What I'm reading Wednesday #7 - One really good one; two duds

3 books - 1 I really enjoyed and 2 duds.

This is the most recently published one in the series although the next is scheduled to come out April 14th. If I haven't read all 20 in the series I've come close. I saw a suggestion that the book to fill the prompt could be set in the 1800s not authored then and that "saved" me from a boring book. 

 4.5 stars. Prompt: Written in the 1800s

I was very disappointed in this book as I have enjoyed several others by this author. Perhaps the life story of Hedy Lamar just wasn't that great for a fictional biography. It did save me from books that appealed even less as she was the star of the top grossing movie the year I was born; Samson & Delilah. 

I was generous and gave it 2 stars. Prompt: Inspired by the top-grossing movie the year you were born (1949)

I would describe this book best by saying it seemed like a fever dream of for those intimately familiar with Oxford colleges. I really didn't like the writing style and how it was pitched to those who knew and cared about the Oxford staffing and buildings. I only kept reading because it was so bad but by a good author so I thought it might redeem itself. Also it fit prompts in 2 different challenges. 

A generous 1 star. Prompt: Includes a Red Herring & Mystery Genre challenge Prompt: A classic mystery

What I'm Reading Wednesday #6 - The wonderful, very good, mediocre and waste of time

THE WONDERFUL - 

There are 8 books in this series so far and it fits Prompt 42: Includes a handwritten interior font (in my liberal non-literal interpretation of the prompts)

I enjoyed this series so much (5 stars!) and really wish there were more to read. Clever, thought provoking, both endearing and appalling characters plus more. 

THE VERY GOOD - 

Prompt 18: Provokes strong emotion

4 stars. I read this as part of my exploration of the Golden Age Detectives and the Queens of Crime. It made me rather dreading how the murder would happen and who was responsible.

THE MEDIOCRE - 

Prompt 20: Day of the Week in the Title - 2.5 stars

THE WASTE OF TIME -

Prompt 29: Set in the Arctic or Antarctic - 1 star

I really enjoyed her previous book - "How the Penguins Saved Veronica" but this sequel was a waste of time in my opinion.

What I'm Reading Wednesday #5

Prompt 37: Started on the 26th of a month

If I hadn't known this was the first published book of this Queen of Crimes author and read it as part of my Personal Curriculum for The Golden Age of Detective Fiction, I wouldn't have finished it. A rambling story that shows the promise fulfilled in her later books. 2.5 stars.

For fun - The second book in a series - hope there are more. 4 stars.

Prompt 10: Spans a decade or more.

I picked this up from a Little Free Library and it was a "beach read". Predictable plot; well written. 2.5 stars.

What I'm Reading Wednesday #4

I got sucked into this series - fantasy, romance, adventure, evil vs good, redemption, a dragon & more - oh my! I do have to say the 3rd book was not as enjoyable as the story took some very dark turns.

Prompt 23: Grumpy sunshine trope - "Assistant to the Villain"

Prompt 8: A 3 syllable word in the title - "Apprentice to the Villain"

Prompt 5: Featuring a conspiracy - "Accomplice to the Villain"

What I am reading Wednesday #3

Winter is when I read the most so I am zipping through the 52 prompts.

Prompt 28 - From a series at least eight books long

There are 14 primary books in this series with many, many short stories in addition. This was a good read although the plot started to get redundant. 4 stars.

Prompt 12 - A genre-defining read

I don't recall actually reading this before and, after reading about the author being a founder of the white feather movement in England during WWI (shaming men who were presumed to have avoided military service) and her belief that the aristocracy were much superior to everyone else, I almost skipped it. 

However, she was one of the Queens of Crime along with Agatha Christie, so reading it meets one of my personal curriculum goals. It is considered to have created and defined the masked avenger genre.  The writing is rather overwrought. 3 stars.

Prompt 10 - Spans a decade or more

I have such mixed feelings about this book. It ran the gamut of deep human emotions, jumped around in time and character perspectives and spanned at least 30 years. But I kept reading! It was translated from French and apparently was a big hit in France. It gets either 2 or 4.5 stars - can't make up my mind.

Prompt 24 - Uneven number of chapters

A rather silly premise but an enjoyable read. Part of a series. 3 stars.

What I'm reading Wednesday #2

We have been having beautiful Bay Area winter days with lovely sunrises and sunsets, interesting clouds and want to get outside weather. Still, I've been reading as always.

I tried asking AI what prompts in the 52 Books Challenge 2026 the first book fit and it came up with quite a few. I may zip through the 52 prompts this year by easily figuring out where to slot the books I'm reading!

Prompt 2: Kangaroo word on the cover

I went literal after I saw this book recommended on the prompt list. It was cute but not great. 2.5 stars.

Prompt 11: Requires a suspension of disbelief

I bought my 9 year old granddaughter the other 2 books in this series because she said this one was so good that she wanted to keep going! Middle grades fantasy based on Indian folklore stories written by an American pediatrician of Indian heritage. I look forward to talking about the series and learning a 9 year old's perspective. 4 stars.

Prompt 39: A book that cost you nothing

This was an engaging read checked out from the library that moved along quickly. Well we do pay property taxes that support the library but we'd have to pay those anyway so free to me! The latest in the series. 4.5 stars.

What I'm Reading Wednesday #1

I completed the three books for the 52 Book Club 2026 Challenge.

Prompt 1: Set in an Ancient Civilization

The author's note at the beginning says it all - "I made all this up. Historians and physicists - please do not spit on me in the street."

Still, we have time travels to a field in England in 1400, visit the dinosaurs 3 times and are in Alexandria, Egypt when the library burns down. Got to save those scrolls for the future! Along the way people argue, fall in love, etc. Good characters. 4 stars.

Prompt 19: A nosy neighbour character

The story is set in Seattle in the early 1930's with the depression, prohibition, corruption and gangsters in full force. The nosy neighbor is the boarding house landlady of one of the main characters. 

I thought it was well written and learned it was inspired by an actual case. I lived in Seattle during undergrad and a couple of years after and went on a few historical tours where I learned the city definitely was part of the "Wild West" in its earlier years not the tech/outdoorsy/yuppie scene it is now. 4.5 stars.

Prompt 35: Character with a Secret Identity

Another wild romp in the series of single Mom who is secretly a "hitman". Good writing and storyline moves along. Only gave it 3 stars though as I thought it rather silly.

On to more books!

Oddest book read this year

Odd, but true and an engrossing read! Apparently there is also a movie and song inspired by this hockey player and robber who now makes pottery. I also had no idea Hungary was such a mess after the fall of Communism.

 

What I’m reading - 52 book challenge 2025

I have three prompts left to complete the challenge.

Right now I’m working on “In the public domain” by rereading The Great Gatsby. I picked this because I recently read The Gatsby Gambit and enjoyed it.

Simple summer reading bingo

If you don’t live in Portland, OR you can’t get a prize BUT you could give yourself a treat! 

I like this one because it has good categories and a simple approach.

Powell’s Summer Reading Bingo

Best reading of September

Here are the non-fiction and fiction books I enjoyed the most this month.

My non-fiction find was an ebook from the library that I didn't expect to enjoy. It really was great and is hard to describe but she talks about relationships, life stories, love and loss and so much more. I highly recommend it.

In the fiction arena I have to my own surprise gotten hooked on a historical romance series about a Napoleonic War era group of spies including a woman code named The Pink Carnation. Not everyone's cup of tea but I find them fun.

This month's fiction best read though was a Sherlockian pastiche by a famous basketball player who is said to have applied Sherlockian powers of observation to perfecting his game.

Best reading of August

I am and always have been a voracious reader. Too much time spent on light mysteries but occasionally I read a book that really grabs me. There were two in August.

 

It is hard to get me to do more than yawn when reading about or watching sports but this book kept me up late at night. A great non-fiction choice

 

The cover makes this look like a bodice ripper I know but the intertwining of true stories about and individuals who survived the Titanic's sinking, class distinctions, immigrant gutsiness and interpersonal interactions make this another read that kept me up at night. No bodice ripping though!

Good reading in March

I read a lot of books and most of them are fairly ho-hum but this month I read two that I really enjoyed and would recommend depending upon your interests.

First is Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin who also wrote The Happiness Project and other books. I have been struggling with my inability to stick with the habits I think I want to have in retirement although when I was working 50 to 60 hours a week with lots of deadlines I had little trouble! Finally an explanation for how my personality and habit formation work together. I'm trying to adopt some of the ideas I found in this book to my exercise habit formation and then move on from there.

Second is the latest installment in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. You have to be hooked on the idea of Sherlock Holmes and his much younger wife as a storyline but I am and enjoyed this book as much as all of the preceding ones. I am even thinking of going to a day of the local Sherlock Holmes convention in mid-April!





I hope someone else enjoys these too.

Let's read about consumerism

I think I will read some books about American's obsession love of consumerism in this most consumser-ist month of the year. I should clarify that at this time I am interested in this from a sociological, political and/or historical perspective - not from a personal consumption perspective.

I've read in other years:

- Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping - Judith Levine
- A Year Without Made in China - Sara Bongiorni
- Overdressed - Elizabeth L. Cline
- and others about Affluenza, the garbage epidemic, etc.

Now I'm looking for some new reads that specifically focus on consumerism and these seem like candidates although my library doesn't have either of the first two. I will order the first one via interlibrary loan as buying them seems too ironic. The third one is in at the library and I'll check it out.

- Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy - James A. Roberts 2011

- Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture - Carrie McLaren 2009 (a bit old perhaps)

- Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are -- by Rob Walker 2008

Can anyone suggest some other recently published books about consumerism in America that are really good reads?

An amazing list of books to read from each country in the world

I read about this online this weekend and found the actual list of what she read and what else was recommended for each country. She offers reviews - just click on the country and it will take you to her blog entry for that one. Amazing!

A year of reading the world

Continuing to ramp up my retirement

I think this past week was a good example of where I am with creating a full and meaningful retirement.

I spent one morning at OLLI classes and continue to be amazed at the poetry instructor. While I am there he makes me want to pursue learning all about Poe, Emerson or Dickinson. He must be around 90 and clearly has some physical challenges but he is so passionate about the subject! An inspiration.

Another morning was spent at the library working on donated books with my 85 year old co-volunteer. Another inspiration.

I went back to a tough (for me) exercise class and another day did a weight workout and walked the dog most days. My goal has settled on 4 times a week at the gym plus walking the dog a lot and doing stretches at home. I'm aiming to achieve that this coming week.

So I managed to learn something, contribute something and improve my health while having good social interaction. Not bad. The rest of the week's hours was spent on those somebody must do them chores and errands, reading, and chatting with Hubby.

Also to add in is creating something. I should start with finishing the paintings that are half done but that may not be it. I am also researching options for becoming active in either an artist or writer related group.

On the reading front, I highly recommend The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith aka J. K. Rowling. I couldn't make my way through her other new novel, The Casual Vacancy, but this was a page turning mystery that I hope has sequels.

Organizing a used book sale as a library fundraiser

Each year our Friends of the Library hosts 3 used books & media sales. Two are outside on the front lawn of the library - Memorial Day weekend during the local Arts Festival and Labor Day weekend during the local Book Festival. The third is in February and is inside in the library meeting rooms.

Memorial Day weekend sale 2013

 

All year round the donations pour in and at times it feels like you are sitting at the bottom of a waterfall. Lots of things the library can put in the collection (dvds, large print books, hardback children's books and current best sellers), lots of them we can put in the sale and I will even try to sell the containers they arrive in such as plastic storage boxes. Anything left after sorting goes to the literacy coordinator who sends books to prisons, homeless shelters, literacy classes, health clinics, etc. Three of us do all the sorting, pricing and boxing up.

The Friends group board members take care of publicity, signs, getting cash, signing up volunteer worker, etc. The library system provides tables and book carts. The guard shows up early the date of the sale to let us in before the library opens.

Then comes the day before the sale. The book carts have to be filled. The 15 tables and all boxes and crates of books have to be moved to the front lobby of the library late in the afternoon.

Saturday morning the sale set up starts at 8am. We rather swarm in, quickly get the tables out and set up. Some people start putting up the signs on each table. Others haul all the boxes/crates of books out and onto or under the tables. Other volunteers "flip" all the books so the spine is up and easily read. The filled carts are brought up from the basement and outside. Our customer service volunteers keep the early bird shoppers at bay and answer their questions. The cashier tables are staffed and ready.

Labor Day weekend sale 2012

 

At 9am the sale starts and we are swarmed. We get so many used book dealers that we have rules about how they can use scanners and where they have to take their large quantity of purchases for tallying and paying by check.

Volunteers come and go and keep pulling books out of boxes to restock and moving books back to where they belong. Usually by 1:00 or 1:30pm the volume of buyers shrinks to a manageable number and it gets really hot outside (this is Atlanta). We start consolidating categories on table and start removing empty boxes, tables and carts. At 3pm we close and move everything that is left back inside. Typically we make $4,500 to $5,000 at a sale.

 

My goal always is that we sell every single item! Last time we had about 2 children's books and 3 cookbooks left and only a few more in some non-fiction categories. This time we have lots of VHS movies and music CDs as well so we will see if people still want to buy them.

That is me in the red shirt LOL

 

Besides the money, it is great to see people of all ages from small children to elderly adults so eager to buy books! Sometimes the children simply sit down in the midst of the action and start looking at their new to them books! I've even seen them sitting under tables to read.

This Saturday it will be hot, dusty and very busy and we will rejoice in it. Wish us luck.

A good batch of reading

I really did well with my recent library books and enjoyed them all!

Desert Noir (Lena Jones Mysteries (Paperback)) by Betty Webb 

The Return: A Novel by Victoria Hislop 

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett 

And I read the currently relevant portions of one of the recommended books about dementia and was able to immediately apply some of the suggestions to help get my Mom to agree to see and doctor and have my brother go with her to the appointment. 

The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementias, and Memory... by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins

 

 

Good summer reads - what do you suggest?

Lately I have only read about one out of four books I have checked out from the library as I couldn't plow through the others. I did just read Joseph Kanon's Istanbul Passage and enjoyed it thoroughly. My 92 year old Mom just finished Jon Meecham's biography of Thomas Jefferson and found it interesting enough to take notes on some of the sayings attributed to Jefferson - all of which I would have thought came from Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. I've listed them below - what do you think?

I'm looking for suggestions re: what to read this summer. There is a great discussion on recommendations for summer reads going on at The Non-Consumer Advocate and I have added some of those to my list. But I need more - lots more!

What are you reading? What makes a good read for summer? HELP.

Sayings attributed to Thomas Jefferson

Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today.

Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

Never spend your money before you have it.

Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap, it will be dear to you.

Pride costs us more than hunger,thirst and cold.

We never prepant of having eaten too little.

Nothinsg is troublesome that we do willingly.

How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happend.

Take things always by the smooth handle.

When angry, count to ten before you speak; if really angry count to a  hundred.

Today's Decluttering Items
Blouse

Books to boost your mood

What an interesting idea. In the UK there is an organization that has created a list of books you might want to read to boost your mood. Check this out at Mood boosting books 2012 list