Greetings from the cottage, where I seem to be holed up indefinitely. Actually, that’s not entirely true, but I’ve been housebound since a week ago Monday when it became clear I was officially under the weather. Between the insane week in NYC, commuting back and forth to rehearsals on very little sleep, and the 10 days of virus-fighting, I feel like I’ve been living a surreal life. It’s made me restless, but I also know I have to be patient and take care of myself.
I will break out for an hour or so this morning when I drive Don to the bus station. He has to go into the city to sign new contracts with his agents and his car is still in the shop. I haven’t driven my car in well over two weeks!
That, I fear, will be the highlight of my day; driving to the neighboring town and back home again, stopping to buy even more lemon-mint Ricolas. Whoo hoo!
I’m halfway through the newest Julia Dahl (it hasn’t been officially published yet, but I have an eGalley) and, as I’ve come to expect from this author, it’s excellent. Next up? I’m not sure yet, though I certainly have lots of books stacked up and waiting. I do want to order Amor Towles’ first novel because I was so impressed by A Gentleman from Moscow, which I have since recommended to at least two people working on Anastasia.
I’m glad to say that today’s two mugfuls of Peets actually taste like Peets! I think I’ve turned a corner.
Since I’m stuck here for most of the day and I’m going a bit nuts, how about telling me what you’ve been reading? I always find new books to add to my wish list when we do this and I know you do, too.
What have you been reading, my friends?
Happy Wednesday.
Feel better my dear sister. It sucks doesn’t it?
It sure does. I’m over this, and yet it seems not to be over me!
Good Morning Claudia,
I am glad you are on the mend though I’m sure seems like forever. The book I am reading is by Deborah Crombie called “Water Like a Stone”. I don’t like this one as well as her first book “A Share in Death”. To me it keeps jumping back and forth between the characters and not really getting anywhere. Hopefully as I continue reading it I will come to understand some of the characters better. Right now I find Juliet’s daughter Lally unlikable. I like the grandparents. And I have the book “A Gentleman from Moscow” on hold at our library.
I don’t remember the individual Crombie titles anymore, but I’ve read all of them. One of her strengths is the development of recurring characters and weaving all of them together over the course of the series.
Glad you are feeling better Claudia! The bug(s) going around are certainly hanging on this year…I’m sure our roller coaster weather isn’t helping either.
I am almost (finally) finished The Underground Railroad. It is good…not great. Some of it disturbed me enough that I stopped reading it for days on end…and I couldn’t read it at night just before bed or I didn’t sleep well. Waiting in line on my Kindle are: News of the World by Paulette Jiles, Birdman by Mo Hayder, My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. I’d better get reading! I’ve also recently read some knitting related books: Knitlandia by Clara Parks and In the Footsteps of Sheep by Debbie Zawinski – both of which I enjoyed. The latter one is like a travelogue all across Scotland – beautiful pictures too.
I have Birdman on my shelf – I bought it a couple of years ago from The Mysterious Bookshop in NYC. Still haven’t read it yet!
I’m so glad you liked A Gentleman in Moscow and I hope you enjoy Rules of Civility. I just finished an unusual book called Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett. I didn’t think I would like it because it was about whaling in Australia in 1908, but I became enamored with Mary, the narrator, as she told the story of her family’s whaling business and her own coming of age story. It was really a charming story. I’ve just started Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn, a non-fiction about the author’s experiences singing in choir. Glad you are feeling better! Happy reading!
The book on whaling sounds fascinating, Debbie!
Je viens de commencer le premier de la série Louise Penny, j’ ai enfin trouvé.
Bon rétablissement Claudia
Claude
I know you’ll love the books by Louise Penny, Claude. Enjoy them!
For my book club, I’m reading a book that’s been out a while, SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME. (I haven’t figured out if html commands work in comments for italicizing book titles; hence, the all caps.) It features an engaging and thoughtful recounting of a couple’s venture into volunteering for a Fort Worth homeless mission. It’s a little heavy on the religion, and in a way that my mother would have thought too woo-woo for her, but yet it’s not preachy, so I’m giving it a chance. I don’t know which member chose it, but it will be interesting to hear the comments. When my Zydeco dance-related cardio instructor mentioned on Monday that she leads a band is working to get decent salaries for her band members, I mentioned the difficulties that writers have, too, as well as all in the creative endeavors in earning adequate salaries and collecting the salaries they earn. She then told me that she was a writer, too, and I’ve ordered the first of her Texas-based mystery series, TROUBLE AT OAK TREE MOTORS. I hope it’s good because I’m going to have to say something good about it! I have also just received a copy of CHILDREN OF PERDITION, one of a series of books about Melungeons, a group of closely related people who are genetically mostly European but with healthy doses of African and Native American blood. Springing from three black men brought into the U.S. in the early 1600’s, one of them being a direct ancestor of mine, who married white women in the early period of the settlement of British North America, Melungeons lived in communities together and moved into new territories as soon as they opened. They have been variously called everything from spawn of the devil and a Native American; emigrants from a lost colony off Portugal; black-skinned, blue-eyed devils; and a lot of other names, some exotic and some extremely derogatory. John Gowen is documented as having been brought to the New World before the mid 1600’s as an indentured servant. He was able to secure his freedom. Eventually, his descendants, by then considered white, fought in the American Revolution. John used the courts quite liberally to achieve freedom for his son (but not his wife), to settle property disputes and other such tasks. I had never heard of Melungeons before researching my ancestry, just as I had never heard of Mitcham’s War, a prolonged but localized war in a corner of Alabama in the 1890’s that involved some of my relatives. So, while I’m interested in what I’m reading, I don’t know that any of them would particularly interest you or your readers right now. Somehow, though, they all feature questions about race and the relationships we have with these issues, although I didn’t choose them for that reason and they’re unconnected any other way.
This is fascinating, Linda! I vaguely remember hearing the word, Melungeons, but it’s only a faint memory. Thanks for sharing all this incredible info with us!
Hi Claudia! So glad you are on the mend:) I just finished The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton. It was a good read that I could sink into, with lots of mystery. I’ve signed up for a reading challenge at our library and one of the suggestions is to read a favorite book from childhood. I chose Bambi by Felix Salten. One of my favorite reads as a kid. It’s so lyrical and beautiful, and makes me want to throw out the Disney version that I have on dvd for the grandkids!
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever read Bambi! How can that be?
Good moning Claudia. Glad to hear you are well enough to get out awhile. It’s fun to see all the books being read! Very different than what I usually read. Makes me want to pick up something I wouldn’t normally read. That being said, I’m making my way through Agatha Christie books. I’ve had some imagined aversion to Miss Marple all these years, not sure why, but actually enjoying those books alot. Go figure. My 90 yr old Aunt sent me all her Mrs. Pollifax books. I have alot of reading to do! Love the older mystery books. Just finished The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. A fun read!
Keep getting better!
I’ve only read a few Christies over the years and that seems ridiculous, given that I love mysteries so much!
I love the Mrs. Pollifax books! Have fun reading them, Verna. I read every one my library has. I also read every Christie book from the library, but recently bought from the library bookshop a volume of all the Poirot short stories…$2!
$2 is a great deal, Wendy!
Books I have recently read and liked:
(1) Between Breaths by Elizabeth Vargas. A stunning memoir of her panic attacks and resulting addiction to alcohol.
(2) Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon. Lady Almina was a truly amazing, inspirational woman.
(3) Books For Living by Will Schwalbe. A wonderful book for book lovers to read and re-read .
(4) News of the World by Paulette Jiles. Very short but memorable.
(5) Keeper: One House, three Generations, and a Journey into Alzheimer’s. This is without a doubt the best book on Alzheimer’s I have ever read.
(6) Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. You have to be in our age group to appreciate this, but it is wonderful.
I’ve heard of both the Schwalbe and Vargas and Jiles. Haven’t read them yet, but I’ll put them on my list.
Good morning. I am rereading the Sharon Shinn series The Twelve Houses. Then I will reread the Sherwood Smith series ..The History of Sartorias -Deles. These books are not to everyone’s taste but I like a little fantasy. I am also rereading Dick Francis. I read between 150 to 200 books a year.Nidia
An old friend of mine is a huge fan of anything by Dick Francis. Again – why haven’t I read any of his books? I need to change that.
I’m rereading “Middlemarch” for an Instagram book group, and enjoying and learning from the comments and insights of women from all over the world, some new to the book, some veterans like myself. Am also rereading, as I do most years, Elizabeth Daly’s Henry Gamadge mysteries, which I think you might enjoy.
Oh, Middlemarch is one of my all-time favorites. I truly love that book!
You might want to drop by @silverinthebarn on Wednesdays to see what people have to say.
Maybe…but I sort of hug my feelings about that book to myself – if that makes any sense!
Glad you are on the mend and feeling better. I was hoping to say I am finished reading ( actually having listening to ) Charles Todd’s new Ian Rutledge mystery. Amazon sent MP3 disk last week so I sent back and was assured via chat that they would be CD Audiobook. I would have to wait maybe until April but OK. Surprise they found one and it would be here sooner, of course it would be sooner they just returned the exact one I had sent to them. I knew it was because I tore it a bit until I noticed it was for an MP3 player. This time I phoned and was told best to just cancel order and look later! You should try this series interesting. Take care, Claudia
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Charles Todd – something to read in the future!
I loved Rules of Civility. Without reading, I am not sure what I would do to cope with the world right now!!!!
Just read, and think it will go down as one of my fav books of all times ~ The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan. Before that I read We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter which was a true story. That, too, was wonderful. Checked out from the library and need to read The Baker’s Daughter and The Way Life Should Be. Recently read and I really enjoyed: The Two Family House by Linda Cohen Loigman, Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave and Back When We were Grown-ups by Anne Tyler.
Love when you do these posts, although it means my “want to read this!!” list just grows and grows. Not a bad thing, for sure. Have a wonderful Wednesday. We are getting snow again. Heavy big ol’ flakes. ugh. To be in the 50’s for the weekend, though. I truly think that is one of the reasons these crazy flu/ cold bugs just won’t go away!
I don’t think I could cope at all without my books to ‘take me away!’
It is, yet again, in the high 60s today and then we’re going to have temps plunge with rain and lots of wind. It isn’t helping me ditch this crap in my chest, that’s for sure!
Hello my recuperating friend 😉. I am currently listening to one of Jodi Picoult’s books, Small Great Things…really great narrators, there are three, and a sometimes very sad story, making me teary while driving which is not a good thing. I will be sorry when it is over however because the voices of the narrators and the story make me want to learn more about the characters.
I’m also reading Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell, do you remember the television miniseries many years ago?
It’s rainy here today, very gray and dreary….I’ve got my cozy socks on and am staying put. Keep feeling better!
My sister read the Picoult and really loved it.
I do remember that miniseries!
Good to hear you are feeling better but it still takes days to get your energy back. Keep resting as hard as that might be. I’ve been busy taking Mom to Dr’s visits and me to the Dentist (ugh). This afternoon I’ll watch Scout who is once again sick but I’ll wear a mask unless it scares her. I really do not need to get sick again. I’ve been reading but nothing great. Waiting for my name to come up on the waiting list for the next Karin Slaughter book on my list! Its warm and windy today with a storm on it’s way I think. Take care!
Oh my god, the energy or lack of it, is what is most frustrating. I’m exhausted much of the time and I take naps in my chair a lot.
We have a rainy, much too warm day here with a big change for tomorrow. I’m staying in for the rest of the day today and tomorrow.
March 1, 2017
You have beat back the virus and it is on the run! Congratulations Claudia. It seemed it had you beat.. when you felt the crummiest. Goodbye bad virus..
I am just starting “The Widower’s Wife” by Cate Holahan..have you heard of it? I hope it’s good and it has started off pretty nicely.
For some odd reason, I want to have a little scary stuff in a book. Maybe that is common..same with movies.
I also like a fairly fast read where you can hardly put it down, but that means it’s good. (and I had 5 growing children as a stay at home mom; needlepoint was way too complicated! Everyone is grown now.
I haven’t heard of it, but let us know what you think of it!
As an inveterate mystery/thriller/suspense lover, I agree – having some scary stuff in a book is my preference.
Uh-oh, you won’t like what I’m reading, Claudia!…..tax forms and instructions. But, when I’m finished with the taxes, I’ll finish To the Letter by Simon Garfield, and then I plan to re-read all my Jane Austen’s.
Ha! We manage to put off our taxes with an extension or two. For some reason, this time of year is just too busy for us to gather all the W2s (and we get a lot of them) and then figure out our deductions.
:) You probably won’t find my present reading material of interest, Claudia. I am re-reading Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane. His illustrations and explanations of early nineteenth century farm and mill work are fascinating, to me.
I just finished Kissing Kin, the fifth of the Williamsburg novels by Elswyth Thane. I grabbed that from a lesser shelf in desperation while in much the same condition you have described. It’s been so long since I read the Williamsburg novels that it was nearly like reading it the first time. I may go through them in order, soon. I know I have at least one more.
Blessings upon your recovery! :)
I like the work of Eric Sloane.
I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been battling the same thing I have! I hope you’re starting to feel better?
It took so long! My 91 year old father got pneumonia with this stuff! As soon as he started treatment, he got better, leaving me far behind. :) My stamina is back within normal range. Still coughing, now and then. Dared to schedule an outing tomorrow with a great friend, so you know I’m really well. Yay!!! :)
While really sick, I had my husband take me out to do bank business and get a few groceries. We used the drive through at the bank, but by the time I got to the grocery checkout, my mask was sucking in and puffing out rather violently and I was repeatedly whispering a vulgar word I try to avoid. Of course, by the time we got in the car, I thought how funny I must have looked. :D
You know, those masks aren’t that expensive. I wish more people would use them!
Glad you’re doing better! My stamina leaves much to be desired!
So glad you’re back to normal with your Peets. That’s always a good day for me too, after being sick – you feel like you’re back to a normal routine & that first mugful of “normal” coffee always tastes EXTRA good. Still reading the same books as last time you asked, sadly. I keep falling asleep so am not making a lot of progress. Plus keeping up with Twitter has usurped a fair amount of reading time. Which is OK since I feel that’s pretty vital right now. Continue to feel better. Peace.
#Resist
Thanks, Janet. Today – because I’m so exhausted – I’m staying off Twitter. Every once in a while, I simply have to give myself a day off!
Yay for normal tasting coffee!
Oh, Claudia; life has seemed so full of ‘busy’ lately that I find I’m not reading. I did recently purchase a 4-book series (haven’t started them yet) about a somewhat-controversial woman named Anne LaBastille, PhD from Cornell, former commissioner of NY’s Adirondack Park Agency, who lived in the mountains as a sort of Thoreau (‘ecologist’) for many years (she has since died). These books were written largely in the 70s. “Most of all, she captures the struggle to balance her need for companionship and love with her desire for independence and solitude.” I don’t know where I first learned of her; maybe it was here in someone’s comments…but I think it was from somebody’s blog (always the best place for great book tips, like right here at MHC).
I’m feeling cold today. We’re in the low 60s with blustery March wind! I hope each day brings you closer to feeling GOOD.
Sounds fascinating and I think I see a bit of myself in LaBastille.
I’ll be happy when the weather stabilizes a bit. We’ve had two weeks in a row with way-too-warm temps followed by storms and a plunge in temperature.
Yes, I think it’s why something hit home with me, when I started reading about her. As you say, “I am a solitary person who is chatty.”
Ah…you can taste your Peet’s again…yippee! You know my TBR list is way up there..,and reading these comments, it just gets longer! I just finished reading 15th Affair, a women’s murder club novel by James Patterson ( that was riveting), and started The Guilty, by David Baldacci…so far so good. I won a $100 Amazon gift card in December, and plan on buying some books with it. My goal is to get all the Louise Penny’s I don’t have, and start at the beginning. So whatever I can’t buy at Half Price .books, I’ll order from Amazon. I like these posts…fun to hear what everybody is reading. ;)
I like these posts, too. I always learn so much!
I”m glad you’re slowly getting better. My poor little grandson Logan was so sick last week, my daughter had to take him to the hospital. Then he got better and of course she got sick. Thank goodness I’ve been okay. In the last few weeks I’ve read House of Secrets by Brad Meltzer. Pretty good but not my favorite of his. I’ve also read Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich. And I finally read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. That was excellent.
Seems like this thing is hitting a lot of people!
The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian was very good. The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe was a good Swedish mystery. Nutshell by Ian McEwan was interesting as only McEwan can be! Just finished Another One Goes Tonight by Peter Lovesey.
Hope you feel better soon. Be glad that you didn’t have the awful stomach virus my husband and I had two weeks ago. It took us until this weekend to feel like ourselves. Ugh. Been too warm this winter. Everyone’s germs are multiplying and I found a tick on my jacket today!!!
They all sound enticing, Betsy!
Boo to ticks!
Just started Pretty Birds: A Novel by Scott Simon (of NPR ); it is set in Sarajevo in the 1990’s
Sounds interesting, Jen!
Reading I Let You Go because of your recommendation. I always enjoy the mysteries you recommend. Reading comments today has me deciding to read the Agatha Christi books in order. Have never read them.
Neither have I!
Glad you are doing better dear friend. I have gone thru so many sacks of cough drops, it is unbelievable. But, I too, think I’m on the mend. I don’t have time for this, do you? LOL
Judy
No! It’s been a pain in the tush. And I still have chest congestion! Feel better, Judy!
I’m glad to hear you’re beginning to feel better. I lost both my parents around the time you lost your father and it’s taken us so long to clear the house but we’re nearly there. None of my sisters wanted their book collection and so I’m lucky enough to now own many boxes of books which I know I will thoroughly enjoy reading. I have started by re-reading all of the Jane Austen books and then I’m going to head towards the Dickens collection so it’s classics all the way for me.
Enjoy your Austen and Dickens, Fiona!
Just finished today… “Little Bee” by British writer Chris Cleave.. it is the story of a young girl..Nigerian refugee…From the book notes: “This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again – the story starts there…Once you have read it, you will want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.” This is another story that will be in my heart and mind forever…Highly recommended!
Thanks, Nancy!
Hello Claudia, I did not read a lot last week. There was not much time during the class camp in the Alps. However, I got up early and had a few me- moments before the students got up. I’m on a peace mission so to speak and read books by Dr. Daniele Ganser, a Swiss historian and peace scientist. He is my hero. So then, get healthy soon. Hopefully, with spring arriving, it gets easier. All the best, Regula
A peace mission. Love that, Regula.
Thanks Claudia for this post and glad you are feeling back to “normal”. I love all of the suggestions, my list has grown quite a bit now. I’m reading The Underground Railroad which is interesting and disturbing. And in between I’m reading Bulfinch’s Mythology I always loved myths even as a child. And poetry I love Mary Oliver anything by her is amazing. Thanks happy reading. Noelle
I love Mary Oliver – I’ve read just about everything of hers. Currently reading her book of essays – Upstream.