Elisabeth’s Comments (group member since Apr 23, 2022)

Elisabeth’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Phew. The three books I had planned to start round 5 fit the letters as does another one I need for a different challenge.

Sophie wrote: "Latest news today is they don’t know how long it will take, but at least 10 days. The water is ok for washing from midday but needs boiling before drinking or cooking with it. I’m hoping for normal..."

What on earth happened to create such a mess?

Wow what a great book case!

We’ll have to get another copy of it. I want to read it now!

That Murakami book on Ozawa looks good. My husband is a big Murakami fan and said he had it once and thinks he loaned it to my Dad. Dad died a couple of years ago but he had a tendency to lend books he liked to random people regardless of who actually owned them hahaha. Usually me.

Great!

Yodelling. I was expecting that in my German book with the polka.

Do we have to find one more book for instrument on cover ? If so I can defer my last planned for this round and find something where I’ve found all my other music books—on my husband’s packed shelves in our music studio. Satchmo: my life in New Orleans has a trumpet on the cover so that could move if there’s another musician book around. I’ll finish that tomorrow.

Melindam wrote: "Also, Cat's travel story is taking shape ... in some mad, Hitchcock/Birds-like -style. 😉

Working on the text of the story some more (will be ready by tomorrow, I think). In the meantime, here's a ..."

Haha. Good one !

I found Satchmo: my life in New Orleans and added it to the spreadsheet.

It's a short book, too, but I guess it's best to finish the mini and I doubt I'd finish a long one in time what with my other planned books.

It was at Covent Garden. Mr Mummery ( on the left) looks much the same as he did when I knew him 40 years later😀

https://youtu.be/w-lSn9CsFsA?si=UsKeG...

Finished Nellie Melba. I quite enjoyed it. In 1926 she gave a series of farewell concerts in Australia and performed La Boheme with a young tenor called Browning Mummery. The recording was done electrically rather the old scratchy wax way and was re mastered and put on CD. It’s on You Tube and is very clear. The voices are great and she sounds wonderful even though she was at the end of career and quite ill before she died in 1931.

Browning Mummery lived next door to us back in the 60’s. I’ve never heard a good recording of him before. He and his wife lived with their son and family. He was a lovely man. His wife and my mum used to play piano duets together as they were both very good pianists.

Yours looks as though it would be good. How disappointing.

Mine is made worse by the comparison with the New Orleans one Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White which was written by a talented writer about his own experiences. I am Melba is written by a historian. And it's only about 330 pages but printed normally is probably more like 500! hahaha

My goodness, I am Melba is a sloooow read. It's interesting with a lot of stuff I didn't know about her but dense and the reviews say it gets slower in the last third. Yikes. I'm about a third into it and will finish in time. I have to intersperse it with lighter books eg Our Man In Havana which is funny.

Handel is one of my favourite composers. He wrote such good melodies.

Btw Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White was a 5 star read for me. It's a beautifully written memoir by a now author/ journalist who grew up In NO in the 60's and 70's and played clarinet with the old black musicians --the mens-- of Preservation Hall and the street and funeral marching bands. He learnt from them and was accepted into their ranks for his ability and eagerness to learn. Also was exposed to the racism and prejudice they lived with all their lives.

Sorry, I've had to remove Nutshell from instrument in text because I took the reference to a violin from one of the reviews but it was actually referring to another book. I've moved it to genre for Literary Fiction.

Hahaha Singers and musicians. Usually defined that way by instrumental players.

I have which has a tiny sax and trumpet on the cover. A reread but that’s fine. 🙂

No, I finished it. Polka was on p505.

Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White is really about the jazz men of the Preservation Hall bands who the author learned from and played with as a teenager in the late 50’s and 60’s— his (other) fathers. It might be better in the musicians section. Harder to find than a book set in a city, I’d think.

I just came across defenestrate in my book . Never mind. It also has accordion, piano, spiritual and according to Mel, polka which I haven’t found yet. The page number of the search doesn’t match my paperback copy.