I am absolutely stupefied. Almost (not quite) speechless.

A book I had ordered several weeks ago finally arrived. An Archive of a World in Progress, The Library of Lost Maps by James Cheshire. The hard bound book is a printed with a map design, front and back. At the center of the circle on the front is the title and author which in turn circles around what represents compass headings. The circles, including the author name and title, and the compass are embossed in gold leaf(?). The copyright page is at the back and indicates that this is a 1st Edition, 1st printing. The paper is fine quality, archival(?). And, be still my heart, it's binding is sewn, not glued. The book was printed and bound in the UAE. Here is a picture of it from the publisher's website.https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/search/?q=James%20Cheshire No way does the picture do it justice. The book isn't going to be shelved until I can get my hands on an appropriate protective cover or book box.

Here's the link for what I think MarsGal tried to post above.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/search/?q=James%20Cheshire

tra la and unexpected Christmas surprise it sounds like MarsGal - hope your dream of finding a book box comes true - glad you included the link Rammel - interesting in that part of the title is An Archive of a  World in Progress... hmm never thought of it that way but so true.

Oops! Don't know what happened there, but this is it Rick. Thanks. I hadn't done my usual double-check to see if it worked. Cheshire has co-authored several other books with Oliver Uberti in a similar vein. Barb, you might like The Atlas of Finance. Here is a bio of Cheshire and Uberti.  https://www.atlasoftheinvisible.com/authors

Wow - interesting MarsGal to say the least - put it in my list for this winter - Finally would you believe 3 years later I am finally opening the boxes with my CD collections - I really need to go through them and toss a bunch - so many of the selections I can get online and I do not even have the Prime music whatever...

Ah Rick so you too have passed the torch of jobs we just did because they needed doing but were not our favorite way to pass time... hmm I'm assuming that shoveling snow was not a favorite passtime.

I've had about 4 tasks going at once for two or more weeks now - hoping to clear them up before Katha comes tomorrow - one task is Laundry that is washed and piled on top of the dryer that are summer things or those infernal fitted sheets that end up in a tangled pile because they are a gritch to fold in any comprehensible way to store with my linens. Onward...

Mars, I like your detailed description of the Cheshire book . . . a treasure to own, and a real work of art.  One thing tht really surprised me, was that it was printed and bound in the UAE.

Barb,  good to see that your daughter Katha, will be here with you for Christmas!   I remember the last time she visited, and what a good time you had  together. I'm looking forward to hearing about this visit as well.

I've always been a last minute gift buyer, so I'm not near finished yet.  I have the hardest time buying for the men in the family.    Son, two grandsons, and soon to be, grandson-in-law, always end up getting gifts with no imagination whatsoever.  I hate to rely on gift cards, but they will probably get  Bass Pro, again this year.     Much, much easier to buy for women.  I have received the two books I ordered for my dil.  The one mentioned here, "The Boxcar Librarian", and also a new Elizabeth Strout novel,   "Tell Me Everything". 

Marilyn what a memory - Katha will only be here for the next few days and will leave to be back home on Thursday - inexpensive flight is on Sunday with a return on Thursday or a Friday over the weekend with a return on Monday and so Katha brought her boys and Gary to the airport in Charlotte S.C. this morning for their wonderful hiking trip in Peru and in order to pick them up next Sunday the Sunday to Thursday flight was the choice - these inexpensive flights are only priced in the $70s from Asheville to Hobby in Houston.

I'm lucky in that all the boys and my son have hobbies and the boys are all building their kitchen so that makes that easy - quit buying books except as a small token daily quote or a daily rah rah type book since I don't see them enough to have a handle any longer on their reading matter. Paul and a book is easy - again a hobby - he really enjoys his woodwork. Challenge this year since when they come back they will spend Christmas with Katha and Gary which means they have to take any gifts they receive in their backpack on their flights back home - I've decided to do warm scarves that they could actually wear and the token tiny book that can be slipped into a pocket. The other 3 are all getting things for their kitchens.

The other 3 were all here in October when Paul shocked us all having a double by-pass - mixed visit as we were on edge hoping the best for Paul, their Dad and then to have such an enjoyable visit - the dichotomy was surreal - Paul and Sally were supposed to be that week driving up to Denver for Cooper and Belen's wedding - he was not feeling well and decided a Doctor's visit was in order and the classic story he could not go home but rather go down the street to the hospital for surgery the next day that was postponed till the following day which gave Cooper and Belen a chance to quick marry cancelling all their plans and then driving down, stopping in Lubbock for the night and to pick up Chris and Cody and so I even had a chance to get to know Belen - they all stayed for nearly a week and then Cooper and Belen had to get back since some of Belen's family could not change their flights and so, they drove straight through to be there to pick up family at the Denver airport.

Since, I've been knee deep in books on Ecuador, recipes, history, Crafts, the Indigenous of Ecuador that my curiosity slipped into the Indigenous of both northern South American and Mexico - the Conquistadors, Europe during the fifteenth century centered around the explorations that actually were done mostly by private investors since most nations were flat broke - this was only 100 years after the last major Crusade and the Crusade's bankrupted most of the nations including the various 'knights' who mortgaged their land and castles to fight. And so the wealth grabbed by those who sailed to the new world world was shared with European nations and the Vatican in Rome - amazing once you get into all this - in fact the Inca who had taken over the groups in Ecuador 50 years before the arrival of the Spanish were brutal to the indigenous in Ecuador so that they were thankful when they were actually liberated because of the fight between the Spanish and the Incas which took the weight of the Inca off the 18 indigenous groups in Ecuador.

On and on I learned one shocking bit of information after the other and wound up learning all about the start of the current Cartels that substantially grew in the jails and use the jails here in the US to train and make loyal new recruits. The Tran de Aragua had so taken over the jail in Venezuela they had a pool built that they enjoyed and large comfortable 'day' rooms with large TVs. I did not know but Maduro is head of the Cartel de los Soles - I've read recently his two sons have taken over.

Following the laundering of money is on a scale we never hear about in the news so that from what I've been reading the Cartels have more power and influence in the world than all the so called Globalists combined. What is the damage to the 'law abiding' is the Cartels use their wealth to make themselves more powerful and to fund their projects so that it never gets back into investing in and building a strong economy. I've a shelf of books on all of this and so if you are interested I can list the titles and authors.

I am a little excited about finding another author new to me. In Boxcar Librarian, there is mention of an author I never heard of - Freeman Wills Crofts. Born in Ireland in 1879, he became a railroad engineer and mystery writer. His best known character is Inspector Joseph French of Scotland Yard. He wrote a "ton" of novels and even more short stories, and several non-fiction books and plays. Apparently trains feature in more than a few. Another new term for me in describing books cropped up - puzzle mysteries. I don't recall that description used before, although I have read some over the years. Project Gutenberg only has eight of his works listed. Many of the books are still in print.

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen, born December 16, 1775

With all the books I downloaded when Ecuador came into my radar I thought I had enough to read through the winter - and probably do - however, it is heavy slogging for much of it is full of information new to me that alters my view of history and current affairs and so... there are a few books I've recently downloaded regardless of my pile - Some what lighter, both fiction and 'How To' books - Today Amazon had a freebee that sounded like a quick read - The Honeysuckle Cafe - haven't started but my guess it is a quick chit chat story... what I'm getting a kick out of that to me is humorous is, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by Edwards - The book starts with what I could not help but chuckle over...

"Guernsey, Guernesey, Garnsai, Sarnia: so they say. Well, I don't know, I'm sure. The older I get and the more I learn, the more I know I don't know nothing, me. I am the oldest on the island, I think. Liza Quéripel from Pleinmont say she is older; but I reckon she is putting it on. When she was a young woman, she used to have a birthday once every two or three years; but for years now she have been having two or three a year. To tell you the truth, I don't know how old I am. My mother put it down on the front page of the big Bible; but she put down the day and the month, and forgot to put down the year. I suppose I could find out if I went to the Greffe; but I am not going to bother about that now."

(Greffe refers to the clerk's office, the records, or the clerk (greffier) in a court or legislature, managing official documents and proceedings)

He goes on and on about his life in this self-effacing dry and emotionless way as if anything that would be traumatic or a drama to another is just matter of fact... It is one thing to think that way but to write it without fan fair so the reader gets the tone - wow I'm impressed. This writing style reminds me of Dylan Thomas - he wrote Christmas in Wales in that same non-emotional stick to the facts tone, and I love his writing...

MarsGal

I have finished reading The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes.

It took me a bit to get into the book because I generally don't care for books that switch chapters back and forth between different characters but in time they dovetailed. The setting of Montana from 1914-1932 allowed her to use the WPA program – the Federal Writer's Project as the base and to incorporate the establishment of the boxcar library service to those working in mines and logging camps as well as the conflict between the mine owners (The Company) and those attempting to form unions to provide safer working conditions for the miners.

I liked how she matched excerpts (quotes/references) from books (some classics, other current to the time) to the book characters' present lives; and, the discussions with patrons about books that they had read or wanted to read. I like historical fiction/mystery books and the Montana history was interesting.

Now it's back to a reread of Future Shock fy Alvin Toffler.

I'm glad you liked it Cub Fan. I was getting confused until I noticed that the time lines for the gals was a bit different. I guess it was the author's way to bring up the backgrounds of the women for, I suppose, context. In the end I thought it was nicely done.

I bought Future Shock when I was about 23 give or take a year. And you know what? I never took it off the shelf. It became a victim of one of my purges. It isn't in print any longer, but there are used books around. For those peeking in, if you are not familiar with Alvin Toffler, here are some of his quotes. Somebody made quite a few wallpapers of them.  https://quotefancy.com/alvin-toffler-quotes

Future Shock was required reading in my technology class in the early 1970s. Recently I was wondering how accurate Toffler's predictions were. His focus isn't on the technology itself but how we would react to it and its effects on us. The one thing I kinda remembered from that reading was that the more isolated we became especially in the work place, the more we would gravitate to large gatherings for sporting/music events etc.  It came to mind as I was watching large stadiums packed full for current sporting events etc. and wondered if his predictions were true.

A couple weeks ago I was able to purchase a new copy from Barnes and Noble. I've read about 100 pages so far and I'm finding them much more meaningful than I'm sure I did 50 years ago. I can relate to the changes and see their impact on people. Of course, there is a difference between a required reading assignment in college and a senior citizen reading out of curiosity. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book with plenty of down time between Christmas and New Year's.

Looked into the Boxcar Library and got caught up in some of her other books that led to a greater curiosity about global economics, global wealth, global corporations, global elites and power - started to read how we, as consumers have more affect than we realize on global economics by our choices to spend and what we choose to purchase or sell. Somehow read an excerpt of one of her books -I think the one on the library in Bonn- led me to How Global Institutions Rule the World - Even the kindle version was out of my comfort price range and so I've settled for a used copy that comes sometime in early January however, one book leads to another and so using my points to reduce the price I downloaded Leviathans and also read the free chapter or so in a couple of others - Now I get why alliances with other nation's wealthy citizens matters to a free society - one fascinating tid bit after the other...

Oh yah, I see it Cub Fan. It is still in print but with a different cover than the original. Nice to see that the copyright page says not one word has been changed or eliminated. I was looking at the original yellow and white cover books.

Good morning, and a Merry Christmas to you all.  I admire you who are "readers", something I was never good at.  Always had to renew my Library books when a school class required a Book Report.  However, for some strange reason I always check out this discussion. Maybe I'm hoping it will be catchy 

'Rammel' my daughter and son who are dyslexic, my son far more, as are two of my grandson's were/are like you - the recent change for my daughter was joining a local book group that reads books that involve the area... History of, a few involving hiking, mysteries... Evidently her area of western North Carolina is a focus for many authors including some who live or lived in the state. And so now she reads a book a month which is huge... My one grandson broke through his dyslexia in his late 20s when he found the Jack Ryan series - since, he is all over anything that includes espionage. And my son reads some if it is a book about woodworking - he struggles and does not read for pleasure or to fill his imagination.

Cub Fan I remember Future Shock - big when it first came out - Maybe like most of us we have adapted to massive changes - thinking on it many changes have crept in that were probably predictive however, the affect being how we cope with those changes today compared to how we coped 20, 30, 50 or more years ago... I too have an old copy - don't think I ever did read it through - It was a humongous read that at the time seemed to be making accelerated change into a monster problem - I'm not good with being scared - always figured to contemplate anything is scary versus being in the middle of what others label scary when we just put one foot in front of the other and maybe cry a little or pray our heads off thinking we could affect what is happening. Although, I must say ever since 9/11 one of the first things I do when I wake up is check the news even before checking the weather wondering what beyond belief catastrophe happened over night.

MarsGal were your ears ringing last night...  old saying when you were thinking of someone their ears were supposed to ring - anyhow an email arrived with several pages of videos for me to consider from The Great Courses - had recently added the app to the Great Courses signature Collection and noticed a couple of the video courses included the history of paper, history of writing and archeological finds of ancient tablets. I was remembering your recent interest in paper.   

Well Christmas Eve - overcast and warm - should be perfect to curl up with a book but feeling at odds and so a large cup of hot tea and gazing off in silence for a bit is the plan...   

Hoping you all enjoyed a Merry Christmas  with family, or with good friends?  We had a traditional Cal/Mex Christmas, which consists of tamales, (with sour cream and salsa),  refried beans, tortillas, and a large salad of greens, lots of avocados,tomatoes and cucumbers. For dessert I like to have The Mexican Jello cake.  Not really a cake, but looks like one, in a bundt pan, and cut in cake style slices.  I tried making one once, and it was a disaster, so I always order and buy one at a Mexican Market.  I'll post a picture of one to show you what they look like.
Our son and dil and their two adult kids, were here, along with their SO's.  Both daughters were also here, and one other granddaughter.

There was a raging rain storm going on while they were here, but I'm happy to say that we didn't lose our electrical power until after they left around 8:00. It was out until sometime in the middle of the night. Fortunately it has been a warm tropical storm, so we were comfortable.

Barb, Mars  and Cub Fan,  I gave a copy of The Boxcar Librarian, to my dil for Christmas.  I hope she likes it. She gave me The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans.

In another message, I want to talk more about dyslexia!  My son was diagnosed with it when he was in elementery school, (1960's and early 70's). He and a few other boys from his class were fortunate to receive lots of help and special attention.  He did reasonably well in school from then on.  Never a star student, but he went on to college, and did well, and became a computer engineer in the early years of Tech.  Now comfortably retired 

My new library read is On Literature by Umberto Eco. Interesting, easy to follow. He starts with a bit about the power of word usage and literature in a general way, and makes the comment that "Language goes where it wants to but is sensitive to the suggestions of literature. Without Dante there would have been no unified Italian language." Apparently, Dante was something of a critic of the many Italian dialects. Eco asserts that without Dante's model "the idea of political unity might not have mad any headway." Here is another of Eco's comments, "By helping to create language, literature creates a sense of identity and community."

A little later, he launches into a commentary, using a description from Stemdhal's, The Red and the Black nit-picks the scene where Julien takes two shots at a woman in a church. He first questions Julien's state of mind when he fired the gun and then goes on about how only one shot hit the woman, but Stendhal never mentioned where the second shot landed. Now how many casual readers do you think would question that scene, especially where the second bullet landed? He goes on to James Joyce and how fans stop at an apothecary to buy a soap mentioned in connection with Bloom, one of his characters. Apparently that became enough of a thing that the soap, no longer made, had to be resurrected for sale. Then there is Edgar Allen Poe and the debate on the placement of a letter on the mantelpiece. This read is more entertaining than I anticipated.

Question: Has anyone ever read any of Sidney Sheldon's books? I ran across a blurb about one of his books that sounds intriguing and went to investigate. I didn't even know he wrote novels. My online library still lists a bunch of them. Not only that, I discovered that there is a remastered audio book available from an original recording from 1986 and read by Roger Moore. Wow! I listened to a clip. Moore is lovely to listen to, but he doesn't do women's' voices and the spacing leaves me having to listen carefully for the change in speaker. Well, the outcome is that the book is now residing in my extensive library wish list.

MarsGal
Since the name rang a bell, I checked back on my "books read" list and found that I have read four of his books – Best Laid Plans in 2001; Morning, Noon, Night in 2006; Nothing Lasts Forever in 2014 and Tell Me Your Dreams 2014.  I remember his books as being full of intrigue and quite intense. The plots don't ring a bell so the individual story lines didn't stick with me. I do think I remember his books as being well written.

Finally had to look him up - the name was familiar but I could not see the name as a book author and lo and behold of course - he not only wrote movies but two TV series that I loved back in the day - Hart to Hart and I Dream of Jeannie

Another 'Hollywood' fixture who is better known as an actor but in recent years has been teaching at UT has a book out that everyone in these parts is reading Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey - a book of introspection - I have not read it yet but it is on my TBR list.

I had forgotten about Sidney Sheldon.   His books were extremely popular here in CA, in the 70's and 80's, but I see he continued on past 2000?    I didn't remember him being the screenwriter of Hart to Hart and I Dream of Jeannie.    I think "Jeannie" was the first appearance of Larry Hagman on television .  .  .  later to become famous for his protrayal of JR Ewing, on the hit TV show, "Dallas".    I remember how we used to look forward to watching that show every week.  (I think it was on Friday night?)

Barb,  I didn't know that Matthew McConaughey was teaching at  UT.    I also would like to read his book, "Greenlights".  I like him a lot as an actor.             

I had McConaughey's Greenlights in my audio book wish list, but it seems to have disappeared. It is available in my online library, along with Poems and Prayers, so maybe I took it off the wish list and then forgot to add it to my online library list.

I've also added Stephen King's The Gunslinger to my online library list. My sister has mentioned his The Dark Tower series; she insists that I would like it. My first encounter with Stephen King was reading Misery, the second was a few clips from the Delores Claiborne movie. I've mostly stayed away from reading super scary/horror books and movies. The one movie I did watch and enjoyed was The Langoliers.

Same here staying away - Some years ago I started a Stephen King but only got about a third of the way through and had to stop - too much for me - that was when I realized I prefer cozy mysteries or detective stories that do not involve reading about the actual crime taking place but rather the after effects as they often delve into the mental makeup of the perp without reading or seeing the perp in action.

Watched an interesting movie last night - Revoir Paris - French with subtitles - a women trying to capture her memory of an event in a Paris restaurant where she had stopped to eat late and these gunmen came-in killing nearly everyone is the restaurant -

Just hearing of the different ploys people engaged in to stay alive and what that kind of trauma does to the participants makes them all feel like they can no longer mix - how the least little thing has them in their head remembering or capturing a half forgotten memory - that as kind as people are who truly care they have no clue - I realize so many live through trauma and end up living in their head rather than being completely engaged in life or maybe engaged but never trusting life again - Few to any of the survivors stay married to their before spouse -

The acting superb - the movie was done so well to have a glimpse of what these survivors mentally experience after a gunmen kills many around you - made me wonder how kids manage especially if their parents, being helpful and loving, are mentally blocked by the kids as they work through the trauma - interesting I just realized most of the movie takes place at night so that the movie could just as easily have been filmed as a black and white rather than technicolor.

Had downloaded and only started to get a feel for the book Celtic Myths that Shape the Way we Think - talk about serendipity - one of the quick descriptions of an aspect of Celtic myths are children fleeing in terror and sprouting wings to fly away - reminded me when as a child having a nightmare I would magically fly above the telephone poles to escape whatever was about to capture me - I wonder if that is how kids handle the nightmares they must experience after a life shaking trauma.

On the first few pages the book does say that Celtic myths are very different than Roman, Greek or Indian myths and are even different than Norse myths - there is a fall of mist that surrounds the Welsh and Irish myths and where myths are usually about a time well before Christianity the Welsh and Irish myths take place in the middle ages long after Christianity was practiced in the area - I am going to enjoy reading this book - I've only read about 10 pages and I'm hooked. 

Barb & Mars,  I am another one who doesnt care for Stephen King's novels.  They are very disasteful to me, and always leave me feeling kind of depressed/sick . . . hard to explain?  However, his two most popular novella's, I liked very much, and thoroughly enjoyed the movies as well.  "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption", and "The Body" . . . renamed movie is "Stand By Me".

I'm interested in getting,  "Celtic Myths that Shape The Way We Think", so will check my library and see if it's available, ans get it sap.  I'll also check out McConaughey's,  "Greenlights". 

Barb, I saw on another board, that your daughter will be here soon to visit you on your birthday!  Sounds like fun  to have a visitor in the middle of Winter, without the pressures of  Christmas interfering.

Good morning, I've been a lurker here for some time, adding books to reading lists and purchasing others through Amazon.

Matthew McConaughey does a lot of voice work, including hypnosis tapes and recordings for individuals who struggle to fall asleep.

I do not like any horror books or movies, as I've always had a vivid imagination.

I just purchased Celtic Myths that Shape the Way We Think on Amazon Kindle, since I love history, especially the behavior and customs of earlier times. So, thanks.

https://www.positive-actions.online/

a brazilian friend of mine wrote this book. I highly recommend it.

So, that is what your friend has been up to, Bubble. I am assuming he was the one who joined us, very briefly, a while back. Congratulations on his newly published book.

Barb, the myths have been around for longer that the middle ages. The legends and myths of the Welsh just were not translated and written down until the 5th century, which was also around the time the monks created the first written version of the Welsh language.

I think the earliest surviving manuscripts of The Mabinogion were from the 12th to 14th century, while the translations we discussed on Senior Learn were from the 18th (if you read William Owen Pughe) or the 19th (Lady Charlotte Guest). I wonder how much they may have changed from the oral to the Modern Welsh. 

A good source for things involving Celtic languages (but mostly Welsh). https://celticsource.online BTW, Professor Morus-Baird, has a book out, now, titled Taliesin Origins: Exploring the myth of the greatest Celtic bard

Whoops don't want to leave the wrong impression - the author does say the myths from Wales and Ireland are older however only written after Christianity - he was comparing to Greek and Roman myths written before Christianity which he was also saying our thinking is that myths are older, about the Gods of a pre-Christian world.

Bubble sounds like your friend has written a book with a more cheerful approach - I wonder today how many teachers are in a position to teach using this approach - everything seems to have been politicized and from what I'm reading it is not just here in the US where this phenomenon is rampant... with enough support towards what I really think more believe than not,  hopefully we all will be looking less at the dark side of life since we will be so busy helping each other as well as sharing the pleasant.

Finally got into a quick read last night of Hagge for a Modern Lifestyle - Hagge being I think a Danish word for creating a cozy life - well this one is how to use all our technical devices to enhance a cozy and more fulfilling life - One suggestion that struck me is to always take your phone when out for a walk and get in the habit of photographing bits and pieces of nature that can be later enjoyed with a quick glance that even brings back the calm mindset that we adopt when taking a walk. I thought that was an interesting plus hadn't thought of...