I went back to reading Country People. Still waiting for something to happen.

I just finished reading Whistler, Ann Patchett's latest novel. I've read a few other of her novels and always liked them but not loved them. Well I now have an Ann Patchett novel that I can love. It's not an action novel novel (Beware Ms Meow, very little happens.), but it is such a wonderful description of how a revisited memory can change a person's outlook on life.

A funny thing about this book is its very attractive cover, a picture of a horse looking at the reader. When I saw it, I thought I would skip this book because I wasn't in the mood for a horse story. But then a friend sent me a clip of Seth Myers interviewing Ann Patchett and telling her that she is misleading a lot of readers with this cover because the horse appears on only about 5 pages of the book.

The clip:

Yoyobon - I'm on a wait list for Mad Mabel, so report back after you've finished it, please.

I really wish I could remember to check Good Reads before I request a book from the library. I just finished Sight Unseen by Graham Hurley, not a wonderful book, only to find I had read it five years ago.

Now I'm ready to start Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston which I have not read!

Kathy, I read Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and quite enjoyed it. I’m ok with little action. It’s just that Country People keeps hinting around about something and never getting to it. I only have 100 pages left!

I am reading The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. 677 pages long - about 250 pages in - so far, no spoilers, but I find it rather predictable.

PAM

Pam......I think the optimum way to enjoy this book is listening to it because the narrators are perfection ! It's the journey, not the destination :0)

Thanks yoyo - I bought it in hardcover for bookclub. So it's too late for audio!

PAM

Pam, the voice of the one woman from Minnesota is priceless.

Have you read anything by Elizabeth Strout? I just finished Olive Kitteridge after reading a couple of reviews about it. A number of people didn't like the book because they disliked Olive's character and only wanted to read about 'nice' people. And of course, Olive is really not very lovable (and I'm glad she never taught me Maths) but, warts and all, she is SO human. I also enjoyed the small-town setting of coastal Maine.

A quick read has been Aches and Pains by Maeve Binchy. She wrote it as a money-raising venture for an arthritis charity; both amusing and wise.

I finally finished Country People by Daniel Mason. I ended up liking it. From the synopsis and hints in the book, I was expecting some big twist, like where the whole town turns out to be vampires or something. But it was just a nice story about a family from California learning to fit in in Vermont.

Now I’ve started Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb.

Vee, I bought a used copy of Aches and Pains in Dublin but had to leave it along with lots of other books when I moved back to Perth. Another hard to get book I regret losing!

Annpan, I see that a few copies of Aches and Pains are available via Amazon, but probably not worth the money plus postage, as it is quite a slim volume!

Thanks, also the problem is that I have no room on my two tall overflowing bookcases. I bought a lot when we had Book Depository and I really should cull them but that is a "Round-2-it" job!

I might get around to it someday!

I'm reading Murder in Piccadilly, a 1936 book by Charles Kingston. I expected Golden Age, but so far it's not very good. I'll keep reading for a while and see where it goes.

Murder in Piccadilly turned out to be good and also turned out to be one I had read in 2020. I remembered nothing about it.

Funny, Carolyn!

I wondered where everyone went and then I remembered to look for an August thread...and here you all are. This is an OT question. I have been watching the British show 'Escape to the Country' for several years. People say what they want in a new rural location--but I have never heard anyone say 'a good public library'. That would be very important to me. Does every village or town have a library in England so it's not worth mentioning?

Good for you, Ann!

Ginny, I too enjoy 'Escape to the Country' but more for the villages/small towns that are shown rather than the interiors of the houses!

Nearly all town have a public library run by the local County/Town/City Council. A few years ago our local council (Gloucestershire) as usual strapped for cash, tried to close many of the smaller libraries and customers were asked to fill in a 'tick-box' questionnaire. The questions were so unbalanced (it was almost impossible to tick anything saying you wanted a library at all) that the Powers That Be had to keep most of the places open. A few smaller ones were taken over by volunteers, although they seem able to use the county supply of books. We also 'lost' out Mobile Library which I had always used when living in a village.

Ann, Post Offices (and Banks) are going the way of the dodo. We are told everyone uses 'On Line' services (of course NOT true) and in our part of Glos we have only ONE bank open, luckily it is in my town! And after closing the Crown Post Office they opened a small branch PO as part of a grocer's shop, so at least we can now buy a stamp (so expensive we need to take out a second mortgage) and post parcels etc.

Should add that pubs are also closing at a record rate due to rising costs of labour.

Ginny, I live in a small town (7,000 or so population) in north Florida, and we have a public library. There are also branches in two other smaller towns not far away.

I liked working in libraries and was employed in several in the UK and Australia.

Customers were mostly polite and appreciative. I can only recall three people who were not and one brought me chocolate next day as an apology for having a petty grumble!

Another mistook our clearly marked library and got annoyed I knew nothing about a conference or her accommodation until she realised we were next to the Information Office!

My worse customer presented at closing time wanting thirty books checked out and put into separate membership Browne pockets. I admit I did not look pleased but no need for her to threaten me with getting me not only sacked but never holding a library job anywhere again!

I mentioned that I was a volunteer to keep the peace. Actually I was not but it did shut her up!

Vee, Thanks for that detailed information and so glad that English towns still have libraries, tho Escape to the Country doesn't mention them. They should!

Msmeow, We are fortunate in the US to have libraries almost everywhere. In the first years of our marriage, my husband and I moved a lot for his work. I always got a library card first thing. I learned that you can tell a great deal about a town from its library, especially how much they value education. As the schools go, so goes the library, for well or ill.

Annpan, You always make me laugh. I bet librarians could write a book about the people they encounter.