The friend who loaned me Yellow Crocus also lent me Mudbound.   I had started to watch the movie a while back and gave it up. The time frame of the book is in the late 1930's and through to the end of WWII and  has a powerful message regarding the current racial injustice issues.  It has kept me reading.   Maybe I'll go back and watch the movie after all.

maryc -  Regarding Mudbound . . . I haven't read the book, but I was very impressed with the movie!  It's playing on Amazon Prime, and is well worth watching.  Now that you've reminded me of how much I liked the movie, I'll add the book to my library list. 

Son and dil, came over yesterday, and she brought me a couple of books.  One I had already read and mentioned here, When We Believed In Mermaids.  The other one looks to be very interesting.  The Fountains of Silence, by Ruta Sepetys.  I don't know anything about it, except that it takes place in Madrid, in 1957.

Marilyne,   Now that I've read the book Mudbound  I will likely go back and watch the movie.   Somehow when I started to watch it before I just couldn't get past the grave digging in the mud and rain.   Even after I've read the book it seems to me that was a strange beginning.  It did all come together at the end of the story but for me it was a slow starter.
 After I read a review of it I put When We Believed in Mermaids on hold at the library.  Our library is open for browsing but the reading room nor the computers are open for use.  I went in one day and it seemed so strange with the children's room closed and no one moving around as usual......"our new normal?"

I just the other day started Ink and Bones by Rachael Caine. It is a steampunk/alternate history novel, first of a series. It revolves around The Library which pretty much runs everything since it has authority over all governments. The story follows a young man from London who is studying to become a part of the library system at its headquarters in Alexandria. The Library controls what the general population may read while confiscating all print books and only allow the reading of texts via what is essentially an Ebook in order to suppress what it deems are "dangerous ideas". It also has its own police force used to combat smugglers and their clientele. The Library and it's subsidiaries are guarded by them and some pretty viscous automations. Of course I like it very much and plan to continue reading the series which is up to five volumes now.

I am done with Ink and Bones already and waiting on the next in series which is now on hold.

Meanwhile I am enjoying John Lithgow's Poet's Corner, The One and Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family. I am listening to the audiobook version that includes, which this one doesn't see to have, Ligthow's thoughts and a short bio of the poets.  The list of poems and readers in below. Click on show more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1W7VK6Yo4s

That's an interesting site, MarsGal.  I'll have some comments when I've listened to more of it.

This summer, has not been a pleasant one for most of us.  I've spent the majority of my time sitting . . . either watching TV, reading a book, or here at computer.  No wonder my eyes are sore, my legs are stiff and my back is killing me!    Well, this too, shall pass!      In the meantime, I'll recommend a couple of books that I've enjoyed: 

The one I liked the best, is,  Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng. Some of you may have already read it, being as it was on the NYT Bestseller list for a long time, and now has been made into a movie or TV series. (Not sure which?) Anyway, I thought it was a very good story, and I think you all wold like it.  I won't go into any details, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone. Some of you may have read it, or have it on a wait list at the library? 

The one I'm reading now, is, Pandemic 1918, by Catherine Arnold.  Under the title, it says,  "Eyewitness accounts from the greatest medical holocaust in modern history". Little did the author suspect, when she wrote this book in 2018, that in a little over a year ahead, another Pandemic would occur!!  I'm just barely into the book, but looks like it's going to be good, and a fascinating comparison with what's going on right now. 

Callie - I remember you said a while back, that Miss Ellen had returned to NYC?  I hope she is doing well, and has found a job . . . until time for some auditions!    Also, I saw on the news last week, that 23 members of a Sorority, at either U of OK, or OK State U, had tested positive for Coronavirus.  I looked online to see which house it was/is, but alas, they didn't say?  Was it mine, was it yours, was it my grandaughter's?  Curious minds want to know!! 

There is another quiz for those who wish to participate.

https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?msg=183047

Marilyne,  I also liked "Little Fires Everywhere".  From "blurbs" I've seen about the movie, I'm not so sure I'd like it, though.

Ellen has three more days of required quarantine. She's gotten regular phone calls and texts checking to see that she's where she's supposed to be.  Her Dad asked how they would know and she said "they" will check via video call if it seems necessary.
She said she thinks she will have some "nanny" jobs when she's available. I don't know if these are the same ones she had earlier.  She had told me she could also tutor if needed. Quite a few restaurants are open for outdoor seating but I haven't heard if she plans to contact any.
She had sent some video auditions while she was still here.  She hasn't said if there are any happening in NYC but she had said the community theaters around the country have either moved their seasons ahead or aren't auditioning in NYC.
She graduated from The University of Central Oklahoma and is not in a sorority.

Emily graduated from OSU and was a Zeta Tau Alpha. Pi Beta Phi was the sorority with all the positive tests.  I was a Theta at OU.

Emily is through with classes (and finals!!!!).  As soon as she completes the required 200 adjustments at the college clinic, she will move home and begin an internship with a chiropractor who specializes in pre-natal/pediatric chiro. She's on schedule to graduate and become "Doctor Emily" in December.

Carson said 2 members of his OSU frat (Phi Kappa Tau) had tested positive but he lives off-campus and hadn't been around either of them. At least one of his classes is "face-to-face"

Marilyne, I finally did a copy and paste of the list of poems read so I can refer to it on occasion. There are some poets I am unfamiliar with even if I recognize some of their poems.

Yesterday I had occasion to call Audible with an account question. The CSR, who was a treat to talk with, fixed my problem and added a complimentary credit for another book to boot. That was totally unexpected. Anyway, I ended up with three more Audible books to listen to: Age of Empyre (the latest of the "Legends of the First Empire"), History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer, and John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation. I read Fuzzy Nation before, but it is a funny book and for once Wil Wheaton sounds just right for the reading of it.

Wil Wheaton, you may recall if you are a Star Trek fan, played Wesley Crusher on the Next Generation series. He was never a favorite and generally, I don't think he is all that great at narration except for a few including Redshirts (a Star Trek spoof, kind of), The Android's Dream (inspired by Philip K. Dick's "Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep") and Agent to the Stars. These three are also Scalzi books. Anyone who likes Hollywood spoofs should like Agent to the Stars and Redshirts.

Here is the online version of Agent to the Stars, free to read. http://scalzi.com/agent/ or you can download a free copy from ManyBook in any of several formats. It is now also offered for sale. While Old Man's War is often listed as Scalzi's debut novel, this one is actually his first. He posted it free online, long ago, just to see if anyone would read it. I am such a longtime Scalzi fan.

So now I am reading another okay SciFi and still need to finish A Splendid Exchange
(always seem to read non-fiction in starts and stops). Still listening to three Audible books mentioned before.

I am expecting at least one of my online library holds to drop any time now.

Callie - My granddaughter was a Pi Phi! (LSU)  I'm sure the word has leaked out, that that was the sorority with the 23 Covid-19 cases!  If not, I'll be sure to tell her!   She graduated two years ago, and now lives and works in San Francisco. I was a Chi Omega, at SJSU. (San Jose State U).

MarsGal - I remember Will Wheaten, when he played one of leading roles, in the movie "Stand By Me", adapted from the story by Stephen King.  He was only about 14 at the time, and I thought he did a great job.  I didn't even realize he had gone on to have a movie career as an adult.  I've never seen "The Star Trek" series.

Marilyne, Wil has had recurring roles in Eureka (I liked that show) and Big Bang Theory, among others. He does voice for books and for some video games. He is a blogger and also an advocate for mental health organizations who advocate for those with anxiety disorders and chronic depression from which he suffers. It also appears that he has started writing. I wonder who influenced him to write. He and John Scalzi are great friends and gaming buddies. They both have a strange sense of humor. Anyway, Wheaton's books are on Amazon and probably others. Who knew! I am glad I checked his blog site. Will have to check into his writing.

Oh, darn. Project Gutenberg changed up its website, bigtime. I don't think I like it much. It looks more like all the others with pictures of the covers. Instead of listing new releases from the last 24hrs, week or month, it just lists them as recent releases. Just checking the daily releases doesn't seem possible or easy at this point. The old app I have on my Kindle Fire no longer links to Project Gutenberg, but I can still link to Feedbooks and another site (name escapes me at the moment). Well, that's okay. I can still download the files to desktop and copy them over to my Paperwhite like always, but I am not sure what folder I need to copy any of them to in the Kindle Fire. Kindle offers very few alternative readers. I think they still have Calibre in their apps store, but I never got along well with that program, not for reading and certainly not for converting ePub files to .mobi. Oh, well. The Paperwhite is my primary reader for any book files I download from somewhere other than Amazon. It is not like a really need yet another reader app. Oh, and now that I have my laptop working again using Ubuntu OS, I need to find a decent reader for that. There are some, including Calibre.

I am reading Spook Street, the next in the Slough House series. My reading, for the moment, has slowed to a trickle again.

For my dil's birthday, I gave her the new book, American Dirt, by Jeannine Cummins.  Destined to be a Best Seller, and much more, or so I have heard?   It's the latest book on Oprah Winfrey's book list.  I deliberately haven't read any reviews, as I was hoping to get it at the library . . . but the wait list is long!

I haven't read anything worth mentioning, since I finished, Little Fires Everywhere, which I already mentioned, and thought was very good.
Callie -  haven't seen any reviews of the movie, (series?), but I would watch it if I had Hulu.  Impossible to view any of the good shows on Hulu, unless  you subscribe.  I already have Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Showtime and TCM, so I'm not ready to add another one!  However, if this Pandemic continues on and on, I may just add Hulu, and a few others.  There are so many streaming channels now, that I've lost track. 

I am now reading the second of the Great Library series, Paper and Fire, by Rachel Caine. It is just as interesting as the first. There are a few spots where the main character's (narrator) actions seem to contradict what he said/thought, not enough, though for me to remember an example this morning.

The other day I bought an E-book primarily about the maps and mapmakers during the "Great Game" era. I do love maps. This adds to my collection of books regarding this era of the British Empire and its rivals for lucrative trade in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, et.al., and the other goal of opening up trade with China through the overland Silk Road routes.

Well, I breezed through Paper and Fire and have the next one, Ash and Quill, ready to read after I read Mick Herron's Slough House novella, The Catch. Last night, I finished John Scalzi's The Last Emperox which is the last of his latest trilogy. It had a good, if somewhat surprising, ending.

My Audible listens have suffered the last week or two. I am in the middle of three different listens so must try and get back to them. My collection just keeps growing ahead of my listening.

MarsGal - Looks like you've been all alone in this "room", for the past week!  Sorry I've been so neglectful.  I took a break from reading for awhile, but now getting back into it again.  I started the non-fiction book, Pandemic 1918, a couple of days ago.  A fascinating account of the Spanish Flu, and how it spread through every country, and the methods that people and doctors used to cope with it back then.  It's a very detailed book, with lot of names, places, well documented.  I was thinking that it would be easier to understand if you listen to on audio device, than it is to read it. 

Other than that, we did pick up a few books at the library.  You have to order online, then drive up to a designated spot, call a number from your cell phone, and then they bring your books out and put them in your trunk.  Just exactly the same routine, as ordering and picking up groceries at Safeway. 
 [/b]

It has been quiet here for a time.    Marilyne,  I wonder what the conditions are in your area with the fires going on nearby?
  I've been reading quite steadily.  This past week's sad anniversary of 9/11 reminded me of a book I read just a while back called THUNDER DOG.   It was the memoir of a legally blind man who with his guide dog was fortunate to get out of one of the Towers.  He credits his dog along with a fellow worker for keeping their group of people on course as they escaped down many floors of the burning building.  The author is Michael Hingson. 
      THE WOLF CALLED ROMEO  by Nick Jans was an interesting read.   A friend loaned me Mary Trump's new book.   That was interesting though depressing.    Then I started the Marie Benedict books.   First one was CARNEGIE'S MAID  and now I'm reading LADY CLEMENTINE....about Mrs. Winston Churchill.  M. Benedict has a good way of drawing you right into the story.  This particular book about the Churchills reminds me of a good series I read several years ago called THE MAGGIE HOPE MYSTERY SERIES by Susan Elia MacNeal.   One of the books in that series is called Mr. Churchill's Secretary.  All were good WWII stories.

Time to update my current reading:

I finished listening to the Legends of the First Empire series written by Michael J. Sullivan and narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds. What a story. I plan on listening to another book before going back to the next series in the Elan Universe arc.

I am reading a very interesting Scifi called A Memory of Empire by Arkady Martine. This is a story of political intrigue as well as a murder mystery. Anyone who likes poetry may get a kick out of this one. Poetry is writ large in Empire culture and is often used as a means of coding messages and making political statements. Naming conventions are interesting as well as the descriptions of the City, which is an Ecumenopolis (planet wide city), its inhabitants and its architecture.

After that, the next Slough House book, London Rules, is ready to read. 

Hello everyone. I hope you're all doing lots of reading??   I'm not doing as much as I used to, but still have a few books sitting here, waiting to be opened.  The libraries are still not open for browsing. I loved spending an hour or so at the library, looking at the brand new selections, the large print section, and always a walk through the stacks in search of an old favorite author.  Something very satisfying about just being there.   I hope the opportunity to enjoy that simple pleasure, returns soon.

We can order a limited number of books online and then drive up, call a number, and someone will bring them out and put them in your trunk.  Somehow, not at all satisfactory.  I've ordered quite a few, but haven't really enjoyed them, and usually don't finish.  One that I've tried to read a number of times over the years, is A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  I figured this would be a good time to give it another go, but I just can't get past the first chapter. I must be missing something, as I usually enjoy popular best sellers. My dil gave me a book called, Cruel Beautiful World, by Caroline Leavitt.   She liked it, and we usually agree, so I might start reading it this afternoon.

If anyone has anything to recommend, please let us know? I'd love some suggestions.       

Good morning all.    My reading has been a little spasmotic  recently but I continue on.  I just finished WHEN WE BELIEVED IN MERMAIDS.   That was a good and different story.  Thanks Marilyne for the suggestion.    I recently picked up a PLAYAWAY from the library.  It was Dan Rather's book WHAT UNITES US.   I liked it but it kept stopping and I had to continually find my place and restart it so it's going back to the library.
   I'm open to suggestions for something interesting.   I'll have to go back in the posts here and see what was mentioned that I haven't caught up with.   Sometimes a title isn't available for me at the time it is mentioned.     It seems that many of our regular folks have not been posting here for a while.   I hope it is just busyness that is keeping them away.

Oh, gosh. Reading like crazy and listening too. My library holds are coming in practically on top of each other. On top of that, I have bought a few more, and now that Amazon has started a new thing for premium members, I am listing to a bunch of audio borrows. I have listened to the first of three and on the second of the Norse sagas including The Poetic Edda. Two of these audiobooks are translated and read by the author along with his synopsis of events. There is also a Medieval history and Riders of the Purple Sage to listen to. Right now, though, I am in the middle of Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor. It is the fourth in his Bobiverse series. Once again, the Silk Roads audiobook is on pause. Will I ever finish it at this rate?

After finishing A Memory of Empire and London Rules, I am now into the fourth book in The Great Library series, Smoke and Iron. I thought that would be the last, but no, there is another.

I got reminded that I never finished Boris Akunin's Ernst Fandorin series because they had not been published yet in English (this was several years ago). Picking up where I left off, the next in line is The State Counsellor. Fandorin is a one time Far East diplomat and spy,that on coming back to Moscow, joined the Moscow police department as a detective. The time period is a few years before the 1917 October Revolution. BTW, yes, counselor is indeed spelled with two l's in the title-British spelling, I believe. If you like period piece detective stories, this series is good and interesting.

I finished reading through five Great Library series books by Rachel Caine and expected the fifth to be the last one. Well, no. She stretched the story out to yet another book. It is on hold now.

Listening to Heaven's River is a "trip". In this one, the book is paying homage to a number of books, TV shows, movies, a scientist (but I forget who already), and probably a game or two, but I am not up on them except for HALO. I am definitely going to have to listen again and keep a notepad with me to write down all the references. Star trek and its offshoots get a lot of play. Skippy the beer can from Craig Alanson's popular Expeditionary Force series, the TV show Cheers are two I remember offhand. Much of the setting is an O'Neil Cylinder or Ringworld type of environment.

I did not finish The State Counsellor. I couldn't get into it. I remember the earlier ones being much more interesting.

MarsGal - Your reading choices are always interesting!  "Heaven's River" sounds fascinating, and one that I'd like to read.  Next time I make out a library list, I'll see if they have it in our system.

I'm almost finished with "Cruel Beautiful World", by Caroline Leavitt.  I really like this book, and highly recommend it!  Good reviews from all the major sources. 

Maryc, Callie and Jean - If you're looking for something to read,  I think all three of you will like this novel.  It takes place mostly in 1969, in Boston, and rural Pennsylvania.

Marilyne, Heaven's River is the fourth in series and best read in sequence. The first is truly funny, this last one is a bit more subtle. I checked and see that yes, there are paperbacks out now which are available from several places. I am not sure about the E-book availability except for the Kindle. The audio book is exclusive to Audible. Ray Porter does an excellent job of catching Bob's exasperated/sarcastic voice. Bob, I should point out, is a bit unhappy to discover that he has died and his mind uploaded into a Von Neumann probe which was then shot out into space. Good luck on finding this in a library.

The series is considered hard science fiction but they are not heavy reading and don't get bogged down in lengthy technical explanations. Dennis Taylor, a former computer programmer, is interested in exploring human/computer interactions. The books are not hard to understand, but it is helpful to know a little computerese. I had to look up "framejack" just to get a better picture of it, but you get a vague idea even without getting the dictionary out. Featured equipment in the series include Von Neumann probes, virtual reality, O'Neil cylinder or ringworld (4th book), colony ships (but vaguely defined), cloning, androids or something similar, and of course, where there are humans (or human minds), there are nukes occasionally being lobbed about. The books include political, moral and philosophical differences and the need for cooperation.

Well, now that I am done with Bob, I am going back to the Norse sagas on audio. Oh, and yes, I am trying mightily to listen to and understand what is going on in Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. I found it a free listen on YouTube. The narrator has got a lovely smooth. lulling voice, but the tale is hard to understand just yet. I hear it gets more understandable farther it. I hope so. Quantum anything is generally for me to understand.
 

MarsGal,  You make my head spin with the number of titles you go through in such a short time.  I'm lucky to go through a book a week.

i've got another audio book going just now.   It is another WWII story set in Poland in 1939 at the time of the Nazi invasion.  It flips back and forth from that time to the present.   I'm especially enjoying the audio because of the Polish dialect.   I have several friends and relatives who had family from Poland and this story speaks to me.

We've been missing quite a few of the regulars here recently.   I wondered about  them and hope all is well and that they are busy with other things.

Marilyn,   I will look up your latest title.  It sounds like one I would enjoy.

MaryC, It is just me and the cats here. I am something of a homebody so don't go out much. In fact, with the COVID-19 business, George and my sister think I am turning into a down-right hermit. One of the reasons George prefers that I take care of his cats when he is away is to get me out of the house occasionally, even if it is just over to his place and back. I tried to get him to find someone else to check the house and feed the cats without success. He doesn't actually have anyone close by that he trusts to let into his house without him being there, not to mention that cat sitting services would be mighty expensive for him since he is often gone almost two weeks out of the month.

Well, that got a little off topic, didn't it. I carry a book or my E-reader everywhere I go. The audio books I listen to while doing my jigsaw puzzles and some housework, like washing dishes. Other than Sue (who I talk to almost every day on the phone, do lunch with every other week or so, and do a one day bus trip or two each year) I don't have any other nearby relatives. The closest I have to friends these days are you lot and the bunch on SeniorLearn, Sue, and George. Oh, and my cats. So--plenty of time to read and play on the computer. It suits me.

Okay, back to Quantum Thief. It is very difficult to follow let alone understand. Quantum physics is way beyond my understanding of physics except for a few basic physics principles. I don't to "gaming" and know absolutely nothing about Game Theory except that there is one. And yet, I am reluctant to stop listening. The narrator's voice just sucks me in. I'm just along for a very confusing ride. Without all that, it is more or less a mystery story about a thief who is broken out of prison by someone who needs his expertise to locate someone or something. It turns out that the thief has multiple realities, kind of like multiple incarnations I guess, and must find these other versions of himself and their memories in order to accomplish his mission. Like I said, very confusing.

I just started All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman. Yes, it is another SciFi. This is a spy/assassin/detective type story. So, here is a guy, who is something of a pacifist/Buddhist, signing up with an agency (government?) to work in an area suited to his beliefs and finds himself trained and doing things totally against his beliefs. There is some kind of psychological manipulation of the brain (brainwashing? hypnosis?) and body changes involved in order to accomplish his goals.

I am well into listening to Saga of the Volsungs. The first part, some of which I skipped, was essentially the same tales as in The Poetic Edda. The second part is about Ragnerok and the fall of same. I don't recall much said about that in the last audio book. This part of the Norse sagas is what inspired Richard Wagner to write his famous opera and has spawned numerous books, comics, and movies.

Book reading/listening update:

Now that I have finished listening to Song of the Volsungs, I am trying mightily to finish Silk Roads. Almost there.  For a light listen, I started Ben Garrod's book  A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs. It is only 2 3/4 hours long. Also, I am listening to The Fractal Prince, second of series by Hannu Rajaniemi via YouTube. It is easier to follow than the first book. What bothers me a bit about the YouTube books is that not a few of them are current books still under copyright laws. I have absolutely no idea if the authors/publishers and in some cases Amazon (because some of them are Audible books) have given their approval.

Reading wise, I am reading my print copy of C. J. Cherryh's Hellbender and on my Paperwhite, Ken Liu's Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. 

MarsGal, I'm overawed even thinking of your marathon reading.