I bought a set of eight mysteries for Aust 50c each and only read three so have to read the remainder, which don't interest me so much.

I had the eye operation on Monday and am not reading or writing much so won't make a list today. The op went well but I look like I have been in a fight with a very bloodshot eye to show for it!

Born a Crime, The City in the Middle of the Night, How Long Til Black Future Month, The Overstory, The Prehistory of European Society.......

Yoyobon - What are your top five?

I don't have a TBR stack just now. I am allowed to download five books at a time from the public library, have returned those that I had, and am reading my own copy of A Christmas Carol just now, but it's been a busy week so far and I haven't finished it yet although it is only 70 pages long in the book I have that contains all of Dickens' Christmas stories. None of the others is really good like ACC.

As soon as I finish ACC, I will download another five from my long list of authors I want to read more of.

As a retired teacher I was interested to see the "direction following skills " with this question!

My TBR pile :

Winter Tale by Mark Halprin

Death Of An Avid Reader by Frances Brody

Night Thoughts Of A Country Landlady by Edith Olivier (1943)

Goodnight From London by Jennifer Robson

It All Comes Back To You by Beth Duke

In the spirit of *not* following directions, LOL ...

These books are all half- to three quarters read, they're all sitting on my bedside table, and I want to finish them before the Christmas books arrive. Therefore, I'm counting them as my TBR pile.

Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

The Reason for Marriage by Stephanie Laurens (a Regency romance)

Gifts of the Crow by John Marzluff & Tony Angell (non-fiction)

The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley, CS Harris, Anna Lee Huber & Christine Trent

Small Victories by Anne Lamott

Yoyobon, how did I do? A long time since I had any assessment!

I never had a work appraisal at my various jobs (I was the boss sometimes!) until I worked for a University library. When I was called in to discuss my work, I assumed it was a two-way and criticised my supervisor over something she had done which I disliked. She was rather surprised!

Not long after, I was transferred to another library in the system...

Annpan, you crack me up!

Annpan.......um, I think I will need to write a " See me " on your assignment !

Where's the LOL button?

These are lined up to be read or re-read

The Gate of Angels - Penelope Fitzgerald

The Great Railway Bazaar - Paul Theroux

Children of the Sun - Morris West

The Silver Fleece - Robert Collis

June in her Spring - Colin MacKinnis

Rosefolly,

Didn't you read The Living Landscape 2 yrs ago? You posted this on Dec 3, 2018:

.... I just read a book called The Living Landscape. It's a nature/garden book, describing why we need native plants if we want birds in our gardens, primarily that the insects that even seed-eating birds require for successful reproduction live only on specific native plants. I had always thought that the native plant thing was a bit overdone and even a bit self-righteous, but the author (an entomologist) as explained it in a way that I find convincing.

After reading your comment above, I put the book on my list to read sometime (and made a little note that it was you who mentioned it). I haven't read it yet, but just 3 days ago, I was checking my local library website to see if the book was available (it was not). This search was triggered by seeing another book by Douglas Tallamy in the window of a local bookstore: Nature's Best Hope, A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, published last year.

I gather you're going to re-read it? If you are, that means the book is worth it, and I should read it too, as the subject interests me.

Yoyobon, I wish I could see you!

Annpan......I used to tell my students that they all brought joy to my room. Some by entering and some by leaving !

As a kid that " See me" was always something you never wanted to find written on your paper. We figured it probably didn't mean that the teacher had a special gift for us.

Reader-in-Transit, by golly I did read it! Thanks for the reminder. The author has the new book out (same general topic) called Nature's Best Hope, the one you saw in the bookstore window. That is the one I plan to read next. His books are all pretty much on the same topic, just from different points of view. There is no reason you cannot start with the newest one. You can also check out YouTube videos of Douglas Tallamy's talks. He speaks persuasively on his topic in many venues. And yes, he writes well.

Thanks for your reply, Rosefolly. I will start then with Nature's Best Hope, which is available now at the library. The library has only 1 copy of The Living Landscape and it has several holds. If you read Nature's Best Hope in the next few days/weeks, let me know your impression.

And thanks for letting me know about the YouTube videos (I had no idea).

Vee,

If you read or re-read The Gate of Angels and/or The Great Railway Bazaar, I'd like to hear your opinion. Somewhere in the house, there is a copy of The Gate of Angels, unread.

Years ago, I began The Great Railway Bazaar, but abandoned it after reading about a fourth or a third of the book. I remember it was well written, but somehow, it didn't hold my interest. Unfortunately, I don't have that copy anymore (in case you think it is worth the time and effort).

Fever 1793. It’s about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. The book is for grade 5 to 9. Historical fiction.

Born a Crime is outstanding, Donna. Noah is smart and funny too.

reader: will do! I've made a start on The Gate of Angels rather a yellowing copy with small print; set in the university city of Cambridge. A couple of other things I read by Fitzgerald I remember as being rather miserable . ..

Five books that, at this particular moment in time, I'm looking forward to reading:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek -- Kim Michele Richardson

Little Faith -- Nicolas Butler

The Tourist Attraction -- Sarah Morgenthaler

How the Light Gets In -- Louise Penny
(if this is the one about the quintuplet)

The Thursday Murder Club -- Richard Osman

Vee,

<A couple of other things I read by Fitzgerald I remember as being rather miserable . .. >

Years ago, I read The Bookshop by her, and "miserable" is a good way to describe the general atmosphere of the book. So, I know what you mean.

Besides possibly The Gates of Angels somewhere in the house, I have by her Offshore and At Freddie's, and haven't read them because I can't deal with anything miserable while the pandemic is going on (probably even before). On top of that, the rain and gray skies have begun, and it will go on raining until June 2021. I kid you not (well, you live in a similar climate, so you know what I'm talking about).

Yes, reader. We too are suffering from an over-abundance of rain, fog, mud, even an unexpected thunder storm, leaking roof and never ending bad news, although the 'weathermen' tells us there might be a chance of some brightness on Christmas Eve and Day. Might we be able to see the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter very low in the evening sky, just before 6.30? Only of there wasn't a hill blocking our view towards the SW and if we knew what we were expected to see. Those ancient star-gazers must have had excellent eyesight.

Vee, without light polution, the ancients would have had clearer vision of the night sky. When we went driving into Australian areas outside the city, I was amazed at the amount of starlight I could see. it looked like the stars were hanging low down, almost close enough to touch! Awesome!

My son-in-law took me driving around tonight looking for a clear place to look for the planet conjunction, but we never found a clear viewing place, plus there is so much light pollution in the city. I was disappointed.

Kathy.....I am a Louise Penny addict .....but "the quintuplet" doesn't ring a bell

Yoyo - I thought I'd read that the book was based on the famous Dionne Quintuplets who were born in Canada. After googling, I found this:

How the Light Gets In, by Louise Penny (glencoepubliclibrary.org)

Does that ring a bell?

"Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain

"Circling the Sun"

I'm re-reading parts of "Phenomenal"

A mystery whose title escapes me that I've never heard of.

A history of the Samoyed (I once owned two).

Annpan, I worked in academic libraries, also, FWIW.

Woodnymph, I worked in several of the libraries at the University, the Medical one was off campus, situated in a big hospital. Then Music and finally I got transferred to the main one where I roved in several departments, filling in for absentee staff.

My favourite job was hunting down missing books, which were often just mis-shelved. The joy at locating one! I had to work out where it could be put by mistake so this was like solving a mystery!

Add a new one to my pile :

The Lost For Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

I have one now. I got The Detective in the Dooryard by Timothy Cotton as a gift. I've never heard of the book or the author, so we will see.

Annpan, first I worked in public libraries, second in an historical library in PA, later in a college library in VA, and lastly, at a world-class nautical museum in coastal VA. I learned far more about ships and pirates and exploration than I ever imagined possible.

I've added a couple more on the TBR pile: a re-read of Eliz. Coatsworth's classic "The Cat who Went to Heaven" and "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes."

Reader in Transit, in response to your request for my opinion, I wanted to tell you that I didn't get as excited about Nature's Best Hope as I did Tallamy's two earlier books, or his talks on Youtube. Perhaps it is just that I have already read the other two, so this one seems repetitive to me. My personal favorite is Bringing Nature Home, though The Living Landscape also very good. In any case, I think his earlier two books do a better job of making his point, though this one wasn't bad.

I've stopped making TBR lists - I never seem to stick to them. My reading aim for this year is to read as many of my owned books as I can, so I can cull some of them. Last time I counted them, I owned around 700 TBR books and that's just too much.

Five books that are either in process or will be shortly are:

The Truffle Underground- Ryan Jacobs

Mexican Gothic- Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Warmth of Other Suns- Isabel Wilkerson

Hillbilly Elegy- J.D. Vance

The Wrong Family- Tarryn Fisher

Rosefolly - I can relate to that!

I don't necessarily read everything in my TBR piles. Listing them does recall them to my attention. I would say that about a third of them are soon read, a third get shuffled back for re-evaluation at some future point in time, and another third are given away, my interest having expired.