Laurel’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2013)

Laurel’s comments from the All About Books group.

But cats have nine lives, dogs only have one. So why not risk it?

Jenny wrote: "I am reading The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton,
It seems incredibly smart, but now that I am on page 250 of roughly 1000 pages, I still don't really know if I actually care about wh..."

I kind of felt the same way about her first book The Rehearsal which I didn't finish. The Luminaries is still on my want to read list, but I don't know if I ever will....

I love rain dances! LOL!

I haven't even made a list this month.... seems pointless now. LOL!

#12 and 13. Two more I probably shouldn't count. My interest was piqued by the bunny on the cover (bunnies and owls will get me every time...) and the general topic. I could relate to stuff about being an introvert, but otherwise I'm probably not the audience for these, which are aimed at young adults.

Adulthood Is a Myth
Big Mushy Happy Lump
I'm skipping #3 in the series.... for now.

#11. Corduroy Mansions

Similar in style to the 44 Scotland Street series. Not as keen on the characters (yet), but I will continue the series. Next though, I am currently rereading (audiobook) 44 Scotland Street.

Plans for March, which is almost over (ha ha):

Still want to read, and not getting back to them...
READ The Essex Serpent
Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur

READ Corduroy Mansions - monthly book for The Reading Loft
Continuing with Alexander McCall Smith and kicking off my reread of the
READ 44 Scotland Street series.

Started The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History but had to return it because it had a hold waiting. I placed a hold to get it back...

I've already read the March book for Daytimers (The Zookeeper's Wife) and not planning to reread it, so I've checked out the audiobook for a previous Daytimer's read that I didn't finish then...
READ A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

#8. The Wine of Angels

FINALLY finished this one after I got it from Audible. 4 stars. I liked it, and already got the next one in the series.

#9. The Language of Flowers

This one was all right. I didn't LOVE it. 3 stars.

That finished out my February reads.
Monthly total: 4 books
Favorite was The Wine of Angels.

I didn't have a lot of books read in February. I guess my favorite was The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman. It's the first book in the Merrily Watkins series. 4 stars. I'll be reading more of this series.

#7. FukuFuku: Kitten Tales 1

I probably shouldn't even count this - it's a children's graphic novel that took me all of 30 minutes to read. I loved the Chi's Sweet World series by this author, so I had to read it. Her cats are so wonderfully portrayed! Didn't quite have the emotional impact that Chi had. I gave it 4 stars which might be a tad generous, just because I love cats. It's certainly a pleasant way to fill a lunch break though!

I listened to the audio also. Good narrator. He had me laughing out loud quite a few times on my drive to and from work!

Leslie wrote: "Laurel wrote: "...my favorite has to be A Man Called Ove."

Oh, good -- I have the audiobook of that!"

February plans:

Currently reading:
READ The Essex Serpent
After that I will get back to:
Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur

Just started:
READ The Wine of Angels - I broke down and did a free trial of Audible (which I am continuing). This was one of two free selections I got to pick, and it was not available on audio through the library. I started reading this in 2016, and got about halfway before other things got in the way and I just never seemed to get back to it. It'll finally get finished this month! Yeah!

For bookclub (end of Feb.):
READ The Language of Flowers - audiobook
After that, maybe
READ 44 Scotland Street to start my reread of that series.

After finishing Yseult above, these are on my agenda:
READ Virgins
Miss Garnet's Angel
The Rose of York: Love & War
The Lives of Tudor Women

#6. A Man Called Ove

Definitely 5 stars. This is a great book and my favorite read for January. I probably don't need to say much about it, since I'm probably about the last person to read it, but here's my Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I had several 5 star reads in January, but my favorite has to be A Man Called Ove. Really loved it, and I'm going to have to read more by this author.

Currently reading:
The Essex Serpent
Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur

February book club:
The Language of Flowers

Audio:
The Wine of Angels
44 Scotland Street - reread

For various challenges:
Virgins
Miss Garnet's Angel

#5. Dictator

Leaned at times toward 5 stars, but I left it at a solid 4 for this third book of the trilogy, and a solid 4 for the trilogy as a whole. Thoroughly researched and brilliantly brought to life, it covers the last 15 years of Cicero's life.

I'm not generally a fan of ancient Rome or politics! But I read this because I'm trying to read as many Walter Scott nominees as I can. Conspirata (or Lustrum) was on the shortlist in 2010, and Dictator in 2016 so I can cross those off now.

I was looking up Thomas Moore a couple weeks ago, because the women's choir I sing with is doing a piece that incorporates some poetry of his. That particular poem was far too long, but I learned that this Thomas Moore was a collector of Irish folk music, and wrote lyrics that are still sung today. Among his best known are The Minstrel Boy, The Last Rose of Summer, and this one, which I remember loving as a child:

THOMAS MOORE
1779–1852

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear;
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.
1808

There's a story behind this poem, which may or may not be true. It is said that his wife, the beautiful actress Elizabeth Dyke, contracted smallpox which disfigured her face. And so he wrote this tribute to the endurance of love beyond physical beauty to reassure her that he still loved her.

#4. The Frozen Thames

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

4 stars. A nice meditative little book for cold nights.

Heather wrote: "Wow, 2200 books is a lot! I guess with that amount picking a choice must be almost impossible so your idea of the slips is brilliant.

Good luck with your challenges!"

Thanks, Heather! I've tried other schemes for picking random reads, but this one has really gotten me motivated. I've already finished two books from the 30 slips I drew. I have them in a gold drawstring bag on my desk. Right now I know which books I want to get read first, but at some point I hope to dip into the bag to see what I'll read next...

Three down already! Finished Conspirata 4 stars

Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've already started listening to Dictator to finish the trilogy.