Kathy, will do. I plan to get a copy of it.

Right now I'm reading Lunch In Paris , then will return to the Three Pines series with #11/15 The Nature Of The Beast. I'm not sure if I recall that you said you've read that Louise Penny series, but if you haven't I highly recommend it ( start with #1 Still Life ).

Bon

Bon, I'm nearly finished with A Great Reckoning. LP has done her usual leading the readers down many paths before revealing who the killer is. I'm enjoying it, but have to say I'm getting a bit tired of corruption in the Surete and Gamache being the only one who can root it out. It must be time for me to take a break from Three Pines.

Donna

Just finished up a quick read of Gloria Naylor's 1982 "Women of Brewster Place" which was actually a lot darker than I had anticipated. It's still a good read, but just darker than I thought. No biggie. I've been busy with work so not that much reading going on right now - tired eyes from grading - but still reading Anna Burns' Milkman novel and just about to start another NF but which one? ... :-)

Yoyo - I also am a fan of Louise Penny and have read nine of her books. I was reading them in order, but then I skipped over a few and read Nature of the Beast out of order - because that's what was available to download from the library while I was traveling. That was a mistake because from that book I learned things that had happened in the ones I skipped - someone had retired, another person had gotten married, and a third person had died. It was disconcerting! I've read a few since, trying to get back on track, but I'm not totally there.

I just finished The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller, a romance set in 1875 New York City. The main character has returned to New York after years abroad, her reputation in tatters courtesy of her vile late husband. She buys a crumbling mansion with the idea of bringing it back to its former glory and writing a book about home decor for the middle class (evidently she was anticipating HGTV by a century or so). The house in question is haunted and a handsome professor shows up to investigate.

I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but then afterwards something about it bothered me and I started picking it apart. The characters were great (the professor was simply the most lovely hero imaginable), the time and setting were interesting (I'm developing a minor fascination with Gilded Age New York), and even the ghost was not your run-of-the-mill spirit. However, IMO, the story went off the tracks when it veered into contemporary romance territory. Usually random anachronisms and romance novel sex doesn't bother me because, well, it's a romance novel. But because this story was a bit gothic and a bit more literary than the usual romance novel, and because the time and the strict social mores were so key to the heroine's problems, that when she and the professor suddenly became lovers without any societal repercussions, I felt jarred out of the story. That said, there's still a lot to recommend this book.

I'm currently reading The Witches of New York by Ami McKay, set in the same time and place as The Widow of Rose House. This story is so much better in evoking time and place, and the magical fantasy elements are woven into it beautifully. The writing is lovely and it reminds me very much of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, a book I adored (only this one is blessedly free of footnotes). The main characters are three women with certain gifts; one is a seer who honed her people-reading skills as a circus side-show palm reader, one is a hedge witch who deals in medicinal herbs and spells, and the third is a teenager who can see ghosts, but has no idea of the real scope of her powers. They run a tea shop in New York City called Tea and Sympathy where they cater to the needs of society women who have wealthy husbands, fine clothes, and jewels, but no rights or freedoms in 1880s America. I'm almost half way through and completely hooked.

I have Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea waiting in the wings, and that will be next.

Sheri, have you read any of Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mystery series? It is set in 19th century New York.

I feel like I hit the jackpot today. I returned some books to the library and snagged Louise Penny's A Better Man AND Ann Patchett's The Dutch House. They are both seven-day books, so that takes care of next week.

Carolyn, I have not, but I will look for them. I'm not a big mystery reader, but occasionally I do enjoy them, and I'm finding Gilded Age NYC fascinating. Thanks for the recommendation.

Please let us know what you think of The Dutch House, that's definitely on my reading wish list!

Finally, got around to choosing the next read: it's a relatively older one: Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe. (Vee- you have probably heard of or read this one?)

It was published in 1969 but written in 1960 and features NF interviews with the inhabitants of a fairly "typical" village in Suffolk.

It's fascinating - the villagers are mostly linked with farming and at this time, they are still trying to understand and fit in with the transition from small rural one-owner farms to the larger factory-type farms.

It's like eating crisps: - just one more... :-)

Liz/lemonhead. I have my own well-read copy of Akenfield; a delightful read. Suffolk has lost many of its ancient hedge rows and trees with the development of 'industrial-scale farming as you mentioned.

A film was made of it in the '70's and a friend's boyfriend had the part of an 'extra' in a scene about the RAF based in the area during WWII. He had to get quite a short haircut!

I believe there are several other books by Blythe. He wrote for many years, a column in the Church Times.

Carolyn, I've also just checked out Penny's "A Better Man." It's been a while since I've read one of her mysteries. This one is long. I'll be interested in comparing notes after we have finished.

Mary, I'm about halfway through the Penny book and would like to live in a Three Pines type of village and have plenty of money to hang out in the cafe and bookstore.

Sheri, the Thompson books are best read in order. The main character is a midwife and so gets involved in all levels of society.

Carolyn, thanks! I requested the first one from the library yesterday.

Carolyn, the folks in Three Pines never seem to have to pay for anything!

Maybe Three Pines is like a commune and possibly they use bartering? Just a guess. I would love to live there, too, except I don't think I could endure the winters. It has been cold enough already here in Charleston SC.

Me, too, Mary! We've had chilly temps this week and I am over it. On top of that I'm sitting here in my office freezing.

Donna

Finished A Better Man and am reading away on Dutch House. Both are great.

Out of lurkdom to give a recommendation for Morgenstern's The Starless Sea. Am almost finished, and it has been an amazing experience, unlike anything I've read before. Confusing at times, but amazing overall.

roxanna, I had to look this one up as it has only been available over here in the UK for a short time; all 5 star responses to it, even when people didn't quite 'understand' it.

Roxanna - We are always eager for new recommendations, so thank you for posting. Can you tell us anything about The Starless Sea without giving too much away?

This morning I finished a charming and very short book titled Sadie Shapiro's Knitting Book by Robert Kimmel Smith. I don't remember what made me pick it up from the library shelves, but I sure did enjoy it. It's a sweet story about an elderly Jewish woman who lives in at the Mount Eden Senior Citizens Hotel in Queens and considers herself to be the country's best knitter. The story begins when she submits a manuscript of her unique knitting patterns to a New York publisher. From there, the force of her personality begins making things happen for everyone she comes into contact with. My only quibble with the book is that Sadie is in her early seventies. All of you and I know that's far from elderly, right? (I believe the author was fairly young when he wrote this book.)

Kathy.....here on on line synopsis of Starless Sea :

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library, hidden far below the surface of the earth.

What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction.

Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

Whoa! That sounds … well perhaps amazing. I'm not sure!

You read it first :0) .... I'm still stuck on " pink-haired protector"

Yoyo - Don't think I can do it. I have commitment issues.

Perhaps Roxanna will elaborate on the "amazing" aspects of it for her. I'd be interested .

Vee_new, Kathy_t and Yoyobon -- Here I return, after musing about how to elaborate on the aspects of The Starless Sea. Full disclosure: I loathed having to do book reports back in the days when dinosaurs roamed, and always thought that process somehow spoiled my reading enjoyment. However...

I will not call this a review or report, but rather my impressions and how this book has/will affect me. Your miles may vary.

This book is unlike anything I have read before, and I have been a voracious reader of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, you-name-it for more than 70 years. I needed to suspend both belief and disbelief while reading this one; it was a tad difficult to get into it, but once I found a rhythm, it moved along apace (I had to force myself to not read too fast -- still, it has taken me more than my usual time to read a 500-page book).

I found this book to be magical, fantastical, lyrical, philosophical and I am still under its spell (only 20 pages left, sob). I do think that it will be with me for some time to come, maybe forever. I was heavily influenced in childhood by the old fairy tales (NOT the Disney stuff, but Andrew Lang, Andersen and the Grimms) and this book falls into the same magical domain, to me. The author's style and language is modern enough when she wants it to be, but at the same time rather other-worldly. I loved that.

In another life/story, I would like to BE the author of this astonishing book; maybe in another life/story, I am.

I finished The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman last night. I'd read it before a long time ago, but I didn't remember a lot of the details so I read it all again.

I've just started The Black Echo by Michael Connolly. It's the first Harry Bosch novel. Carolyn has inspired me to read them all in order. :)

Donna

Just finished a most enjoyable read Old Baggage by Lissa Evans. It is a prequel to her Crooked Heart which some of us enjoyed a year or two ago. The 'old baggage' in this story refers to Mattie Simpkins an erstwhile suffragette (ie a Votes for Women campaigner) during the early years of the last century and how she tries to improve the 'lot' of women and girls. A wonderfully rounded character who, with all her faults is very believable . . . and reminded me of one or two elderly Mistresses at my secondary school! At the end of the story we meet the little boy Noel, who will become a main player in Crooked Heart.

Lissa Evans really gets into the feel of the 1920's (not that I was there) and the characters are really alive.

I am about three quarters finished with Penny's "A Better Man." For me, at this point, it is getting a bit bogged down with the narrative. In my humble opinion, this mystery could lose about 75 to 100 pages and still be riveting.

I've read most of Penny's novels. Does anyone recall which one had to do with a world war and some art inside the church at Three Pines? I should like to revisit that one; I think it was my favorite.

I have waiting on the TBR pile the autobiography of Susan Rice, "Tough Love."

Mary, that's the one I just finished - A Great Reckoning.

Donna

Have any of you read The Dutch House? If so, I would like to ask a question that might be a spoiler for new readers.

I'm presently reading Black Dog by Stephen Booth, the first of an English mystery series that I have read a couple of before now. This was only available electronically, and I have conquered the new world to the extent that I was able to download it.

Roxanna - Thank you very much for the lovely non-book report, non-review of The Starless Sea that you wrote for us. (I believe we need you to come down out of lurkdom more often.) You make it sound very tempting, even though I almost never like what is referred to as "Magical Realism." I'm going to have to give it some serious consideration. I wonder if you happened to read Erin Morgenstern's previous book, The Night Circus? (I have not.) I understand that this one is not a sequel, but has some of the same characters - or some such connection, and I am wondering if you recommend reading it first?

Thank you Roxanna . Your impression of the story and your experience was very interesting....and it makes me want to read the book. Did you read The Golem & The Jini by Helen Wecker ? Your description reminded me of this favorite of mine. You must lurk less and converse more !

Carolyn, thank you for the Gaslight mysteries recommendation. I zipped through the first one and really enjoyed it. The characters are great, and I'm looking forward to reading more. I finished Murder on Astor Place and have requested Murder on St. Mark's Place from the library.

Roxanna, another thank you for your review, I am so excited to start The Starless Sea. The book has been sitting on my bedside table for over a week, but things have been crazy busy and I want to be able to read for long stretches with this one. Hopefully I'll start after Thanksgiving.

kathy_t, yoyobon and sheri_z6, thank you for your comments on my "review"! You made my day this morning with your encouragement about coming out of lurkdom, lol.

I have not (yet??) read The Night Circus, nor The Golem and the Jini, but will look for both. I think you could read The Starless Sea first without a problem, as I did. I'd be curious as to how any of you view The Starless Sea if/when you read it.

I have of recent years enjoyed several books that tend to fall into the magic fantasy catagory, oddly. Maybe I wish subconsciously to return to the days of yesteryear when fantasy seemed truly possible (one favorite fairy tale was "The Twelve Months" and others like that one). Perhaps I am slowly tumbling into my second childhood (not an entirely bad thing, IMO)...

On the other hand, I also like alternative history novels and wonderful non-fiction, such as Salt, The Sixth Extinction, Timefulness (geology/climate change) and much of Bill Bryson!

Roxanna, I love Bill Bryson and have read almost all of his books. Many of us in here are "of an age" so jump on in, the water fine !

Thanks, yoyobon -- I'm not much of a swimmer, but I may wade in gently!

My idea of heaven is filled with vast, unending libraries, with all my favorite now-departed authors still writing, and unlimited time for me to discover other literary delights. If that is not the scenario, then I shall just have to live forever here and now and keep on reading!

Donna, thanks. I had thought that was the one.

roxanna, from what you have written here, perhaps you might enjoy "In the Shadow of the Wind."

The Shadow Of The Wind.....must enjoy vampires :0)

That reminded me --- roxana, you might also enjoy "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova.

Carolyn, I have read The Dutch House (and enjoyed it).

I'm getting this done just under the wire I guess. In last month's thread Woodnymph asked about my bookclub's reaction to Becoming by Michelle Obama. I didn't respond because the meeting was cancelled. We have met since then and I'm sorry to say that there wasn't much discussion about it. Most liked it okay but other than that, not much was said. Perhaps it had been too long since everyone read it. I've been asked to temporarily step in as chair of this club while the person in charge is recovering from an injury. I have a feeling that I may be asked to do this permanently and I have some misgivings about doing that. This bookclub read will be March - Book I by John Lewis which I have already read. I went on to read Book II and Book III. These are Graphic novels that I really enjoyed. The book one I think I already mentioned, is our Vermont Reads book for this year.

Others for this month in my regular life This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. A gem. In trying to give new-to-me genres a fair shake I read two other graphic novels. The Hound of the Baskervilles (A. Conan Doyle), my first and I think to be only Sherlock Holmes mystery. I liked the story very much but didn't know going in that Holmes was a flaming a$$. I also read GN of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I didn't find this particularly well suited for this format. It read almost like a Cliffs notes version. I own the complete book but haven't read it yet - I certainly will though. I've only read a half dozen GNs but think that some books are better suited than others for graphic format. It also depends on the illustrator. Conclusion: it depends.

I just received a book in the mail called Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell. It was recommended I believe by Donnamira quite a while ago but I hadn't been able to find it locally so succumbed to Amazon. Just have dipped in a bit but have learned some already. Thanks Donnamira for that tip. I'll probably post more about this book later.

There is more I'd like to add but this is too long already.

Astrokath: SPOILER ALERT for The Dutch House

On another forum's reading thread, someone made a comment that at the end of the book, Danny was gay. I didn't see any indication of that and wondered if I just read over it or was reading too fast to see it. Please set me straight!

Carolyn, I didn't get any inkling of that either. His marriage wasn't entirely happy, but I thought that was because they ended up having different aims in life, not because he was gay.

Thanks, Kath, I thought my reading skills were better than that! No one else made any response to that poster.

I'm #37 in line at the library for The Starless Sea by Erin Morganstern. I'm sure you all wanted to know that.

Of course we did!

I am able to use several different libraries, so I queue-shop around!

When I am really really desperate, I actually buy the book...

Me too, Annpan!

Kathy.....I'll be counting the days........if it takes a person two weeks to read the book , you should be getting the call for it around 2021 ! I'd be looking for it cheap on Amazon used books :0)

I had to buy The Starless Sea, of course! There are just some books that belong in my personal permanent library.