Streamsong #1 - Frozen White Winter - Warmed By Books

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Keskustelu75 Books Challenge for 2021

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Streamsong #1 - Frozen White Winter - Warmed By Books

1streamsong
tammikuu 1, 2021, 2:55 pm



I'm Janet.

I've been a member of LT since 2006.

I retired in the fall of 2016 from my career as a technician in an NIH research lab. I'm now enjoying all the things I never had time to do.

I live in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana along Skalkaho Creek. I'm about half way between Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks - so if you're traveling or vacationing in the area, I'd love to meet you.

What do I read? A bit of everything. I enjoy literary fiction, mysteries and the occasional feel good cozy. I'm slowly working my way through 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (actually 1300 + books since I use the combined version spreadsheet). I'm also working my way around the world in a global reading challenge. About half the books I read are non-fiction.

I have Appaloosa horses and raise a foal or two each year.




2streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 3:51 pm

A Few of the Old:

Link to my last 2020 thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/326949#n7366066

Bad Me - always the procrastinator! I'd like to finish writing the reviews on these books read in November and December 2020:

❤️ = Outstanding Book!

❤️ 101. The Eighth Detective - Alex Pavesi - 2020 - library review: https://www.librarything.com/topic/326949#7375008
❤️ 102. Empire of Wild - Cherie Dimaline - 2020 - library Review: https://www.librarything.com/topic/326949#7413480

DECEMBER

103. Exit Strategy - Martha Wells - 2018 - library
104. Severance - Ling Ma - 2019 - PBS/NYT Now Read This - Library
105. Running With Sherman - Christopher McDougall - 2019 - Library
106. IQ - Joe Ide - 2016 - Library
107. Running to the Mountain- Jon Katz - 1999 - library
❤️ 108. Fever Dream: A Novel- Samanta Schweblin (Argentina) - 2017 - library
109. Second Wind - Dick Francis - Nov/Dec group read - library

3streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 3:50 pm

And in with the New!!

BOOKS READ 2021

✅ = Outstanding Book! ❤️ = Favorite

FIRST QUARTER

January


1. A Recipe for Daphne: A Novel - Nektaria Anastasiadou - 2019 - LTER - Global Reading: Turkey - digital - acq'd 2020 -
❤️ 2. Cane Warriors - Alex Wheatle - 2020; LTER; Global Reading: Jamaica; acq'd 2020
❤️3. Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre - Max Brooks - 2020 - library
❤️4. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf - Grant Snyder - 2020 - library
✅5. Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most - Rachel Maddow - 2019 - RL Book Club - library
6. Cave of Bones - Anne Hillerman - 2018 - library
7. Archaeology from Space - Sarah Parcak - 2019 - library
8. Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World - Anand Giridharadas - 2018 - Real Life Book Club - library
9. Banker - Dick Francis - 1982 - (Reread) - Dick Francis group read; Root #3 - cataloged here 2006
10. The Lord of the Rings (Wood Box Edition) - J. R. R. Tolkien - 2012 - NPR dramatization, audio, ROOT #4 acq'd 2018
❤️11. When Stars Are Scattered - Victoria Jamieson, Mohamed Omar - 2020 - GN - library
12. This is What America Looks Like - Ilhan Omar - 2020 - library

February

13. Burn - Patrick Ness - 2020 - library
14. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion - Jia Tolentino - 2019 - PBS Now Read This - January - library
❤️15. Migrations - Charlotte McConaghy - 2020 - library
16. Engineering Eden - Jordan Fisher Smith - 2016 - Glacier Conservancey Book Club - Reread - ROOT #4
17. On Tyranny - Leo Strauss - 2017 - Reread - library
18. The Great Pretender - Susannah Cahalan - 2019 - RLBC - library

4streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 3:56 pm

**** 18 BOOKS COMPLETED IN 2021 ****

YEAR CATALOGED OR ACQUIRED

1 - 2006
1 - 2016
1 - 2018
2 -2020
13 - library

FORMAT
1 - audiobook
15 - physical books
2 - digital - read on Kindle


GENRE

- 10 - Fiction (may fit into more than one category)

4 - Global Reading
1 - historical fiction
2 - mystery
1 - Romance
4 - speculative fiction
3 - YA

1 - comics
1 - graphic novel


- 7 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
- 2 - essays
- 1 - memoir
- 1- mental health/hospitals
- 1 - nature
- 34- politics
- 1 - science

AUTHORS

8 - Male Authors
9 - Female Authors
1 - Combination of male and female

14 - Authors who are new to me
4 - Authors read before

Rereads:
1 - Banker - Dick Francis
1 - Engineering Eden - Jordan Fisher Smith
1 - On Tyranny - Leo Strauss

Nationality of Author:
1 - Australia
2 - Somalia/Kenya/US
1 - Turkey (?)
3 - UK -
11 - United States

Birthplace or residence of Author if different from nationality:
1 - child of Jamaican immigrants
1 - Somalia

Setting of book if different than author's nationality:
1 - Greenland, Scotland, Anarctica
1 - Jamaica

Language Book Originally Published in:
17- English
1 - Greek

Original Publication Date

1 - 1982
1 - 2012
1 - 2016
1 - 2017
2 - 2018
4 - 2019
8 - 2020

5streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 3:57 pm

The Global Challenge: Read five books from each of the 193 UN members plus a few additional areas. (Ongoing project over **Many** years!)

Thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/188308

COUNTRIES VISITED IN 2021


visited 4 states (1.77%)
Create your own visited map of The World

1. Jamaica: Cane Warriors - Alex Wheatle - 2020
2. Somalia# 2. When Stars Are Scattered - Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed - 2020 (Somalia/Kenya) - fictionalized memoir; GN - read 1/2021
Somalia #3 This is What America Looks Like - Ilhan Omar - (Somalia/Kenya/US) - NF - 2020
2. Turkey: A Recipe for Daphne: A Novel - Nektaria Anastasiadou

ALL COUNTRIES VISITED


visited 93 states (41.3%)
Create your own visited map of The World

6streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 3:58 pm

REAL-LIFE BOOK CLUB SELECTIONS 2021

january 21 -- Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas
February 25 -- The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan
March 25 -- A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
April 22 -- The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
May 27 -- Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
June 24 -- Apeirogon by Colum McCann
July 29 -- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
August 26 -- Tightrope by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Sept 30 -- The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
October 28 -- Hamnet by Maggi O’Farrell
November 18 -- Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

7streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 9, 2021, 11:51 am

8streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 4:02 pm

As always, I'd like to think that I should focus on books that are currently sitting unread on Planet TBR. I keep hauling books home faster than I can read them and the piles keep growing larger.

These numbers include the library books that I have at home.

As of 03/01/2021: 525 books on MT TBR
As of 02/01/2021: 522 books on MT TBR
As of 01/01/2021: 522 books on MT TBR

As of 01/01/2020: 520 books on MT TBR
As of 01/01/2019: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2018: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2017: 481 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2016: 459 books on physical Mt TBR

9streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 4:04 pm

BOOKS ACQUIRED 2021

1. The Complete Father Brown Mysteries - G. K. Chesterton - Kindle 99 deal 1/18/2021
2. Engineering Eden - Jordan Fisher Smith - 2019 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - 1/29/2021

10streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2021, 3:45 pm

Currently Reading:




This is a dramatization for radio that I picked up at a FOL sale last year. It's actually quite condensed, but not a bad dramatization.

11DianaNL
tammikuu 1, 2021, 3:37 pm

Best wishes for a better 2021!

12streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2021, 4:12 pm

>11 DianaNL: Thank you for being my first-footer, Diana! I hope we all have a better 2021!

13streamsong
tammikuu 1, 2021, 4:15 pm



The first four I saw were lessons, connections, creation and strength. It sounds like an interesting year ahead!

14FAMeulstee
tammikuu 1, 2021, 5:10 pm

Happy reading in 2021, Janet!

>13 streamsong: Love, gratitude, money, care :-)

15Berly
tammikuu 1, 2021, 5:14 pm

Best wishes for a brighter, better, bookier 2021!

16Whisper1
tammikuu 1, 2021, 5:26 pm

Hi Janet. Are you getting snow? Last weekend there was 11 inches of snow. For Christmas, all was gone!
I look forward to visiting your thread this year and learning about all books, you read, and added.

17drneutron
tammikuu 1, 2021, 5:58 pm

Welcome back for the new year!

18streamsong
tammikuu 1, 2021, 7:01 pm

>14 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita - "Love, gratitude, money, care" That sounds like a very fulfilling New Year!

>15 Berly: Thank you, Kim. May you have a wonderful New Year, too!

>16 Whisper1: Thanks for stopping by, Linda. We have just a skiff of snow - which mostly melted off today. We had a just barely white Christmas. I'm sure more is coming, though.

I look forward to following your reading, too!

>17 drneutron: Thank you, Jim. I just brought home Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre from the library yesterday. I think that one was a BB from you.

19thornton37814
tammikuu 1, 2021, 7:31 pm

Enjoy your 2021 reads!

20PaulCranswick
tammikuu 1, 2021, 8:03 pm



And keep up with my friends here, Janet. Have a great 2021.

21EllaTim
tammikuu 1, 2021, 8:12 pm

Happy New Year, Janet! Love the picture of the horses under the trees.

>13 streamsong: My first word was Wil..lem, then I thought no it's in English, and then I saw
Creation, lessons, connection.
I like those.

22arubabookwoman
tammikuu 1, 2021, 8:20 pm

>13 streamsong: That was interesting. I got gratitude, power, change and connection.

23figsfromthistle
tammikuu 1, 2021, 9:07 pm

Dropping in to say hello and wish you all the best for the start of the year.

24karenmarie
tammikuu 1, 2021, 10:32 pm

Hi Janet, and Happy New Year!

>13 streamsong: Yikes. Doe, lessons, connection, and power. Doe? Really? I see them in yards and pastures all the time, so it might represent our land and home.

25msf59
tammikuu 2, 2021, 8:26 am

Happy New Year, Janet! Happy New Thread. Looking forward to a better and healthier 2021. I also hope you have a great reading year.

26BLBera
tammikuu 2, 2021, 11:29 am

Happy New Year, Janet. I look forward to following your reading again this year.

27streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 2, 2021, 12:09 pm

>19 thornton37814: Thank you, Lori! I hope you enjoy your reading, too!

>20 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! I'm not sure if those are good wishes for me, or resolutions for you, but they are perfect either way. Happy 2021!

>21 EllaTim: Hi Ella! Very cool - we have three words the same. We may be walking similar paths this year. Or at least our eyes are drawn the same directions.

The photo of the horses under the tree is one my daughter took several years ago. Since are snow is a little scarce and brown is not quite as photogenic, I recycled it. ;)

28ronincats
tammikuu 2, 2021, 12:05 pm

Dropping off my and wishing you the best of new years in 2021!

29streamsong
tammikuu 2, 2021, 12:09 pm

>22 arubabookwoman: We share ''connection" . May we both have more of that! It's interesting to see what people's eyes are drawn to. Happy 2021!

>23 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita! I wish the same for you - May your new year be bright!

>24 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Doe is so interesting! I wonder if there are more animals hiding in the puzzle? I also have a large collection of does and other deer visiting my place.

30streamsong
tammikuu 2, 2021, 12:14 pm

>25 msf59: Hi Mark - Thank you for stopping by and for the good wishes. I, too, hope Covid sinks away rapidly - in the meantime I am grateful for my virtual friends and of course, the library. Happiest of 2021 to you and yours!

>26 BLBera: Thank you Beth. I'm looking forward to your reads, too. I get so many great suggestions from your thread - and from my other LTER buddies!

>27 streamsong: Now that's a star, Roni! How beautiful! Thank you for the good wishes for 2021!

31streamsong
tammikuu 2, 2021, 5:28 pm

Here it is (drum roll please) - the first book completed and the first review done! It's a bit of a cheat since I **almost** finished this one on New Year's Eve.



1. A Recipe for Daphne -Nektaria Anastasiadou -2020
– LTER
- Global Reading – Turkey
- Acq'd 2020

Description of book from website: ”The year is 2011, and Fanis, a charming widower, is at the center of a dwindling yet stubbornly proud community of Rum, Greek Orthodox Christians, who have lived in Istanbul for centuries.

When Daphne, the American-born niece of an old friend, arrives in the city, Fanis is smitten by the aloof outsider, who reminds him of the fiancée he lost during the 1955 pogrom.

Kosmas, a master pastry chef on the lookout for a good Rum wife, also falls for Daphne. She is intrigued by his search for a forgotten Ottoman recipe, but can she love him in return? Or will a family secret, deeply rooted in the painful history of the city itself, threaten their chances?”


The romance(s) are light, fluffy, and feel-good with many happy endings and a good sprinkling of humor. If you enjoy arm-chair traveling and are looking for a novel set in current times with descriptions of modern Istanbul, this novel may fit the bill. Lots of good history worked into the story as well as the current cultures showing the tensions between the Greek Orthodox Christians and the Muslims.

3.5 stars. I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program in exchange for an unbiased review.

32mdoris
tammikuu 2, 2021, 5:28 pm

Happy New Year Janet! Wishing you a very good year of reading and fun and health.
>13 streamsong: that was fun to look. I got lessons, love, gratitude and power. Wow.

33fuzzi
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 2, 2021, 9:04 pm

Found you, starred!

>8 streamsong: you're losing ground...

34streamsong
tammikuu 3, 2021, 12:03 pm

>32 mdoris: Happy New Year to you, too, Mary!

Four very cool words. I love people sharing what they saw!

>33 fuzzi: Hi Lor! I'm glad you found me!

Hah! about losing ground with Planet TBR growing and growing. (I think Jim would argue that planets can't go supernova, but mine seems to be doing just that). Last year I acquired 49 books and read 28 of them with half a dozen more 'in progress'.

My stats are looking good so far this year - as of 1/3 I haven't acquired a single book or picked up any new ones at the library!

35fuzzi
tammikuu 3, 2021, 12:13 pm

>34 streamsong: it's January 3rd, I have acquired five books, have completed ZERO. Talk about losing ground...you're not alone.

36jnwelch
tammikuu 3, 2021, 12:34 pm

Happy New Year, Janet!

Wow, that person in the photo at top is one dedicated reader.

I'm impressed you've already posted your first review!

37EBT1002
tammikuu 3, 2021, 7:29 pm

Hi Janet and Happy New Year! I'm still making my way around to various threads. I am looking forward to continuing our bookish fun in 2021 and *hoping* it's a year that brings some in-person meet-ups.

38streamsong
tammikuu 4, 2021, 11:05 am

>35 fuzzi: Hi Lor! Wow acquiring 5 books on a holiday weekend is impressive!

I'm a bit worried about what will happen when I can once again browse FOL sales and used bookstores. Ha!

>36 jnwelch: Happy New Year, Joe! Yup, I've never been attracted by snow caves or winter camping, but if I did, I'd have a book!

I'm really going to try to keep up with reviews better this year (as she says every year). That first book was one that I had been reading for a month or so and so only had a little bit to finish.

I'm not a big fan of reading on the Kindle app on my computer but I do LOVE how I can highlight and paste notes. It makes reviews easy peasy when the main points that I want to mention are highlighted.

39streamsong
tammikuu 4, 2021, 11:08 am

>37 EBT1002: Hi Ellen and Happy New Year! I would love to do a meetup once the pandemic unpandemics a bit. A few years back we talked about Lochsa Lodge on Highway 12 on the Idaho side of Lolo Pass. Even if I don't make it over there to meet you, I think you and P should give it a visit before you head west again.

40DFED
tammikuu 4, 2021, 11:49 am

Greetings in 2021 and what a lovely horse pic to start your thread with! :)

41karenmarie
tammikuu 4, 2021, 11:53 am

Hi Janet!

>38 streamsong: I'm really going to try to keep up with reviews better this year (as she says every year). I personally decided that reviewing every book I read made me crazy and now only review a book when I simply must say more than a sentence or two or want to recommend it to people. Otherwise, I've adopted Mark's Lightning Round approach and have one lightning round per month that I keep track of as a Word Document. It is very easy to keep up as soon as I finish a book I know I'm not reviewing, and I can then cut and paste into LT after month end.

42The_Hibernator
tammikuu 4, 2021, 3:08 pm

Congrats on your first book of the year, Janet, and happy new year. I'm trying to do a better job of writing reviews, too, but I'll keep them really short. I stopped writing them because I got so stressed out about the time it takes to write them.

43streamsong
tammikuu 4, 2021, 10:30 pm

>40 DFED: Thank you and have a wonderfully happy New Year!

>41 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Your mini reviews/lightning round are a great idea.

I also like a meme that Joe posted not too long ago. I thought I saved it, but can't find it.

Basically it suggested three sentence book reviews.

1 - describe the plot
2 - describe how you liked it
3 - For whom would you recommend it?

>42 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Yes, on the time for book reviews- and I have many fewer time comittments than you do! I have a feeling that we are both scientist/perfectionists when it comes to writing. We've been taught to write *exactly* and *accurately*, which takes more time.

44streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2021, 1:48 pm

This is one of the 2020 book reviews that I didn't get finished in 2020, so I will add it onto this thread. :)



Catchup review 2020 #101. The Eighth DetectiveAlex Pavesi - 2020 – library

My favorite mystery/detective story of 2020!

A publishing agent has discovered a long-forgotten book of short mystery stories. She visits the reclusive author on his Caribbean island hideaway to attempt to convince him to republish them.

The author, Grant McAllister, was a well-known mathematician who conceived of writing mysteries by reducing and intertwining their components as four groups: victim(s), suspects, detective(s), and murderer(s). His stories then illustrate the permutations of this; how few groups can there be and still have a murder mystery? For example, a detective could be the murderer and may or may not be one of the suspects. If the victim is also the killer, can you have anything besides a tale of suicide?

At first glance, this may appear to be a collection of short stories; but there are many secrets in this novel. Each of the stories turn into something else, as do the lives of both the author and the publishing agent. And then the whole turns into something completely other.

Twisty, twisty, turny and the most original mystery I’ve read in a long time. I did not see the ending coming!

45streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 5, 2021, 1:33 pm

.

46BLBera
tammikuu 5, 2021, 9:52 pm

I thought The Eighth Detective was very clever as well, Janet. I'm glad you liked it as well.

It sounds like you started the year off with a fun one. I just finished my first one of the year as well.

47streamsong
tammikuu 6, 2021, 12:18 pm

>46 BLBera: Hi Beth! I loved The Eighth Detective. It was one of my favorites of 2020. I was just sooooooo slow getting reviews done and I didn't do the review before the new year. But after I saw that it recently had several very low one and two star reviews, I decided to post my review on this thread and on the book's thread (no matter how late).

Knowing that you are a fan of apocalyptic fiction, I'll tease you by saying I just whipped right through Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre. Definitely bloodier than I usually read, but hard to put down.


48streamsong
tammikuu 6, 2021, 12:28 pm

One of my favorite things about the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program is that I read books that I otherwise might not find. I always check out the offerings by Akashic Press for my Global Reading Challenge. And so, this is by an award-winning YA author that I had not encountered.



Alex Wheatle is the son of Jamaican immigrants and a resident of London.



2. Cane WarriorsAlex Wheatle – 2020
– LTER
– Global Reading: Jamaica
– acq’d 2020

Fourteen year old slave boy Mao is asked to be a participant in the 1760 Jamaican slave rebellion which came to be known as Tacky’s war. He longs to be a man and to protect his people including his good friend, an eleven year old girl who fears to be taken any evening now by one of the white men.

Mao also fears what is ahead.

I found this to be an amazing story which I had trouble putting down and read almost straight through.

Wheatle created an unforgettable, well-realized character with Mao. The story is wonderfully told with historical facts, legends and word-of-mouth knit tightly together.

My only reservation about recommending this book is that the dialogue is written in patois, which might make it a challenge for a younger reader. At times, I read the dialogue outloud which helped immensely.

I think this will probably be one of my favorite YA reads of 2021.

49Berly
tammikuu 6, 2021, 12:28 pm

>44 streamsong: I keep hearing about this one, but yours is the first review of it and I'm sold!!!

50ffortsa
tammikuu 7, 2021, 11:25 am

That's an interesting perceptual test. I saw family, love, change and purpose. This may be an interesting year!

Happy 2021.

51The_Hibernator
tammikuu 7, 2021, 11:37 am

>43 streamsong: Yes, Richard posted something very similar. And I think I'll stick to that basic format. I am also including why I read a book in my LT and blog reviews, in case anyone is interested.

52streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 7, 2021, 2:52 pm

>49 Berly: Hope you love it, Kim!

>50 ffortsa: Hi Judy and Happy New Year! - Yes, it's perceptual; what's on my mind so what do I see? I love the words you saw!

>51 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! I'm trying to shorten my reviews and you can see in >48 streamsong: that I did try to use that format. But .... I don't think three sentences would quite be possible.

I like that you include why you read a book.

Sorry, I got my post numbers all mixed up!

53streamsong
tammikuu 8, 2021, 12:28 pm

Wednesday's assault on the capitol left me exhausted and scared.

I expected a huge protest/riots Wednesday. I thought it might be bad with Trump encouraging his supporters to 'stop the steal' and come to Washington DC for 'a wild time' on the 6th. The reality is so far beyond what I imagined.

I had determined not to watch during the daytime. But, during an afternoon Zoom Bible study (we have both Dems and Republicans), TVs kept interfering as several people were keeping an eye on the proceedings.

And so, after the meeting, I watched and stressed. Several reputable sources said that the white supremacy groups that infest Montana had really bad plans for the day.

I spent several hours Wednesday making myself feel more secure, like I would for a coming winter storm. I did a grocery run for extra staples, topped off the gas tank, obtained a little extra cash.

I did chores around the house to keep me busy.

And strictly Montana farm stuff: plugging in my truck, and filling the back up horse-troughs to the top with water in case there was a disruption in electricity and the automatic waters (hooked to my well) failed to work.

Yesterday,Thursday, the day after, I was too exhausted to do anything.

Yesterday, I followed the local far, far right state politico's thread on FB. She and her cronies are blaming it all on antifa and on Joe Biden for stealing the election.

The Montana newly elected national representative joined with those seeking to block the certification. The Republican Senator also blocked the certification, but backed off after the riot.

Now I need to figure out what I can do to help the situation.

54fuzzi
tammikuu 8, 2021, 12:50 pm

Stay away from the news, there's nothing any of us can do. And the news businesses will keep fanning the flames because that raises ratings and revenues.

I don't believe anymore anything from news organizations that I see on television or their internet pages.

Go read.

55streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 8, 2021, 1:01 pm

As I muscle through the last few chapters of Blowout, here's an interesting quote:

"“But then something happened in Oklahoma. What Happened was democracy. ‘In politics, money most always trumps merit,' says Mike Cantrell, the independent Oklahoma oilman who finally got fed up with the lousy funding in education and bucked Big Oil in his state. ‘But consituuency tops everything'. After years of killing cuts, the constituency finally started to kick up enough of a fuss that pols started to worry about damage to their elective selves if they stuck to the status quo. “ p 344

56The_Hibernator
tammikuu 8, 2021, 1:19 pm

Hopefully you start feeling less stressed. I wish I had something to say that would make people feel better, but I'm wordless.

57karenmarie
tammikuu 8, 2021, 2:59 pm

Hi Janet!

It has been horrible, hasn't it? I hope you're feeling safer and calmer. I have no plans on going out any time soon, but Bill will probably go out tomorrow to go to the dump and get us some take out. We've had so much unrest in our county over a Confederate Statue at the County Courthouse in the last couple of years that I think everybody who mobilized for that might be out tomorrow, both sides.

6 Representatives to the House in my state continued the madness by voting to reject Arizona and/or Pennsylvania Electoral College votes, but I'm not in any of their districts. Both Senators are Republican but voted against rejecting the Electoral College votes.

58streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 8, 2021, 4:08 pm

>54 fuzzi: Hi Lor; I appreciate your response. It is easy to OD on news.

I watch news from a variety of sources - both left and right. And then, being a data-driven person, I usually go to the horse's mouth and read the actual Mueller report, listen to Trump's press conferences, fact check, etc.

But part of what you said I disagree with: "there's nothing any of us can do"

If I felt like that, I would leave the U.S. I've been considering it for a while, and if I felt there was no hope for change, that would be the deciding factor.

Reading is not a bad strategy to calm down - but honestly, I do have LOTS to do around this place and sometimes physical effort is more calming to me than reading.

59streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 8, 2021, 4:04 pm

>56 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel. Thanks for the virtual hug. I read your FB post on Wednesday and understand.

>57 karenmarie: Hi Karen. Things have been fairly calm here in Montana- some demonstrations, but all have been peaceful that I'm aware of.

I expect there will be more national unrest on Inauguration Day, and I won't go anywhere that day. (How sad!) But I do feel safe going out now.

However, even now, I wouldn't feel safe posting my opinions on FB if they disagree with the local whack jobs who have guns.

Yesterday I heard Timothy Snyder talking about his new book Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary He also revisited his previous book On Tyranny which many here on LT thought brilliant.

I need to reread this. The first step he recommended was to choose a cause you feel strongly about and put your energy into it. Contacting my reps is a good first step. I also need to find a volunteer project involving reading and literacy - or perhaps environmental questions. Since Covid, I no longer am volunteering anywhere.

60streamsong
tammikuu 8, 2021, 7:42 pm



3. Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Ranier Sasquatch Massacre – Max Brooks - 2020
– library


The community of Greenloop was perfectly planned in a remote location south of Mount Ranier: six houses around a common building, with food deliveries by drone or van once a week. The residents were urban professionals who valued their remoteness, and loved seeing wildlife. Although they were off the grid with biogas digesters for heat, solar panels for electricity, and communication guaranteed by high speed cable connection, they weren’t homesteaders- no gardens, handymen on twenty-four hour call and dogs forbidden in the community.

Then Mount Ranier had a major eruption. Towns to the East of Ranier were destroyed. Even Seattle was isolated.

Greenloop was totally cut off from the world by volcanic mud flows called lahars. Their communication cable was destroyed during the earthquakes.

It had been a drought season in Washington; plant food sources were scarce and animals were already thin and starving.

One inhabitant, Mrs Mostar, a survivor from the siege of Croatia, took the young couple in the next house under her wing and began teaching them survival skills.

But within days a herd/large family group of hungry Sasquatches moved into the territory looking for food. They were huge: twenty times stronger than a human. And Smart. Oh so smart. They were looking for meat.

Again, I found this to be a book that I had a hard time putting down and read it in a matter of days. It was much more horror-oriented and much bloodier than what I usually can stomach. But how could I not finish it?

Recommended for those who enjoy post-apocalyptic survival stories, especially those who love the woods and great outdoors, and who also have strong stomachs.

61EllaTim
tammikuu 8, 2021, 8:23 pm

Hi Janet! I hope you feel a bit calmer and safer now. I have been watching TV as well, scary images. But I'm very glad Trump hasn't achieved what he wanted, in the end.
I can quite understand wanting to do something. My first step always is trying to understand what's happening. But after that it gets difficult. Finding a cause you feel strongly about seems like a good idea.

62BLBera
tammikuu 8, 2021, 8:51 pm

>60 streamsong: I'm trying to decide about this one, Janet. I do love my apocalyptic fiction, but I don't have such a strong stomach. I'll add it to the maybe list.

My representative (for whom I did not vote) also objected to the electoral votes and I just sent him a letter expressing my displeasure. I think writing to our representatives is something we can do.

63drneutron
tammikuu 8, 2021, 9:06 pm

>60 streamsong: Nice review! That one was one of my faves last year.

64scaifea
tammikuu 9, 2021, 10:21 am

I didn't know Snyder had a new book out - definitely adding it to the list!

>60 streamsong: Ha! I started reading your review without paying much attention to the author and for some reason I assumed it was nonfiction? So I was thinking, "Wait, when did this happen? I don't remember a recent eruption that bad, but it can't be too long ago if they're using drones?" And then Sasquatch. *headdesk*

65qebo
tammikuu 9, 2021, 11:09 am

>53 streamsong: Montana newly elected national representative joined with those seeking to block the certification
>62 BLBera: My representative (for whom I did not vote) also objected to the electoral votes
Mine too, and he is comfortably ensconced as long as the current district boundaries remain. He's not the brightest bulb, so it's not clear what he actually believes, but if the district voters want Trumpism, he will accommodate.

>44 streamsong: mathematician
Intriguing... I'm considering setting up a thread in Club Read for 2021, but this is contingent upon actually reading a book.

66thornton37814
tammikuu 9, 2021, 1:47 pm

>60 streamsong: I knew that was the type book one professor really enjoyed, so when it came in, I asked him if he wanted me to hold it for him. He said, "Yes, please." He really loved it, and I think he recommended it to a few students because it checked out well last fall.

67EBT1002
tammikuu 9, 2021, 10:03 pm

>39 streamsong: Thank you for that reminder. We booked a few days at Camp Sherman in Oregon for the end of March -- a cabin in the woods feels pretty safe during this pandemic -- but I want to remember that lodge. I do hope we can meet there when things "settle down" a bit.

>53 streamsong: Yes, it was quite a day. I'm still nervous about January 20 and the days around it.

Hang in there, Janet. Take good care.

68EBT1002
tammikuu 9, 2021, 10:04 pm

>60 streamsong: Living in this part of the world and absolutely loving Mount Rainier, I am so tempted by this one. But I'm not sure if my stomach is strong enough...

69Whisper1
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 9, 2021, 10:14 pm

>48 streamsong:, Janet, I also like YA reading. Your comments regarding Cane Warrior entice me to find a copy of this book when it is on the market.
>53 streamsong: Janet, like you, I was exhausted after following the antic of the man who would be president but doesn't know how to be intelligent, kind, sensitive and know the basic rudimentary items of the constitution.

For God's Sake!!! Pence could not over ride what is legally voted upon. And I can only imagine how Pence suffered watching the antics of this self aggrendizing idiot every day!

I do hope the family of the policeman who died will sue Trump for all he is worth (which probably isn't that much in reality.)

I have tremendous respect for Dr. Faucci. Who simply turns away and tells the public, "yes, we have different perspectives!" What a classy man.

70streamsong
tammikuu 10, 2021, 12:08 pm

>61 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella. I am really afraid that Inauguration Day, January 20th, will be much worse.

I don't understand how anyone, looking at evidence, can believe the election was stolen.

But then I also don't understand how they can say that wearing a mask to prevent Covid spread interferes with their Constitutional rights.

Sigh.

71streamsong
tammikuu 10, 2021, 12:15 pm

>62 BLBera: Hi Beth: Yes, it's great apocalyptic fiction. I think it would make a great movie for those that enjoy heads popping off. I may just be super sensitive to blood and rather suggestible living out here by myself in the woods.

In fact - Ha! I wonder if some of my 'prepper' response to the January 5th takeover was because I had just finished this book. Buy supplies! What do you mean that not a single one of those people had a hammer?

72streamsong
tammikuu 10, 2021, 12:38 pm

>63 drneutron: Thank you, Jim. I think I got the Gotcha! on this book from you and then also read about it on Joe's thread. What did you think of the gore level?

>64 scaifea: Hi Amber! Thanks for stopping in! I hadn't heard about Timothy Snyder's new book before hearing him speak, either. I have Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary as well as a reread of On Tyranny for a reread on my library hold list.

Too funny about the my review of Devolution!

Actually, though the book does quote from a Sasquatch incident that Teddy Roosevelt was familiar with .... and just after I read the book this YouTube video came through my FB feed: Little People, Shape Shifters and Bigfoot Screams | Pikuni (Blackfeet) Bigfoot Storytelling Project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3dtkZbP2qficedk5hkAgHDWBBusMfwxQ6RvUqbw...

I love listening to Native stories!

73drneutron
tammikuu 10, 2021, 2:55 pm

>72 streamsong: Well, I read horror and scary stuff on a regular basis, so I didn’t the think it was overly gory at the looking back on it, yeah, there are some scenes that might be pretty bothersome for some folks.

74streamsong
tammikuu 10, 2021, 3:07 pm

>65 qebo: Catherine! It's so good to see you! I hope you set up your Club Read thread; you always read such interesting things.

mmmm maybe I should give a warning for The Eighth Detective that it is the fictional author that is the mathematician.

>66 thornton37814: HI Lori: thanks for adding your experience with the book. Do you ever read apocalyptic fiction? Did anyone comment on the blood?

75streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 10, 2021, 3:48 pm

>67 EBT1002: >68 EBT1002: Yes, I hope you can get to Lochsa Lodge before you leave the area. It's rustic, but a very pretty area. It *does* have little individual cabins, too. I've been told that sometimes in the summer many of them are rented by FS seasonal workers. I've never stayed there; but love eating there. Unfortunately, I'm not very comfortable leaving my place in winter, anymore (something always seems to happen). And with my knee - sigh. I'm having a sit inside and read winter.

You could always give Devolution a try. I did keep reading it - I didn't have to slam the book shut in disgust as I do with outright torture scenes. >73 drneutron: and Jim gives it a very high rating, without being bothered by the blood.

76streamsong
tammikuu 10, 2021, 3:47 pm

>69 Whisper1: Hi Linda! You are oh, so right, about the antics being exhausting. And I can't believe that anyone still believes what 45 says. But ... there are people saying the same thing about us, I guess. It's hard to fathom the hatred against Biden's upcoming administration. I don't know that it will be much different than Obama's and everyone lived through that.

Part of it is that Trump has very effective rhetoric that enables him to convince people with no proof other than his word, and incites people. There have certainly been other cult leaders with that rhetoric that persuades people to do what they otherwise would not.

My far-right Montana state rep posted that three carloads of people traveled from this valley to take part in the demonstration. She said that none of them took part in the rioting (and I thought, oh yeah, sure). But she did post a video with the peeps from this area outside of the Capitol just below the steps, decrying the violence and saying they needed to leave. So there were peaceful protestors there, too, I guess. Protest away, as long as it is peaceful.

Trump tweeted this summer that anyone damaging federal property would get 10 years in prison. I hope that holds true for the D.C. Rioters.

I do worry about the 20th.

>73 drneutron: Thanks, Jim. I was bothered by the Sasquatch violence, but not excessively so. Truthfully, how do you have a 'massacre' without heads rolling, eh?

77Whisper1
tammikuu 10, 2021, 4:03 pm

Janet.

While I do know a lot about Rhom Emmanuel, I do like some of his statements. He very strongly said the people in this country are worn down by a man who always needs attention, tweeting all day, yelling his views, nastiness.....And perhaps we are tired to the core.

This last weeks terrible antics left me tired to the core.

78thornton37814
tammikuu 10, 2021, 7:13 pm

>74 streamsong: I've read a couple works in the genre, but not much. I prefer mysteries and historical fiction. I have enjoyed a couple of dystopian books over the last couple of years.

79streamsong
tammikuu 11, 2021, 2:22 pm

>77 Whisper1: Hi Linda - 'Tired to the core' is a good description. I even cancelled my physical therapy session last Thursday because I was so exhausted after a couple nights of poor sleep.

>78 thornton37814: Hi Lori! Yes, I've been leaning heavily toward mysteries this year, too. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but I really do want to read Hillary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light sooner rather than later. I really enjoyed the first two of the series, as well as her talk online at the Edinburgh Book Festival this past year.

80streamsong
tammikuu 11, 2021, 3:21 pm

This one was recommended by Mary/bell7



4. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf - Grant Snyder - 2020
– library

Funny, original comics about readers, reading, writing and poetry.

This is the perfect escapist antidote to pandemic isolation and political chaos.

Many of the cartoons are available as posters on the author’s website.





81streamsong
tammikuu 12, 2021, 12:59 pm

Hooray, Hooray! I finally finished Rachel Maddow's Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth . Even though it took me three months to read, I feel like I learned so much about the gas and oil industry. I'll have the review up soon.

Currently reading:


Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas - on no! another political book for the RLBC next week.


Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion - Jia Tolentino - PBS Now Read This January selection


Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past - Sarah Parcak - This one is a delight!

Although this one strikes me as a bit slow, it's my pleasure reading after I finish chapters in the above each day.



82qebo
tammikuu 12, 2021, 1:44 pm

>81 streamsong: I've had Blowout sitting on the TBR stack for months, and Winners Take All is on my RLBC list also, but the group hasn't met since last February; these were restaurant dinner meetings which are obviously out of the question, but there hasn't been interest in substituting Zoom either. Will be interested in your reviews.

83streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 13, 2021, 1:52 pm

>82 qebo: See, I told you that you always read interesting books. :)

My RLBC is via zoom. It's not the same as face to face, but living out here in the country woods by myself, I am happy to have zoom.

I sign up for a variety of talks and seminars via zoom.

I've enjoyed the Travelers' Rest winter storyteller series for several years in person. This year it's on Zoom. There are quite a few Native Americans in the lineup. https://www.travelersrest.org/winter-storytelling.html

And next week I've signed up for a zoom Iraqi cooking class. :)

84BLBera
tammikuu 13, 2021, 8:43 pm

>80 streamsong: This one looks great!

85EllaTim
tammikuu 13, 2021, 9:06 pm

>81 streamsong: Your books do look interesting. But I quite understand needing book 4 in between!

86streamsong
tammikuu 14, 2021, 10:20 am

>84 BLBera: I really enjoyed I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf, Beth! It made a great break!

>85 EllaTim: Hi Ella! I'm not sure I'll get all the NF read, Ella. My brain doesn't seem up to Serious Subjects of Seriousity right now.

The one I'm enjoying most is Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past. This was another Gotcha! from Jim/Dr Neutron. I'm liking it more than he did - I suspect he didn't think it was quite technical enough in its explanations of using satellite images to find archaeological sites. But since I don't know anything about the subject (or anthropology or archaeology) it's hitting all the high spots for me.

I did not read a single page yesterday until right before bedtime.

Time to turn off the TV!

87drneutron
tammikuu 14, 2021, 10:54 am

😀 yeah, that’s pretty much it. It was a good book, just left me wanting more.

88arubabookwoman
tammikuu 14, 2021, 6:27 pm

>60 streamsong: My reading goal this year was to read from my own shelves rather than the library, and to read more “literary” books. But I like post-apocalyptic, so your review of Devolution led me to the library (virtual) and it is now waiting to be read by me. So much for reading resolutions!

89EllaTim
tammikuu 14, 2021, 6:37 pm

>79 streamsong: Hi Janet. I forgot to mention it earlier but Club Read is doing a group read of the Wolf Hall trilogy. I've bookmarked the thread, as I read the first two books, and still want to read the third. They're coming to that sometime April/may I think. But it's a good thread to check out from time to time.

90streamsong
tammikuu 15, 2021, 11:18 am

>87 drneutron: Hey Jim, Thanks for adding your comment. I'm reading into your remark that you thought the info was accurate, which is good to know. You know how good NNF just picks you up and carries you along, almost like a good novel? That's how I feel about this one.

>88 arubabookwoman: Ha! always good to Gotcha! someone. I hope you enjoy it very much.

I have a huge number of library books checked out now that all seem to be due within two weeks. I totally understand about wanting to read off the your shelf - I hope to do that more this year, too. (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!)

>89 EllaTim: Oh thank you, Ella! Keeping an eye on the discussion for the first two books will be the perfect refresher for reading the third.

91streamsong
tammikuu 15, 2021, 11:37 am

Right before the pandemic, a local business startup began having locally produced kombucha on tap in one of the small locally owned grocery stores. I treat myself occasionally, but often think that the four flavors they offer are a bit 'flowery' for me. (hibiscus! lavendar!) You buy a quart size mason jar with their logo and refill it after cleaning.

I used to do my own kombucha many moons ago, but haven't been successful starting it and haven't found anyone that wanted to share a daughter scoby with me.

Several days ago, I finished up my kombucha and left the jar with a small amount of cloudy liquid on the counter. Being slobby old me, it took a few days to pick it up to clean it and then run through the dishwasher.

And I discovered a scoby filling the entire bottom of the jar! So yesterday, I started to expand it in a nice clean jar with teabags, sugar and vinegar.

I was also pressing some tofu yesterday. I felt so retro hipster! I should have taken a pic of the two together.

If only I had had some peace beads - which definitely may be needed during the next ten days.

I'll continue to support the kombucha startup at the store - I was only buying it about once a month and I'll continue to do so as they have flavors I'd like to try.

92streamsong
tammikuu 15, 2021, 11:50 am



5. Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia and the Richest, mostRachel Maddow - 2018
- Library BrownBag Book Club
– library


Left wing journalist Rachel Maddow examines the oil and gas industry. With billions of dollars at stake globally, it is no wonder that corruption exists at every level:

-From states like Oklahoma, where big energy companies worth billions of dollars paid very little in taxes, yet teachers’ salaries are one of the lowest in the nation. As fracking increased, so did groundwater contamination and earthquake swarms.

-Developing countries such as Equatorial Guinea, where the ruling family has vast amount of riches, provided by US based gas and oil companies, yet the average person has neither enough to eat, medical care or education.

And then there’s Russia and Vladimir Putin. If you’ve been a bit confused as to what is going on with the Crimea, Ukraine and Russia, and how Rex Tillerson of ExxonOil became Trump’s Secretary of State and pushed for the removal of sanctions against Russia’s takeover of the Crimea, this book will be enlightening.

It was painful for me to read; I took three months doing so. Because of the current US, political upheaval, I often had my stomach churning. And yet I feel it was time well spent. I actually copied out *pages* of quotes to remember and perhaps use with this review.

For instance, this quote on how Putin is seen as a moral savior of his country will sound familiar to many here in the US:

“Vladimir Putin, …was the hero of the day. (The First International Russian Conservative Forum) literature bannered excerpts from one of his recent speeches. ‘We can see how many of the Euro-Atlantic countries are actually rejecting their roots, including the Christian values that constitute the basis of Western civilization. They are denying moral principles and all traditional identities: national, cultural, religious and even sexual. They are implementing policies that equate large families with same-sex partnerships, belief in God with the belief in Satan … People in many European countries are embarrassed or afraid to talk about their religious affiliations. Holidays are abolished or even called something different; their essence is hidden away, as in their moral foundation. And people are aggressively trying to export this model all over the world. I am convinced that this opens a direct path to degradation, resulting in a profound demographic and moral crisis.

“ Here was a true moral leader; this was the consensus of the first ever International Russian Conservative Forum. ‘The salvation of my generation is the great Russian people, because Vladimir Putin understand that the rights of the majority should be put before the whims and perversions of the minority ‘ ….”
P 319

But there is also hope:

“But then something happened in Oklahoma. What Happened was democracy. ‘In politics, money most always trumps merit,” says Mike Cantrell, the independent Oklahoma oilman who finally got fed up with the lousy funding in education and bucked Big Oil in his state. ‘But constituency tops everything”. After years of killing cuts, the constituency finally started to kick up enough of a fuss that pols started to worry about damage to their elective selves if they stuck to the status quo. “ p 344

This is written with Maddow’s brand of a bit of humor and snark, that makes a tough subject eminently readable.

93BLBera
tammikuu 15, 2021, 1:59 pm

>86 streamsong: My library has a copy, so I hope to get it soon.

I like Maddow but I don't know if I can read a political book right now.

94streamsong
tammikuu 16, 2021, 10:45 am

>93 BLBera: Good, Beth. I'm glad you've found a copy. Here's hoping it gives you a smile or two!

Yes on the Maddow and reading political books. That's exactly why it took me three months to read (which is the time-limit on check out for our library if no one else has requested it). I gritted my teeth and finished it. I really did learn a lot, but it's nothing I would have chosen to read right now.

My RL book club chooses all their books in December. So while we knew this would be a political year, we had no idea just *how* political it would be.

Prayers for our country this week!

95EllaTim
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 17, 2021, 8:37 pm

>92 streamsong: Added this to the TBR. It's not just US based oil and gas companies that act like that. And I was wondering about the Trump - Poetin connection as well, but this is it of course.

Congratulations on finishing it. And wishing you a nice cozy read for your next book!

96msf59
tammikuu 18, 2021, 8:06 am

Hi, Janet! I hope all is well with you in Montana. Good review of Blowout. I have that one on the list. If you are looking for a story collection, give Cowboys are My Weakness a try. I loved it and I think you would too.

97streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 24, 2021, 1:35 pm

>95 EllaTim: Ella, I know you're right. Anytime there are great amounts of money, there is potential for great abuse. :(

It's a great book; it's just my own stress over the political situation that made me take so long to finish it.

I actually just finished a mystery by Anne Hillerman, Cave of Bones. I had the review written, but it disappeared so will have to rewrite it. :(

>96 msf59: Hey Mark! I hope you enjoy Blowout when you get to it. I learned so much from it.

I'll make a note of that title of short stories, thank you.

I just purchased my first book of the year which happens to be a book of short stories. I saw on Lori's thread that The Complete Father Brown Mysteries is available for 0.99 on Amazon. and I've never read any Father Brown, so I'm looking forward to it.

98streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 19, 2021, 1:52 pm

I'm really excited that my son and his wonderful fiance will be marrying tomorrow, January 19th via a Zoom ceremony.



99mdoris
tammikuu 18, 2021, 6:20 pm

HI Janet, All the best to your son and his fiance with tomorrow's wedding! They look so happy!

100PaulCranswick
tammikuu 18, 2021, 6:25 pm

>98 streamsong: Lovely photo and splendid news, Janet.

Best wishes is the happy couple always. x

101FAMeulstee
tammikuu 18, 2021, 6:33 pm

>98 streamsong: Congratulations, Janet, and best wishes to your son and daughter in law.

102msf59
tammikuu 18, 2021, 7:02 pm

Congrats, Janet! How exciting. Best wishes to your son and daughter in law.

103EllaTim
tammikuu 18, 2021, 7:06 pm

Congratulaions, and best wishes to the both of them!

104BLBera
tammikuu 18, 2021, 10:21 pm

Congratulations and best wishes for your son and new DIL, Janet.

105scaifea
tammikuu 19, 2021, 9:51 am

Oh, congrats to your son!!
And good for them for doing a zoom wedding!

106streamsong
tammikuu 19, 2021, 1:51 pm

Thank you, Mary, Paul, Anita, Mark, Ella, Beth and Amber!

It's an exciting day - just wish it were possible to do it in person!

107streamsong
tammikuu 21, 2021, 3:56 pm

The Zoom wedding was far lovelier and more intimate than I imagined.

While they are hoping to have a 'Real' ceremony after Covid, this one was very very nice.

108fuzzi
tammikuu 22, 2021, 7:14 am

>98 streamsong: congratulations!

That's a lovely photograph...professional?

109karenmarie
tammikuu 22, 2021, 8:46 am

Hi Janet!

>98 streamsong: and >107 streamsong: Congratulations to your son and new wife. It’s good to hear that The Zoom wedding was far lovelier and more intimate than I imagined.. Thank you for sharing the picture of them.

You know that Senator Daines lives down the road from Karen. Because of death threats from the right, there was a sheriff in his driveway for at least 3 days after the insurrection. He’s getting a lot of flack, all well deserved.

110streamsong
tammikuu 22, 2021, 9:15 pm

>108 fuzzi: Thanks, Lor! I'm told the bride's mother took the photograph. I need to talk to her about her
photography! I want to get this one framed. It does nice things to the cockles of my heart.

>109 karenmarie: Thank you Karen. I so loved the wedding!

Whoa, had not heard about Steven Daines being threatened from the right. I'm surprised they are not saying it was Antifa which, apparently has members hiding behind every bush in Montana. Many people on my FB believe they caused the insurrection.

111streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 22, 2021, 9:16 pm

One more:

112streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 23, 2021, 10:55 am

Continuing on with a mystery series. I am several books behind.



6. Cave of BonesAnne Hillerman - 2018
– library
- 3.7 stars

When Bernie Manuelito is coerced into giving a talk to a group of wayward teenagers completing an outdoor encounter group, she finds more than she expected.

One of the girls has gone missing – and the male councilor sent to look for her has also disappeared into the wilderness of the El Malpais Lava Tubes – an area that the Navajo believe was formed from the clotted blood of a monster. The missing girl returns quickly and seemed to have taken shelter in an ancient burial site – complete with skeleton and beautiful pictographs. But her searcher is still missing.

Clearly something is going on the among the staff of the outdoor encounter group as they struggle to secure financing for the camp which seems to be as troubled as the kids they are trying to help.

In the meantime, Bernie’s husband, Jim Chee also in the Navajo police, has been sent to do some training in Santa Fe; he’s asked to check into a missing man who may be merely in hiding from his mother and wife’s intense conflict. Jim also agrees to keep an eye on Bernie’s troubled sister Darleen, who seems to be involved with several shady characters while trying out a new art school program in her first venture living away from home.

There is a small appearance by Joe Leaphorn who does some necessary background sleuthing.

All in all it’s a satisfying read, even though I had worked out much of the mystery. Although I still prefer her father’s depth and subtlety , Anne Hillerman’s books also focus on the Navajo culture and the beauty of the area. I enjoy them enough to continue the series.

I am left with the idea that I would love to see the lava tubes and caves in El Malpais National Park.

113streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 24, 2021, 1:28 pm

Jim suggested this one. It's pure coincidence that I read this one and the Hillerman one (also archaeology) next to each other.



7. Archaeology From SpaceSarah Parcak - 2019
– library

Author Sarah Parcak begins her book with a look at what can be currently accomplished in archaeology with NASA’s state of the art satellite imaging.

Parcak enthuses over what satellite images from the 1700 earth-orbiting satellites can detect – from the older cold war Corona images, to the newer techniques using false (amplified) color and a Laser imaging technology called LIDAR.

She was first captured by aerial images from planes and hot air balloons which her grandfather shared with her when she was a child. And then, part way through her already successful archaeological career using very standard techniques such as magnetometry, she tried some satellite imaging – and detectied previously unknown Viking settlements in North America, followed by a huge extension of the ancient Egyptian capital of Tanis, along with Mayan and Cambodian ruins long unknown due to being hidden by dense vegetation.

Her enthusiasm extends to how our knowledge of other planets may be enhanced by studying ruins that explain their civilizations’ histories – even if the civilization is totally gone.

And lastly, she explains her platform GlobalXplorer or GX. This is a satellite imaging evaluation site where students and citizen scientists can examine satellite earth images for signs of unknown habitations and also evidence of looting. She was able to develop this platform by winning a $1 million dollar TED prize in 2016.

All applying for the TED prize are limited to fifty words. Here are hers:

“I wish for us to discover the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe. By building an online citizen-science platform and training a 21st army of global explorers, we’ll find and protect the world’s hidden heritage, which contains clues to humankind’s collective resilience and creativity.” P219

It leads users from game-like learning techniques of known sites to evaluating actual data. What an online learning adventure this would be during this era of homeschooling students!

Throughout the book, she writes in an easily understood, straightforward, enthusiastic style. Although some may be left wanting more information on her techniques, I was drawn quickly and happily through a complicated subject about which I previously knew nothing.

Fascinating narrative non-fiction – 4.25 stars.

114karenmarie
tammikuu 25, 2021, 11:58 am

Hi Janet!

>113 streamsong: I just ordered this from Amazon, and it will be here on Wednesday. It sounds absolutely stunning.

115streamsong
tammikuu 25, 2021, 12:00 pm



Here's another poem performed by Amanda Gorman, the amazing young poet who blew the country away at Biden's inauguration. This one is about the Covid virus and grief: "The Miracle of Morning"

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/amanda-gormans-poetic-answer-to-pandemic-grief...

116streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 25, 2021, 12:26 pm

>114 karenmarie: I really enjoyed it, Karen and hope you will, too. It was a Gotcha! from Jim who was left wanting more >87 drneutron: But then he knows a bit more about space imaging than I do .....

117streamsong
tammikuu 25, 2021, 12:37 pm

Currently reading:

118karenmarie
tammikuu 25, 2021, 2:46 pm

>115 streamsong: Oh my. She's electrifying.

119ronincats
tammikuu 25, 2021, 11:56 pm

Oh, happy, happy wishes for your son and his wife! I'm sorry you weren't able to be with them, but hopefully that time will come.

120streamsong
tammikuu 26, 2021, 8:55 am

>118 karenmarie: Isn't that the truth, Karen! Joe said he has seen 5 or so of Amanda Gorman's performances online, so I'll have to do more looking.

>119 ronincats: Thank you, Roni. I'm very, very excited for them, and looking forward to the time when we can all travel again.

121streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 26, 2021, 9:36 am

I'm still finding wonderful Zoom presentations to keep me entertained.

Last night I Zoomed a presentation by the director of the Badger-Two Medicine area which is just south of Glacier Park and north of the Bob Marshall wilderness. https://www.glaciertwomedicine.org/

It's spectacular and remote and also very unique. It has plant ecosystems from both the east slope and the west slope of the Rocky Mountains, as well as being a bridge between plant life further north and that to the south. It has rugged cliffs, grasslands and marshes, many species of wild animals and birds.

It's also sacred to the Blackfeet tribe whose reservation is to the North and east. They've identified 137 plant species in the area of cultural significance to the Blackfeet.

The coalition had a bill sponsored in the Senate last year to give it more protection, especially from oil drilling. It will have to be reintroduced this new Congressional session - but will probably have to wait until Covid and other matters are settled, so may not be introduced this year.



If you've been to Glacier Park, you may have traveled along its northern boundary as you travelled along the southern Glacier Park boundary heading to East Glacier or Canada's Waterton National Park.

122BLBera
tammikuu 26, 2021, 2:39 pm

Archeology from Space sounds fascinating, Janet.

Wow, am I behind in the Anne Hillerman continuation of her father's series. I only read the first one. I do love the vivid descriptions in the place.

123streamsong
tammikuu 27, 2021, 12:39 pm

Hi Beth! I enjoyed Archaeology From Space. I just love the huge variety of books that I get exposed to here on LT - many authors and subjects that I would otherwise not pick up - especially since browsing in the library is still hugely curtailed.

My brother introduced me to Tony Hilllerman's books twenty years or so ago. He lives in the greater Phoenix area and on a visit, he offered his (at that time) small collection for me to read and get a bit of flavor of the Southwest. On the phone recently, he mentioned that he was reading Anne Hillerman's newest - and I realized I was also three books behind.

124EllaTim
tammikuu 27, 2021, 7:10 pm

Congratulations Janet, and I'm glad the Zoom wedding was such a success!

Well, BB for Archaeology from Space! You really have me convinced.

125streamsong
tammikuu 28, 2021, 1:34 pm

Thank you, Ella! With the Zoom wedding, they had friends attend from Japan and Sweden and all areas of the US from Alaska to the eastern edge.

I hope you enjoy Archaeology from Space!

126streamsong
tammikuu 28, 2021, 2:01 pm

Another political book from the January meeting of the RLBC.



8. Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World – Amand Giridharadas - 2018
- Real Life Book Club
– library


Successful business people often like to use the phrase “doing well by doing good”. Whether they are designing new apps and software that create a new market and so increasing the size of the pie (think Uber and Airbnb), or supporting philanthropic work, the author argues that the financial elites are able to look good without truly doing well by society.

He gives the example of those paying very low wages to their workers and denying them health benefits, but donating very large amounts to medical projects such as a new hospital wing or clean water in Africa.

He differentiates between critics whose demands for change tend to make business leaders shut down and ‘thought leaders,’ who advocate small changes withing the system that make no fundamental changes – ie teaching women to use more assertive body language while speaking to men.

He also tackles globalization, which creates businesses without local taxes to support education, infrastructure and hospitals within a community.

This was a selection for my Real Life Book Club, and it gave lots of food for thought and great discussion. Not an easy read in such a politically divided time, but it definitely expanded the way I view many current topics.

” Talking about the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and using philanthropic solutions rather than political solutions: “One could forget, watching such a civilized group, that traditional politics is argumentative for a reason. It isn’t that politicians don’t know how to be nice, but rather that politics is rooted in the idea of a big, motley people taking their fate into their own hands. Politics is the inherently messy business of negotiating and reconciling incompatible interests and coming up with a decent plan, designed to be liked but difficult to love. It solves problems in a context in which everyone is invited to the table and everyone is equal and everyone has the right to complain about being unserved and unseen. Politics, in bringing together people of divergent interests, necessarily puts sacrifice on the table. It is easier to conjure win-wins in forums like this one, where everyone is a winner. The consensus was a reminder of all the kinds of people and perspectives that had not been invited in. “ p220

127streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 30, 2021, 12:20 pm

This was one of the first books that I cataloged into LT in 2006. I'm guessing that's when I first read it. This reread was for the Dick Francis semi-monthly group read.



9. Banker – Dick Francis - 1982 - (Reread)
- Dick Francis group read
- Root #3 - cataloged LT 2006


Tim Ekateron is the up and coming nephew in a family owned investment bank.

His parents squandered their fortune on high living and betting at the racetrack. Although Tim doesn’t have their habits, he’s familiar with Thoroughbred race horses and racing. So when a race horse breeder approaches him about having the bank finance a $5 million stallion, Tim is intrigued and, after doing his due diligence, approves the deal.

It looks like a can’t fail for all involved, until foals begin to be born with birth defects. A faith healer for horses, a seemingly impossible romance, and a nasty murder round out the plot.

This was written in 1982 so the technology as well as the lack of women in the higher levels of the bank directors date it a bit. Still, a good ride.

I rated this one a bit lower primarily due to the cruelty to animals, but also due to the (rather stereotyped) woman’s roles.

128streamsong
tammikuu 30, 2021, 12:55 pm

I've joined an online book club for the Glacier Conservancy (affiliated with Glacier National Park). The February book is Engineering Eden which sounds sooooo familiar but I know I haven't read it. The March book is People Before the Park: The Kootenai and Blackfeet before Glacier National Park which I've had on my shelves for several years.

I'm looking forward to reading some outdoor titles.

The group is Glacier Book Club on FB

129msf59
tammikuu 30, 2021, 1:35 pm

Happy Saturday, Janet! We still NEED to get to Glacier. It may be the highest on our US Bucket List. As you know, we have been trying for years. With me being retired now, the chances are increasing.

130BLBera
tammikuu 30, 2021, 7:50 pm

The Glacier book club sounds like fun, Janet.

131PaulCranswick
tammikuu 30, 2021, 8:47 pm

>121 streamsong: One of my favourite history topics is the Native Americans, Janet, so I found your post about the Blackfeet's sacred tribal lands fascinating.

132streamsong
tammikuu 31, 2021, 11:59 am

>129 msf59: Hi Mark! Thanks for stopping in. I really hope you make it to Glacier Park once Covid dies down. Like many National Parks, it's being overused. There's only one interior park road from east to west: The Going to the Sun Highway. I've been told it can be almost bumper to bumper with the parking lot at the top of the world full to the brim. But it's truly spectacular scenery and animals that one doesn't see anywhere else.

A few years ago I was interested in going to a presentation on Hawk Owls in Glacier. During the Zoom talk about the Badger-Two Medicine area (>121 streamsong: ), they mentioned that there are no longer Hawk Owls in Glacier. :( The better news is that there was one confirmed siting in the Badger-Two Medicine last year.

133streamsong
tammikuu 31, 2021, 12:16 pm

>130 BLBera: Hi Beth! Yes, I'm still rehabbing the bone bruise on my knee, so about all I can do right now is read about some of these wonderful areas and enjoy the Zoom presentations.

And here's a point for Karenmarie and doing spreadsheets (or at least checking my LT inventory before I order a book). I DO have a copy of the first Glacier book club book, Engineering Eden, which I received as an Early Reviewer in 2016. I read it during the time my Mom was very ill and ultimately passed away. A reread won't be a bad thing as I remember so little of it. I wish I'd checked my LT inventory before I ordered it.

Eighteen months after the injury where I tore both my ACL and MCL, I now walk with a side-to-side roll. My physical therapist calls me a Weeble ( a child's toy that you poke and they wobble - their advertising slogan was "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!"). I can't tell I'm doing it without walking towards a full length mirror. And I thought I had it right - but no - although my shoulders looked steadier, my hip is too far forward and so I am weebling from my hips now. AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGG!

I see the PA in Missoula tomorrow so they can determine if further steps (ha on the pun!) are needed (ie surgery to tighten the MCL) so the joint isn't quite so loose.

134streamsong
tammikuu 31, 2021, 12:29 pm

>131 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! I'm glad you're enjoying the Native American stories I'm sharing.

There's a state park called Traveller's Rest that is one of the few documented sites that the explorers Lewis and Clark have actually been documented to have camped. They have a winter storytelling each January - this year it is actually going on for two months. Winter is the traditional storytelling time for the Salish, when the snow lies deep. There are creation stories that can only be told when there is snow on the ground.

Yesterday's talk was by a Salish journalist named Tailyr Irvine. She explained the complicated problem of needing to keep a blood percent (quantum) to be able to be enrolled as a tribal member. But most tribes are very small, and so to marry within a tribe and not marry a relative is becoming harder and harder. She indicated there is one tribe of the over 500 tribes in the United States that has now passed the point of extinction. It was really fascinating. I had no idea this problem existed.

I'll add a link to the talk which is supposed to be online eventually. In the meantime, here is her website: https://www.tailyrirvine.com/about

135streamsong
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 31, 2021, 4:36 pm

I purchased this at an FOL sale a few years ago, but hadn’t listened to it. I used to read the entire LOTR once a year from the time I first read it in HS in the 70’s until … ? not sure. I’ve probably read it close to twenty times, including aloud to the kids when they were in about second grade.



10. The Lord of the Rings (Wood Box Edition) - J. R. R. Tolkien -
- NPR audio dramatization
- ROOT #4 acq'd 2018


I was disappointed to find that at nine discs and ten and half hours of recording time, this version is actually quite condensed. The dramatization voices often also left me wanting. I’m not sure I would have been able to follow it, except that I knew the story so well.

Here’s what I was able to find out about this production from this site:
https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1979_radio_series)

In 1979 the US National Public Radio broadcast a radio dramatisation of J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings broadcast in twenty-four separate episodes. …..

The radio script, written by Bernard Mayes, was an abridged version of the book, and emphasised dialogue over description. The broadcasts totaled more than 11 hours. The budget was small and production time was limited. The cast were local theatre players, and the production used stock music and homemade sound effects. The script is notable for including the Tom Bombadil scenes, unlike most other adaptations of the book. “


The best part of this version is the fun wood box that the nine discs come in.

136streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 1, 2021, 12:40 pm



11. When Stars Are Scattered - Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed - 2020
- Graphic Novel/ YA
– library


As a young child in Somalia, Omar Mohamed watched insurgents appear from nowhere and kill his father while he was working in his field. His mother told them she would soon return, but she didn’t. There was nothing for Omar and his disabled younger brother, Hasan, to do but join up with a group of adults and start walking away from the area.

Eventually they arrived in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Food was very scarce there, medical care non-existant, violence and theft rampant. There was no one to care for them except for their elderly adopted mother Fatuma. While she loved and supported the boys, she often could not help their physical needs – often they all went to bed with only a cup of water in their stomachs.

The refugee camps are supposed to be a temporary solution, but days turn into years. Eventually Omar was given a chance to go to school. He didn't know English, the language of the multi-national school and was afraid to leave his brother Hasan during the days. He knew Hasan wouldl never be able to understand Omar’s absence each day, although Fatuma looked after him as best she could in the dangerous camp. And yet, he also knew that school was probably his best hope for the future.

This fictionalized memoir is sad and funny and feels very true.
4 stars

137FAMeulstee
helmikuu 1, 2021, 5:09 pm

>135 streamsong: Sorry it was so disappointing, Janet.
The wood box looks lovely, might be a collector item.

138ronincats
helmikuu 1, 2021, 10:18 pm

I've been bringing boxes down from the attic, Janet, in preparation for my move this summer, and found two gorgeous Tolkien puzzle that I'd forgotten about. Also my 1971 boxed set of the books. Those were my second set of books--the first were the Ballantines with the pictures on the first puzzle, but they wore out long ago.

139streamsong
helmikuu 2, 2021, 11:51 am

>137 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Ah, well. One thing about books - there is always the next one. Used editions of the CD's with the box are on Amazon for about $20.

>138 ronincats: Oh, what fun. I have multiple editions of the TLOR books; I love the 70's sort of psychedelic covers, which are the ones I think you're talking about. In the early 70's my brother gave me a huge poster of the three covers. I think I still have it somewhere, but where? I also had the boxed set, but like you, the box fell apart years ago.

I've just started Burn by Patrick Ness which is one of your suggestions, Roni. Darn I could certainly use a dragon to help clean out the cottonwoods which grow like weeds on my place.

140streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 3, 2021, 12:10 pm

Monday Reading Update happening on Tuesday (after all it's Groundhog's Day!) Currently Reading:

141streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 4:13 pm

January Stats

Books on MT TBR:
As of 2/1/2021: 522
As of 1/1/2021: 522

- 12 Books Completed in January

3 - ROOTS from my shelf
1 - Reread from my shelf
8 - library

FORMAT
1 - audiobook
9 - paper books
2 - digital - read on Kindle app

- 8 - Fiction (may fit into more than one category)

3 -Global Reading
1 - historical fiction
2 - mystery
1 - Romance
2 - speculative fiction
2 - YA

1 - comics
1 - graphic novel


- 4 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
- 1 - memoir
- 3 - politics
- 1 - science

AUTHORS

6 - Male Authors
5 - Female Authors
1 - Combination of male and female

9 - Authors who are new to me
3 - Authors I have previously read

Rereads:
1 - Banker - Dick Francis

Countries Visited
Jamaica
Kenya
Somalia
Turkey

Original Publication Date

1 - 1982
1 - 2012
2 - 2018
2 - 2019
6 - 2020

February Stats

Books on MT TBR:
As of 2/1/2021: 522
As of 1/1/2021: 522

- 2 Books Completed

- ROOTS from my shelf
- Reread from my shelf
2 - library

FORMAT
- audiobook
2 - paper books
- digital - read on Kindle app

1- 8 - Fiction (may fit into more than one category)

-Global Reading
- historical fiction
- mystery
- Romance
1 - speculative fiction
1 - YA

- comics
- graphic novel


- 1 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
1 - Essays
- memoir
- politics
- science

AUTHORS

1 - Male Authors
1 - Female Authors
- Combination of male and female

2 - Authors who are new to me
- Authors I have previously read

Rereads:

Countries Visited

Original Publication Date

1 - 2019
1 - 2020

142streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 3, 2021, 12:29 pm

It's a coincidence that book #11 was a fictionalized graphic novel about brothers fleeing Somalia to a Kenyan refugee camp and book #12 is a memoir with common features. Two very different stories, although they shared some horrendous childhood incidents.



12. This is What America Looks Like - Ilhan Omar - 2020
– library


According to Wikipedia ”Omar is the first Somali American, the first naturalized citizen of African birth, and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota in the United States Congress. She is also one of the first two Muslim women … to serve in Congress. She has been the subject of several death threats, conspiracy theories, other harassment by political opponents, and false and misleading claims …. “

Front of book blurb: “Ilhan Omar was only eight years old when war broke out in Somalia. The youngest of seven children, she was being raised by her father and grandfather when armed gunmen attacked their compound and her family fled Mogadishu. They ended up in a refugee camp in Kenya, where Ilhan came to understand the meaning of hunger and death. Four years later, after a painstaking vetting process, her family finally achieved refugee status and arrived in Arlington, Virginia. “

She believes the hardships she endured as a child refugee taught her to stand up first for a bullied classmate, then for herself, and lastly for her constituents.

It’s also the story of her father and grandfather’s unwavering support in her journey as they encouraged her to be a very non-traditional Muslim woman in a public role as she worked to do it in a way that honored her faith.

”“My father always exhorted me to “Go live your life.’ But he jokingly warned, “Don’t do anything that would make me unable to sit with my peers, or anything that would make me throw you and myself in the Mississippi.” P 88

It’s a fast-moving story – at times I would have liked more information and greater depth. For instance, I believe she doesn’t mention her decision to become an American citizen. According to another source, this happened when she was age seventeen.

I’m happy to have read this and to learn more about this unique Congresswoman.

143BLBera
helmikuu 5, 2021, 8:52 am

I also enjoyed Ilhan Omar's memoir, Janet. It gave me some insight into some of her less advisable comments.

When Stars Are Scattered also sounds good.

144streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 5, 2021, 1:40 pm

>143 BLBera: Hi Beth! - I must have seen this book on your thread.

I live in such a red area of a red state, that I honestly don't know much about Ilhan Omar's less advisable comments. I only know her as a member of 'the squad'; the three left wing Muslim women in Congress, whom seem to be lightning rods for right wing censure.

Right now I'm following Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's story of the capitol riot with interest. I'm reading Jia Tolentino's book of essays Trick Mirror, specifically the essay titled 'The Cult of Difficult Women' and these ladies seem to fall right into that category.

I try to read with diversity. I'm continuing to focus on not just women, or blacks, or other minorities, or international writers, but I'm interested in the experiences that make up not just the American story, but the world story as well.

And then, of course, there are my comfort reads. And all the Gotcha's! from other people's threads. What a mishmash of topics!

When Stars Are Scattered was wonderful! I hope you get a chance to read it.

145streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 5, 2021, 1:38 pm

When I don't have a 2022 review to post, I'm going to go back and post the reviews for 2021 that I didn't get written last year. They will be on the end of my 2021 thread.



2021 book Empire of Wild - Cherie Dimaline - Review: https://www.librarything.com/topic/326949#7413480

146streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 5, 2021, 1:38 pm

I saw the Physician's Assistant on Monday about my knee and got a Groundhog's Day report. Six more weeks of continuing to wear the brace and doing PT as well as daily exercises, and I'm to see him again in six weeks.

147fuzzi
helmikuu 5, 2021, 5:32 pm

>146 streamsong: well, could be a worse report I suppose.

Hope the knee continues to improve.

148m.belljackson
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 9, 2021, 11:25 am

>144 streamsong:

A new book, WHEN THE APRICOTS BLOOM would fit into a quest for world diversity.

Too bad that Montana is a red state - I wonder why since trump had such disdain for farmers and veterans.

149BLBera
helmikuu 5, 2021, 8:32 pm

Good luck with the knee.

I also try to read diversely, Janet. I get lots of suggestions here. Since Omar is from Minnesota, we hear a lot more about her although she is not my representative. I have one of T*** supporters for my rep, which reminds me, I haven't sent him an email this week.

150jnwelch
helmikuu 6, 2021, 2:20 pm

Congratulations on your son and new DIL getting married, Janet!

>98 streamsong: I at first thought this photo was a still from a tv show or movie. They're both so good-looking!

I was happy to see that When Stars Are Scattered grabbed you. My wife and I both loved that one.

151karenmarie
helmikuu 7, 2021, 11:24 am

Hi Janet!

>127 streamsong: I had a hard time reading about the birth defects and I’m always on the alert for the stereotyped woman’s roles. Glad you liked it though, and glad you’re along for the 3rd year of the Dick Francis SHARED read. I’ll need to post the thread for the March – April read soon – probably a week before March 1.

>132 streamsong: My uncle and then-aunt went to Glacier in the 80’s, I think. He was primarily interested in small flowering plants and we saw hundreds of slides of them.

>132 streamsong: Appreciate the shout out. *smile* I keep trying to get Karen to join LT and catalog her books. She is resistive, because she thinks she has to keep track of where they are in the house even though I told her all she has to do is add them, never mind what shelf, much less what room, they’re in. However, I do benefit from her not cataloging her 6000+ books because she occasionally finds duplicates and they become mine. *smile*

>135 streamsong: Boo, hiss to abridgements.

>141 streamsong: Nice stats, and congrats on 12 books read.

>146 streamsong: Is that good news? Is it just delaying surgery, in your opinion, or do you think that this regimen will actually let you avoid surgery?

152streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:31 pm

>147 fuzzi: >149 BLBera: >151 karenmarie: thanks for good wishes on the knee, Lor, Beth and Karen.

I don't know what will happen. The PA is saying there is too much arthritis in my knee to tighten the MCL which was always the plan to do so a year after my injury (ruptured the ACL and MCL almost two years ago). However, he couldn't show me the 'progressing arthritis' in the xrays and MRI's he pulled up. After this six weeks, I see the PA again and then will insist on either seeing the MD or another MD for a second opinion. PA seems to be pushing total knee replacement as the best way to get my life back. The PA feels that there is so much movement in my knee joint that it will re-bruise as soon as I stop wearing the brace.

I was very upset after the appointment. Now I feel I have things a bit more under control emotionally and I have a plan. My physical therapist is being very supportive and openly contradicted some of the stuff the PA dumped on me - like needing to go live at a rehab center for several weeks following surgery since I live alone.

I appreciate all good thoughts for healing and keeping up my exercise mojo!

153streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:01 pm

>148 m.belljackson: Thanks for the rec, Susan. I shall keep an eye out for the book. I believe the title is actually When the Apricots Bloom - it took me a while to find it, but good ole Amazon is helpful if a word is off.

Did you see my world reading challenge link in >5 streamsong: ? I certainly don't get as many read as Paul does, but did make it to Jamaica, Kenya, Somalia and Turkey last month.

Montana has pockets of blue around University towns and reservations. Otherwise it's very conservative - and to most people here being Christian means voting Republican.

154streamsong
helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:06 pm

>149 BLBera: Hi Beth - Omar seems to be a lightning rod. I see that now the Repubs want to have her removed from her committees in retaliation for MTG being removed from hers.

I get a lot of book Gotchas! from your threads, Beth.

155streamsong
helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:08 pm

>150 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! They are beautiful pictures, aren't they! (and also not too hard on the eyes as a couple she says modestly). I can't wait until travel restrictions are lifted to visit them again.

When Stars Are Scattered was a really good one, Joe. I'm pretty sure I got the rec from you.

156streamsong
helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:29 pm

>151 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'm looking forward to the next Dick Francis. Have you chosen the title already? There was another one I remember disliking the cruelty, but I can't think of the title - maiming horses for insurance money. Whenever millions of dollars come into play, the very worst of some people come to the fore..

Too funny about seeing the millions of slides of teeny tiny flowering plants - I wonder if he looked up and saw the spectacular scenery ....

Reading twelve books last month was definitely above average for me. Several were YA or graphics, several others I had started in December. It was a great start for January!

157karenmarie
helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:42 pm

>156 streamsong: Here's the SHARED read thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: A Dick Francis SHARED Read

I'll be posting a thread for each book. The second book is Odds Against. I see it in your catalog with a tag of 'tbr'.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear he didn't look up to see the scenery at all...

158streamsong
helmikuu 7, 2021, 12:48 pm

Thanks, Karen. I have posted on the thread, but didn't remember the list at the top. Hoooray that you picked one that I can cross off Planet TBR.

159PaulCranswick
helmikuu 7, 2021, 1:11 pm

>153 streamsong: That is a good bit of travelling, Janet - you do just as well as I do!

160kidzdoc
helmikuu 8, 2021, 11:02 am

Great review of This Is What America Looks Like, Janet. I'll add it to my wish list, as I am an unabashed fan of The Squad.

161streamsong
helmikuu 8, 2021, 11:43 am

So I am still entertaining myself by taking part in Zoom discussions.

Yesterday the zoom Winter Storytelling from Travelers Rest was fascinating. It was about the Lewis and Clark expedition's maps - the ones they created and the ones they *used* on their journey to the west coast. While they did have some maps from explorers and trappers, they also had maps created by Indians.

The Indian maps were quite a bit different than those drawn by the white men. Instead of relative distances, they tended to use relative times to traverse the distance. For instance, a map of the Columbia might look very condensed to white eyes for the distances that were smooth traveling. But for areas with rapids and waterfalls and places that needed portages (the canoes carried around the water) where traveling would become very slow, the distances look very stretched out to our eyes. They maps would also show Indian bands and tribes and alliances between them as well as sacred areas.

Here's a link to a map discovered in the last few years in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France which was drawn for the L& C Expedition by an Arikara native named Too Né https://www.maproomblog.com/2018/05/too-nes-map-for-lewis-and-clark/ How this map got there and how it was discovered is a fascinating story in itself!

And of course I had to buy a book on the subject:



Another America: Native American Maps and the History of Our Land by Mark Warhus

162streamsong
helmikuu 8, 2021, 11:47 am

>159 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul - Thanks for stopping by! I definitely wouldn't say I read globally as much as you do. I think also that you tend to read more classics - I often read contemporary books offered to US readers from LTER.

I've read quite a few from the Akashic Noir series, focusing on writers from different cities around the world. According to Jim, there is a new Akashic SF series with the same international cities focus; I'm looking forward to adding some of them to my pile, too.

163streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 8, 2021, 11:51 am

>160 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl - Thanks for stopping by! It's an honor to leave you with a Gotcha! book. Hope you enjoy it when you get to it

164msf59
helmikuu 8, 2021, 12:19 pm

Hi, Janet. I hope all is well out there in MT. We are stuck in a frigid cold snap, which is keeping me indoors. You got me with both This is What America Looks Like & Empire of Wild.

165streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 8, 2021, 12:52 pm

One of the fun things about FaceBook, is that once you indicate an interest in zoom events, they start sending you notifications of more similar events. I dislike being led around by FB - and I hate that they do that with news biases. But I'm enjoying the online events.

For you that do way too many meetings via zoom it may not appeal, but for someone like me that is pretty limited, stuck at home and thoroughly sick of TV, I'm loving the variety.

Zoomies I'm interested in this week.

- Decrease in Northern Goshawk populations (Five Valley Audubon)
- Rights and Responsibilities in the Covid era (U of MT discussion)
- author talk by Tommy Orange - I have not yet read There, There
- recent Grizzly Bear activity in the valley I live - Travelers' Rest Winter Storytelling

In December, I attended many online concerts including dance concerts -I need to get back to adding a few of them to my schedule, too.

166streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 8, 2021, 12:57 pm

>164 msf59: Hi Mark! Thanks for stopping by. Sorry, not sorry, about adding to your books to be read list.

The best part of LT is finding so many interesting and varied books on everyone's threads.

I've just started Migrations which I believe is a 'Mark's Fault' book.

ETA: We're having several inches of snow, followed by temperatures dropping to 0 degrees F or below in the latter part of the week. Books, here I come!

167fuzzi
helmikuu 8, 2021, 1:57 pm

>161 streamsong: that looks fascinating.

168streamsong
helmikuu 9, 2021, 11:30 am

>167 fuzzi: It really was, Lor. And I had never heard of it before.

169m.belljackson
helmikuu 9, 2021, 11:39 am

>153 streamsong:

> EDIT would not allow correction to title - good you found it. Although the author was sparing of
many of the Husseins, father and son, images, some continue to be waking nightmares.

I've been meeting the BAC, AAC, and NF Challenges so have some overlap with your World.

Maybe Jesus would offer the trump Christian Republicans the same deal he gave to the Money Lenders.

Montana = all that incredible natural beauty contrasting with human greed and ignorance...

170fuzzi
helmikuu 9, 2021, 2:22 pm

>169 m.belljackson: does every thread here HAVE to include political discourse?

If Janet wants to talk about it, fine, it's her thread.

But it's getting tiresome having to skip past the political garbage dumped all over in order to discover some book that my friend is enjoying.

Off my soapbox.

171m.belljackson
helmikuu 9, 2021, 5:04 pm

>170 fuzzi:

Despite current DC action, political likely a temporary discourse, though few things, books included,
are not political in some way,
beginning with the history of books...

My Hussein message, WHEN THE APRICOTS BLOOM was a response to request here for books on world diversity.

As well, my comment on Montana was a response to this thread's author stating Montana was
"a red area of a red state."

172streamsong
helmikuu 10, 2021, 12:39 am

End.

Thank you.

173mdoris
helmikuu 10, 2021, 3:10 pm

>170 fuzzi: I know what you are saying. I too love the book talk and have been staying clear of many threads recently because of the political chatter and intolerance. Sorry Janet, that I added my 2 cents worth! Now back to the books!

174fuzzi
helmikuu 10, 2021, 4:40 pm

And now for something completely different...

DOGS IN SNOW!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tofa478HSgI

175streamsong
helmikuu 11, 2021, 11:31 am

Everyone draws the line at different places. If you want to say something controversial, say it, but reference the facts to back it up. After 40 years in science labs, I am a fact based person. Convince me. Say it respectfully, say it with kindness.

I wish I had the silver tongue keyboard that Joe and others do to calm troubled waters.

>173 mdoris: Hi Mary - I don't mind a bit of political discussion, especially as several of the books I've read in 2021 have been quite political.

>174 fuzzi: Thanks for the Dogs, Lor!

176streamsong
helmikuu 11, 2021, 11:32 am

Yes, mostly books.

I'm dealing with weather stuff right now - dipping to below zero temps in the next few days. Thank God, it's not the -40 (thermometer reading, not windchill) that my friend is dealing with in Alberta! Did you know that below -40 the F and C scales converge? There have been deaths in Alberta with people walking from one house to the next.

I have a few reviews to write - Burn and Trick Mirror and I'll get after them.

I'm currently enjoying Migrations. Thanks to everyone who recommended this one.

And I'm looking forward to the Tommy Orange talk on Zoom this evening. Apparently it's part of a series called "Indigeneities". Here's the link:

"To participate, visit The Humanities Studio Zoom Lounge (https://pomonacollege.zoom.us/j/88421531339) on Thursday, February 11, at 4:30 p.m. PT.

177streamsong
helmikuu 12, 2021, 9:18 am



13. BurnPatrick Ness – 2020
- YA
– library


In some universes, dragons exist.

In the universe where Sarah lives with her father, dragons and humans have had an uneasy truce for several centuries. In fact, Sarah’s father temporarily hires one to clear some forest on his struggling farm.

But things are afoot in the dragon world. It’s 1957. Russia launches Sputnik. The dragons are angered as they feel they will be spied upon.

In addition, the mysterious dragon goddess seems be moving. Her cult of human followers are more active. One of them, a teenage boy, is sent to kill Sarah, as she is mentioned in an ancient prophecy.

As a battle is joined and people killed, magic opens a door to another universe which was previously without dragons. Several of our protagonists are roughly transported there. Sarah finds it is peopled with blurred images of those she has known before.

Unfortunately, the homophobic, racist deputy/sheriff is the same bully in both worlds.

This is a fast paced, YA story with a strong current of social justice issues. I enjoyed the plot, but, even though it’s set up for a possible sequel, I’m not sure I'll continue.

I’ll give it a good, solid 3.5 stars.

178streamsong
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 22, 2021, 11:58 am

I really enjoyed the zoom talk by Tommy Orange yesterday. I have a copy of There, There waiting for me at the library and now I'm anxious to pick it up.

He talked about growing up as an 'urban Indian'. While he did visit relatives on a reservation, he did not have Indian cultural roots - he was not even aware of the various Indian cultural centers in the Bay area. He started watching YouTube videos and began reconnecting. He worked for quite a few of the Indigenous organizations in the area after college.

During the epidemic, his father is using zoom to teach family members the Cheyenne dialect that his father speaks. His father was one of only five fluent speakers of the dialect - now Tommy says his sister is also fluent and he and several other family members 'get by'. His father is translating There There into this dialect of Cheyenne.

He also talked about 'writing into a lack' - that is, no previous stories of urban Indians. It's true - what I've read are either historical, take place on a rez or are often nature based.



I know this has been read pretty widely on LT. What did you think?

179streamsong
helmikuu 14, 2021, 11:38 am



14. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-DelusionJia Tolentino - 2019
- PBS Now Read This bookclub - January
- library


Author Jia Tolentino is known as a ‘quintessentially millennial’ author and essayist.
Her essays cover a wide variety of subjects, and the subjects were a bit hit or miss for this older reader.

Some were not relatable to my casual, retired lifestyle. These included growing up with the internet, being a teen reality TV star, Barre exercise classes and the need for women, especially professional city women hoping to rise in their profession, to be ‘constantly optimizing’ their looks and bodies.

Others essays were of more interest. One of these was the rape culture on various campuses, including the University of Virginia that she attended.

I was also interested in her essay ‘Ecstasy’ where she compared religion to drug addiction. It’s an old trope (“Religion is the opiate of the masses”) but she had interesting twists on the idea – especially as she grew up in a Texas evangelical mega church (which she dubbed ‘The Repentagon’), attending private Christian schools. She later left the evangelicals and dabbled with drugs.

My favorite essay was “Pure Heroines”; a survey of literature’s women protagonists – from the independent childhood heroines such as Anne Shirley and Harriet the Spy, to the blank ‘Mary Sues’ of The Hunger Games and Twilight and to the ‘happily ever afters’ of 19th and 20th century fiction when marriage was the ultimate fulfillment. She lists some 40 books and authors, and I am tempted to read the half that I have not yet read.

“If you were a girl, and you were imagining your life through literature, you would go from innocence in childhood to sadness in adolescence to bitterness in adulthood – at which point, if you hadn’t killed yourself already, you would simply disappear.” P 95

Pithy, witty writing. I believe that some of the topics may appeal most to younger readers, and though I hate to sound sexist, I believe many of her topics might appeal more to women readers than to men.

I’ll average the 5 star essays and the 3 star essays to a solid 4 star rating.

180karenmarie
helmikuu 14, 2021, 12:55 pm

Hi Janet! Lots of interesting books and discussions here, as usual. I hope you’re hanging in there with your knee and weather and etc.

>161 streamsong: Fascinating about the Indian maps, thanks for the link, too. And of course you had to buy a book about the subject.

181streamsong
helmikuu 15, 2021, 10:46 am

Thanks, Karen! It's been a challenging week with the temperatures hovering around 0 F and several inches of snow.

I'm glad you thought the Indian maps are interesting. Traveler's Rest has been having such interesting talks this year for their winter story telling.

I'm sorry to have missed the one this past Saturday. Traditionally, although there are black bears in the area, there haven't been grizzly bears in this valley or in the surrounding mountains - not even in the Bitterroot Mountains to the west with their huge wilderness areas.

But the last few years, there has been at least one confirmed grizzly siting in the valley each year. So I was interested to hear about them.

But ...

I was called and slotted into a vaccine clinic instead. Yay! First shot down with only a bit of arm soreness the first day.

182streamsong
helmikuu 15, 2021, 10:48 am

I finished Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy , which I'm sure will be one of my favorite novels of the year. 5 Stars!

Working on my review ....

183streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 15, 2021, 12:29 pm

Currently reading:



For the Glacier Conservancy Book Club: (Reread)



For the Real Life (Zoom) Book Club:



184BLBera
helmikuu 15, 2021, 4:57 pm

>178 streamsong: Tommy Orange looks about 12! I can't wait to see what he writes next.

I'm waiting for your review of Migrations.

Trick Mirror sounds good as well.

185streamsong
helmikuu 16, 2021, 4:36 pm

>184 BLBera: Hi Beth! It's always good to see you!

That's what I thought about Tommy Orange, too. For the zoom interview, he was wearing a knitted skier's hat and it made him look even younger. LT says he was born in 1982 - so wow! he's almost 40! Married with a son ... Interesting speaker! He said he's deep within his next book, but didn't have time to talk about it during the scheduled one hour zoom.

I believe you've said you're not always a fan of essays ... me either. Several of those in Trick Mirror were very good, several I couldn't relate.

I'm still fighting the very cold weather and snow, although today it finally got up to 32 F. It makes all my sore places ache - and having received the vaccine on Saturday, I don't want to mess with my immune response by taking ibuprofen, but this am, I did a couple tylenol.

I am so thankful to have my electricity! Poor Texas!

186connie53
helmikuu 17, 2021, 12:19 pm

Hi Janet, found and starred your thread.

Congrats on the wedding of your son.

187jnwelch
helmikuu 17, 2021, 1:03 pm

Hi, Janet.

I've thought about reading Migrations, and your enthusiasm is persuasive. Ditto re There, There, which I know you're waiting to read. I love the idea of filling the "lack" with stories of urban Indians. I don't think I've ever come across one - story or person.

Your son got married - congratulations!

188msf59
helmikuu 17, 2021, 6:02 pm

Happy Wednesday, Janet. I loved There, There so I am sure the Zoom event was wonderful. How was Migrations?

I just finished Paradise. Like many of her books, it can be challenging but so rewarding.

189Whisper1
helmikuu 17, 2021, 7:47 pm

>136 streamsong: Hi Janet. I recently read When the Stars are Scattered. I agree with your comment. It does seem realistically presented.

190BLBera
helmikuu 19, 2021, 5:22 pm

I guess we can look at the silver lining, Janet. Living in the North, at least we are prepared for cold weather with stuff like insulation. I feel for the people of Texas. Yes! for a warmup. It's sunny here today and in the double digits -- not yet the 30s, but those are coming.

191ronincats
helmikuu 19, 2021, 9:20 pm

congrats on getting the first shot. I got mine too, next should be coming up on March!

192karenmarie
helmikuu 23, 2021, 3:04 pm

Congrats on your first vaccine dose. I'm getting my second one tomorrow.

Bill only had to wait on the phone for 2 hours to speak with a human being to get scheduled for his first dose on Thursday. Thank goodness for speakerphone.

193streamsong
helmikuu 23, 2021, 3:13 pm

>186 connie53: Hi Connie - it's good to be back in touch. I am very excited and happy with my new daughter-in-law.

>187 jnwelch: Hi Joe! Migrations was wonderful. And I still haven't had a chance to start There, There.

I haven't known any urban Indians, either. But then, in Montana, you're never actually far from one of the reservations.

194streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 24, 2021, 2:09 pm

>188 msf59: Hi Mark - I get soooo many rec's from you. :) I'm still reading Paradise and enjoying it.

Right now I have to quickly finish reading The Great Pretender for the RL book club tomorrow. It's intriguing, but uncomfortable reading as normal 'sane' people get themselves committed to mental hospitals to check conditions and then to prove they are sane to get released. I didn't read his Susannah Calahan's first book, Brain on Fire.

>189 Whisper1: Hi Linda! Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed When Stars are Scattered, too. I don't read many graphic novels, but this was a good 'en.

195streamsong
helmikuu 23, 2021, 3:28 pm

>190 BLBera: Yes, poor Texas. It sounds like it will be a long time before all the water is fixed.

I saw a story on the BBC (haven't seen it on the US news) that northern Mexico was also affected by the Texas storm as they get quite a bit of natural gas from Texas, and so when Texas went down, northern Mexico did too. I don't think they had quite the cold temps that Texas did, though.

We still have some icy snow on the ground. I went to the South side of my house to check to see if my crocus are up -- they are not, although some years they bloom in late February. They are my sure fire smiles that winter is ending.

I'm loving the longer daylight, too!

196streamsong
helmikuu 23, 2021, 3:35 pm

>191 ronincats: Hi Roni ! and >192 karenmarie: Karen! Hooray for vaccinations!

I saw my GP this week and he asked what I will do once I get my second shot.

This is my list so far when I am fully vaccinated, but still wearing a mask:
- Haircut!
- Shoe shopping! I have worn the same pair of shoes almost every day this year.
- New Jeans! Ditto above - the knee brace is hard on jeans.
- Bookstore browsing! especially used books!
- Back to in person book club, Audubon, church etc. Zoom is a life-saver, but I miss face-to-face

Of course, lunch with friends once that is deemed safe and traveling to see son and new daughter-in-law is the biggie.

What's on your lists of things to do?

197connie53
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 24, 2021, 4:13 am

>193 streamsong: I'm happy with that too, Janet.

>196 streamsong: I have my hair done on the third of march. So pretty soon. They are allowed to open for the first time in 10 weeks on the first of march so I'm happy.

Completely agree on the jeans. I have an artificial knee in my right leg and does things to my jeans too. Certainly to the ones with some stretch in the fabric. So I need to get me some jeans too

And I would love to go to see my daughter in Maastricht again. We have to go by train and bus. And I hope that can happen after vaccination.

About the vaccinations. It's not really clear when Peet or I get out turn. Peet is above 70 with underlying illnesses and I'm in the group 65-69. And there is no way I can tell when it's our turn.

198scaifea
helmikuu 24, 2021, 8:32 am

>196 streamsong: I also can't wait to be able to get a haircut! And to see my parents - it's been a full year now and I'm used to visiting them once a month. I miss them tons. But visiting them will likely be farther in the future, because I probably wouldn't be allowed in the house if I showed up without Charlie, and who knows when he'll be able to get a vaccine (they're saying early fall probably?). *sigh*

199fuzzi
helmikuu 24, 2021, 8:43 am

I will be glad when masks are no longer required.

200karenmarie
helmikuu 24, 2021, 9:31 am

I think I'll wait the full two weeks after my second dose and then my mask-wearing list includes
- Haircut!
- Browsing 2 thrift stores and one used book store in town.
- Visiting with friends/family who are also fully vaccinated.
- Figuring out if Bill and I (after he gets fully vaccinated - his first dose is tomorrow) can safely visit Jenna any time soon.

201streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 24, 2021, 2:31 pm

I love everyone's lists! If we had all been able to count on everyone wearing masks (which I can't here in independent-minded Montana), I could have helped spur the economy long ago.

>197 connie53: Hi Connie! Yay for hair appointments and seeing family!

It's really interesting that your artificial knee is also hard on jeans. A knee replacement may be in my future.

It seems like you and Peet should be high up on the list. Hope you get them soon!

>198 scaifea: Hi Amber! Oh, yes on haircuts and family. That's funny about Charlie - I bet your parents would love to see you as long as you do a second trip when Charlie is also able to go.

202streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 24, 2021, 2:29 pm

>199 fuzzi: No masks will be the big one, won't it Lor! But I'm afraid that is farther off in the future since new variants are cropping up ...

The masks don't bother me as much as they do many people since I spent my career in a level BL3 lab where I often had to wear an N-95 mask.

>200 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Ah good ideas, all! Oh yes, to browsing thrift stores, too. My list is getting longer by the minute.

My brother, a fully immunized MD who has been working with Covid patients in Phoenix (they are still having many cases) said he went back to his gym for the first time (wearing a mask, of course).

His wife, a fully immunized nurse working with Covid patients, plans to fly from Phoenix to Michigan in March, to check on her elderly aunt and uncle, whose affairs she helps manage.

203fuzzi
helmikuu 24, 2021, 2:36 pm

>202 streamsong: I don't wear a mask unless I am required to wear one. I have read many medical journals and articles, and have come to the conclusion that they don't work to prevent viruses (except a properly fitted N95). And they make people think that they are safe from Covid, which is erroneous.

I get physically ill wearing a mask, struggle to breathe, my face turns red, and I get a headache. So I don't wear it anymore except to enter stores and walk through the hallways to my office. I'm in the 99.7% survival group if I did contact Covid, so I am not overly concerned. I'm taking precautions as if it were flu season.

If someone chooses to wear a mask, go for it.

204streamsong
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 24, 2021, 9:35 pm

>203 fuzzi: Hey Lor. Well, having worked for the NIAID lab that I did, meant that I spent thirty years with Tony Fauci as my ultimate boss .... so guess which side of the mask wearing controversy I come down on. :)

You are correct in saying that only N-95's keep one from being infected by a virus - although there are studies that show wearing other sorts of mask do lessen your own risk somewhat.

The reason to wear a mask, however, is to protect others from your microdroplets which contain millions of virus when you cough or sneeze. Microdroplets are contained by masks, even if individual viruses are not. Since many people can be infected with only slight or no symptoms, that means they can be spreading their infection without their knowledge. You can kill others without knowing you are infected.

Safest is when we all wear masks as well as social distance.

205BLBera
helmikuu 24, 2021, 10:44 pm

Well said, Janet. As a non-scientist, I will listen to the experts of the CDC and Dr. Fauci.

206scaifea
helmikuu 25, 2021, 8:12 am

>204 streamsong: Hear! Hear!
It's about keeping others safe more than protecting yourself (although I do feel safer with a mask on, I admit, and haven't there been some recent studies that it helps more than originally thought?).

>205 BLBera: Agreed!

207karenmarie
helmikuu 25, 2021, 12:29 pm

>204 streamsong: I agree with you 100%. And even after the 2 weeks are up from yesterday's second dose, I will continue wearing a mask for a very long time.

...
The Dick Francis SHARED Read March - April thread is up: March - April, Odds Against

208The_Hibernator
helmikuu 26, 2021, 11:28 pm

Mmm, yeah, I fall on the wear a mask at all times side of the argument as well.

209streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 1, 2021, 11:22 am

>205 BLBera: >206 scaifea: >207 karenmarie: >209 streamsong: Thank you, Beth, Amber, Karen and Rachel. Thanks for stopping by.

Here's an interesting PM from someone not wanting to add more fuel to the fire. I have their permission to copy and paste this here:

" Last semester we were given shields to use if students had a hard time understanding us through our masks. Even just talking, my shield was covered with droplets and had to be cleaned after every class. I had never realized how much we spray into the air when we speak. Luckily this semester, I am mostly face to face and am using masks, double masks now."

I totally remember, though, how it felt when I first had to start using a mask at work for organisms that were treated much more casually ten years previously. I hated the masks, thought they were silly. But you get used to the new normal and after a while, feel safer for doing it.

210streamsong
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 2, 2021, 3:45 pm

What I'm reading this week:

My first Georgette Heyer:








211fuzzi
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 1, 2021, 5:16 pm

Have a nice day.

212streamsong
maaliskuu 2, 2021, 10:57 am

Thank you for removing your post in >211 fuzzi:

Tämä viestiketju jatkuu täällä: Streamsong #2 - The Beginning of Spring.