Callie: I remember now - I did read The Evening Star, and I disliked it intensely! It was many years ago that I read it, but I recall being very disappointed.  It didn't seem at all like the right sequel to Terms of Endearment.  It was a long time after that before I started reading McMurtry again.  His early novels like "Terms", "Picture Show" and "Lonesome Dove" were his best.  His recent books haven't been nearly as good. He also wrote a sequel to "Picture Show" that was terrible, IMO.  I don't remember the title, and I don't think I even finished it?

I picked up the August edition of Book Page at the library this week and have found a book there that I want to read as soon as it becomes available.    I'm pretty certain that the subject would ring a bell with some of you here.   It is called They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjAwofAkqnOAhUM5SYKHdgZBuUQFggkMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F18333481-they-left-us-everything&usg=AFQjCNGt9zH-8RmtOG__QckaEBCBH7UzIg

This story may give me incentive to start a major organization of my "stuff".......or not!

I ran across one of those special quotes in Close to the Shore yesterday that I wanted to save just for fun.   It was this by the highly regarded  Dr.Frederic Augustus Lucas who work was described in this story.   He was speaking of himself and how his work habits changed as he got older.    "Worst of all,  his brain had joined with the labor unions in demanding an eight hour day and refusing to work nights."     I can relate to this!!!

MaryC.  I keep looking at all my stuff that I have collected or inherited for family in UK. Only one of the young in my group here are into anything that is over 5 years old. I have nothing that does not go back 50 years to 150 years. I just need to get things taken care of. I hate seeing people stuff that they collected and loved when I go to these Estate Sales. Hate to think my GGP on up will be handled that way.

mary - They Left Us Everything, looks to be a book that we can all relate to - on either end of the spectrum!  AJ and I cleared out the family homes of our parents, and now it looks like our grown children will be clearing out this old house, in the not so distant future.  We're trying to make it easier on them, by constantly donating, throwing away or selling items - but no matter how much we get rid of, it doesn't seem to make a dent in the endless "stuff". 

JeanneP - I know what you mean about the estate sales.  I used to go to a lot of them, run by professionals, and occasionally, the owner of the house (always a woman), would be sitting and watching the procedure.  It was heartbreaking to see the sad, forlorn look on her face, as hundreds of strangers picked over and grabbed at her lifelong treasures.   

We do go to a few estate sales and I find it interesting  to observe the collection of someone's lifetime of interests.   Recently we went to one of an acquaintance whom I had visited often in the Nursing Home before she passed.    This lady was a great cook and was a mainstay of our church kitchen crew.....always there presiding over dinners.    It was sad but like one last visit with her .   At sales where I knew the person I like  to buy some small keepsake  that reminds me of  our friendship.   We were late at this sale but I did buy a coffee mug decorated with pansies (for friendship) and I use it daily and think of our friend Dode.   

I do the same if I knew the people having the sale. Last one this year was a Doctors Home. He retired after 40 years here at the local hospital. Beautiful home. they traveled the world. Sad,as he had just had to put his wife in the Nursing home.. Came down with Alzheimer. I collected small china boxes. Not collecting anything anymore. But took 2 of hers as a memory. Such beautiful furniture. Had I been younger saw many things I would have bought.

Marilyne,    I've started Everybody's Fool.    It IS good reading but I told Al that he needs to reminds me next time I get a real library book to be careful that it isn't so heavy.    This book has nearly 500 pages and I like to read in bed and have trouble with one arm and shoulder so it is pretty uncomfortable to hold up a book this heavy.        Interestingly  when my daughter saw the book by Anderson Cooper here she thought she would like to read it.    I have about a week left on it when I finished so passed it on to her.     She said yesterday that she thought it was good and was down to the last chapter.    I got a little bored with Gloria's life story but she found it interesting.......different strokes!!!!

I just started Everybody's Fool, too.  Only a few pages into it but he is a good writer so I think I'll enjoy it.  I know what you mean, Mary, about holding a heavy book when reading in bed.  I'm sorry you have shoulder problems.  Makes it really difficult to do some of the things we need, and want, to do.  More and more I'm using my Nook reader to read myself to sleep at night.  It is light weight and easier to hold but I still prefer the "real" book most of the time.  I love just the "feel" of a book.

mary and phyllis - Because of a waiting list, I was barely into Everybody's Fool, when I had to return it to the library. I put my name back on the list, so I'll eventually be getting it again.  I'm glad that, so far, you're both enjoying it. 

I have the same problem with managing a heavy book . . .  either in bed or trying to get comfortable in a chair.  I've given up reading in bed, because of pain in my back and tailbone, so most of my reading is now done in the living room, where I change from chair, to couch, to recliner, etc.    It doesn't seem to matter whether it's a heavy book or my Kindle.

I'm really enjoying Everybody's Fool.     When I started out I wasn't sure I would get all the way through 477 pages but it's going fast now that I've started to sit down in the afternoon to read some.    Richard Russo has a way with telling a story about people and their various personalitys.   He is in a bit of a rut when it comes to profanity but this is just me speaking.   I'm sure that if I were to frequent certain spots in our town where some 'regulars' go  I'd either get used to it or stay away.        Anyway thanks Marilyne for bringing this good one to our attention and I hope you get to finish it soon yourself.

MaryC. I just watched the DVD. Library don't have the book in LP. Just to many pages for Regular print. One day will see it out for the Reader. or IPad.

maryc - I'm glad you're liking Everybody's Fool. I haven't checked to see how many are ahead of me at the library, but hope the "line" moves quickly! I had a hard time time getting into The Seakeeper's Daughters, and finally gave up on it.  I just looked back at your recommendation, and see again, that part of the story deals with the WPA. I had forgotten that connection when I was reading, or I might have stuck with the book a little longer!

I'm also on the wait list for They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson.  That definitely sounded like one that I should read, and I'm looking forward to it.

Nothing else to read at the moment, so I returned to a book of short stories that I have here, by Alice Munro. In the past, I haven't been fond of short stories, but I find that I like them more as I've grown older. 

Alice Munro, is especially interesting to me, because she was born in 1931, is now 85 years, and is still writing.  She has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and a number of other prizes and awards.  She is Canadian, so all of her stories that I've read, take place in Canada.  This book of short stories is titled Dear Life.  She has written many others over the year, so anyone who is interested can find her books at the library, and probably some of them would be free on Kindle?

I read until I finished a book last night. Was 2:30am. A fast read. a womans book. by Jennifer Weiner. "Who do you Love"  Few tears fell on the last page.

About that book I recommended yesterday, Dear Life,by Alice Munro: I saw this on the back cover of the copy I have.  I think it sounds very intriguing, and is probably the reason I bought this book of short stories.

"In story after story, Alice Munro pinpoints the moment a person is forever altered, by a chance encounter, an action not taken, or a simple twist of fate.  Her characters are flawed and fully human.  Their stories draw us in with their quiet depth and surprise us with unexpected turns.  "Dear Life", shows how strange, perilous and extraordinary. ordinary life can be."

I'm not quite finished with it yet, but I'm definitely interested in reading some of her other books.  The fact that she is 85, and still writing and winning book awards, is certainly a commendable achievement.   

Marilyne,   I understand what you are saying about The Seakeeper's Daughter.     I had a little trouble in spots....it dragged on for me but kept going.    Anyway different stories catch us in different ways and sometimes not at all!

I have a request in as well for They Left Us Everything.    Everybody's Fool will be finished soon and hopefully that book will be ready for me. 

Finished Everybody's Fool last evening.    Great story,  not so great vocabulary.   I'm old fashioned and I know it! 

Mary C, you did better than I did.  Had so many things going on and I was struggling with keeping my interest going with "Everybody's Fool" so I returned it yesterday.  I'm in agreement with you.....really hate the objectionable language that seems to be so acceptable these days.  I'm old fashioned, too, and I don't think that is such a bad thing. 

We went to son and dil's for dinner last night.  Both grandkids are getting ready to return to college for their final year, so this was a send-off for them.   Granddaughter Jessie, is returning to LSU, which is in Baton Rouge, and is totally flooded, with more rain expected. She spent most of the evening watching for updates on the computer, and texting her friends who are already there. Most students are helping to evacuate stranded flood victims, or  working to clean out and repair houses that have been virtually underwater!  She will be leaving today, and is anxious to get back there, and start helping.

My dil gave me a couple of books that look interesting.  One is House Girl, by Tara Conklin.  It takes place on a Virginia tobacco farm, before the Civil War.  The other one is The Last Original Wife, by Dorothea Benton Frank.  I have liked some of her books in the past, but others, not so much.  They all tend to be very much alike, so I'm not sure which is which.  However, they are easy reading, so I may just sit back and relax with this one.    

Someone dropped off at the library a bunch of Advance Reader's copies and uncorrected proofs. Since we cannot sell them, there was a big free sign on them. I took three. The Black House, by Peter May, is the first of a detective trilogy set in the Hebrides. The Infidel Stain, by M. J. Carter, is the second in an historical fiction series set in Victorian England (the first apparently was set in India). When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashim, is modern day story an of Afghan schoolteacher's flight, with her three children, across Asian Minor and Europe to fihd freedom and refuge.

When I went in to return Everybody's Fool I checked to see if my book on hold might be there and it wasn't so I scanned the new book shelf.    I picked up two totally different authors than I have read before.    One book is  The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick.    It seemed like a good little story so I took a gamble.    The other is We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman.   Both of these look like light reading so I'll take a little break with these.   

I'm nearly finished with The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick.     This was a real book from the library, found in the New Fiction section.     I highly recommend this story.   It is light reading for sure with just a touch of fantasy (maybe) but it touched me in how this gentleman set off on a journey of exploration after a year of grieving his wife's death and living just as he always had in a  pretty precise routine.   I think you will like it!

"They Left Us Everything" sounds interesting - but it isn't available from my library in e-book form and, right now, that's the only way I'm reading.

My mother was the opposite- until I caught on to what she was doing!  Her attitude was  "who wants that old stuff?" and, so, she gave away all of the glass front bookcases from my Dad's law office (2 rooms), a Choctaw Stickball mallet (pretty rare to be owned by anyone not a tribal member),  her English saddle (not used in my lifetime) and several other items, including my entire set of Bobbsey Twin books and my bride doll plus her trousseau, which my aunt had made.
When we cleaned out my grandmother's house and she saw what I was interested in, THEN she began asking first. 

I have heard my two granddaughters "discussing" which one will get my sterling silver and which one will get my mother's set - and, just recently, they discovered my wedding dress in a bag in the closet - and one of them came out wearing it.  Her parents' facial expressions were priceless.

I'm not putting names on anything - plan is to perch on a pink cloud somewhere and watch the fun.

Currently, I'm reading a non-fiction -  "First Women" by Kate Anderson Brower.  It's about the First Ladies from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama and is described as a "group biography" about life "upstairs and downstairs" at the White House during their years in residence.  So far, it's very interesting.

mary - The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, sounds good.  I like all stories that deal with older people, moving forward and adjusting to life's ever changing circumstances.  I'll put it on my library list, but probably won't order it for awhile.  I have a stack of books here that I got from my dil, that I haven't touched yet!

Now that the Olympics are over, I'll get back to my afternoon reading once again. Of the four books waiting for me, I think I'll start on In the Unlikely Event, by Judy Blume.  She wrote a lot of best seller children's books, back in the 1970's and '80's.  I'm sure many of your daughters read Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Both of my girls read that one, as well as many of her other excellent books for middle-school children. In recent years, she has started writing for adult women, so I'm curious as to what this one is like?

Yes Marilyne,   I think I had a copy of Are You There God?    I enjoyed J. Blume's writing.   Didn't she write for one of the women's magazines too?   It seems like I discovered her through a column, maybe Family Circle or Woman's Day?   A book written for adults sounds interesting.

Callie,   How sad that your Mom "pitched" some of the stuff you would have liked to keep.   My Mom was pretty set about not leaving much to be decided by us....she made the decisions.      I already sold my silverware and split the money between  them.    It seems as though not too many young ones want to maintain that level of entertaining any more.   They weren't  unhappy with the $$.

I'm still waiting for They Left Us Everything.  It could be a while but I do have my name in.

Sorry to say that I haven't started any of the new books that I mentioned in my last post. Sciatica is acting up again, so it's just too hard to get into a comfortable reading position. Short sessions in front of the TV, or here at the computer can be managed, but sitting long enough to get involved in a book is impossible for now.   I've never done any books-on-tape, but I'm thinking of giving it a try?  That would give me a few more options for comfort . . . mainly lying down!

Marilyne,  So sorry to hear of the "flare up" of the sciatica again.    It is a pain in the ?    One of my friend/neighbors has suffered for a few years with it.    She had the epidural once that worked well for a while but recently had another that didn't help.   It is nasty.

I have a little book on Kindle that was a bargain from Amazon ($.99) called The Wiregrass by Pam Weber.    I'm enjoying it while I wait for a book on hold from the library.

Yesterday we observed Al's 90th with a family reunion/friends gathering in our yard.   The weather was perfect, food was good and everyone enjoyed visiting.....and Al was feeling better than he had been earlier in the week...Thank goodness.

I'm just starting "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield.  It was highly recommended to me by one of the librarians and though I'm only a few pages in to it I think I'm going to like it.

I'm sorry you are having so much pain, Marilyne.  An Audiobook would probably be a good idea for you so you don't have to hold anything and can find a comfortable position....if that is possible.  I will occasionally try a talking book but most of the time they just put me to sleep.   

"Books-on Tape"! ha ha ha   Of course there is no such thing anymore - just a generic term.  anyway, you all knew what what I was talking about.

Another thing that I have to consider because of the aches and pains of aging, is the possibility of hiring someone to keep this old house clean.  I've never had a cleaning person, but I think it might be time.  Al is still full of energy, and says he can continue to do the hard things like windows, floors, showers, et al, but I think he should turn those tough jobs over to someone else.  He already does practically everything around here, including keeping all the cars in top running order.  When you live in a large house with lots of rooms, etc., it's a never ending chore to keep everything going.

Just started another book "House girl" Jumps between 1851 (through the time of slavery and up to the 1940s.  Back and forth.  I like this type of story.

Been so lazy today. Fact all week. Nothing seemed to work right all week so just gave up and relaxed. Hope next week get more active. House need jet washed. Carpets need cleaning. Fall is coming. Been such a summer for dust blowing around.  I feel so sorry for all those people who are trying to return to their homes and having such a mess. Flooding, Tornado,   So I am not complaining about mine.

maryc - I've been meaning to ask you when you'd be celebrating Al's 90th birthday.  I see that yesterday was the big day, and that everything turned out perfect for him.  That is quite a milestone, and I'm happy to hear that he's feeling well.