Arlene Miller's Blog, page 4

14 Tips: Plurals, Possessives, and Apostrophes

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from PixabayThe Best of the Grammar Diva…

Apostrophes and s‘s cause lots of problems in writing: plural possessives, possessive pronouns, pluralizing last names etc. Here are some tips:

Plural nouns very rarely have apostrophes. Very, very rarely. The only ones I can think of offhand are the letters a, e, and u because without an apostrophe they make other words ( as, is, us) , and it would confuse the reader. Possessive nouns have apostrophes (these are singular possessives): Susie’s toy, the girl’s book, the dog’s bone Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes: ours, hers theirs, its ( it’s is a contraction, and all contractions have apostrophes.)Plural possessives are usually the plural word followed by an apostrophe.  The girls’ books are on the bottom shelf; The dogs’ barking is driving me crazy If the plural doesn’t end with an s , the possessive is made by adding ‘s : The children’s toys are all over the house. For singular nouns ending in s and ss , you still add ‘s for the possessive: I looked under all the bus’s seats; My boss’s coffee cup is always full; The princess’s slipper fit her perfectly. The plurals in #6 are buses, bosses, and princesses .The plural possessive of the nouns in #6  are buses’, bosses’, princesses’ . We don’t add another s because of the way we pronounce them. We pronounce the  singular possessives, plurals, and the plural possessives the same way, but we spell them differently (compare #6 and #7): The princess’s slipper fits perfectly. The princesses are in the front float of the parade. The princesses’ dresses are hand made. When a person’s first name (or last name)  ends in s , we usually add ‘s to make it possessive, but generally we go by the pronunciation: Frederick Douglass’s biography is in the school library. James’s backpack is on the table. Myles’ backpack is on the table could also be Myles’s backpack is on the table. It depends if you want to pronounce it with one or two syllables. ( Myles’ has one syllable; Myles’s has two.)Last names are made plural the same way any other nouns are:  Jefferson = the Jeffersons; Garcia = the Garcias; Jones = the Joneses; Glass= the Glasses. What about last name possessives? That is Mrs. Jefferson’s car. That is the Jeffersons’ house; That is Mrs. Garcia’s car. That is the Garcias’ car. That is Mrs. Jones’s car. That is the Joneses’ house (pronounce with two syllables). That is Mrs. Glass’s car. That is the Glasses’ house.  If you get a house sign, it should probably say The O’Haras , NOT The O’Hara’s .An exception is Jesus , the possessive of which is Jesus’ .Another exception are words that end in es that sounds like ez . These words or names have only an apostrophe in the possessive: Xerses’, Socrates’

 

 

Women’s History Month in Song

Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay

To celebrate Women’s History Month (March), I thought we would talk about all those songs with women’s names in the title. There are thousands of them, many of them hits, and many of them that I have never heard of, although you may have. And it does seem that there are more oldies songs with women’s names in the titles, but that may just be because I am more familiar with oldies from the 50s and 60s!

According to my sources, Mary is the most common woman’s name used in a song title, although I cannot personally think of that many.

I never thought my name was in any songs; Arlene just doesn’t seem that lyrical to me. However, apparently there is a country song by Marty Stuart named Arlene. And the Tokens had a B-side doo wop song called A Girl Named Arlene. My name isn’t in the title of this one, but a few years ago, while listening to oldies with a friend, I heard my name four times in the difficult-to-understand lyrics of Who Do You Love by Bo Diddley.

Here is an alphabetical list of just some of the more popular songs with girls’ names in them. A few of the letters had only songs I had not heard of. This is not a complete list by any means!

A- Angie by the Rolling Stones, Alice‘s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie

B- Barbara Ann by The Beach Boys, Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, Brandy by The Looking Glass

C- Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel,  Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond

D- Delilah by Tom Jones, Denise by Randy and the Rainbows, Donna by Ritchie Valens

E-  Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles, Elenore by the Turtles, Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Rovers

F- Fanny by the BeeGees, Felicia by the Blues Traveler

G- Gloria by Laura Branigan, Gloria by Them

H- Happy Birthday Helen by Things of Stone and Wood (Huh???)

I- Izabella by Jimi Hendrix, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls

J- Jolene by Dolly Parton, Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

K – (surprisingly tough to find because many times Cathy is spelled with a C) –  Kim by Eminem, Kathy‘s Song by Simon and Garfunkel

L- Lucy in the Sky by the Beatles, Linda by Jan and Dean, Lucille by Little Richard, Layla by Derek and the Dominoes, Lola by the Kinks

M- Proud Mary by Tina Turner and Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mandy by Barry Manilow, Martha My Dear by the Beatles, Along Comes Mary by the Association

N- Darling Nikki by Prince

O- Ophelia by The Band

P- Dear Prudence by the Beatles, Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly

Q- Little Queenie by Jan Berry

R- Roxanne by The Police, Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac, Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love to Town) by Kenny Rogers

S- Run Around Sue by Dion, Long Tall Sally by the Beatles, Suzie Q by Creedence Clearwater Revival

T- Tracy by the Cufflinks

U- Ursula by Barclay James Harvest (?????)

V- Victoria by the Kinks

W –Windy by the Association,  Wendy by the Beach Boys

X- My Sister Xanara by Emiel Van Egdom (?????)

Y- Dear Yoko by Jon Lennon

Z- Zelda by Pete Townsend

*NOTE: Yes, I know that song titles are enclosed in quotation marks. But that would be sooo many quotation marks. So, instead, I put the girls’ names in boldface. Poetic license!

 

Here’s To Women! And Music!

 

 

 

 

The Houseboat Wars of Sausalito…

 A Guest Post by Author John Byrne Barry

—————————————————–

My Interview With…Well, MeOver the decades, I’ve interviewed hundreds of people for news stories, profiles, book research, and more. I can count with my ten fingers, however, the number of times I’ve been interviewed as an author. One of my favorites — “Setting That Works” — was not a true interview where someone asked me questions and I answered them, but an interview I wrote myself and forwarded to a writer who did a light edit and then published it. 

So, since I have answers ready, but no one has shown up to ask me questions, I’m going that route again. Here then, is my interview with…well, me. 

How did Pirates of Sausalito come about? 

I live in Tam Valley, two miles from the Waldo Point houseboat harbor, in Sausalito, where close to 300 floating homes are docked. Intrigued by this unique community, I did a little research and learned that for decades, there was conflict between the artists, hippies, and squatters who lived there and the police, city leaders, and developers determined to evict them in order to build docks that would attract more affluent residents. This tumultuous time became known as the “houseboat wars.” 

The more I dug into the history of the houseboat wars, the more I thought it would make a promising setting for a murder mystery. Conveniently, I’m an actor in a local community theater troupe called the Tam Valley Players, which has performed a murder mystery every year for almost two decades. 

I pitched the idea for the play to the troupe and got the green light. 

But how did your play become a novel?

That’s an easy question. I finished writing the play in the summer of 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, and I had no idea if or when live theater would ever come back, so I thought, well, if we can’t perform this, why don’t I turn it into a novel? 

That turned out to be harder than I expected.

Why was it harder? 

I’m glad you asked. First off, it was easier than starting with a blank page. No doubt about that. I had a story full of drama, snappy and funny dialogue, and colorful characters. There was lots of action too — like the houseboaters resisting eviction by jumping into dinghies and pushing away police boats with oars. Also a sword fight.

In the play, I went for laughs, and the play was funny. We finally performed it in March 2023 and got lots of laughs. The play’s success didn’t rely on three-dimensional characters or cleverly placed clues. 

The challenge in translating the play to a novel was tone. Here’s what one beta reader of the novel, who also saw the play and very much enjoyed it, said: “The play works well as a farce works because the action is fast, and it’s Saturday night and we’re all ready for a laugh. We’re happy to watch comically farcical characters played by actors free to go over the top. But reading a novel is different.”

My problem was that I wanted to keep as much of the humor as I could, but so much of it was embedded in the farcical elements of the play, and relied on ridiculous caricatures instead of three-dimensional characters.

How did you address that?

The primary way was by delving into the interior thoughts and emotions of the characters — there’s none of that in the play. I narrated the story from ten different points of view, including the murder victim and the murderer. That changed the novel significantly because some of the characters became different than they’d been in the play. One in particular, Police Chief Tin Holland, turned into one of the main characters in the novel.

I was happy with how the multiple points of view gave the characters more depth, but it made my life as a writer harder. 

When I shared the almost-final draft with beta readers, I realized I had more to do. The most common theme to the feedback was that too many of the characters were not realistic or sympathetic.

In my rewrite, I “fixed” that problem by first toning down the farcical elements more than I already had, and then, more importantly, by finding opportunities to show the characters having empathy for other characters. I ended up with a 12-page document titled, “Add depth and empathy to characters.” 

For example, my self-absorbed pirate character Honest reflected on his sister Fate’s grief and guilt over their parents’ car accident, which created more sympathy for her as well as for him. 

I understand you narrated an audiobook of Pirates of Sausalito. Was that your first time?

Yes, and it was thrilling to read my words out loud into a professional microphone and audio setup. The audiobook was produced by Pro Audio Voices, and its founder, Becky Parker Geist, a friend and colleague I know through the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA), narrated the women’s parts. I narrated the men’s. 

The audiobook brought the characters to life again like the actors did in the play. Though I reviewed the audio enough times that I lost all perspective. I look forward to listening to the audiobook again in a year or two when I’ve forgotten enough of it that I can appreciate it more like a new listener.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the process and what I learned — Maniacal Laughs, Musical Stings, and Distinctive Voices — Eight Lessons From Recording My Audiobook. (Below is the “cover” of the audiobook.)

Anything else you’d like to add? 

Pirates of Sausalito is my shortest book, and one reason is that it started as a play. Because of the pandemic, I had two years between finishing the first draft and starting rehearsals, so I kept cutting, and every cut made the play better. 

I used to have trouble cutting my precious words, but that’s no longer the case. I want readers to keep turning the pages, so I keep things moving. I did the same with the Pirates novel. It’s hard to know if I sacrificed literary merit for pace, but if I did, that was intentional. 

This seems like a good time to end. Thank you for your time. 

But I have more to say. I —

We’re already at 1,000 words. Save it for next time.

One more quick thing. The audiobook is available wherever you find your audiobooks, and on March 15, I’m leading a workshop titled, “How to Write a Killer Blurb” for authors. The blurb for your book —

No need to go into that here. This is your author letter. You can add a section about your workshop below.

Oh, right, I’ll do that. Thank you for your questions. It’s been fun talking with you.

 Join Me for ‘How to Write a Killer Book Blurb’ Workshop March 15

This collaborative, hands-on workshop is for authors who want to work with other participants to make their book blurbs stronger and sharper. Other than your book cover and title, nothing is more important in attracting readers to your book than your blurb, whether it’s on your back cover, on your online sales page, or your promotional collateral.

We’ll start by reviewing formulas that can help you improve your blurb, and then look at examples of effective blurbs for fiction and nonfiction. We’ll devote most of our time to putting participants’ blurbs up on the shared screen and, together, brainstorming ideas and editing copy. I led this workshop last spring at Book Passage and one participant said the most valuable part was collaborating with other participants to strengthen and sharpen the submitted blurbs.  

Register for the workshop here — How to Write a Killer Book Blurb. It’s $25 for BAIPA members, $40 for nonmembers. It’s on March 15, from 10 am to noon PST.

If you want your blurb workshopped, send 100 words or fewer to johnbyrnebarry@gmail.com by March 10. One blurb per participant.
 

   I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at johnbyrnebarry@gmail.com or visit me at johnbyrnebarry.com and facebook.com/johnbyrnebarryauthor.

 

One of the Best Grammar Blogs: Right Here!

Just about every day I get an email from Feedspot, which seems to write about grammar. I get so much email that I delete most of it. I used to save Feedspot’s emails in a folder, thinking I could use them for ideas for this blog. Actually, a few times I saw my blog post right there, reprinted in their email. I think what they do is gather other web content that looks interesting and put it together in a daily email. It is not just grammar. And I believe you need a paid subscription to read the articles in full. 

In any case, I received an email from them a couple of days ago letting me know that this blog was, in their estimation, one of the top 40 grammar blogs. I don’t know if they were in order, but this one was #10 on the list. I felt really good about it and shared it on all my social media. They even gave me a downloadable badge, as you see.

I have likely written before about how difficult it is trying to think of topics to write about each week, since this blog has been going since 2013. I have written about every grammar topic I can think of at least once, if not multiple times. And I have branched out to other topics, some related to grammar and language and some not.  I have thought about stopping the blog or writing less frequently; I have thought about combining a variety of things to create more of a newsletter. I have begged you for guest posts, and some of you have answered the call.

Of course this mention from Feedspot has inspired me to continue. 

Here is my ask:

I would still love to receive your guest posts. About anything. Yes, I do reserve the right to not accept a topic and to edit the accepted posts. I think my audience is slanted older and more educated, so topics like “How to Start Your Own Business” are not really what I am looking for. I have already had such a post anyway. Sometimes freelancers will contact me with topics that I don’t think will appeal to you.I would also love to receive ideas for posts. I am interested in grammar, language, words, books, music, manifesting, spirituality, the arts, popular culture, etc. One type of post I used to do, but have ceased doing, are quotes, for example, quotes about a specific topic or holiday. I am afraid of using a quote that I need permission for, and I have had enough trouble recently with blog illustrations I was not supposed to use. These were generally back in 2013, when I didn’t know any better! If you have an idea, please contact me on the website; please do not put it in the blog comments section. Thank you!Please share this blog post on  your social media or with friends. Thank you again!

And thank you, Feedspot!

Gerund? or Participle?

Image by Manuel do Moucheiro from PixabayThe Best of The Grammar Diva

(reprinted from an earlier post)

 

Which one of these sentences are you most likely to say?

“I hope you don’t mind me borrowing your car.” Or

“I hope you don’t mind my borrowing your car.”

Notice that the only difference is me versus my.  My is the possessive form of the pronoun I or me. For example, “my book” and “my idea” are possessives. The book and the idea belong to me.

The second example is correct—the sentence that uses the possessive my. Why? Because you use a possessive before a gerund, and borrowing is a gerund.

Let me explain. A gerund is a word that used to be a verb (action) and is now being used as a noun, or thing. Nouns are used as subjects and objects in sentences. Gerunds end in -ing.

We are swimming in the pool. In this sentence, are swimming is the verb, or action. (By the way, the are helps determine the tense and is called a helping verb.)

Swimming  relaxes me. In this sentence, relaxes is the verb, or action word. Swimming is the subject of the sentence, or the thing performing the action (relaxes). You can tell swimming is a noun because you can substitute other nouns here and the sentence makes sense. For example: Chocolate relaxes me. In this sentence, chocolate is a noun and is the subject.

When you use a noun or pronoun before a gerund, that noun or pronoun should be possessive. Here are some examples:

Your swimming is really improving.

I enjoy your singing.(I is the subject, enjoy is the verb, and singing is the object and a gerund.)

I don’t like my son’s riding a bicycle without a helmet.

I am punishing you for your eating in the computer room.

OK. But now we hit a snag (of course). 

There are some other words that look like gerunds—in other words, they used to be verbs, are not being used as verbs, and end in -ing. But instead of functioning as nouns, they are functioning as adjectives (which describe nouns).  They are called participles. Here are some examples of participles:

I know the woman wearing the hat. (Wearing describes woman. Which woman? The one wearing a hat.)

I hear you singing in the shower. (Singing is an adjective describing you. I hear you. You are singing in the shower.)

There is a bunny hopping in the back yard. (Hopping describes bunny. Hopping bunny.)

See if you can tell which is a gerund and which is a participle:

I see the cat chasing its tail.

Chasing its tail is fun for the cat.

Chasing is a gerund (or noun) in the second sentence. It is the subject of the sentence and a noun. In the first sentence, chasing is a participle (or adjective) describing the cat.

RULE: Use the possessive before a gerund, but not a participle.

Examples:

I know the woman wearing a hat.  In this sentence, wearing describes the woman. It is the woman whom you know. Which woman? The one wearing a hat. The focus here is on the woman, the noun. Wearing the hat simply tells which woman.

I don’t like the woman’s wearing a hat inside the house. In this sentence, the focus is on the wearing. It is the wearing you don’t like. The wearing belongs to the woman. It’s not the woman you don’t like. Here, wearing is a noun, or gerund, and you use the possessive (woman’s).

Here are a few more examples to (hopefully) make this a little clearer.

I know his reading every night has helped him pass the test. (possessive and gerund – focus is on reading)

I see him reading in the library every evening. (reading, a participle, describes him – focus is on him)

I hope you don’t mind my staying with you next week. (possessive and gerund – focus on staying)

I hear you calling my name. (calling,  a participle, describes you – focus on you)

As you can see, there is sometimes a fine line between the two, so do the best you can!! 

 

 

 

Be Mine

Image by Peggychoucair from Pixabay

If you are reading this on the day after Valentine’s Day, you might be able to get some inexpensive chocolate. Just a suggestion!

Did you know….

Your heart beats about 100,000 times per day.

Alexander Graham Bell filed his patent for the telephone on Valentine’s Day in 1876.

A glass of champagne contains 84 calories.

States with the most chocolate production are Pennsylvania (Hershey) and California (Ghirardelli).

It takes 400 chocolate beans to make a pound of chocolate.

Each box of Sweethearts contains 36 candies.

250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day each year.

Valentine, Texas, has a population of 108.

It was a Medieval belief that the mating season for birds begins on February 14.

The melting point of chocolate is 86-90 degrees.

Women have a faster heartbeat than men.

June is National Candy Month.

Red roses sell best on Valentine’s Day, followed by pink and then white (odd because yellow roses symbolize love, don’t they?)

Galentine’s Day is February 13.

The least desired Valentine’s Day gift is a teddy bear.

Theobromine is the ingredient  in cocoa that makes chocolate toxic to dogs.

The first commercial Valentine’s Day cards were printed in the mid 1800s.

The M’s in M&M’s stand for Mars and Murrie.

Germany consumes the most candy per capita.

Hershey hugs are Kisses that are covered in white chocolate.

66 of Elvis’s songs have the word love in the title.

 

 

American vs British Grammar

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

When we think of Britishisms, we usually think about that silent u they put in words like favour and the s they use instead of z in words like appetiser.

Another difference we see is that the British put their periods outside the quotation marks, whereas Americans  put the period (and comma) inside the quotations.

And of course, they use different words for the same noun: flat instead of apartment, jumper instead of sweater, boot instead of trunk (of car), crisps instead of chips, postbox instead of mailbox, football instead of soccer, biscuit instead of cookie, and many more. 

However, there are many grammatical differences between American and British English as well.

Have and take: The British say, “I am going to have a bath,” and the Americans say, “I am going to take a bath.”

Do substituting for a verb: “Are you coming with us?” “I might do.”

Use of needn’t: Americans usually do not use needn’t. We use don’t need: “You needn’t bother.”  “You don’t need to bother.”

Use of shall: Americans tend to use will, and we have a specific use for shall. The British use shall more frequently. 

At versus in/on: Americans generally say on the weekend, but the British say at the weekend. 

Past tense: The British use more past tense constructions ending in t: dreamt instead of dreamed, learnt instead of learned, etc.

And there are more. One curious one is something a friend told me he has repeatedly heard British people do, which to us is an incorrect use of the reflective pronouns (the pronouns that end in -self). He repeatedly heard a flight attendant ask, “Can I get something for yourself?” instead of just saying for you as we would.

This last one I am going to talk about (because there are more if you want to look them up) is one where I use the British way, and I always taught it the British way because I believe it is the correct way. Most Americans do it the American way, which I always thought was incorrect, although generally no one really notices: With collective nouns, the British use a singular verb if the noun is thought to represent the group as a whole, and a plural verb if we are talking about the individuals in the group. For example,

The band is having a picnic on Saturday after the concert. (Band is thought of as a group together.)The band are tuning their instruments. (Band refers here to the individuals.)

Americans tend to always use a singular verb. I just figure using the singular when you should use the plural is wrong. 

 

 

 

 

 

Word Trivia and More

Last week I wrote about how I was going to blog about the history of bookstores, but I had lost my notes and had probably thrown them away because I could picture the piece of paper they were written on. Well, I don’t know what I was picturing because I found them….on the Notes app on my phone. I assume those are what I was looking for….but they really were not detailed enough to write a post anyway, so I will write a short bit at the end of this post. A friend sent me these “facts” about English and other things. I have written about word trivia in previous posts and spoke about it in some of my talks. Sometimes, a couple of these tidbits will turn out not to be true. So believe at your own risk… Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand. And lollipop  is the longest word typed with your right hand.No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. Poets and songwriters probably know this. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog uses every letter of the alphabet.The words racecar, kayak  and level are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes)There are only four words in the English language that end in dous: 

tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: abstemious and facetious.

Typewriter is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
 
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A jiffy is an actual unit of time:  1/100th of a second.
 
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
 
A snail can sleep for three years.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.
 
An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
 
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history to not  have a full moon.
 
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
 
If the population of China walked past you, eight abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
 
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
 
Peanuts  are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
 
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person’s left hand does 56 percent of the typing. 

The cruise liner, QE 2 moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men. 

All the ants in Africa weigh more than ALL the Elephants!!

 

Some trivia about bookstores:

Ben Franklin owned the first bookstore in the United States, which was combined with his printing press.

I was surprised to hear that some of the first bookstores were very large book departments in major department stores like Neiman Marcus. They did very well, but eventually disappeare

New York and other large cities had book stalls out on the street lined up, some run by people who loved books and others run by drug addicts and the homeless.

Eventually, independent bookstores came into being, some specializing. There were black bookstores, Nazi bookstores, and white supremacist bookstore

Then the big box stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders came along. And then came Amazon and blew everything else away! Borders is gone, but Barnes and Noble remains.

And there are still some independents flourishing. I lived near two small chain independents when I lived in northern California. One, Copperfields, was where I launched all my grammar books. They were absolutely wonderful to me and other indie authors. They are still around as is Book Passage, which has two or three stores and is a little more snobbish. But then I have never tried to get my books in there since my first book was brand new. It is a wonderful store that also has a YouTube channel where you can see and hear some authors. I saw many wonderful authors (including Jimmy Carter) at those two indie bookstores. 

PLEASE EXCUSE THE FORMAT AND FONT QUIRKS IN THIS POST! THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO CUT AND PASTE!

Books, Books, Wonderful Books!

Image by Kidaha from Pixabay

I will never understand people who don’t read books. I mean, what do they do? (Oh, socialize….) 

Speaking of books, I was planning to write this post about the history of bookstores because I recently read a good book on the subject. I remember writing down all my notes on a piece of paper. When it came time to write the post, where was the paper? I looked everywhere, and I think it must have landed in the trash.

So instead of that post,  here is the substitute post:  The books that I ended 2024 with and began 2025 with.

Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell –  I read The Tipping P0int years ago as well as other Gladwell books, and I liked them all. For some reason, I couldn’t get through this one. Actually, I didn’t get very far. He started by talking about the world’s most famous bank robbers, and that is as far as I got. It may have gotten more interesting when he talked about a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world or explored two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Give it a try if you like Gladwell and his discussions of social epidemics.

Here One Moment by Lianne Moriarty is her latest novel – I think I have read all her novels, and except for one or two, loved them. I really liked this one and gave it four stars. It is about a woman on a flight who starts telling all the passengers at what age they will die and the cause.  You can probably imagine what happens next.

Who Could Ever Love You by Mary Trump – This is a family memoir, and if you like what Mary Trump has to say (as I do), you will like this book. Four stars.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren – A romance about a couple who fakes a relationship to gain a family inheritance. It is actually more interesting and involved than that. I liked it and gve it four stars.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson – This is the first in a mystery series. A high school girl is murdered and it is assumed her boyfriend did it. One of the boyfriend’s female friends thinks there is more to this murder and goes about solving it herself.  I gave it four stars.

The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick – Another romance about a women who starts a dating service founded on logic. She then is told by a psychic that the man she herself met, and is planning to marry, through this logical service isn’t “the one” for her. She then goes to Europe and looks up all her exes from a summer abroad to see if one of them might be “the one.” Three stars. It’s okay.

What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella – This one sure took me by surprise! Sophie Kinsella writes humorous romances about shopping….this one was fiction, but completely autobiographical about an author who faces a devastating diagnosis. It is the story of Kinsella herself and is a beautiful story. It is also very short so you can read it in a sitting. Highly recommended. Five stars. 

I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNichol – A 46-year old never-married woman has just spent month upon month in her New York apartment during the beginning of the Covid crisis. She longs for touch, so she goes to Paris where she has some friends. She goes on a dating app to find sex and enjoyment, nothing serious. And she succeeds. A good read. Four stars.

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss – If you love bookstores, this is the book for you. It starts with Ben Franklin and his bookstore/printing press. It goes on to talk about bookstores in major department stores before they disappeared. Outdoor bookstores, Nazi bookstores, black bookstores, chain bookstores, indie bookstores, all kinds of bookstores. Four stars.

Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz – This is a great book that I thought was fiction at first because I didn’t know who the author was and that she was an actress who starred in One Tree Hill. What started out as a Bible study group slowly morphed into a cult, so she was living a double life — cult member and actress. She finally did escape from the cult. Highly recommended. Five stars.

James by Percival Everett – Well, I guess you have to read this one, since it is the book of the year, getting rave reviews from everywhere. I have read Percival Everett before, and I discovered it wasn’t exactly my kind of book. I believe that was the book where he had three versions with three endings, and it was just random which ending you got. This one is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which I have never read, if you can believe that) from the slave’s viewpoint. I nearly quit near the beginning. It still isn’t my kind of book but I have to admit it is pretty interesting in parts. I would recommend it, since everyone else seems to like it. I am about 90 percent done, so I guess I will finish it. And give it four or five stars. It certainly is a well-written book. 

By the way, the title of this post (Books, Books, Wonderful Books) is from a play I starred in, in fourth grade. I played Betty, a girl who loved books, and the line was said by the bookworm.

Good Morning! What’s Next?

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Maybe everyone has a morning routine. I know I do. Maybe not everyone does. Maybe I do because

I am a Virgo and everything has to be in a list and belong to a routine. I am older and set in my ways — and have a lot of freedom in my schedule.I have lived alone, or primarily alone, for 20 years or so.

If you tell me yours, I will tell you mine. In fact, even if you don’t tell me yours, I am going to tell you mine. It varies very little from day to day.

I usually set the alarm for 6:30. I don’t usually need to get up this early, but I am a person who loves consistency. Oh, here is something else about me. I am very attuned to the time and the clock. For example, if I have an appointment at 10:30 in the morning, I will count back to see what time I have to do each thing. For example: appointment at 10:30, need to leave the house at 9:45. So I need to get into the shower by 9 the latest. So I need to be at the computer by 8 to do what I  “need” to do there. That means I need to get the coffee/bedroom routine done by 8. 

So, sometimes I do hit Snooze and don’t get up until nearly 7. Don’t laugh at how regimented I am!! I turn on the bedroom light. I weigh myself. Then I proceed to the kitchen and start up the Keurig. I pull up all the shades and turn the computer on in the office. I take the one vitamin supplement I take in the morning and change the dog’s water. The coffee is now ready, so I dress it up and take it back to bed with me, Oh, and I usually take the dog out back before I settle down in bed with the coffee.

Coffee in hand, sitting in bed, I first check Facebook briefly. Then I check my email, mostly to delete 90 percent of it! I should unsubscribe and occasionally I do, but it is just so much easier to swipe and delete the emails.  Then I see if anything is new on my YouTube subscriptions. I follow Meidas Touch for the political, and then a bunch of manifesting coaches. 

Next comes my favorite part of this whole routine: The New York Times word games to which I subscribe. In this order (of course, they must be in order!!!) I do Wordle, Connections, Letter Boxed, The Mini crossword puzzle, and Strands. I share Wordle and Connections with my Facebook friends.

Sometimes I will listen to a You Tube video, nothing too long at this point. Otherwise, now I read for however long I have before I get up, which is 8:45 at the latest. 

I get up and feed the dog. Then I am ready to settle in my office for a while and “work.”

I check my books sales on the major two sites I sell on.I check my credit card  and bank balances to make sure everything looks right. I find some word or tip of the day I can post on social media. I post on Bluesky and look at the timeline to see what I can repost or steal for my other social media sites. I search for grammar and coffee mugs.I go to LinkedIn and post my tip, and I repost interesting things — and maybe steal some for my remaining two social media sites.Next is Spoutible, mainly political, but I post my tip again and whatever I have found on the other sites that is relevant — and I also repost items of interest.Finally is Facebook. I reply, I repost, I post whatever fun things I have found. Then I post my tip and my mug of the day from a list I have gathered. I then go to my Facebook Business  Page and post the tip and whatever else is relevant. Next, I go to my website’s email, where there usually isn’t too much. That is where blog post comments are.  I always reply.Finally, I go to my regular email accounts, of which I have two, and see what is going on. Occasionally, I go through them and delete what I can, what has already happened. etc.DONE

When I moved to Florida, of course someone taught me to play Mah Jongg. I played several times with a group of women, but I was always a substitute and never did it regularly. I have been asked a few times, but I really don’t want to spend four hours playing once a week. So, I play online with my free allotted four games a day while I eat breakfast at my computer. And thus ends my morning computer ritual. I do get derailed every so often when I have an early engagement of some kind. I am not opposed to changing things up a little or speeding them up!

The next step in my day is generally showering and getting dressed. From then on, who knows? Errands, lunch date, appointments???? Usually Starbucks is somehow involved. 

And yeah, I kind of have an evening ritual as well!

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