) ****
34. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (USA) ****

September
35. Knielen op een bed violen by Jan Siebelink (dutch)****1/2
36. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt (USA) ****1/2
37. Mensen zonder Geld (Dutch) by Jan Mens ****
38. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith ***1/2
39. Illuminations by T. Kingfisher (USA, fantasy) ****
40. Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult (USA) ***

Oktober
41. Reizen zonder John by Geert Mak (dutch) ****
42. Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls (USA) ***1/2
43. Salt Houses by Hala Alyan (Palestine)****
44. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (UK) ****
45. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (USA)***
46. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Ireland) *****

November
47. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread)
48. De Camino by Anya Niewierra (dutch, audio) ****
49. Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon (It/USA) ****

Group reads I want to take part in:

The Bac:
- January, Rosemary Sutcliff: The Eagle of the Ninth

The AAC:
- January, a book for children: Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House in the Big Woods

The Nonfiction Challenge, January Prizewinners and Nominees. https://www.librarything.com/topic/347191
Found two prizewinners I would like to read:
Wolven op het Ruiterpad by Tijs Goldschmidt
And The Gene by Siddharta Mukherjee

And two nominees for the wishlist:
Het Lied van de Spreeuw by Octavie Wolters
Nu ga ik er eens op uit nature diaries by Jac. P. Thijsse

Series I'm reading:
Bruno Courrèges by Martin Walker
Bruno, Chief of Police
The Dark Vineyard
Black Diamond
The Crowded Grave
Bruno and the Carol Singers
The Devil's Cave
The Resistance Man
A Market Tale
Death Undercover
The Dying Season
Fatal Pursuit
The Templars' Last Secret
The Chocolate War
A Taste for Vengeance
The Body in the Castle Well
Oystercatcher
The Shooting at Château Rock
A Birthday Lunch
The Coldest Case
To Kill a Troubadour
A Château Under Siege

Top books of 2022:
***** stars:
De Herinnerde Soldaat by Anjet Daanje ( dutch, 2019, 538 pp) *****
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield (UK) *****
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison ***** (reread)

****1/2 stars:
Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold (fantasy, USA, novella) ****1/2
De Schilder en het Meisje by Margriet de Moor (Dutch) ****1/2
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (UK) ****1/2

Happy find:
The Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon!

Come in, thread is open!

Hi Ella! Nice to see you’ve made it over here.

Happy new thread, Ella, and happy new year!

>6 PawsforThought: Hi Paws! I'll be visiting you soon.

>7 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley! And happy new year to you too.

Hi Ella my dear, i am just dropping my star off once again and look forward to my visits here my dear friend.

Happy New Year

>9 johnsimpson: Hi John. I’m looking forward to your visits! Happy new year, for you and Karen, and everybody!

Welcome back!

Wishing you a comfortable reading year in 2023, Ellen.

Best wishes always to you and Marc. I hope you get well soon xx

Happy New Year, Ella!

Happy new year! Happy new thread! Looking forward to following your reading journey.

Happy New Year, Ella! We are closing out another wonderful year of books and banter and I am looking forward to sharing another with you.

Happy new year, Ella!

>12 drneutron: Hi Jim! And thanks!
>13 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, getting there, and thank you.
>14 figsfromthistle: The same to you, Anita!
>15 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! Nice to see you here.
>16 msf59: Hi Marc. It’s always fun to follow you and Jackson and the birds;-)
>17 DianaNL: Thank you, Diana!

I’m still tired, from Covid and everything. But I am going to try and visit your threads, one by one….

1. De Mooie Voedselmachine by Giulia Enders ****1/2



Interesting non-fiction about the working of the gut. About our gut bacteria, what they do for us.

Written in a light and popular style, helping the reader digest all this new information. One problem I had with the book: Sometimes the writing style made it hard to understand, could be a translation problem.

I would like to read something more on the subject.

Hi Ella! I have you starred.

Enjoy your 2023 reads!

>20 kgodey: Hi Kriti! >21 thornton37814: Hi Liz! Thanks!

Happy New Year, Ella!

>23 ronincats: Hi Roni! Thanks, still looking for everyone’s threads, but I will find yours.

>24 Berly: Hi Kim, and thanks.

I’m making pea soup, in the slowcooker. Weather is good for it, rainy, dark, yuck. Later in the day it might stop raining and we’re going for a visit to the allotment, feed the birds. Have a look around.

Dropping in to say hello and see what the new year holds for you!

>26 ursula: Hi Ursula! Lets hope for lots of good things!

I watched an interview with Jane Goodall on Dutch TV. What a strong person she is, still busy, giving lectures, being active around the world. She says her mission is spreading hope. And if all of us do something positive, anything, we’ll find ourselves going foreward.

Jane Goodall is one of my heroes, Ella. I have had the pleasure of seeing her speak in person 3 times, here in Toronto, over the years. I have read several of her books and watched a few of the films made about her life. She is truly an inspiration. She must be around 90 now, as I think she was born in 1933, same year as my mum.

>28 jessibud2: Ah, lucky you! Must have been so worth while. I am going to look for her books. This interview featured some parts of her films, and also of other films she wanted to show. Even a short clip of Churchill, during WWII. A difficult time that taught her a lot, she said.
I recognized a lot of what she told. My mum was born in 1926. Lots of similarities, the importance of books, how frugal people had to be, and how resilient.
Does your mum have similar stories?

Ella, I very much like your name. I am glad I found your thread. I will star it and visit often. All good wishes for a wonderful new year!!!

>30 Whisper1: Hi Linda! Nice to see you here. As for the visiting, visit as often as you feel like. I have to do the same, still feeling tired.

Happy New Year and Happy New Thread, Ella!

>32 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! A Happy New Year to you too!

Happy New Year, Ella! Dropping a star.

I love your inspiration by Jane Goodall to do something positive.

I also enjoyed your review >19 EllaTim: of your first book for the year. " helping the reader digest all this new information" definitely made me smile!

>34 streamsong: Hi Janet. Nice to see you, and glad I made you smile. I’m still looking for that positive contribution, feel like the only thing I can do lately is gripe.

Happy new year, Ella. Just dropping my star. I am looking forward to seeing what you are reading.

>36 sirfurboy: Hi Stephen! How are you doing? Looking up your thread.

2. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (UK, historical fiction) ****1/2



Marcus, a young centurion, serving Rome in England near the border with Scotland gets badly wounded in a fight. He’s released from duty, and has to find his place in life anew.
He moves to his uncle’s place, makes friends. But no new goal until there is news that the eagle of his father’s old company has been sighted. Than he starts the adventure to try and find it in the north and return it, together with his friend Esca.

Rosemary Sutcliff writes really well, with imagination and feeling. She had me rooting for young Marcus, and holding my breath in the second part of the book. It’s and adventure story, but the story of Marcus and what he can and will make of his life balances it out in a very satisfying way.

>38 EllaTim: That one is a classic. Glad you enjoyed it.

3. De Goudsmit en de Meesterdief
or Verhalen van de Tweelingbroers by Tonke Dragt (dutch, audio and ebook) ***1/2



The two brother Jiacomo and Laurenzo are identical twins: they look the same, but they are different in character. Laurenzo becomes a goldsmith, Jiacomo a masterthief, though he really is too honest for that profession. They have a number of adventures, each a short story. A nice read. Clearly a book for children, ten years of age?

I don't understand why the title of the book was changed, it's rather confusing.

Hope all is well, Ella.

Wishing you a great Sunday.

>40 EllaTim: Oh yes, the old title is much clearer. Looks like a fun book by a great writer. And an ebook too... I shall grab the sample.

<41 Hi Paul! I’m feeling tired, but apart from that all is well.

>42 sirfurboy: Hi Stephen! Can you find it? Reba tells us she wants to read in Dutch, but she can’t get the books from USA.

4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (USA) ****



Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with -- of all things -- her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ('combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride') proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo. Meet the unconventional, uncompromising Elizabeth Zott.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s funny, a bit over the top, but it pulled me in. Bonne Garmus has a good writing style, and she made me feel for her subjects. I felt myself warming up to Elizabeth and her awkward lover Calvin. And you’d think this book is outdated, but it’s message is still a good one.

Now I can’t remember where I got the book bullet, but I saw favourable mentions on several theads in this group.

>44 EllaTim: Glad you liked that one. I read it last month and really enjoyed it.

>45 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! So maybe I should thank you for finding it? I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for visiting. I’m really tired, I do visit threads, but somehow find myself too tired to do much commenting. Sorry people.

Happy reading in 2023, Ella!

>44 EllaTim: I can say that this BB hit me by you...
I have the book on reservation at my public library, it should be available next month.
All the best for you and your health.

>43 EllaTim: So I found both English and Dutch versions on Amazon.co.uk, but the Dutch version under the title "De Goudsmit en de Meesterdief". It is also available under that title on BOL.com, which is not a problem for an ebook sale. Annoying if American Amazon doesn't have it - but try searching under that version of the title.

>49 sirfurboy: De Goudsmit en de Meesterdief is the title of my ebook, from the library. So you can find dutch books in the English Amazon site? I’m amazed!

I know I'm late to the 2023 party, but I'm trying to get around to everyone's threads as soon as possible, which isn't always soon as I'd like. Anyway, long way of saying Happy New Year and wishes for a great reading year ahead!

>44 EllaTim: Well, I hope I remember I got this BB from you! Although I do remember seeing it mentioned on other threads. It does sound like fun!

>51 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! Not too late for me! A happy new year to you as well. I’m late to everyone’s threads as well.

>44 EllaTim: I thought it was fun, but I saw some other reactions as well, as there’s a lot of misogyny in it.

I’m participating in the reorganizing group, that Roni started up. A very good idea! I need to clean up, clear out. I have accumulated too much stuff.And then my apartment was renovated, and I had to move out for three months. That meant two moves in three months! And the layout of the apartment was changed. It has a better insulation, meaning space was lost. And everything is in a different place. I now have a space problem, I can’t find my stuff, and I really really have to clean out and reorganize! Most dreaded: paper accumulation!
Today I did one small drawer of a small cupboard, containing all kinds of cables (TV, audio, mobile phone, iPad). Small bicycle lamps. A dongle bought in Scotland(can’t be used here). You get the picture. Threw some of it out, tested the lamps (still working), folded the cables. And put most of it back. Anyway, that’s how it goes, and at least I know that the cable I needed is not in there.

>52 EllaTim: >44 EllaTim: There is apparently a lot of real life misogyny (and misogynoir) in scientific academia, and I imagine it goes on in scientific workplaces too. In 2021, I read The Disordered Cosmos, a book by a Black woman astrophysicist, and her experience in that milieu was horrific. (It was a 5-star read for me.) And, over the past couple of centuries, the work of so many women scientists and chemists was completely ignored by scientific academies and societies, including the Nobel Institute, or they saw their discoveries and breakthrough work claimed by males. Infuriating.

>53 EllaTim: Good luck!

>53 EllaTim: It is indeed a good idea, but I would be a tad hypocritical joining in, surrounded as I am by my books in my overstuffed apartment with only thoughts to add to the chaos not remove any of the clutter!

Have a great Sunday, Ella.

>53 EllaTim: All the best for your project, Ella.
We moved a few years ago, from a house to an apartment, we had to part with some things - and did it.
But in the meantime, it's getting fuller again....
Have a wonderful Sunday!

>54 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! Yes, I think so. But not only there, you can see it in more places. For some reason here in Holland female politicians in places of power seem to get way more criticism, very nasty, or even threats, than male politicians. Than again, I have done some rowing as a starting university student and never had the experience she described. But I didn’t participate in any kind of competition, of course.

>56 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Maybe it depends on how overfull your apartment is. At the moment I have stuff in moving boxes in my bedroom. Are you at that point as well?

>57 SirThomas: Hi Thomas. Well done, and then you have some experience. Yes, it’s so easy to get more instead of less.

Have a nice Sunday, everyone! Here there will be more rain…

>58 EllaTim: Woman of color in politics even get more nastiness, Ella.
In my time at university it seemed also more equal, but beneath the surface misogyny still was around. And I mistakenly thought it only could get better...

>59 FAMeulstee: I think I was pretty naive when I started, Anita. I knew nothing, didn’t understand the influence of class, or race. Or anything, actually. I did biology, and things are not as bad there, we were warned not to take part in the corps, for instance. And most people didn’t. I started rowing because I like the water and the physical exertion. Was flabbergasted when I read an article in the club magazine bragging about throwing a piano out of a window. Not my kind of thing at all. So I didn’t take part in those kind of social activities, but the training was OK.

Started on a book that had a lot of fans here:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
It’s a real SF, and very gripping.

Worked a bit on cleaning up, but I find myself tiring fast. I needed to do some other stuff, but didn’t manage a lot after all. Even reading is tiring. I have to take regular breaks, listen to music, move a bit.

Been busy, some tasks that took an unexpected amount of energy. Fatigue sucks.
A small happy dance today: the green network that I participate in managed to collect 18.000 signatures in one day! For a referendum against our councils not-so-green plans. We had to get to 1100. Well…tada!

Yesterday finally a drier day, the soil in the allotment was not as wet as I had feared. I harvested some Jeruzalem artichokes, and the first baby garlic. Mmm, nice.

5. The Little House in the big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (USA) ****



A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get together with relatives or neighbors.
This children's book I read for the American Books Challenge. It's really interesting, and also very sweet book. Interesting because it tells a lot of how people lived in a place like that, having to take care of almost everything for themselves. Always fun, reminding of TV series like the Victorian Farm. Makes you admire people for their strength and resilience. Sweet because of the interactions between father and mother and their children. There's something very comforting in reading the book, and I can understand why it has been popular for such a long time.

6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (USA) SF ****1/2



Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that ..

A real, hard SF! And it's a lot of fun.
It starts with a real puzzle, this man wakes up in this strange place, all alone, doesn't know where he is, doesn't remember his name, what is going on? And from there slowly we find out more...
And then there's adventures, and more puzzles. And the best part, the relationship with this totally alien being. Making friends, taking care of each other.

So a good story, gripping and exciting, but also moving and even sweet.

Hope you enjoy Project Hail Mary as much as I did. Still do, as it’s a comfort reread for me.

ETA >64 EllaTim: I see you did! (Looks like we cross-posted)

>66 EllaTim: Hi Mary! We must have posted at the same time. I've already finished and I love it. Yes, I can see the comfort aspect. It was that!

>66 EllaTim: Rocky!

>67 Storeetllr: Thumbs up to him.

>64 EllaTim: Oh that one looks interesting! Thanks.

>69 sirfurboy: Hi Stephen! Yes, it is. And I wasn’t the only one who liked it. Enjoy!

I’m really in decluttering mode. Watched a program on dutch TV yesterday, family gets help decluttering house. All stuff is taken into a big space, and sorted, and the family has to select, what to keep, what to discard. It’s fun to watch, this family had over 400 pairs of socks, at least they should have been pairs, but half of them had missing socks. But I need to sort food stuff, the pantry, as I clearly had mice in the pantry. I need to buy some mouse-free containers. Or clear them from other stuff. More than a fifteen minute job, I’m afraid.

But first there was folding laundry to do. And I got to thinking. I have to move a stash of old clothes to some other place, that will free up the plastic bin they were in for the pantry. Why am I keeping those old clothes? Because I think I can repair or reuse them. As my mother used to do…she was raised very frugally, and during the war she provided for the family by repairing clothes for farmers. She received grains or other food as payment. Hard to let go of things, when you’ve been raised to see all of it as possibly useful.

Reading now: Wolven op het Ruiterpad. I’ve had a good start in it, but I am not too enthusiastic. I think it needed an editor. Very annoyed with sentences, that are not fluent, or make you guess at who is ment.

>64 EllaTim:, >69 sirfurboy: I also really enjoyed the book.
>70 EllaTim: Oh mice in the pantry are not good.
Decluttering is a big task that takes overcoming. When we moved from the house to the condo, we had a good reason to do it....
Have a great start to the week!

>62 EllaTim: Well done with so many signatures, Ella. I hope the council changes the plans.

>70 EllaTim: That I recognise, keep everything that might be useful one day. I am better at throwing out, so my father often 'uses' me to get rid of things. He knows I will probably throw it away, but his isn't able to do it himself.
I had a very different experience with Wolven op het ruiterpad, I loved reading it. The only thing I can think of is that he expects his readers to have some knowledge about Darwin, Lorenz, Tinbergen etc.

>70 EllaTim: Urgh, critters in the pantry is the worst! A number of years ago we had some sort of flying thing that had invaded some flours and grains. We've been very good at using airtight containers since then. I intend to take that a step further when I move and have nearly everything in the pantry in (airtight) glass jars. Pretty, and no risk of invasive creatures.

>71 SirThomas: Thank you Thomas! I think I managed to get rid of the mouse.

>72 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! They are discussing it tomorrow. Will be following it online!
Oh, yes, lots of people I know find it very hard to throw things away, your father is near my mothers age, quite understandable. More friends of mine find it hard, and I have received lots of stuff from several people.
For the wolves book, it’s the writing style, not the contents, but of course, we can’t and shouldn’t expect to all like the same things!

>73 PawsforThought: Exactly, it’s a flying thing, dark wings, a kind of moth. I thought my containers were airtight, but it can obviously squish in to almost anything. I buy almost all of my meal, flour, and nuts from the biological (eco)supermarket, so no pesticides were used. This is the downside, probably. And my kitchen used to be cold, not anymore, as I now have central heating.

>64 EllaTim: Hail Mary looks like a great book. Your review entices me to get a copy ASAP.

>75 Whisper1: You'll be in good company!


Saw this just today on Facebook

Another fan of Project Hail Mary!! I listened to it on audio just this month and it was awesome. Glad you got all the signatures you needed and managed to get rid of the mouse. Life is good!

>76 Storeetllr: Oh wow, I understand Andy Weir liked that, it’s a real compliment having an astronaut read your book about astronauts!

>77 Berly: Hi Kim. It’s all good!

7. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (USA, fantasy) ****



This one has been doing the rounds on LT, but I remember it from Anita’s thread.

Linus Baker is a caseworker in a very official governmental office, checking out orphanages for magically gifted children. He always follows the rules, keeping his distance, staying objective. Living a gray and safe life. But then he gets a special assignment, secret, four weeks in this distance orphanage on an island.
Turns out the children are special, and supposed to be dangerous. How dangerous? What will he meet?

This was really a very sweet book. I loved the descriptions of the very special, magical children and how they get to know each other.

>64 EllaTim: I am glad you liked that one. It was one of my top five reads last year.

>79 EllaTim: I saw this one around and have added it to my list.

Happy weekend!

>80 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! I’m glad then, one of your top five!

And hope you enjoy the next one.

Happy weekend!

Happy Saturday, Ella. Looks like you are reading some choice books. I also loved Project Hail Mary & The House in the Cerulean Sea. Have a good weekend.

>79 EllaTim: Glad to see you enjoyed it, Ella.

>79 EllaTim: I must get to that one soon, Ella.

Have a great weekend.

>79 EllaTim: I really enjoyed the book too, Ella!

>82 msf59: Hi Marc! Nice to see you. Wishing you a good week ahead.
>83 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita!
>84 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. You see, there’s general agreement on this one!
>85 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! The Cerulean Sea has lots of fans!
Everybody a good week ahead.

I did a job today, paperwork, did about half of what I planned, and found myself too tired to finish. Tomorrow the other half. Plan is to buy snowdrops for the allotment complex. 500. We’ll be planting them in February or March.

Hi Ella. An embarrassingly-late Happy New Thread and Happy New Yer.

I like your New Year’s resolutions – simple and all-encompassing.

>44 EllaTim: It’s funny, a bit over the top, but it pulled me in. Those are the best kind of books, IMO. In fact, I’m considering this book for our 2023-2024 RL book club.

>70 EllaTim: But I need to sort food stuff, the pantry, as I clearly had mice in the pantry. I need to buy some mouse-free containers. Or clear them from other stuff. More than a fifteen minute job, I’m afraid. I had a mouse in the pantry last year, with evidence on quite a few shelves. Everything off, most thrown away, shelves cleaned with mild bleach water, of course. No evidence since then, thank goodness. Good luck with your decluttering project. I need to do that, too, but with Jenna home, it’s hard since we have to accommodate some of her stuff here.

>73 PawsforThought: and >75 Whisper1: Pantry moths are the worst – we had those 5 years ago and ever since have kept moth traps out and things that can get moths in them in the proper storage containers. So far so good with moths not getting into our stuff, just occasionally fluttering around but now always caught in the traps. Can you keep some of your meal, flour, and nuts in a refrigerator or freezer? I keep new packages of flour in the freezer, as well as bulk nuts.

Hi Karen! Nice to see you here, no need to be embarrassed! I understand, and it gets me off the hook;-)

I have the mice under control. I managed to catch it in time. Problem solved for the time being. It’s an old house, and we always had mice. I used to have cats, but not anymore.

Moth traps! I’ve never heard of these, but Roni mentioned them as well. Will have to look them up. Both refrigerator and freezer aren’t big enough to store those products permanently, but someone suggested storing them for a couple of days, hoping that any eggs will freeze then.

Well, a nice household discussion. Of course, extra stuff, because Jenna is living with you at the moment! Enjoy!

I am reading, busy and tiring day, but I started on the first Detective Inspector Huss. It’s starting to grow on me.

>44 EllaTim: And a huge thank you for the BB, I loved the book!

>89 SirThomas: Ah, that’s great Thomas!

I bought a subscription to a magazine today. Six weeks trial. It came with a one month trial of a movie site. Yes! What a great idea. We can watch a choice of movies, so nice for Marc, we never go to the movie theater anymore, because of Covid. I’m keeping it as a surprise for him. Tada. I’m excited.

>90 EllaTim: YAY! - have fun.
Apart from COVID, we don't like movie theaters that much either, the sound is far too loud for me.

>70 EllaTim: My problem with clothes is quite like yours. I keep thinking I can repair clothes instead of pitching them out. Sometimes I can, but most of the time, the effort is really not worth it. I've just gotten so sensitized to throwing things in the trash. But the effort weighs on me, and adds to my pile of tasks not done.

>92 ffortsa: I also hate throwing out clothes, Judy, especially the ones that no longer fit me in the vain hope that I will get my earlier shape back or, in the case of my easy house clothes, because holes or not they are darned comfy.

Have a great weekend, Ella.

>91 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! Yes, fun, that’s what we want. Music, and sound in general too loud, exactly. And it keeps getting worse, last times we went I seriously regretted not taking earplugs with me. Sorry, that this means not going for you.

>92 ffortsa: Hi Judy, nice to see you here. It has become a problem, we have too many things, as a society. I’m working on clothes but it isn’t easy. I see something I could remove and then I remember my mother who made a pillowcase from it. You are right, it adds to the pile. Maybe there is a balance, a middle point?

>93 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Oh, yes and yes. I have given up on the oldest clothes, as it’s too frustrating.

Have a nice weekend, people!

8. Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien (UK) ***1/2



In this fiftieth anniversary edition of the Tolkien classic, Farmer Giles, his mare, and his talking dog go into the valley of the Thames to fight the dragon Chrysophylax

This is a children’s fantasy story. Good, funny, and a bit old-fashioned. No hobbits yet, but farmer Giles does resemble a hobbit in his reactions to the sudden threat of a Giant, and a Dragon on his doorstep. The talking dog is an extra bonus!

I read this for the BAC. February, short stories. I hardly ever read these, but this was one of the suggestions. I didn’t know Tolkien had written these short, light stories, so it was a pleasant surprise. Found it as an audio on YouTube. Very nice, because I was feeling too tired to read anything serious!

9. Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten (Sweden) ***



"Detective Inspector Irene Huss is an investigator assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit in Goteborg, Sweden. She is a wife and mother, her husband is a chef and she has twin daughters and also a judo champion and an avowed feminist in a police department which is still adjusting to the presence of women as officers."

A real police procedure story. Lots of the right ingredients, and a real plot. Still the book didn’t manage to draw me in. The characters didn’t really come alive.
This is a first book in a series, so maybe the next one will be better. I will give it a try.

10. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (USA) ****1/2



A Newberry Medal winner. And a surprisingly lovely story.

While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.

Julie, or Miyax, her eskimo name, is lost in the wilderness. She is a smart and courageous girl, she recognizes her chance to survive through befriending the nearby wolves. How? By teaching herself the language of the wolves. She observes and tries, and succeeds.
Growing up in the old ways, with her father she knew a lot of how to deal with the wild. Reading the book I got a vivid picture of the Arctic, the animals. The wolves, or the little Golden Plover she rescues near the end of the book.
It is a book about resilience, but also about the choices our society makes, with a sad-making ending.
I read this as an e-book, but I wished for a good old-fashioned hardcover, with drawings. They would have added to the story, I think.

>97 EllaTim: Glad to see you enjoyed Julie of the wolves.
I have read it in Dutch translation five years ago. My edition did include drawings, although not a hardback.

>98 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Nice, that you have read it as well. For any dog lover nearly a must, I’d say. I kept feeling I could nearly see the pictures. Something in the writing?

>97 EllaTim: I have got something else by the writer on my shelves, Ella, but I will definitely go and look for that one.

Have a lovely weekend.

>97 EllaTim: This really is a beautifully done series, I read all three books last year and liked them all for the details of Julie/Miyax being Yupik and how it handled a sad, but real respect for the ways of nature and human impact. I seem to recall the paperbacks having a few drawings throughout them.

>100 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. I read up on the writer. Her other books seem to be very good as well. Have a nice weekend!

>101 WhiteRaven.17: Hi Kro. I really loved how she writes about the arctic and the natural world. With respect and love. I’ll be looking for the follow-up books! Thanks for the recommendation!

I bought a book in a nearby bookshop. I don’t normally go there. But I noticed now how they even have a book shelf right above the cashing counter! So oke.
Then I passed the window of a second-hand bookshop and noticed a book by Jac. P. Thijsse there:

"Wanhoop nooit aan vooruitgang"
brieven van Jac. P. Thijsse (1865-1945)

It really fits for these times. Don’t despair.
The shop was closed, I’ll be going back for it.

Temperatures have gone up. I have a new app on my phone. It can record bird song, and tell you which bird you heard. Yesterday I recorded the first Dunnock of the year. Today was a Robin, now they can sing in winter as well.

Our friend already owned the book we bought for him. Good choice, he said, but unfortunately..
So now it’s mine. Meaning I have go clear something from my shelves, as I had decided on: one in, than one out.
The new book is a beauty. Wie wat bewaart
And of course I am going to keep it. But which one to let go?

Hi, Ella. You got me with Julie of the Wolves. Sounds like something I would like.

>106 msf59: Hi Marc! Yes, I guess so. Arctic Dreams of course. And have you read Jack London?

>105 EllaTim: I liked Darwin comes to town, so I have put Wie wat bewaart on my library wishlist.
Always difficult to decide wich book has to go. I have 4 books waiting for a place on the shelves, because I can't decide either...

>104 EllaTim: What a great app! Often I am walking and wonder to which bird the melody I am hearing belongs to.

Have a great weekend!

>108 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Oh yes, the waiting books. They’re lying on top of the others. I have made a separate place for books that I think I might let go. But I’m taking the time to decide.

>109 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita. Yes, it’s great. And very easy to use. It’s from Cornell, so should work for you as well. Have fun.

Have a nice weekend!

I finished Bruno, Chief of Police and started on Bewilderment.
We’re off to the allotment today. Weather is a bit soso, we’re supposed to do the pruning of our willows, but it’s a bit windy and a bit rainy.

10.000 steps yesterday. Makes me question that step-counting app. And of course a backache today.
But we saw a rare and special bird: the white-headed long-tailed tit. What a name, but the bird is so cute.



The link works for me, I hope it works for you as well.

I’m slowly reading The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
It’s a good one, a mixture of science, and history. Just reading about the Eugenics thing. Very unsavory. Why are we so happy to become butchers?

11. Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker (Fr, UK)***1/2



Meet Benoit Courrèges, affectionately named Bruno, chief of police in a small village in the South of France where the rituals of the café still rule. A former soldier, Bruno has embraced the slow rhythms of country life. But the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army galvanizes his attention: the man had a swastika carved into his chest. When a visiting scholar helps untangle the dead man's past, Bruno's suspicions turn toward a motive more complex than hate, back to a tortured period of French history.

This is very much a cozy read, describing the life in a small town. Nearly a bit too cozy, with lots of couleur locale, and good food.
Still, it was a good story, adding a lot of interesting background. A small town doesn't escape life, and here the bad past plays a big role.

I enjoyed the story, and will be trying the next installment.

What works for me is Dana White's method. First, determine the amount of space you have for clothes. Then go through your clothes and put all your favorites in that space. If there is space left, go through and choose your next favorites. When the space is full, everything that is left, goes. Your container is full.

>113 ronincats: Hi Roni! It sounds like a good method. And I like the concept and am trying to use it for books. But for clothing? I don’t know. I guess I really would like a bigger clothes cupboard! My container is full, but it isn’t big enough.

Reading The Gene. The discovery of the structure of DNA, Watson and Crick, and the way they cheated Rosalind Franklin. One hopes female scientists are treated better nowadays.

>107 EllaTim: Yes, I have, Ella. I have read Call of the Wild & White Fang.

>115 msf59: Hi Marc! Great. They do sound like your cup of tea. I read them ages ago, and now am wondering how they compare. (Maybe do a reread? )

Started on the second Bruno The Dark Vineyard

No energy to read much. I needed to clean up my email. I have been mailing my mother’s side of the family, some fifty cousins, about our grandparents grave. Rights need to be renewed and payed. I underestimated the task. Fifty cousins and a lot of faulty addresses. I’m hardly a very orderly person, and I have trouble with Gmail. So tired. Nearly finished. Pff.

I used to be able to read when tired, but nowadays I just can’t.

>118 EllaTim: I hope you feel up to reading soon, Ella.
That is a lot you took upon. Is anyone still visiting those graves? I know my father was the only one who wanted to renew his parents grave, his remaining brother and sister were ready to let go two years ago.

>119 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Yes, it was a lot of work, but will be finished soon. I hope. Not many people will be visiting those graves, but my mother did, and we will take over I think. So this feels a bit like in her memory. We still have one aunt left, from that generation. She wanted to renew the rights as well. For her they were her parents, that she has good memories of. I think in ten years time the situation will be different. It's what you say, you have to be ready to let go of it.

I am reading, but slowly. Now halfway through Bewilderment. I'm afraid of a less than happy ending, and that's slowing me down. I want happy endings!

I have been busy and easily tired. Bad combination. Still working on decluttering as well. I decided I can get rid of some books: the ones I will probably not want to reread, that I am not attached to, and that are not useful to me in some way.
First candidates are some English language paperbacks and hard-covers. And I found just the place for them! There’s a whole bookstore in Amsterdam that specializes in second-hand English books. You can sell, but you also can trade, they give vouchers. Just the thing for a book-lover! 50.000 books to choose from!

https://www.bookexchange.nl/

I have been reading, wanted something light and found books by T Kingfisher that were just what I wanted: lighthearted fantasy, adventure and romance!
Reading now Clockwork Boys

>121 EllaTim: Sorry to read you still get tiered easily, Ella.
I am surprised there is a second hand bookshop with mainly English books, good for you you found it.

Hi Ella,
There is also the possibility to bring old books to the shared bookshelves/boekenkastjes/minibiebs. Amsterdam eg. has a lot of those, the last time I checked there were more than 400. There is even an instagram account called minibiebsofamsterdam.

>122 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Still tired yes. English bookshops are less surprising than you might think. There's a Waterstones in the Kalverstraat. The American Bookshop, has been here for years. Lots of English speaking people living here.

>123 indeedox: Hi! Yes, there are some in my neighborhood as well. I look at them regularly. They are mostly dutch books. How did you check the number? Did you live here?
I’ll have a look at that instagram account. Thanks!

I’m having a reading dip. Halfway through the Richard Powers book I got the strong impression that it wouldn’t have a happy ending. I really am not up to that!
So do I quit reading?

>125 EllaTim: I took the number from the online map, but it seems the number has grown to even more than 500 by now. You can find the map at www.bit.ly/minibieb020 (020 for the kengetal(?) for Amsterdam)
I'm visiting Amsterdam quite regularly and and mostly reading tree-books while traveling there, so I was quite happy to find a place to drop the old ones without schlepping them back.

>127 indeedox: Thanks, that's a fun map. And my two are on it, looks very complete! And I found some other useful things, a weggeefwinkel (give-away shop), kringloopwinkel (charity shop). Very neat, as I am decluttering. Thanks!
And yes, a good place to drop off a book and know people will appreciate it. Good for you.

Reading now The Blood of Flowers.
My internet connection is down. Administrative hassle. I'm using my mobile phone at the moment, but it's pretty awkward. Hope to be back to normal at the end of next week.

>128 EllaTim: - Hi Ella. I read The Blood of Flowers many years ago and loved it. I actually listened to it as an audiobook and it was read by an actress whose background was Iranian so her accent added another authentic layer to the story itself. I remember it as a wonderful story. I hope you enjoy it.

>126 EllaTim: Did you manage to get back into Bewilderment?

>128 EllaTim: Sorry your internet connection is down for a while, Ella.
It is such a nuisance to be without it.

Good morning Ella, hope all is well with you soon!

Hi, Ella. I hope you and Marc are doing well.

I liked Bewilderment a lot, after being wowed by his The Overstory. I hope it ended up working for you. I want to read more by Mr. Powers.

Sorry to read about your internet being down. That's no fun at all! I hope you and Mark are doing well. I started a thread in the 75's about a week ago, so come by and visit if you get a chance.

Dropping in to say hello. I hope you get your internet connection back soon!

>132 jnwelch: Hi Joe! No, I haven’t gotten back to it. I’m in a real reading slump at the moment, abandoning books more than reading them. Nice to see you here, though!
>133 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb. Good to see you back, yes I will come and visit.
>134 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Internet connection was restored, it took some ado, though.

I’m in a real reading slump. Finding it hard to find the right books to read. I have nearly finished ‘t Hooge Nest van Roxane van Iperen. It’s a very intense read though, so I am looking for something light to read in between.

12. ‘t Hooge Nest by Roxane van Iperen (dutch, historical) ****



The story of two Jewish sisters during the second world war. They grew up in Amsterdam, and there are quite a lot of details of their lives before the war. Two lively young women, getting married , starting their life. And then the war begins, and they have to find a place to hide from the Germans. They find a big house in the woods, where they start to live, with their families, and other people they help. They are part of the resistance.
But finally something goes wrong and they are transported to Westerbork and then to Auschwitz.

It’s an impressive story, but it is a tough story to read, especially when they are transported. Van Iperen includes a lot of detail of life in the concentration camps, enough to make you weep on reading it all. It’s not behind us either, looking at what life is like for refugees, you can’t say, oh it’s all over and done with.

Sad but worth reading.

I started on Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. And unfortunately I am finding it boring. Boring. I’m now over fifty pages in, and it’s not improving. Part of it is my own mood, I guess. But this one is a DNF.

We had a couple of days on a trip. Unfortunately the car broke down on friday, everything booked for leaving on Easter Monday. So the whole trip had to be scheduled for public transport, including renting E-bikes to reachthe hotel, that was too far from any station to walk.

>136 EllaTim: I found it a very impressive story, Ella. Van Iperen did her research thoroughly.

>137 EllaTim: Sorry it didn't work for you.

>138 EllaTim: That is bad luck, and a hassle. I hope you still had some fun being away.

>139 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! I read your review on your thread. It was quite helpful to get me started on reading the book!

Yes, we had fun, but it really was a hassle. Both walking long distances and riding a bike for long distances are hard for me. But we managed!

We went to Amersfoort, nice old town. As there was rain predicted we went to museum Flehite, and saw an exhibition of the works of sculptor and director Philip Haas. Fun, and interesting, and beautiful work.
I really loved this one:



It’s one in a series of four, depicting the elements, this is Earth. There was another series, they are inspired by paintings of Caravaggio, but this is sort of next level.

https://museumflehite.nl/tentoonstellingen/sculpture-breathes-life/

I finished
13. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (sf) **

It did improve a bit, but the story just didn’t hold my attention. There’s time travel, and an anomaly, and an epidemic. But there are a lot of small and rather unimportant details to remember, and I just couldn’t care.

>140 EllaTim: That's marvelous!
Have a wonderful Sunday, Ella.

>142 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! Thanks.

Something strange going on with LT, can’t find my own thread in the Started by You link. Just the earlier threads I made. Have to search for it through the threadbook.

Started The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. It starts nice, lively style, interesting place. (Rome, AD 90)

>143 EllaTim: Did you accidently put this thread on ignore, Ella?
If that is the case you can undo it at the top of this thread.

>143 EllaTim:, >144 FAMeulstee: - That happened to me, too, Ella, with someone else's thread. I had to ask Jim (drneutron) and we don't really know what happened. But thanks for that, Anita. I swear, I never even noticed that *ignore* feature before! it's right there but I simply never noticed it. I bet that was the problem!

>144 FAMeulstee: Yes! You are great, Anita! That was it. And I really don’t know how it happened, but now I can find myself again. So important;-)

>145 jessibud2: I really don’t know what happened, Shelley. And I can’t find the ignore feature on the top of this thread, but I clicked ‘Ignored Topics’ and there it was.
Anita does know a lot of how LT works!

Such things happen to me mostly on the smartphone. You want to scroll somewhere and accidentally press any buttons that are suddenly in the way...

>146 EllaTim: I think the ignore-button is at the bottom of the thread on your phone, Ella. On the laptop it is at the top right, I only know it is not the same on a phone.
You can also click on the red x on the right, when you are at 'ignored topics' to un-ignore.

Being active here for nearly 15 years helps. I also try to follow the 'New Features' group, there I learned a lot about LT.

>147 SirThomas: Very probable Thomas! Very small screen, my fingers not small enough.

>148 FAMeulstee: Every device has a different layout. I am now using an iPad, but I sometimes use my mobile phone, or a PC. Confusing. I now saw the ignore button is on the bottom of this thread.
But you see, you know there is a new features group! I’ve never heard of that!

14. The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis (UK) ****



The Silver Pigs is the classic novel that introduced readers around the world to Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer with a knack for trouble, a tendency for bad luck, and a frequently inconvenient drive for justice. When Marcus Didius Falco encounters the young and very pretty Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately that there is something amiss. When she confesses that she is fleeing for her life, Falco offers to help her and, in doing so, gets himself mixed up in a deadly plot involving stolen ingots, dangerous and dark political machinations, and, most hazardous of all, one Helena Justina-a brash, indomitable senator's daughter connected to the very traitors that Falco has sworn to expose.

The first book is the series about Marcus Didius Falco. I really liked it, a likable protagonist, lively story and writing, a strong woman. The background of history is very well described. One of the reasons I like to read historical detectives. Rome comes across as interesting times best to avoid, but good to read about.
I’ll definitely return to this series.

Stopping by to say hi, Ella. Even after that explanation, I'm not sure where the ignore button is! Glad you got that sorted out, thanks to Shelley help.

>151 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! At least I now know what went wrong, and that’s always useful.

I spend a lot of time, doing Twitter. Maybe too much. Then again, you meet new people, new perspectives. I responded to an enthusiastic post about new research on Covid viruses. Asking for some explanation in lay terms.
And got this very nice answer. Not only helpful, but it gave me a new perspective. Answering professor talking about the beauty of nature, in the perspective of research into viruses. Unexpected, eh?
Now I want to know a bit more about viruses.

Hi Ella! Long time no visit.

>94 EllaTim: I can’t sew my way out of paper bag, alas, so I either donate clothes, turn ‘em into rags, or throw them away.

>105 EllaTim: Yikes. One in, one out? I’m impressed. I need to get rid of a bunch of old small paperbacks that are simply too yellowed, tanned, foxed, or otherwise not readable. I need Jenna’s help though, until I can get around better.

>111 EllaTim: Awww, such a sweet looking little bird.

>114 EllaTim: Makes me ill, how they treated Franklin.

>118 EllaTim: I personally hate gmail. I have to have an account because I have an Android mobile phone, but I never use that email address and stuff from Google just accumulates there on the mobile. I use yahoo.com for a free email account, have a second free yahoo. account for stuff I want to look at every once in a while but that’s not critical to my adulting. I pull the first yahoo account into Microsoft Outlook on my laptop.

I’m sorry that you can’t read when you’re tired.

>121 EllaTim: Nice about the bookstore in Amsterdam that specializes in second-hand English books.

>126 EllaTim: I abandon books all the time. Too many books, too little time.

>141 EllaTim: I have Sea of Tranquility on my shelves, but this is not a ringing endorsement.

>146 EllaTim: but now I can find myself again. So important;-) You make me laugh out loud. Thanks for that.

Hi Karen! Nice to see you here!

You made me revisit my own thread!

You have to have gmail, because of android? Didn’t realize that. I had a really good email client, but it stopped working. Now I’m using Thunderbird, but it’s not ideal. Yahoo?

You are quite right to abandon books when they are not working for you. I try to soldier on, but it gets me into reading blocks. Sometimes I know it’s just me, but even so! I have seen people praising Sea of Tranquility here, so it could be me.

Nice to know I made you laugh!

And now I can’t sleep. It’s 3.30. It’s Marc’s birthday tomorrow. We have two meetings that we can’t get out of. Pity.
He’s planning to buy a couple of small sculptures. Really fun. We visited a sculpture garden last week. He loved some of them so much, he really wanted them. So he’s buying. It’s quite exciting. I’m helping him pay for them, as a birthday present.

Happy birthday to Marc, Ella. It is already tomorrow here!

Happy birthday to Marc!

Happy birthday to Marc!

>155 EllaTim: - I also have to have a gmail account for my android cell phone, And, like Karen, I never use it. I only use yahoo email.

And happy birthday to Marc. Acquiring real art is always so fun and satisfying!

>157 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Nice to see you. Yes, and it also was tomorrow in my time, but it didn’t feel like it. ;-)

>158 FAMeulstee: >159 SirThomas: >160 jessibud2: Thanks, Anita, Thomas and Shelley. We had a busy day filled with rather emotional meetings. Allotments aren’t always quiet places. You could write a soap series around the people, or a book. There is one called Moord op de Moestuin. I should read it.

So today we are going to have a bit of relaxation, I hope. A bookstore visit. Scheltema.

Yesterday I listened to a podcast on the influence of chronic stress on the brain. Not so good. We have been under constant stress here. What with Marc having cancer, my Mum getting ill, the near daily struggle with a loud urban environment. Fortunately there were some tips on dealing with it, one of them being keep moving, even a simple daily walk is helpful. A good reason to commit to doing that. I am going to do a relisten, as I felt it was good information.

15. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (UK, SF) ****1/2



While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place"-

The story description sounds sappy, but I liked this story. I felt for Nora, who is unhappy and burdened with regrets. She gets the opportunity to change her decisions and live the resulting lives.

I looked Matt Haig up, and found he has had to struggle with depression in his life. I think that’s probably why the book feels real, he’s been there in a way.

Happy Birthday to Marc! I hope you have an enjoyable day at the bookstore. I headed to a fairly big bookstore yesterday, one that took me about 30 minutes by " sky train " - it is like a subway, but part of it is elevated as opposed to being underground.

I have not read The Midnight Library but my sister Tannis has and she really enjoyed it, along with other or his book. Have a relaxing and happy day , Ella and Marc.

>161 EllaTim: - Ella, what is the name of that podcast? It sounds like something I should listen to!

Hi Ella my dear, belated birthday greetings to Marc, hope he had a lovely birthday my dear friend.

>163 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Thank you. I hope you had a nice day as well!

>164 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! I am so sorry, Shelley, it’s in dutch. Yes, it was good, and I guess you would like it. You are under enough stress to benefit from a podcast like this.

>165 johnsimpson: Hi John, my friend! We celebrated a belated birthday, so you are completely in time.

We visited a bookstore first, and then a large market like store, lots of deli choices. For asperagus with salmon. Yumm.

Bookstores are like candy stores, we had a great afternoon, Marc bought a big coffee table book by a photographer he likes Jimmy Nelson.
I bought a book of the collected work of Koos van Zomeren Heel de Natuur. 1050 pages of excellent nature writing. And I made a wishlist, I take pictures on my mobile phone of the books I would like.

>166 EllaTim:- I also do that, Ella, take pictures with my cell of books in the bookstore that I think I would like to read. That way I don't have to worry about remembering titles or authors or try to find the scraps of paper I used to write them on. ;-)

>167 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! Quite right! So useful. Sometimes that cell phone is a handy thing to have.

I wasted time and energy today trying to get a problem with a train pass and digital account solved. I want to rent a bike at a station this saturday. In the good old pre-digital days you could just call, and make a reservation. But now there is this digital system. You need a personal digital account, with card. I have the card, but the account wouldn’t work. I called, and it turned out I had two accounts. They tried to make the reservation for me, but that wouldn’t work as well. In the end I had two spend more time chatting. It then seemed both accounts were deleted, leaving me with nothing.
All this digital woo-woo is making me so angry! I am really not bad at dealing with digital things, but this system is just screwed up on their side. You can’t talk with it. Lots of opportunities for mistakes. It sucks.
And now I still have to make a new account. And I need a new card, so I have to make a request for that. And then they have to transfer my money to it. And while they are doing that, I won’t be able to use it.
Sorry, I needed to vent. I’m tired, and too cranky to do something nicer.

IT is there to solve problems that you wouldn't have without it ...

>169 EllaTim: Sorry you had so much trouble with the NS, Ella. I hope it gets solved in time.
I dislike all these digital procedures at the bank, for income, taxes etc.

>169 EllaTim: - Oh, I so hear you, Ella. I have been in that exact situation, more than once!

>170 SirThomas: - LOL! Well said!

>170 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! Oh Yes! Exactly!

>171 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. It’s really horrible. I have to make a new account in order to be able to borrow an OV-bike. And I also have to ask for a new OV-chipcard. And my money and everything has to be transferred to it. I now see all kind of options for this to go wrong.
All this stuff can be a nightmare.

>172 jessibud2: Hi Shelley. Yes, I remember you talking about something like it. Why have we been so silly to think that IT would solve everything.

I’m really starting to hate all of this. I can still handle it, but Marc can’t deal with it at all. And there’s more and more of it.

We went to the small church of Persingen yesterday. Marc’s sister had an exhibition of her paintings, and those of a friend. A nice day. It’s outside of Nijmegen. We rented an e-bike, so we could have a bikeride there. It’s a beautiful country landscape, very close to the river (called the Waal). Small hedges and birds everwhere. No Lifers but lots of birds we hadn’t seen for some time.

I’m using an app on my mobile phone (birdNET). You record a couple of seconds of birdsong, and it tells you what bird it was. Works great!

Marc received a book from his sister, a comic book by Yuval Noah Harari. It had to wait for three years, because of the Covid situation.

That sounds like a really nice day!

Did your problems with the NS work out in the end or did you have to use another provider for the bicycles?

>175 indeedox: Hi! It was!

No I gave up on the NS account for the moment. We rented bikes at a shop in the city centre. E-bikes. Expensive, but making it all a lot easier.

16. De Liefde van Jabba by Catalijn Claes (Dutch) ***



The life of an elderly widow. Living with fifty birds in one room in a large and rich house. She’s lonely, prickly and cranky. Full of regrets on what she considers her shame. Her son, who wasn’t her husband’s son. We learn more about her life and background, as they are very much in her mind, but also about her life in the present.

This is what is called a streekroman, a regional novel? I don’t know if this genre exists internationally. It’s one of my mothers books. I wouldn’t normally have read it, but now I did. It really isn’t my favorite genre, but the book was easy to read. And there’s something about the ending I liked.

Today was remembrance day here in Holland. Remembering all war victims.
Someone posted a link to this clip on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAoaASj-Mug

Watching it made me realize that Amsterdam is still not what it should have been, that there was an irreplacable loss, that is still felt.

>178 EllaTim: - I did not, of course, understand the words but it had a very melancholy feel to the song. War is just so stupid, on so many levels, no matter where or when. And for what?

>178 EllaTim: I am always in tears when I hear that song, Ella, can't imagine how it must have been.

I always listen to 'De ballade van het wonderorgel' on the 14th.
https://youtu.be/KdlrTzo4F2Q

>179 jessibud2: Hi Shelley. Yes, it’s very melancholy. Describing Jewish life in Amsterdam before the war you get a sense of what it was like.

>180 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Yes, me too. It gives you a sense of so much that has been lost.

The ballade is wonderful, I had never heard it. It brings it very close, and we need that sometimes, don’t we? To remember and not get complacent.

Reading now Long bright river, loving it.

>178 EllaTim: Thanks for posting that, Ella.

still not what it should have been, that there was an irreplacable loss

So true. I kept thinking that when I was in Berlin years ago. So much damage, both in terms of buildings, infrastructure and other more tangible things, and in terms of all the lives lost. Who knows what the world could have been like now if the people who died because of war (any war!) had lived.

Happy Friday, Ella. I am back from my various travels and still catching up around here. I hope you are doing well and enjoying those books.

>177 EllaTim: Of course, I love the cover...

>183 PawsforThought: Hi Paws. I’ve never been to Berlin. Would like to see it though. A lively and interesting city.

>184 msf59: Hi Marc. I saw the photos you posted. Good travels!

I like the cover as well, but I don’t like to keep birds in cages.

>185 EllaTim: Popping by to say Hi, Ella. I've never been to Berlin either, but my niece is going to University there to become a veterinarian. Her mom is originally from Germany, so she is able to stay with her uncle there, and University is free! She speaks German as well as English. She seems to really enjoy it there, , though she plans to return home to Canada when she completes her schooling. My mom went there on here on about 10 years ago and stayed by herself in a hotel and saw the Brandenburg Gate and I'm not sure what all. She too really enjoyed it, and my nieces uncle showed my mom around as well.

>185 EllaTim: Berlin is one of my favourite places I've every visited. Wonderful city and so much to see and do, especially for a museum-addict like myself. The Topography of Terror (the museum documenting the crimes of the Nazis) is one of the best museums I've ever been to. And the Jewish History Museum. And all the museums on Museuminsel. So much.

>97 EllaTim: Oh that looks good - I need to read that. Great review. Thanks.

>186 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Your niece is a lucky girl! Getting your education free. And getting to live in Berlin. It's good for her that she does speak German.

>187 PawsforThought: Hi Paws. Berlin does sound interesting. I should visit. Train connections are very decent, I understand. So much that I have not seen or visited. I've never been to the alps either, or to Sweden...

>188 sirfurboy: Oh yes, just the thing for you Stephen.

17. To serve them all my days by R.F. Delderfield (UK) ***1/2

I've seen lots of praise on LT for this book. And yes, I started liking it. And then somehow I started to feel less involved with the story, I just could't identify. Maybe because the boarding school system just isn't my cup of tea? As I'm not British? Even the language seemed more diffucult with lots of 'in' words. But I do know what the Old Boys Network is now.

18. Long Bright River by Liz Moore (USA) ****1/2



"A suspense novel that also looks at the anatomy of a Philadelphia family rocked by the opioid crisis and the relationship between two sisters--one, suffering from addiction, who has suddenly gone missing amid a series of mysterious murders; the other a police officer who patrols the neighborhood from which she disappeared: a story about the formidable ties between place, family, and fate"

This was an excellent read. Well written, suspense, and story twists. A woman is found murdered, there seems to be a connection to the drug scene in Philadelphia, and Mick, the police woman in the story, becomes worried for her sister. She hasn’t seen her in some time, so what has happened, and where is she?

Through this story piece by piece the background of the two sisters becomes clear. Liz Moore has a lot of understanding for both of them.

>192 EllaTim: And another BB, my public library even had it immediately available.
I am very much looking forward to it.

Berlin is really a wonderful city, however the Pergamon Museum is closing in October for several years, it is to be thoroughly renovated.

>193 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! I hope you like it!

And another fan for Berlin. It’s on my bucket list now. We will be spending a long weekend in Germany soon, but we’re staying a lot closer to home. In the Eifel National Park. Very much looking forward to it!

I have already read half of it, so far I am thrilled.
I wish you wonderful vacations, I hear the park is very nice...

I enjoyed Long Bright River some years ago , Ella . An interesting read, though a bit dark in tone .

I have finished it and I loved it, thank you again for the BB!

>195 SirThomas: Hi Deb! Yes, it was dark in tone. But I liked how the sisters loved each other, and helped each other through life. I felt it made a balance with the darker parts of the story.

>197 SirThomas: Glad you liked it Thomas!

>192 EllaTim: I am definitely going to look out for that one, Ella.

Have a great weekend.

>195 SirThomas: Hi Deb! Yes, it was dark in tone. But I liked how the sisters loved each other, and helped each other through life. I felt it made a balance with the darker parts of the story.

>197 SirThomas: Glad you liked it Thomas!

I have been neglecting LT, because I was busy. I did do some reading though.

19. Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher (fantasy, USA) ***


Bryony and her sisters have come down in the world. Their merchant father died trying to reclaim his fortune and left them to eke out a living in a village far from their home in the city. But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. Is the Beast that lives there her captor or a fellow prisoner? Is the house her enemy or her ally? And why are roses blooming out of season in the courtyard? Armed only with gardening shears and her wits, Bryony must untangle the secrets of the house before she-or the Beast-are swallowed by them.

A fantasy on the theme of Beauty and the Beast. Well done, but a bit slow. T. Kingfisher writes well, and her books are fun to read.

Read but not reviewed yet:
A deadly education
In this House of Brede

Reading now:
The Cold, Cold Ground

Hopelessly behind, so I only read some of the recent posts, but you already got me with a BB! >192 EllaTim: Long Bright River sounds good and just what my mind can enjoy right now. Thanks. : )

>203 Berly: Hi Kim! I am as behind on LT, so no worries. Glad i had a BB for you.

20. In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (UK) ***

The motto was Pax but the word was set in a circle of thorns. Peace, but what a strange peace, made of unremitting toil and effort.' Bruised by tragedy, Philippa Talbot leaves behind a successful career with the civil service for a new calling: to join an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns. In this small community of fewer than one hundred women, she soon discovers all the human frailties: jealousy, love, despair. But each crisis of heart and conscience is guided by the compassion and intelligence of the Abbess and by the Sisters' shared bond of faith and ritual. Away from the world, and yet at one with it, Philippa must learn to forgive and forget her past . . .

I’d read positive comments on this book. Reading it I was in two minds. All of the above, from the book’s page is true, and it’s a good story. Interesting to read a bit about what life in a convent was like, the rituals and habits.
On the other hand, I was raised a catholic. And so I heard mainly from my mother, a more down-to-earth view. In large catholic families often one of the kids would have a religious Calling. Well, they were poor, and so this would give them a better life, with better chances, said my mum. And all kids were terrified that they would turn out to have a Calling, she said.
Hard to shake that view, and don what seems to me the rose-coloured glasses of Rumer Godden.

21. The Cuckoo’s Calling ***1/2 by Robert Galbraith

A reread. Because I kept putting books aside half-way through. I guessed I could finish this one.
So. It’s OK. A good detective, and Robin and Cormoran are interesting people.

And now I hope I can finish something new.

Started All the Light we cannot see loving it so far.

>205 EllaTim: Good you managed to finish a book, Ella!

How are you doing?

>207 FAMeulstee: Yes, finally! I don’t know why I am so impatient at the moment.

I’m still feeling tired. The cooler weather is a great help though. In the warm summer days we had my street gets very noisy, two pubs with lots of outside seats. You get sick and tired from it really fast.

And you?

>208 EllaTim: I hope the cooler weather makes the terraces less noisy for you.

I am doing well enough. It is nice and quiet in our neighborhood, even on warm days. I don't like the high temperatures, but it looks like the worst is over for now.

22. All the Light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr (USA) ****1/2



A story set during WWII. The protagonists are two children, young people. One in Germany, a boy (Werner) raised as an orphan, to be a soldier. The other a girl, (Mary-Laure) she is blinded at age six, and raised by her loving father. They live in Paris, where her father is the locksmith of the Museum. He builds her a detailed model of their surroundings, so she will be able to find her way around.
This loving upbringing is in stark contrast to the way Werner is treated. He is an orphan, but really gifted in sciences. He gets the opportunity to move to a school for his further education. But this school is some kind of sadistic SS like institution. The ‘values’ of the fascist Reich are made very clear here.
Of course, later in the story they meet. And by coincidence Werner helps and rescues Marie-Laure.
I thought it a good story with lots to make it memorable. It sets you thinking for instance on the importance of loving parents, the way we treat our children. The values we teach, and model.
Recommended.

23. Het Geheim van de Klokkenmaker by Tonke Dragt (Dutch, children) ***1/2



A real time travel story! Story within the story, as a group of children find a booklet in a library, and it turns out the librarian knows more of it. As does another visitor. Twists and turns, and are you the same person on a Tuesday that you were on Wednesday?
Fun!

A strange thing LT does: this is originally a dutch language book. It hasn’t been translated into English, but there is a German translation. So why does the English language LT give me the German language description of the book? Really weird to me.

Hi Ella! I really enjoyed All The Light We Cannot See, when I read some years ago. Glad you enjoyed it too.

Hi Ella my dear, i am looking forward to reading All the Light we Cannot See, glad you really liked it. I have been remiss on visiting threads of late, RL getting in the way and my 60th birthday and trip away. Sending love and hugs to you and Marc from both of us my dear friend.

>212 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Glad we both liked it!

>213 johnsimpson: Hi John! Oh, a 60th birthday! That’s a memorable one. Congratulations, and I hope you had a nice day with your family. Love and hugs right back. I have been very remiss on visiting threads, even more than you I think. Just general fatigue, and difficulty finishing any books. But I’m trying to do better.

Started reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Because of the group read initiative by Marc.
I like it so far. It’s a colorful story, it’s making me think of a primitive painting, lots of colours, and interesting people. My favorite is Mr. Hamilton, for the moment.

We went out for a drive today, first picking up something Marc had bought, and then to the beach. Very windy and sunny day. Going back we took a break in the forest, and walked around it a bit. Very nice, though still a lot of trees down from the sudden summer storm a couple of days ago. We did 7800 steps, quite good for me.
And now it’s night and I can’t sleep. Sitting for a long time in a car seat has got me uptight I guess.

I need something light to read for those sleepless nights.

I'm sorry for not responding more on people's threads! I'm still feeling so tired. Today I didn't do as many steps either. Still, some 4700, could be worse. Just walking from bench to bench, in the woods. It all looked lovely anyway.
Yesterday again a bad night. It does get to me. But this evening is more peaceful. And I have been looking for some light reading. Maybe some old SF will do it for me?

All the best to you, hope you feel better soon!
A reread with old buddies is always good, I did that yesterday too.
If you like Robert Sheckley - he wrote many short stories that are still worth reading.

>217 EllaTim: Sorry you still are so tired, Ella.
I am always comforted by rereading old favorite books, feels like visiting an old and familiar friend.

>218 SirThomas: Thanks Thomas! I think I will have to be patient.
Thanks for the recommendation. I used to like short story collections. My library had lots of them, in the old SF section. But I don’t recognize this name.

>219 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Yes, exactly. I’m doing some rereading as well. Nice and comforting, as you say.

24. Doorzakken bij Jamin by Hanneke Groenteman (Dutch, ***1/2)
Audio, read by the author



Hanneke Groenteman used to present a talkshow on dutch tv. Years ago. I liked the show, and I liked her, so it was interesting to listen to this book. She reads it herself, and she has a good voice.
She talks about her life. Food, eating. There is a lot to tell, she is Jewish, and when WWII started she had to be hid from the Germans. That meant she was separated from her parents, and moved from foster family to foster family. She was very young, so she forgot her real parents. After the war she was reunited with her parents. Food was important, and she shared that with her father. There’s a story where she tells how she could see from his back that he was eating. Final chapter about there family history a really touching one. And even there she weaves a story about sauerkraut into it.
I thought it was well done, and these kind of stories shouldn’t be forgotten.

25. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (USA) ****1/2



This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families--the Trasks and the Hamiltons--whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

This was quite the ride. A long and twisting story, sometimes lovely, but partly brutal indeed. The story is too long to repeat, but it follows the story of Cain and Abel. The discussion in the book, and the story of Lee who brought it to his elders to read and discuss was interesting.

The figure of Cathy kept worrying me though. She seems to be evil incarnate, a demon. Yes, people like that exist, psychopaths. But the other people in the novel are much more human. Not so one-sided. But in the second part Steinbeck changes that and makes her a bit more human as well.

I would like to see the movie, 1955, the era of big movies, fitting for this story with its big theme.

>222 EllaTim: Glad to see you managed to finish East of Eden, Ella.

Hi Ella!

>162 EllaTim: I loved this book, too, and have loaned it out twice.

>205 EllaTim: Nice to get your re-read finished. I am re-listening to the series in anticipation of the 7th book coming out in late September, and I am on book 4, Lethal White.

>214 EllaTim: I’m sorry about the fatigue and sleeplessness.

>223 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! So was I, Anita. But the writing was good, the book pulled me in.

>224 karenmarie: Hi Karen! You’re rereading the whole series? I can understand, but it’s a lot! Good luck.

And thanks, Karen. My sister tells me I should get my blood tested, good advice I guess. But I think the stress of the busy place where I live right now has got a lot to answer for.

I’m doing a reread of Het Bittere Kruid by Marga Minco.
A podcast I love is playing the book, audio, read by the author herself. As a tribute to her, at her death recently. She lived to be 103 years old. She lost her whole family during WWII. The book tells about her experiences. I listened to the first two parts, and was again struck by how each word counts in the book. How naïve they all were! And as reader you know what’s going to happen. A bitter read.

>226 EllaTim:- What is the title in English, Ella? Do you know if it's translated? 103 is a good, long life. They say the best revenge is to live long and well.

>227 jessibud2: Hi Shelley. Yes it has been translated: Bitter Herbs: A Little Chronicle. The second review on the books page describes the book and why I like it very well!
Yes, and she has done that. Still, a lot of loss to deal with.

HAppy weekend reads, Ella!

>229 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita, thank you.

Listened to part 3 of Het Bittere Kruid. Everything is becoming more difficult for the family, and the outside world is full of threat. Still, they can’t decide to act.

I’ve been trying to get myself to write and edit the newsletter our renters group makes periodically. I can’t get myself to start on it. Yuck. So tomorrow I am just going to sit at my desk, and make a start. Just that.
Procrastination it’s called. But why it’s so hard?

Finished
26. Bitter Herbs by Marga Minco, read by the author (Dutch) *****

This was a reread, and listening to it made it feel even more impressive, and real. The book came across as fresh and sharp as if it was the first time I read it.

Full five stars, and I don’t regret rereading it.

We’ve started some harvesting from the allotment. Today I picked some spinach and some tree spinach.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/08/alys-fowler-tree-spinach
The second one is new for us, so we didn’t know if we’d like it. The plant is nice enough to look at, green and magenta leaves. But what would it taste like? Turns out it was slightly bitter. I think it’s best as a side dish.

I never heard of tree spinach, Ella. Did you do it in melted butter, as the article suggested? I am harvesting some early tomatoes but most are still too green. I have been harvesting raspberries for awhile now and I noticed I have the beginning of my first little eggplant. There is a mark on it so I don't know if it's a blemish or if it's the way it is meant to be. I will have to wait till it gets bigger to see.

Hi Shelley! No, we just used some oil. But butter it will be next time. It’s a bit of an unknown vegetable. I think because those leaves wilt very fast. But it’s very easy to grow. It will self-seed in my garden, and it looks nice as well.
Eggplant and raspberries, very nice! I have one eggplant as well. It has made some flowers, but the weather is really cool here now. It does need some warmth, I guess. But you never know, it’s nice to try something new.

I have started reading Master and Commander. Liking it so far, but I’m having trouble with all those sailing terms. And my Kobo dictionary doesn’t translate any of them. I can still follow the story, but I feel I am missing too much. Will have to look for a site with some explanation.

27. Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett (UK) ***1/2
Discworld novel nr. 10



This one is set in a place called Holy Wood. Makes you think of...
Lots of this kind of references. A reread, I wanted something light.
It's not his strongest. But I liked Gaspode, the talking dog.
His characters are what I like most from his books.

Reading now: Master and Commander
but where to find a good explanation of those nautical terms?

And The Silkworm

>237 EllaTim: There is a specific companion for the O'Brien books, A Sea of Words. I mostly just let them wash over me (pun mostly not intended) and got the general gist eventually.

>238 ursula: Thanks! That’s what I usually do, bu I felt I was missing so much. I got stuck in the chapter where a boy takes Maturin up and starts explaining what they see. But I just don’t get it, and it did seem important enough.

I happened to listen to a radio podcast a couple of days ago. It featured an interview with Imme Drost, dutch translator of ancient Greek literature. She talked about a translation of Alice in Wonderland she was doing. She explained how lots of jokes Lewis Caroll makes are based in language. As a translator this poses a challenge, you have to translate, and get the joke, and the general feel of the passage across. She was working on it 8 hours a day, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night because in her dreams she had found a solution to a particular problem. This woman is 86 years old, and still working, and full of enthusiasm!
I plan to read Alice in Wonderland and then look for Imme Drost’s translation when it is out. I’m very curious how she has tackled it.

Listening to Sinéad O’Conor today. I was a fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeLUGn7qYP8

>240 EllaTim: I hope you will have a lot of pleasure with it soon.
Translation can ruin a good book. Thank God it doesn't happen that often.
In Germany there was also an excellent translator. There is even a cartoon about him that says:
You have to read the book in the translation by Harry Rowohlt, a lot is lost in the original.
Have a wonderful weekend!

>241 EllaTim: She was a magnificent artist.

>242 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! A bad translation can certainly ruin a good book. It does happen, stilted language.
Your quote is funny!

I have listened and read a bit more about her yesterday, yes a great artist, and a difficult life.

Well, I didn’t find a ship dictionary, but Google does help a lot. So I’m reading on in Master and Commander.

It’s like autumn here, windy and rainy and chilly. But that’s better than hot weather. No allotment for the moment. Marc is hard at work, finishing a job he’s doing for a friend. I have time to read.

28. Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper (USA) ***1/2



The chartered Zarathustra Company had it all their way. Their charter was for a Class III uninhabited planet, which Zarathustra was, and it meant they owned the planet lock stock and barrel. They exploited it, developed it and reaped the huge profits from it without interference from the Colonial Government. Then Jack Holloway, a sunstone prospector, appeared on the scene with his family of Fuzzies and the passionate conviction that they were not cute animals but little people.

When I was in my teens I read a lot of SF. This could have been one of those books. It was published in 1962.
On reading it now it feels a bit outdated. The story is interesting enough. What happens when we, humans, feel our self-interest threatened? Will we recognize the rights and the basic humanity of others? This question isn’t outdated at all, of course, when you think of it.
What annoyed me was that the fuzzies are so cute! They are furry, childlike, innocent, trusting and cute, cute, cute. Yuck. Explain to me why this is so annoying.
They reminded me of some of the characters in the Star Wars movies.
There’s a whole discussion on what will constitute a sapient being. As they have to be treated with consideration. Interesting theme! I do think we have changed outlook on that.
Anyway, I sound a bit annoyed but I like it when a book makes me think.

I think reading the recent books on octopuses will be just the thing after this one.

I watched a TV discussion with a cosmologist, question are there other sentient beings out there? Answer, no probably not. But the idea of meeting other civilizations is fascinating of course. The TV program showed a small part of movie Arrival. And it has been a big theme in SF.

Started Remarkably Bright Creatures. A very pleasant suprise!

Happy Wednesday, Ella. Finally checking in after a long absence. I hope you are doing well. Have a good time with Remarkably Bright Creatures. I also hope my wife reads it too. She would love it.

>247 msf59: Hi Marc! Nice to see you here. I’m doing fine. Having a good time with Remarkably Bright Creatures. I think lots of people will love it.

29. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (USA) ****1/2



"After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors, until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late."

This was a fun read. Though I felt very sorry for the hero of the story, octopus Marcellus. Second hero is Tova, and there are several interesting other characters.
Their developing friendship and trust carries the story for me.

The book has got me interested about the life of octopuses even more. How realistic is the story?

>249 EllaTim: This one sounds very worth reading. My library had it in stock, I will start it soon.
However, there are a few other books in the queue....

>250 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! Certainly, I can imagine, that queue that gets longer and longer and longer…

Wishing you good reading! We finally managed a visit to the allotment in between the showers. But there’s more rain coming, so a good time to read.

Read, and not reviewed:

30. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (UK) ***1/2 (reread)
31. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (UK) **** (reread)
32. Haar Naam was Sarah by Tatiana de Rosnay (Fr) ***
I know lots of people loved this book, but I just didn’t connect with it.

>251 EllaTim: We had rain too...
So thanks again for the BB, I enjoyed the reading a lot

>253 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! Glad to hear it.
Weather has improved. Enjoy your Sunday!

Reading now:
Knielen op een bed Violen (dutch, library)

33. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (USA) ****
Part 2 of series Scholomance



"A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik's groundbreaking crossover series.

I read through this one really fast. It's a fun book, in spite of the dark theme. And I very much wanted to know how everything would work out.

So I raced through part three of this series as well:
34. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (USA) ****



In this part 3 El and her friends have graduated. But on the outside there are even more threats than inside. And El has lost her friend. Or hasn't she?

This series has a big theme, are we responsible for the bad things we do, or don't do, or only profit by?
Like in Dostoyewski's Brothers Karamazov: suppose a whole city is happy, happy, happy, but hidden away one child has to suffer for it, would you accept this?

Part three's ending seems to point to a part four.

This was a nice experience, I am struggling in Knielen op een Bed Violen, which feels a lot harder.

>254 EllaTim: I have only read one book by Jan Siebelink: De herfst zal schitterend zijn. I really didn't like it. That has kept me from reading other books by him. Knielen op een bed violen won the AKO prijs in 2005, so it is still on one of my reading lists. I hope you like it, so its gets a nudge to be read some day.

>256 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! This is my first by him.
Knielen op een bed violen is gripping, anxiety producing. I'm reading it slowly, while looking for something lighter as a diversion.

35 Knielen op een bed violen by Jan Siebelink (dutch)****1/2



Hans Sievez grows up with a very religious father. It’s a strict authoritarian upbringing, and he leaves home and this religion gladly.
He becomes a gardener, marries, is happy, a child is born. But he also is attracted to a religious group again. They start visiting him, selling him books, asking him to meetings. And he is sucked in, also by his own need.
I found it scary and sad to read. He becomes cut off from his family, his wife(Margje) dislikes the ‘Brothers’ strongly, and wants him to leave. He won’t, he can’t maybe.
It is very well written, colourful, and intense. Some humor as well, the image of the three blackrobed Brothers visiting him by crawling through a hole in the hedge is really funny. But the book left me feeling sad.
And maybe with a bit more understanding? Although I still feel it’s hard to understand. I could understand the feelings of Margje a lot better. She looses her husband to an obsession.

The book has been translated into German, but not into English.

>258 EllaTim: Sounds a bit like Maarten 't Hart, but than from the inside.
Not sure yet if I want to read it. I should to be in a very good mood, as this is rather close to home. Some aunts and uncles were in very strickt churches (zwarte kousen), and not in a nice way.
I think some people only can go back to the certainty of their youth in uncertain times...

And I almost forgot, happy 14th Thingaversary, Ella!

>259 FAMeulstee: I think Maarten ‘t Hart has maybe a similar background, but he writes from more distance. Siebelink seems to try to understand Hans (modelled after his own father). He has a lot of sympathy for him. He shows him as a child, how imaginative he is, and how sensitive. And yes, he is in stressful times, uncertain of himself, money problems.

I have a different background (raised a catholic) for me this is new. I had a very religious uncle as well, but none of it was so heavy as those very strict churches.

>260 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! I seem to be enjoying my reading again. So a nice anniversary.

Reading now:
Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle

And: Along the Amber Route by C.J. Schüler
I’m reading slowly, such a lot of information! But very interesting.

I haven’t been present here, lately. A lot of stuff keeping me busy, and I lack concentration.

Wrestling with something I have to write. Managed to make a partial finish yesterday evening. Went out for a walk in the neighborhood, and found this book in one of the Little Free Libraries:
Reizen zonder John by Geert Mak.
It’s a tome, but I can read it slowly. Will return something else there, as it made a sizable hole on the book shelf.

>264 EllaTim: How nice, Ella, I loved Reizen zonder John. Mak is such a good writer.
And I did read Steinbeck's Travels with Charley a few months before.

>265 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! I started reading, and liked it. Mak is a good writer. It’s a nice coincidence I finished East of Eden earlier. It was interesting to read what he told about Steinbeck. What did you think of Travels with Charley?

>266 EllaTim: Geert Mak is a good writer, John Steinbeck was a very good writer.
I liked Travels with Charley (4.5*) half a star more than Reizen zonder John (4*).

>255 EllaTim: This looks like a great series. I will have to try the first book.

>267 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! I found Travels with Charley. This will make a good duo. Very nice that you liked them both.
It’s interesting to read a book like this, travelogue and history combined.

>268 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita. I hope you can find it, and will like it.

Busy with the resters association. Had a meeting this evening. Really tiring. One of our people has been threatened by the father of her new neighbour from hell.
Weird. What are people thinking when they are picking a fight with all their neighbors?

Anita zoomed through the new Treasure Hunt. I’ve found one, up till now.

Really tired. Working today, a meeting in the evening. Hold a meeting for a group in a room with really bad acoustics. Pff. Why.

Sorry you had two difficult meetings lately, Ella.
Good luck with the treasure hunt.

>271 EllaTim: Hi Anita. No luck with the treasure hunt. My back went out completely, and I have to be careful how I move. Even using my iPad for too long can be a problem.

I’m still fascinated by Reizen zonder John. Very interesting. And reading Career of Evil for something lighter.

Happy September - it sounds like you've been doing some nice reading. I read Travels With Charley when I was in school many eons ago. I'm interested to see how In America: Travels With John Steinbeck plays out for you.

Oh so sorry about your back! I can have that same problem and know how miserable and absolutely debilitating it can be. Sending you many healing thoughts.

All the best for your back, Ella.
And good luck with the treasure hunt - there is special topic with hints that helped me a lot.
Have a wonderful weekend!

>274 streamsong: Hi Janet! I’m really enjoying my book. It’s interesting, and giving lots of information and background. I dropped history in high school because I thought it was boring, but I’m not finding it boring now.

Thanks for the well-wishes!

>275 SirThomas: Hi Thomas. Thank you. I managed a couple more in the treasure hunt. Good tip.

A children’s book:
36. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt (USA) ****1/2



Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity.

A good story. The four children, but most of the focus is on the eldest, Dicey, who has to find a way to keep her family safe and together. Their mother has suddenly left them in an unknown town, and they only have an address for an elderly aunt to turn to. But she is days of travel away.
It’s an exciting story. You get to know and like those children. Dicey is quite a character. But she manages to get her family through.

I wanted something lighter to read as a diversion. But this one held my attention immediately, and made me want to read on.

Hi Ella!
Sorry to hear you've been having pains. I hope it gets better soon.

>277 EllaTim: I read that book in school and loved it! Round about 5th-6th grade, I think. I re-read it a few years ago and still enjoyed it, but didn't recognize much of the story. I think in my head I merge the storyline from that book with another book (that I can't recall any more) so it didn't quite match the truth. Did you know it's the first book in a series? I haven't read the rest of the books (yet).

>278 PawsforThought: Hi Paws!

You read it! I loved it now, and I can imagine I would have loved it at that age. No, after a time you forget a lot of details, but you remember the general feeling, and that you liked a book (or not).
There is a whole series, but it can be dangerous to read on, sometimes follow-ups are less good.

In a bad mood? It’s hot here, and noisy.
I found this music:
https://youtu.be/KUm6f0QJ_FI?si=L-7FHwr3IBm-R52F

Helps a lot. Happy sounds.

>I love it!
Thank you for the link.

>277 EllaTim: Classic cover, Ella.

Hope you are feeling much better.

>279 EllaTim: To me the next Tillerman books were as good, Ella. I have read them twice since 2008.

>281 SirThomas: Hi Thomas! It’s fun isn’t it. I found them through the Tiny Desk concerts on YouTube. Very varied artists. Always surprising.

>282 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Nice, isn’t it. Very classic, a bit nostalgic. I picked a cover from all the choices available that for me reminds me of the books I read when I was young.

The backache is very stubborn, unfortunately! But thanks for asking.

>283 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Oh, that’s great. I can read on without hesitation, thanks. And that you have read them twice says something!

37. Mensen zonder Geld (Dutch) by Jan Mens ****



I’ve been reading this novel very slowly, as it was my allotment book.
Published in 1939, this books topic is the depression, unemployment and poverty and it’s effects on people.
Japie is a young boy, we see events through his eyes. His father is a carpenter, who loves his work, but he can’t manage through financially difficult times. He loses his workplace, and the family his to move to a cheap house on the outskirts of town. People do stick up for each other there, but life is difficult, and Japie’s father just can’t take it anymore and he drowns (himself, that’s not certain)

I liked most of the writing, and an extra bonus that the book was set in Amsterdam before the war. A bit of history, giving a new view.

Funny, I have this in an omnibus of golden oldies, or some title like that. But it has obviously fallen from grace, the public library of Amsterdam doesn’t have it in it’s catalogue. It’s only available in the library of the IISG (International Institute of Social History). I think this is a disgrace.

38. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith ***1/2

I’m doing a reread of the series.

39. Illuminations by T. Kingfisher (USA, fantasy) ****



Rosa Mandolini knows in her heart that her family are the greatest painters of magical illuminations in the city. But the eccentric Studio Mandolini has fallen on hard times and the future is no longer certain. While trying to help her family, Rosa discovers a strange magical box protected by a painted crow. But when she finds a way to open the box, she accidentally releases the Scarling, a vicious monster determined to destroy the Mandolini family at any cost.
With the aid of her former best friend and a painted crow named Payne, it's up to Rosa to stop the Scarling before it unmakes the magical paintings that keep the city running, and hopefully save her family in the process!

This was fun, a light and inventive fantasy, with some good characters, the crow is memorable!

Three books finished! Looks like your reading is getting back on track, Ella.

>285 EllaTim: There are 10 copies of this book, in different editions, at de Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Sadly the libraries don't have the space to keep all books, publishers send a copy to the KB for that. And an early edition can be read online at Delpher.
Looking at the KB website you probably have the omnibus Vijf vertellers?

>288 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Not quite, but I am doing better!

Oh, well done, looking it up. I still think it’s a pity. This book deserves to be at least available in the OBA. It’s well written, and gives a good idea of the problems and the situation of unemployment in Amsterdam. And space, hm, the OBA has a new central library, where they have placed smaller, lower bookcases, and more computers. The idea was that people would stop reading paper books. I don’t know.

Yes! It’s a bit old-fashioned, but entertaining. I’ve still got three unread oldies.

Still reading Reizen zonder John. It’s fascinating.

As a book like this can’t be absorbed in one go I started Songs of the Humpback Whale. This started very good, but it goes on rather chaotic and disjointed, and I am wondering why she chose to do it like this. It’s confusing and a bit annoying.

>285 EllaTim: I wonder if there is a translation of that, Ella. I will go and try to find out. Another splendid cover.

Have a lovely weekend.

>291 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! I had a look at Worldcat for a translation, but I couldn’t find any. I think he is a minor dutch writer, though interesting.
Lovely cover isn’t it? The book is one in a publisher’s series, Salamander pockets (https://www.librarything.com/nseries/256367/Salamanderpockets ) very recognizable in what they look like, and usually good quality writing. I often find them in old book sales, or second hand shops.

Finished
40 Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult (USA) ***

After a good start I feel really disappointed by this book. Some interesting elements, the brother-sister relationship comes to mind, but halfway through I started to feel really annoyed. Hard to say why exactly. But I had difficulty finishing it. I just motored through because I had already read such a large part.

Good news, Marc’s scan results came back clean again. We’re still nervous about it, and very glad when it’s good. So we celebrated.

>293 EllaTim:- Congrats on the great scan results! Sleep well tonight, both of you!

>294 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. And so we will.

>293 EllaTim: That is wonderful, Ella, well worth a celebration!

Oh, Ella, that's great news to hear! Definitely cause for some celebrations.

Happy weekend!

>293 EllaTim: A good reason to celebrate and let out a sigh of relief!

>293 EllaTim: YAY!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Definitely worth a celebration!

Hi Ella my dear, congratulations on Marc's clear scan results, definitely a time to celebrate my dear friend. Sending love and hugs to both of you from both of us dear friend.

>296 FAMeulstee: >297 PawsforThought: >298 figsfromthistle: >299 SirThomas: >300 drneutron: >301 johnsimpson: Hi everyone. Thanks! Marc gets a scan every twelve weeks. It’s a big relief when the scan comes back clear. After the stress the relief and the celebration.

41. Reizen zonder John by Geert Mak (dutch) ****

In 2010 Geert Mak decided to travel through the USA, following the trail of his favorite writer John Steinbeck. Steinbeck’s roadtrip took place in 1960, 50 years earlier. He wrote a book about it.
Mak wasn’t the only one with this idea, he tells about several other journalists doing the same!
The resulting book was very interesting to me. Mak writes in a very accessible style, about Steinbeck, about America, in the now, in the sixties. Also about earlier history, what has happened in the places he visits, etc.
Very interesting, making me aware of how much I don’t know!
It’s also a lot, going from background info on Steinbeck, back to the first settlers, historical developments, politics in the sixties, to 2010. I’ll be looking for some more reading.

42. Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls (USA) ***1/2
(Read in dutch "Mevrouw Caliban")



It all starts with the radio. Dorothy's husband, Fred, has left for work, and she is at the kitchen sink washing the dishes, listening to classical music. Suddenly, the music fades out and a soft, close, dreamy voice says, "Don't worry, Dorothy." A couple weeks later, there is a special interruption in regular programming. The announcer warns all listeners of an escaped sea monster. Giant, spotted, and froglike, the beast-who was captured six months earlier by a team of scientists-is said to possess incredible strength and to be considered extremely dangerous. That afternoon, the seven-foot-tall lizard man walks through Dorothy's kitchen door. She is frightened at first, but there is something attractive about the monster. The two begin a tender, clandestine affair, and no one, not even Dorothy's husband or her best friend, seems to notice. Mrs. Caliban is a story of passion and loneliness, love and loss. Wryly subversive, it brilliantly combines surrealism, satire, and the female perspective.

Such a strange story! But I think I started reading expecting this book to be something it is not (because of the movie). Dorothy takes everything in her stride, and seems hardly moved by what is happening in her life. Still, it takes a heart-rending turn.

>303 EllaTim: Glad to see you liked Reizen zonder John, Ella. Geert Mak is such a good writer.

Happy Wednesday, Ella. I hope you and the family are doing well. Since I am a big fan of Steinbeck, In America: Travels With John Steinbeck sounds like something I would really like.

>305 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! We agree on that. I really liked this, and it gave me an interesting perspective on Steinbeck.

>306 msf59: Hi Mark! I would be interested to hear your opinion. Have you read a Steinbeck biography?

>303 EllaTim: I have a book on history by the author and hope to get to it soon. I would definitely want to read his book on Steinbeck.

Nice to see you posting, Ella. xx

>308 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Which book of his? He has written some real chunksters, daunting.

Nice to see you here, as well, Paul! xx

Inspired by Mark I started Skippy dies. It’s really good, but it’s a big book, and I have a tendency to quit halfway through. Wish me luck!

>310 EllaTim: Wishing you all the luck you need, Ella!
I hope to start my reread of Skippy Dies in Dutch translation next week.

>311 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. You doing a reread does mean it's a good one! Nice to read it together.

>312 EllaTim: Back then I could not read as much as I do now, it took me two full months to read it.
It was my favorite that year.

>313 FAMeulstee: Two months! But I’m glad it was your favorite, and so worth the time and effort.

There was a hearing today, about my noisy neighborhood pub, that’s causing me so much trouble. Yuck, and yuck, and more yuck, is all I can say. Friday 13, is what it was. As everybody I was doing this with has withdrawn, including the guy who was going to help with legal issues. It’s quite obvious where the city representatives stand, firmly on the side of the pub.
Only positive point that several people had taken the trouble to be there, to offer moral support. They could say something, and did so. I was very grateful, because it really felt good, to have them at my side.

But the rest of the day, I have been feeling quite depressed, angry and sad. I will have to look into moving.

Anyway, still unable to sleep for now. Listening to music.

>315 EllaTim: Sorry you had such a bad day, Ella. I hope you got some sleep by now.

>316 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Totally filled with adrenaline. Makes sleeping hard. Today we went into the woods, looking for toadstools, very relaxing! Thanks.

I'm glad that Marc's scan came back clear, Ella, that is excellent news! I'm really sorry about your renting situation. So much noise from a pub must be awful. I hope the idea of moving works out for you. We live in townhouse, and while we own it, we do share walls and the common area with people. Occasionally there have been problems, but always a swift resolution, thankfully.

>318 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Yes, Marc is doing well, very glad.

My situation resembles yours I think. We share walls with our neighbors. It’s an old apartment, and it has always been noisy. This pub is new, and it’s just too large. It doesn’t fit. Moving is an option, but it isn’t easy, there’s a real housing scarcity here.

Sorry to hear about the noise in your neighbourhood. Pubs can be quite "lively" at times. Are there no noise nuisance rules? Here there are noise limits in place based on the time of day/night it is. I hope you are able to find a solution. It is unfortunate that you have to consider moving.

>320 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Lively is the word. Yes there are some rules. But the rules are too lax, and they are not kept.

I have lived here for ages, but the neighborhood has been changing and I would love somewhere more quiet.

Hi, Ella. I hope you had a good weekend. Sorry to hear about the neighborhood troubles. No, I have not read a Steinbeck bio. I would really like to someday.

>322 msf59: Hi Mark! Mak writes a bit about Steinbeck, his background and his life at the time he wrote Travels with Charley. Interesting, but I don’t know if I wanted to know it.

Not much energy for real reading again. Listening to music. A Tolkien audiobook. And some pages of Salt Houses. It felt appropriate.

43. Salt Houses by Hala Alyan ****



From a dazzling new literary voice, a debut novel about a Palestinian family caught between present and past, between displacement and home...On the eve of her daughter Alia's wedding, Salma reads the girl's future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel, and luck. While she chooses to keep her predictions to herself that day, they will all soon come to pass when the family is up rooted in the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967. Salma is forced to leave her home in Nablus; Alia's brother gets pulled into a politically militarized world he can't escape; and Alia and her gentle-spirited husband move to Kuwait City, where they reluctantly build a life with their three children. When Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait in1990, Alia and her family once again lose their home, their land, and their story as they know it, scattering to Beirut, Paris, Boston, and beyond. Soon Alia's children begin families of their own, once again navigating the burdens (and blessings) of assimilation in foreign cities. Lyrical and heartbreaking, Salt Houses is a remarkable debut novel that challenges and humanizes an age-old conflict we might think we understand--one that asks us to confront that most devastating of all truths: you can't go home again"--

I had this book on my shelf, and felt prompted to read it now. A family history, of a family displaced by war. What is home, and where do you really belong?

44. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (UK) ****
Reread.

Busy week, lots to do. Working at the allotment. We’re closing the season with a big cleanup where everyone participates. So yesterday, and tomorrow again. It is chilly, but yesterday unexpectedly good weather, no rain! Misty morning, a group of swans flying over, so beautiful, and lots of other birds. Geese. Small birds. Robins.

I’m reading on in Skippy Dies.

I’ve started a stressful job after finishing the work at the allotment: I have to write a notice of objection. Legal stuff. I need a lawyer. No fun, having to deal with the council lawyers who are firmly going along with the fiddling of our council member/pub owner neighbour.
Holland is not a corrupt country, o no, not at all.

I need to read something cozy and light.

45. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire ***

A reread. I wanted something light. The Wayward Children series gets a lot of praise here. Starting this book I found I had read it before, and that it isn’t really my cup of tea. For unclear reasons.
A good Halloween read though!

46. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Ireland) *****



"Why does Skippy, a student at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop? Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory? Or Carl, the teenage drug dealer who is Skippy's rival in love?"

This was quite something to read. A dark story for large parts, and I had to put it aside from time to time. But some scenes are really funny, or touching, or read like fireworks exploding. Very good!

>328 EllaTim: ...and again a BB,Thank you again Ella.
Have a wonderful day besides all!
All the best for your legal stuff.

>328 EllaTim: So glad to see you loved Skippy as much as I did, Ella!

>326 EllaTim: Sorry about the legal troubles. Upper- underworld mixing? That is sadly wide spread these days.

>328 EllaTim: Hi Thomas! You’re welcome. I would guess there is a translation?

>329 SirThomas: Hi Anita! Not underworld, but upperworld meddling where it should not. Prominent member of city council is also owner of four pubs. Schijn van belangenverstrengeling geeft al moeilijkheden genoeg. Mijn buurvrouw is om die reden afgehaakt. Sorry I can’t say this in English.

Yesterday there was a storm, and lots of rain. Amsterdam was close to getting inundated. Water levels up because the sluices at IJmuiden (Amsterdam at the Northsea) were not working properly. Could have been interesting. As it is it has led to a leaking basement. Pretty annoying.

We went to the allotment today. Still some harvesting. Lots of medlars this year. But what to do with them?
And pumpkins. It still is just warm enough, there are some small ones still going.

Glad you enjoyed Skippy Dies, Ella. Sorry to read about your basement flooding. That's no fun at all!

>331 EllaTim: Yes, I've already found it and will report on my impressions soon.
It's very windy and rainy today - reading time!

>332 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! No certainly not. That basement contains part of the art of Marc’s parents. It should not flood.

>333 SirThomas: Hi Thomas. Best way to use days like these!

I have been following the news. It’s awful, devastating and heartbreaking. I feel so responsible in a way. I wouldn’t know what to do, but it’s all wrong.

Yesterday finally a day where it didn’t rain all of the time. Spent the afternoon at the allotment. Picking the last of the pumpkins, still smallish. The rabbits have found them, I left the ones that they have started eating. It’s cold and wet, they need some calories too.
Carrots, beets, but the undisciplined dog of neighbours has been trampling my leeks. The dog keeps breaking loose from their garden, wanting to chase rabbits. They then run after it, chasing it, all adding to the excitement for the dog. Pfff. They need a puppy course.
Anyway, a beautiful afternoon, autumn colours, the landscape at its best.
Reading several books, nothing finished yet.

Started De Camino by Anya Niewierra. I had to get into the book, but now I’m liking it.

>336 EllaTim: Got De Camino from the e-library yesterday, as it won the NS-publieksprijs. Hope to read it later this month. Looking forward what you think of it.

>333 SirThomas: ...and finished Skippy Dies...
Wow what a book - I felt like I was in the book, not just reading it!

>335 EllaTim: I would be frustrated growing all that delicious produce to have the puppies trample all over it! I like your attitude towards the rabbits, Ella!

>338 SirThomas: That is the perfect definition of what a good book can do.

>337 FAMeulstee: Yes, that’s how I found it as well. We can compare notes, I just finished it.

>338 SirThomas: Hi Thomas. Great! I’m glad to hear it.

>339 PaulCranswick: I told my neigbour I wasn’t happy. But later I realized it wasn’t the first time at all. It’s been leaping over the fence and damaged that as well. It’s a hunting dog, the wife hunts and the husband has to keep the dog in check. He’s not doing a good job.

47. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread)

There’s a new book coming in the Murderbot series. I wanted something fun to read, so decided on a reread.

Still feeling so tired, and the weather is not helping. Rainy, gloomy. I’ve started the second Murderbot.

48. De Camino by Anya Niewierra (dutch, audio) ****



This book has recently been awarded the dutch NS publieksprijs.
I listened to the audio version.
It took me some time to get into the story, but then it took me along. It’s a thriller, so exciting, but with a serious background. And some romance to spice it up.
The story of Lotte. Her husband has committed suicide walking the famous pilgrim route, the Camino de Santiago. She finds it hard to come to terms with this, as she didn’t see it coming, her husband was doing well. What has happened. Her husband was from Bosnia, and she tries to find out more about his background. And discovers that he is not who he said he is. Lotte decides to follow his footsteps, and walk the Camino exactly copying her husband.
From this point things start to happen, and extra points of view come into the story.
The book was easy to listen to, and it grabbed me. I did find it awkward that it mixes several genres: it has a very serious background, in Lotte wondering who her husband really was, and what he has done. But I found the romance part actually annoying. I don’t believe in finding your soulmate, and love at first sight, boom.
Maybe it just feels strange to say the book was enjoyable when the subject actually was so difficult as well.

Finally finished the difficult job I had to do. Enjoying some time off. I’ve decided to start clearing out some junk from the house, it’s so cluttered here! I did my first batch of clearing, a bag full of clothes! There’s lots more to clear out, so I won’t see a lot of result just yet. But I feel too tired to do more today.

49. Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon (It/USA) ****

Reread. I had forgotten most of the plot. On rereading I think I liked it even better than the first time. Not because of the mystery, but because of how she involves you in the story and the people.

>342 EllaTim: You hit me with a BB!

>343 EllaTim: Yay for decluttering! Lot's of work but feels good, doesn't it?

Hi Anita!

It’s in Dutch, problem? Maybe it will be translated?

Oh, yes. Decluttering feels good. But I have a lot still to do!

Today no progress, I had to go out to vote, and then we took a walk in a park, looking for mushrooms. Or toadstools? What’s the difference? The ones we found (clouded Funnel) can be eaten, but they also can make you sick. So better not.

Yuck. A good friend has Covid, and another a pneumonia, not Covid. Take care everyone.

I completely forgot about Thanksgiving, have been too obsessed with the bad election results here.

Still a happy Thanksgiving to all of you. And for me: I’ve been thankful for this nice group, even though I haven’t been very active. I’m thankful for the people in my life, family, Marc, friends. And for the beautiful autumn day outside. Late autumn as lovely as can be.

Yes, I am sorry to read that Geert Wilding got in, Ella! My sympathies! We have a nice sunny day here today. I think our weather in my little corner is much like your in The Netherlands. We get a lot of rain , and very little snow. Maybe a week of snow, maybe none if we are lucky.

>348 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! Well, exciting times when it comes to politics. He has been shouting from the sidelines for twenty years, now he has to deliver. It won’t be easy at all.

Today we are having stormy weather, very fitting. I just saw clouds of sparrows coming to take refuge in the trees in our backyard garden.