C. (Comment, never msg).’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2014)

C. (Comment, never msg).’s comments from the Gentle SPECTRUMS group.

I am happy someone finally commented on a dual timeline conversation that I rolled out! You didn't say what you think of our society but I loved all of your other replies to what we discussed. I could not tell (but I doubt it) if the conversation struck you as awkward, or if you thought book discussions closed if we had started another book. Thank you for continuing, so long as anyone has ideas or things to add.

My summary is that I love our present day freedom to just date, or all the intimacy we are comfortable exploring, without locking into marriage. For me, I insist on drawing a line until a couple is committed in some way, like the level of saying "I love you". I hate the casual, rushed idea that something as intimate and serious as sexuality is *expected* by some in our society.

I choose a middle ground balanced between of the respect and line-drawing in 1915, without the judgement and hypocrisy of embraces, kisses, and general romantic company without being engaged. You should be able to try various relationships before something so serious as marriage. It is for our own hearts and assurance and certainly, because it was hard to separate.

You could divorce in Victorian days, if you ignored being frowned upon. A great novel about that and Irish political history is "Never Call It Loving"; for some reason written by New Zealand's own Dorothy Eden. Everything always has and will especially depend on the support and attitude of families, no matter what the social commentary was.

I hope everyone looks forward to the next three books as much as I do. I think they will be fun! I hope Dora is prominent since she will not be a toddler and with questions answered, Anne and Gilbert just have fun, explore the world, and grow.

Hello Shirin and Kerri! It is nice to find you both here, for I have just finished this book this morning, myself. So, although we like to leave reading in progress observations and anticipation; finishing opens us to discussing our impressions in their entirety! Brava to Shirin for finishing in English, if you did not switch to Persian.

I got used to the style and only faulted the long-assed sentences not breaking down each remark. I loved the phrasing of many sentiments, passages worth sharing another time. I came upon a few more unaccustomed uses of words and two new to me: "polity" and "multifarious". They pertain to the proposition that we have more sides as personalities unto themselves than the two Henry investigated.

What strikes you as a topic you each would propose? There is lots of fodder for conversation. Here we go! :)

I have written so many paragraphs, I will keep this short and let you both reply to mine before expounding on more of my observations. I hope there is more to say on the ream of paragraphs I typed out. And I give you time to lead with your observations and ideas.

For the moment, I add the observation that I easily saw the horror genre fit by the end. Like Shirin said of the earlier era and which Kerri felt in present day, if we can get into the story; the suspense build-up is tremedous. Picture the lamplight at night, movie music ramping emotions up in the background, the news that a trampling and an attack with no trigger have occurred, worse than the usual crime or murder. Most alarming, what does this person have to do with someone they know as a friend!

It can only be horror, when Gabriel John reads the letters from Dr. Hastie Lanyon and Dr. Henry Jekyll (from pages 67 to 103 in my Bantam Classics book) and it dawns on him that the body he and Mr. Poole saw expire on page 62, was their friend Henry Jekyll. I wish we had seen his face, as movies must show, or if Robert Louis Stevenson had given page time to pan over to Gabriel John's reaction to that jolt.

And it can only be horror unimagineable, for Henry's original fear from his first experiment to be true: that he can no longer stay his normal self. If we think of how these things would feel, Shirin, I say this is easily horror content in 2021 as well.

I asked in some other paragraph of mine, if you would like to read Ian Rankin's "Hide And Seek" next. Would you? If you would prefer to wait, I will jump into another book for the time being. Did you see the reference to that title on your own? Or did you notice it after my reference to the quote: "If you be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek"?

I noted one more horrific slap in the face, as it were. Imagine the trauma of figuring out that the salt you had used was probably faulty, one of those experiments that would not have worked under normal conditions. Short of tracing the tainted stock; what weight of death facing a person, who sees that their source of remedy no longer had the ingredient to be produced! It seems to override the theory that Edward came back without summoning, the more exercise he received.

Kerri, the question you propose is a good one, even if Robert did not take that tack. If there had been a story about apprehending Edward Hyde and the authorities learning and accepting that Henry Jeckyll turned into that person: how would they have approached the charge? I think Henry would have gotten off. In Canada, there is a frequent precedent for deciding if someone was mentally or emotionally fit to act on a crime in full knowledge and control of their faculties.

Yes Shirin, the mystery excelled at making us just as anxious to find out who Edward was and what his relationship was with someone honourable. If the language took acclimatization at first, I got used to it and by the time I was gripped by the mystery, I read in larger gulps. It wasn't that there was much more action added. The emotional investment of the people involved became greater. We felt for Gabriel John, Henry, and Mr. Potter and their anxiousness propelled us to know how it turned out, the audience.

I see I am popping in anew before you have marshalled your thoughts on existing notes. My Bantam Classic novel doesn't note chapter numbers, only titles. Rather than page through to count, suffice it to say I am at 70% and am enjoying this world phenomenon story immensely. Dare I say, my vocabulary shall as I hoped, gain the stride of enrichment by its conclusion.

I anticpate your topic questions and thoughts. For now, I propose one that I have looked forward to: to which genres would we attribute this story, now that we are well into it? Kerri wrote "mystery" and I agree. I say "horror" too, if we have become at ease with the language and are focusing on the descriptions of the characters' reactions and feelings. It will surely be science fiction as well, when we get to the information that is the detail I believe we all know going in.

Kerri described suspense and Shirin said "odd"; all true. I find the mix highly successful in the generating of suspense, mystery, and deliciously curious oddity: of narration, dialogue, private musing, action, and revelations conveyed in handwritten letters. We have looked at events through the outside view, at an even pace with readers, of Mr. Utterson and a few other men.

Where I am, Mr. Utterson is reeling; learning almost everything via a letter by Dr. Langley. We are about to finally have Dr. Henry Jeckyll's account by letter. Another topic for consideration: if we of 2021 did not know the core shock of this book, that Dr. Henry Jekyll is Mr. Edward Hyde; would we have guessed it by the clues provided?

We have done well to read as blindly as we have but I'll bet the wonderment would be the greater for us, if we could have been oblivious to the grand horror dénouement entirely. I believe I would have guessed it.

The clothes hanging large on Edward Hyde (I love knowing their first names, haha). It was made clear early, by the cheque-writing. It was confirmed for me a little later, when Mr. Utterson's assistant, a script expert by hobby, identified two samples as deriving from the same hand. Rather than our foreknowledge spoiling anything, I for one, have enjoyed watching the details of how it unfolds.

There are only two words to look up. However, I am confused by "cabinet" inferring a room. I thought that Edward Hyde was hiding in a closet but certainly that was not the case, when we describe a nice room with a tea table and a desk. Haha, my 21st century dirty humour guffawed at the use of "intercourse" as something very asexual indeed. It meant something more like "discourse", conversation. I like "passengers", used not for vehicle riders but as in the passage of people walking around roads in public.

Good morning, ladies! I am glad we are enjoying our walk through 1886, even though our steps are slow and we are looking everywhere, in a language that is more graceful than we are accustomed to. I love it. We are even: I am finished chapter 3, too and will start chapter 4 by tonight.

As I mentioned, I recognize all of the words. We just must look closely at creative or advanced use. Like in a spelling bee, we figure out grammatical acrobatics by the structure. For example, we know "apochrophyl" relates to the apocholyps and thus is a witty adjective in the negative.

I would not agree, Shirin, that nothing happened early. Unless you have a particular book genre in mind that denotes fast action, I don't think we a car chase or explosion to build suspense. I enjoy external people introducing us to Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because it puts us on the same level as the narrators. We are curious and learn about those titular gentlemen along with them. If they had been the narrator protagonists instead, we would feel disconnected by knowing they were concealing a secret and had the power to reveal them to the readers. Being equal to the lawyer and his friend in their puzzlement, I think we instantly feel like they represent us. We are of a mind.

I have felt a need to improve my vocabulary and Robert Louis Stevenson will be just the thing! Shirin, it was neat to notice the reference Ian Rankin must have transposed to his second book title, on page 15! It reads: "If you be Mr. Hyde, I will be Mr. Seek"! I am interested in reading it right after this one, to see if a flow, or similarity can be felt.

I thought having an open category, "Meet The Members", would be nice! Herein, please feel welcome to make your own folders, with your general location of our world. This is a place to make lists of books and other subjects for yourself and report news important to you personally or in your countries for us to read and answer.

Often people join a group but are unsure what to write or where to browse. This is a nice, clear way of getting to know each other and establishing our place, even though we have topic folders for popular subjects like animals, music, television shows, and films.

Members need not belong to my 4 reading challenges, when they are on, nor do buddy reading. If you love to make friends and have the respectful conversations we favour here, I welcome you to set up your corner of our community, called Gentle Spectrums. :)

I thought it would be handy for myself to have a list in plain text of last year's and this year's reading. I will alphabetize them for an easy reference. I have finished my 300 word reviews for all of them.

MY 2020 BOOKS!

“Aunt Dimity And The Deep Blue Sea” Nancy Atherton 2006

“My Cat: A Scrapbook Of Drawings, Photos, And Facts” Marilyn Baillie & Brenda Clark 1993
“The Loud Halo” Lillian Beckwith 1964
“The Egyptian Mirror” Michael Bedard 2020
“Echoes” Maeve Binchy 1985
“Jesus Erzählt Uns Eine Geschichte: Das Hochzeitsfest” Roma Bishop (illustrator) 1990
“Death Of Riley” Rhys Bowen 2002
“The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag” Alan Bradley 2010
“The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare” Lilian Jackson Braun 1988
“Georgie” Robert Bright & Christiane Duchesne (translator) 1944
“Dearest Grandmama” Catherine Brighton 1991
“Arthur’s TV Trouble” Marc Brown 1995
“Blessings From The Other Side: Wisdom And Comfort From The Afterlife For This Life” Sylvia Browne 2000
“Past Lives, Future Healing: A Psychic Reveals The Secrets To Good Health And Great
Relationships” Sylvia Browne & Lindsay Harrison 2001
“Last Look” Clyde Robert Bulla 1979

“Canada’s Peaceful Places” Canadian Heritage 1985
“The Halifax Public Gardens” Arthur Carter / The Friends Of The Public Gardens 2008
“Firefly Time: The Art And Poetry Of Emilee N. Horn (Carter)” Emilee Carter 2015
“From Warsaw To Winnipeg: A Tale Of Two Cities” Stefan A. Carter 2011
“Whitehorse, The Wilderness City” Ione J. Christensen 1989
“Witness For The Prosecution” Agatha Christie 1924
“Point Of Origin” Patricia Cornwell 1998
“Carlsbad Caverns National Park” Candace Crane 2000
“Pacific Vortex” Clive Cussler 1983
“The Mediterranean Caper” Clive Cussler 1973

“The Sandhills Of Carberry” John E. Dubois / Manitoba Museum Of Man And Nature 1976

“The Name Of The Rose” (“Il Nome Della Rosa”) Umberto Eco 1980
“The Green Book” Amal-El-Mohtar 2010
“Wing” Amal El-Mohtar 2012
“The Truth About Owls” Amal El-Mohtar 2014
“Pockets” Amal El-Mohtar 2015
“Madeleine” Amal El-Mohtar 2015
“The Hidden Messages In Water” Dr. Masaru Emoto 2001
“Roses: A Celebration In Words And Paintings” Helen Exley (editor) 1993

“Thank You Notes” Jimmy Fallon 2011
“The Geographer’s Library” Jon Fasman 2005
“The Tree That Grew To The Moon” Eugenie Fernandes 1994
“The Servant’s Tale” Margaret Frazer 1993
“The Witch Elm” Tana French 2018

“Caramba” Marie-Louise Gay 2005
“A Suitable Vengeance” Elizabeth George 1988
“For The Sake Of Elena” Elizabeth George 1993
“Missing Joseph” Elizabeth George 1993
“Labyrinth: The Storybook Based On The Movie” Louise Gikow & Bruce McNally 1986
“Cauldstane” Linda Gillard 2014
“The Dog Who Rescues Cats: The True Story Of Ginny” Philip Gonzalez & Leonore Fleischer 1995
“The Dangerous Dollhouse” Sarah Gordon 1988
“The Dirty Duck” Martha Grimes 1984
“Jerusalem Inn” Martha Grimes 1984
“Help The Poor Struggler” Martha Grimes 1985
“The Deer Leap” Martha Grimes 1985

“Vollgas!” Ute Haderlein, Roger De Klerk 2000
“Wo Sind Die Kleinen Katzen?” Nadine Hahn (illustrator), Claudia Toll 1996
“Mythos Christos” Edwin Herbert 2016
“Alfred Hitchcock’s Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries” Alfred Hitchcock 1963
“Threshing: The Early Years Of Harvesting” Faye Reineberg Holt 1999

“Sleight Of Paw” Sofie Kelly 2011
“Cat Pictures Please” Naomi Kritzer 2005

“Ghosts Of The Titanic” Julie Lawson 2011
“Froggy Goes To Bed” Jonathan London & Frank Remkiewicz 2000
Stories I Only Tell My Friends” Rob Lowe 2011

“The Sixty-Eight Rooms” Marianne Malone 2010
“Regretfully Invited” Jan L. Mayes 2018
“Murder At Malenfer” Iain McChesney 2013
“While The Clock Ticked” Leslie McFarlane 1932
“Cat Alphabet” Metropolitan Museum Of Art (editor) 1994
“Anne Of Green Gables” L.M. Montgomery 1908
“Anne Of Avonlea” L.M. Montgomery 1909
“Manu’s Ark” Emma V. Moore 2012
“The Night Circus” Erin Morgenstern 2011

“The Eight” Katherine Neville 1988

“A Trick Of The Light” Louise Penny 2011
“Bethlehem Road” Anne Perry 1990
“Highgate Rise” Anne Perry 1991
“The Camelot Caper” Elizabeth Peters 1969
“The Deeds Of The Disturber” Elizabeth Peters 1988
“Monk’s Hood” Ellis Peters 1980
“Extra-Ordinary: Stories Of Manitobans With Down Syndrome” Jordan Power & Darnell Collins (photography) 2015
“The Silent Companions” Laura Purcell 2017

“The Westing Game” Ellen Raskin 1978
“I’d Rather Be In Philadelphia” Gillian Roberts 1992
“Captivated” Nora Roberts 1992

“Look Once Again: In The Garden” David M. Schwartz & Dwight Kuhn 1997
“The Gardener’s Daughter” A.F. Scott & René Moreu 1968
“The Time Of My Life” Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi 2009
“The Cat, The Lady, And The Liar” Leann Sweeney 2011

“The Joy Luck Club” Amy Tan 1989
“Spanish Rhymes” Lynda Taylor 1996
“O’ Artful Death” Sarah Stewart Taylor 2003
“Murder On Gramercy Park” Victoria Thompson 2001
“The Wildlife ABC: A Nature Alphabet” Jan Thornhill 1988
“The Haunting” Alan Titchmarsh 2011
“Ghost Towns And Drowned Towns Of West Kootenay” Elsie G. Turnbull 1988

“A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth” (“Voyage Au Centre De La Terre”) Jules Verne 1864
“Birthstones” James Watling & Laurie Steding 1995
“Through The Hidden Door” Rosemary Wells 1987
“Skye Cameron” Phyllis A. Whitney 1957

“How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats?” Jane Yolen & Mark Teague 2010
“Dancing Soul: The Voice Of Spirit Evolving” Gwen Randall-Young 1995
(100) “Safe At Home With Pooh” Kathleen W. Zoehfeld & Robbin Cuddy 1998

Hello! I am Carolyn, hostess and group creator, in Manitoba. Our province is the centre of Canada overall but oddly, belonging to "western Canada". Our cats are my Sons & Daughters. I am a vegetarian who loves to garden, food and flowers galore and being in hardiness zone 3 doesn't faze me.

I love music, films, and television as seen in those categories. Since I was a tiny girl, I always loved making international friends. Thankfully, Manitoba has been a refugee and immigrant haven all my life. Now, the internet helps too! Yours truly, Carolyn.

I am early in chapter 1. So! I took two days to finish Ellery Adams's 2012 mystery and there is still no writing here. Well, I needn't worry about being first to lay out things to say because I am not far enough to, similar to Shirin's entry. To ensure I leave a first impression, I will paste my Goodreads page progress update and expand it a little.

This 1886 classic novel only has 114 pages, even if they are the dense sort with no spacing between chapters. It is dense 1800s writing of the most advanced English language skills, even though I share that level of skills. There are few words new to me and I delight in finding them. In many cases, their use is rare and the sentence style long, which I know from Henry James. I absorb and reread every page slowly.

As I said, the words are recognizable even if they are seldom included vocabulary today, in 2021 but I still wonder what second language readers like Shirin, or those with lower English reading skills would make of it. I think I will get used to the style, structure, and tone as I go along and hope the same for both of you. It looks for now, like an outside party is tell the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story and I like that original approach. I will want to meet them later but am enjoying my introduction however peripheral.

Hi Shirin! Do you read at night? It is rare for me to read by day and in contrast, it is my bedtime routine to read before I sleep. Even if I am tired and fall asleep quickly, I cannot retire without reading. I also prefer to read in a reclined position, if I do get in some lines by daylight. But I need a couch, blanket, or towel to lie or lean on.

The lovelist moment is to read with our cats, as long as they aren't scratching their faces or noses on my book, or putting a nose on my hand. Conan always read with me but I have been missing him for 3 years. Spirit took over as Momma's reading cat, then suddenly died of stomach cancer 2 months ago. Now McCartney is always with me reading, which is wonderful, because he did not hang out in our bedroom so much before. He has an office chair and rocking chairs he loves, so having him read with me is comforting. It is like each cat knows we miss what those before us, used to do.

"Odd" sounds interesting to me and probably the right impression of this book! Thank you for starting us off, Shirin! If it looks like no one is typing anything, I might feel tempted to finish the novel I am reading but please don't hesitate. I have felt this year that I would rather everyone else set the tone first, otherwise I am concerned that you will only reply to my observations. I want to see new ones that I would not think of, or your angle on the ones we share. :)

Yes, we are blessed to be among wildlife as well as a safe place for our domestic family cats. We are also grateful by our answered prayers, for nearby neighbours and dogs to be quiet. Then, you hear the birds really sing. It is no longer cold. The snow has recently all melted and then it will rain tomorrow or the next few days. Thank goodness: you do not want a drought in a forest! However, at the end of this week, it will snow again.

I am unsurprised because I was born in Manitoba and Canada. I am not superstitious but have you noticed that some proverbs are reliably true? Here, for the month of March, it is said: "In like a lion, out like a lamb. In like a lamb, out like a lion". Therefore, when our weather started warm last month, I knew cold and snow would arrive later.

Picture a land where the ground is dry, except in a few low spots, and where the grass is all revealed again, except it is yellow and brown. There are new birds and the winter ones have returned to the north (we were their south holiday). But there are no insects yet, except awakened houseflies suntanning on the warm walls in the daylight. You hear only the breeze, distant highway traffic, and the birds. I love observing and enjoying our slowly changing seasons.

I am on standard central time and it is now the morning of April 7th in my country, too. However, unless I am busy with cleaning and a little cooking I'd like to do today and catching-up on writing book reviews, I might make a little more progress with "Written In Stone". I usually don't juggle-read and my official reading time is before sleep, as I shared. :)

A nice thing about wintertime is that the early sunset lets you sneak into bed early without looking lazy. Too often, I fall asleep too soon to cover the pages I had planned. There is little TV for Ron & I in the spring and summer. Right now, "The Voice" is on Mondays and "The Curse Of Oak Island" Sundays. I guess networks did our book collections a favour, when they ended "The Big Bang Theory", "Modern Family", and "Schitt's Creek". However, there should be a new "Star Trek Picard" or "Star Trek Discovery" later this year!

Yes, Ron & I love our wildlife. With some below 0 C temperatures forecast at the end of this week and snow, I am glad he bought two more bags of oats from a feed store in the city. The winter birds seem to have left, light the gloriously , pretty pine grosbeaks, dear red poles, and adorable pine siskins.

One pine grosbeak sweetheart who got killed striking our window, is going to be laid to rest with Spirit, as well as a junko for the same reason. Usually a window kills or not right away. I attended to the junko for 4 hours, thinking he needed to recuperate and felt sad when he died. They both have a highly honoured place to go!

The junkos and black birds who are here now are long season birds, arriving earlier than those who will herald summer. They can handle snow on the ground and eating dry, left over seeds on plants but we pamper them with good meals.

Ladies, feel free to lead Robert Louis Stevenson conversations. I offer the reassurance that we should use chapter headings and write what comes to mind, without reservation. If we are behind and don't want chapters spoiled, we won't read ahead. In this way, no one withholds great conversations and personal reactions. I look forward to sharing this classic discovery with two friends who are going into it with no knowledge, like I am !

Hi ladies! It is nice to hear from each of you in our corners of our world! Out of curiousity, what are your reading habits? I read almost entirely in bed. By day, I write reviews and catch up on e-mails or business on computer.

Off computer, I am cleaning the house and next month, will be attending to our yard as well. I have been home based since we moved to the country but always have a huge list of things to do. My goal is to write and my city "make do" temp jobs were not worth travelling for. Of course I spend time with and take care of our cats by day. Then other seasonal wildlife by day or evening.

Ron feeds the white-tailed deer oats in the evening. If he will be late, I do. He refills our main "T-bar area" birdfeeders at night. When black bear season returns in about a month, he will keep the birdfeeders in our workshop overnight (the small end of the "library" building). He will set them out before work. They are at the west, well lit front of our house by our driveway.

About 3 years ago, I added a plastic picnic table my parents gave me when they moved. A place to feed birds on our house's east side, gives us the pleasure of seeing birds from our room and kitchen windows. Ron doesn't have time for the darker east before work, so I sprinkle food there later. Wild turkies have returned, who partake of both sides.

I started "Written In Stone" by Ellery Adams while giving you both a chance to respond. I am lucky enough to converse with her at Goodreads occasionally and have wanted to return to her writers' club series. Her main character is special for being a gorgeous heroine at 40. We don't see that enough. She is also wealthy, which is fun to watch. We see too many characters struggling. Olivia Limoge's black standard poodle dog is so sweet, even I love "Captain Haviland".

How about we work at what we are reading today and tonight and start our buddy reading on April 7, in each of our countries? I looked-up that Scottish book of yours, Shirin; a new one that looks good. Kerri, you sure are on a Neil Gaiman kick. I might treat myself to more of Olivia's & Haviland's story by day if I can. Whether I am finished it or not, I look forward to turning to "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" with you both tomorrow! Your friend, Carolyn.

Shirin, Kerri, and every interested friend: I am keen to read this Scottish classic horror / science fiction novel the evening that I have heard both of you are ready. It is short and I want to be in synch on making observations, as much as possible, while our reading is in progress. If we should finish it in a day or night, so be it but let that be the sole reason for not writing mid-book notes.

Let's share as many impressions as we can, each morning or evening at the computer. I read at night and write updates in the morning. We only have one chance as our first time, to react and make guesses about how this story will go.

I am so due to read this masterpiece that informed a world of references and analogies, I am even unsure of what its genre, or combined genre is. It is time to join the millions of generations of fans and scholars and know for ourselves, isn't it! Warmly, Carolyn.

In Canada, our regions are called "provinces". For example, my province is Manitoba and its capital city is Winnipeg. Ah, I have never been to Yukon Territory or the Northwest Territories (two exceptions to "provinces"). So, we have diamonds there and one of the largest! That is wonderful! I will look up Diavik mine.

I saw photographs of your world's largest water cave! Oh my gosh, it is beautiful! It might surpass Carlsbad Caverns in Arizona, in splendour and size. I also noticed a place where Iran has two 5th Century inscriptions and another nice cave near that! I guess if a place is cold like our north, or politically complicated like your land, it is no wonder such precious natural wonders are preserved from excess tourists. It is nice that they are kept pristine but I would like to visit all of them.

All the mining was before I was born and before my parents met. Yes, Mom is a great person and Mother. I use preset-tense because after all, she is still my Mom and she still exists; simply in a way I cannot see. The same of course, applies to our precious Spirit, Love, Thumbelina, Grandparents, and all cats and people we love.

I hope you caught message #16, added separately from our other talk. On the nature note, here is a review I shared this year, about the reactive and healing sentience of water. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

To reply to our overall world and Ian Rankin conversation: yes, I guess grade 9 makes me 14 years-old. But we who are multilingual find it natural to add male or female pronouns to words and are used tothe way grammar and vocabulary works. It is easier and easier to learn subsequent languages. After a very good start in grades 9, 10, and 12, Spanish became my university major.

I love that you are a geology PhD and could talk to you all day about that. I have always loved rocks and stones and even now, pick up pretty ones. Manitoba is well-known in the nickel industry and Saskatchewan and Alberta for the oil industry. I did not know we had diamonds somewhere else! Where?

We are the largest country in the world after Russia, so it makes sense that we our widely varying terrain would yield a great range of geology worth exploring. My Dad working in a mine for a short while and some of his older relatives. My other Grandfather was an inspector of mines in Ontario, when my Mom was a child! I wish she and he were here to talk with you about it too. They loved meeting my friends over their lifetimes, Shirin. I always told my Mom about my friends by internet too.

We have a small house with no spare room but you would be welcome here somehow, or renting a place nearby. I won't travel with McCartney turning 21 in two months. But someday, there are world wonders and other delights that I want to see, even in Canada: like Nova Scotia (again), Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon Territory.

Manitoba herself, has irregularities. I discussed with Leeanne and Kerri last year for "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth", that we have a "relict population". I refer to it in my review about Carberry, Manitoba here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dearest Shirin & Kerri, if you see this: I am glad you have Robert Louis Stevensen's e-pub and that we are ready to read one of his classic tales! Please allow me to finish "Morality For Beautiful Girls" tonight or tomrrow and see how Kerri is doing with her reading selection. I prefer not to juggle-read but it seems that you two are the queens of it. :) When I think of all of the decades comparisons and analogies have been drawing using Jeckyll & Hyde; I am humbled by what a classic story it is and glad I will finally be in on knowing it.

It is great to know more about your language culture, Shirin. Yes, Canada as dual official languages and most people with a keen mind understand a fair bit of both, like you do in Turkish. For those who want to speak and read it more, or fluently, there are classes and of course whole "French Immersion" school systems like mine.

In this system, not only do you conduct all classes in French right down to gym class but even walking in the hallways and on school grounds, it is considered rude to speak to your teachers in English instead of French. You got in trouble for speaking English instead of French to other kids on school grounds. We became fluent quickly because we were put into a French-speaking world.

In grade 9, I began studying Spanish and continued it at university. Romance languages are easy once you know one. I excelled at this language too and my greatest reward, was one time using it in Mexico with Ron. It was many years after high school and university but it came back to me, like French does. :) I just haven't had as long or profound a background as I do in French, to know as many Spanish vocabulary words and expressions but I can speak and read it.

Yes, I know your capital is Tehran. You make a good point, that millennia of history might make your rules of society outdated and dysfunctional. Especially in today's world where the internet lets you befriend and work with people with different traditions. Please know that you are understood and respected. We too, benefit from seeing how other people live. :)

I have not heard of Hamesdan and will look it up. Alisadr Cave sounds amazing. I must visit Carlsbad Cavern in the United States (I reviewed a great book about it late this winter). Seeing the majestic geography of New Zealand and Australia (not to mention Kerri!) are great dreams of mine too. I have been to a cave in South Dakota, USA, some cravasses in Georgian Bay, Ontario, and caves around England. One of them included a boat ride. :)

Do you know what, Shirin? It was not Edinborogh but I have seen a little bit of Scotland! That was a great dream to come true for me. So I love reading books set there with you and I can picture the accent of John and the characters when they speak. Kerri & I are happy to read "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" as soon as you have a copy, then I won't wait long to dive into "Hide And Seek" afterwards!

Yes, I was waiting for and mesmerized by Anne meeting her parents as best that she could and standing in her own rooms! It sailed everything right back up to 4 stars for me! I am a big fan of those ancestry and adoption reunion shows. Both of them, meeting parents and gaining personal history, give me a happy cry that feels good! It is the only crying I like to do from a book or movie.

My grade was unaffected by personages needlessly added to the novel whom we did not need to meet, including Diana's Dad's bitchy Aunt. None of us found we cared about them, or that woman who spent a whole chapter urging a mare to hurry up. Who can respect a 40 year-old couple who doesn't so much as admit interest in one another, nor have the balls to seek someone else, all because they think it is more honourable in life to keep a stupid promise?

Any Mother would have respected a sit down conversation from that son, saying: "Mom, I believe in keeping my word to you but there is no good reason to not court someone I love". I do loathe books and films that make people so dumb, as to only think there is an A or B option: keep the promise or not. No, tell her the promise is screwed up and that you will not make it! At the time you thought she was dying but how many decades does it take, to grasp that she is still living? So dumb, I couldn't respect that couple but neither did I care. It was just a few short chapters to see Anne teaching somewhere else.

"Anne Of Avonlea" would have had 5 stars without the frequent bird-killing, outrageous repetition of using everything but the word "lunch" for the noon meal, and all that stupidity about Dory being mean and Anne unable to borrow a plate safely from Diana's Aunt Joephine. I am really sorry she died and wanted to see more of her.

However, when I pondered a 3-star rating for each of those books after a few annoying parts, I realized that we love Anne, the characters, the whole setting, and writing style too much for that. It is ahead of most books to which I give a 3-star rating, do you know what I mean? So it was 4 stars for "Anne Of Avonlea" and since no cat actually died, except hypothetical kittens, which was pushing it as it was; it had to be 4 stars for "Anne Of The Island" too. I think it had to have 4 stars at least but Anne honouring her parents made me certain. There was no more wavering.

I think the rest of the books are going to be beautiful. Lucy found a way to keep Anne and Gilbert young and unmarried, while at the same time settling the question that they will pair up eventually. I am happy we are past the days in society where you are expected to be pretty much engaged before you can date.

I imagine courting might still have clear rules in countries like our dear Sirin's. I am not up to date on the new shaw of Iran but the last I heart, women were not permitted in public with men, unless they were her relative. So I guess under laws like that, you can't do too much testing or experimenting. You have to be sure of someone from conversations and I guess, chaperoned dating.

For Anne in 1915, it meant constantly proposals from people she hardly new, or expectations of a proposal from anyone she dated. She was lucky to go out with her university beau unattached, for as long as she did.

If I may be so bold in our multigenerational discussion: I take issue with an opposite problem. Because North American, Oceania, and some European society is so free about courting whomever we like; I hate fighting off the expectation of leaping into bed with anyone! When I was just getting to know some one and even long after we dated; I did not believe in adding sex to the relationship unless we were comitted in some way. It is too important and sacred to give that away, in my opinion.

I hate the idea that if I were out dating again, I would have to come out and say that I do not believe a kiss leads to clothes flying, like in every soap opera and movie that you see! I truly like a clean sort of date up until the 1970s, where you just enjoy getting to know each other and even holding hands or a kiss is a big deal to look forward to, later. I just want to watch that movie, go to that restaurant, etc without something as intimate as sexuality mixing into something so casual.

My personal rule is that it is off limits until we reach the "I love you" stage. At least if you got pregnant or an illness, you are with someone you love. You never doubt wonder if you got engaged for a baby. So there we are: our world jumps into bed too easily, Anne's world married too casually. I love that happy medium. And as Kerri wrote: great relationships are worth waiting for! :-)

Shirin, I understand recognizing some words spoken and written. We linguists who know more than one language have a special understanding about communication, have you noticed? Most people in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Quebec especially and in Canada generally, understand the basic French that we see and hear. It is the law to include both official languages on every product that enters our country at on signs at every government place: cereal boxes, milk cartons, shampoo....

Is that how you understand Turkish: because it is everywhere in your region, or is it because it resembles Farsi / Persian?

My brothers & I went to school in the "French immersion" system that was new in 1981. You are completely "immersed" into the language. Teachers will only speak to you in French in all classes (except English or Spanish class) and on school grounds, except to help you if you are stuck in your first year. I was in grade 4 when I started, my youngers brothers started at the beginning. We are all fluent and my Mom knew French well too. My Dad understands basic German.

Thank you for clearing up a point for me about the book. It is good to know John Rebus likely invited his brother and girlfriend to find out whatever they could, in his memory.

Have you seen many caves, crevasses, tunnels as a geologist or on personal trips? I am amazed when I think of old archaeological sites and artifacts of the Middle East. I love both geology and archaeology. You understand, I don't live in a place where things are more than a few hundred years old but on your turf, history spans thousands of years.

That is great, Shirin! One clarification: I do not have "The Mysterious Island" and do not e-read. I look forward to it sometime in the future. I will only have it, if I shop for physical books.

Shirin, do you not speak Turkish? I am counting every language. The in-laws of the friend I used to have spoke Farsi and Turkish. You do very well in English.

Yes, I love the way everybody has a part in solving cases in Ian's books but we stick with John's point of view most of the time.

I love caves, crevasses, and tunnels! I must find out what we might have around Manitoba and look forward to going to the ones in Moosejaw. I read a children's mystery based on them, called "Tunnels Of Time", which gave us a lot of detail.

When the world is safe for North American women, I would love to see Middle Eastern places. They have such old places and history, they would be a marvel to see. Although not Edinborough, I have been a few places in Scotland briefly and absolutely loved it. If we had not been at a wedding in England, we would have chosen more time in Scotland.

I believe John knew what his past was but did not want to discuss it. I don't like that his girlfriend deliberately found out his secrets through hypnosis, even though it was to save people and solve crimes. I believe John failed to think there was a connection with his past, even though he remembered what it was; just like he didn't think the anonymous notes connected to the crimes he was investigating. If hypnosis prompted anything, it was more detail.

Saying that using a books words was cheating makes me think of something funny. I used to think it gave me "a leg up" (an expression that means an advantage), that I went to French school but used English resources for school papers, reports, and projects. There was no way I had to be concerned about plagiary because I always had to translate my resources into French. I could transpose my resources directly! :)