I'm pretty sure thatbooksmell was referencing "The Kite Runner."

postet av DevourerOfBooks kl. 2:17 pm (EST) den Sep 3, 2008

I should caution you that it's a translation--an excellent one, in my opinion--from the Italian. Sartarelli's translation absolutely keeps the rhythm of the way Italian is spoken, which may seem jarring to American eyes upon reading.

There's lots to appreciate about the book. Every time i read one, I have this immediate, terrible desire to move instantly to Sicily if only for the food!

Don't miss the notes in the back.

Enjoy!!

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 11:27 am (EST) den Aug 25, 2008

I do remember the "8-5" life although mine were slightly different--earlier--hours, and that's how I got into the habit of getting up at 4:30--had to catch the 5:30 am ferry to the mainland.

The 55" was the most Ricardo recorded in 16 years. The past few years have been "wetter" but that seems to vary pretty wildly. I'm not sure how valid the average is here, since there's such variation, but August. September, and October are our wettest months--30" are not uncommon. I used to live in western Washington where we had a lot of rain. We certainly have more here, but the warm weather makes up for it. As for wind chill--I lived in nebraska for many years, in Lincoln and Omaha, andIi know EXACTLY what wind chill is, although not quite that low! I prefer rain! :-)

I've put Sweetsmoke on my to Buy Wish list. It really sounds good. I'm almost finished rereading the Montalbano series--on the last one before the latest right now, which I probably will finish up today or tomorrow at the latest. Then Paper Moon. I have two or three books hanging-- I doubt I'll finish them up before the end of the month, so there's my September "haul".

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 7:19 am (EST) den Aug 25, 2008

Well, the truth of the matter is that I do get up at 4:30 nearly every morning! either it gets too hot (dry season) or too rainy ("winter") to work outside in the afternoon. I try to get all that I can done in the morning hours, hopefully before 11. so, up early, which has been my habit for almost 20 years, anyway. I like the pre-dawn quiet time, and I love to walk with the dogs when dawn breaks.

However, I do demand that the animals give me until at least that time. recently, Rickie, our brash nearly 2 yr old cat, started howling between 3 and 3:30--little monster wanted to eat. He howled three nights in a row. And for three nights in a row, he was unceremoniously dumped outside in the lavenderia area in a dog crate! He hasn't howled at those hours now for well over a week.

Our literary tastes seems to run pretty close, so I'm going to be very interested in what you think of Fingersmith as you go along. Who knows, you probably will get to the Egan book before I will, so that, too!

Fred's skin condition is improving rapidly. It was a particularly nasty form of dermatitis that got a real hold because at first, with good reason, the vet thought it was a case of mange. We treated that for 2 weeks. Nada. So by the time we got around to the dermatitis, it was pretty advanced. But his fur is growing in well. He still has ugly bare blotches on his sides in particular, but his rump and belly area are doing much better. He's through with his prednasone shots; we're still giving him skin and fur booster supplements. He "only" needs 2 baths a week now!

From now through October, we really get the rain! it's the height of the rainy season. It's starts drying out in November. Just in case you're curious, I've put up a page on my blog with 16 years' worth of rainfall data for this area. One year, there was one month where over 55 inches of rain fell! This country is not for those who have a tendency to dissolve in water.

Right now, yard maintenance is the big issue, and will be through December. The grass grows practically as you watch. We have an excellent gardener who comes in twice a week, and Darío is managing to keep the wild-eyed vegetation under control. I've given up on any veggie gardening--too many things were happening and I had no time. Which means that the sweet potatoes have run rampant, and just about everything else, except a type of pepper, has died off from too much rain or being choked by grasses or killed off by blight or whatever. since I'm so busy now, I'm going to wait until the dry season starts, in December. but between Darío and myself, we got up a sort of potting shelter, and he built me two wonderful work tables. I just finished putting on the 3rd coat of varnish last week, and have started to use them. The wood is beautiful, and he sanded them down as if they were going to be dining room tables! the wood just glows. I have photos up on one post but even the photos don't do the tables justice. if you go to the recent post Fruits of the Season, you'll see glimpses of the tables--I put the saucer with the fruits down on top of them.

So I'm ready for December--just need to take a gardening breathing space.

How's your utterly lovely garden coming along? I have not received any notice of recent posts.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 9:15 am (EST) den Aug 24, 2008

Also, The Worst Hard Time. That's been on my TBR shelf for entirely too long. I read Egan's column, when he writes one, in the NY Times, and like him very much. The book itself has had excellent reviews.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 5:33 am (EST) den Aug 24, 2008

Tracy, I simply can't remember if i was one of your reviews or your thread--or even if it was you who praised the series by Sarah Waters. I noticed this morning that you've acquired Fingersmith. Please do let me know your impressions as you go along.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 5:31 am (EST) den Aug 24, 2008

Hi, Tracy--Oh never worry abut Fred--he gets as many hugs and pets as he can handle! :-)

It's a little early to tell whether the treatment is really working, but we think that he's no worse, anyway--or else it's wishful thinking.

Because I snagged the ER copy of he sequel, I've been rereading Katherine Neville's The Eight. I read it shortly after it came out 20 years ago--all I remembered was that it was a good read! so, am having fun with that.

busy, busy here but have finally settled on a schedule that is working well for me.

CAN'T WAIT until Dance of Dragons is out!!!!! How does your husband like the series so far?

Hugs and belly rubs for Brix!

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 7:36 pm (EST) den Aug 7, 2008

I know it has been awhile, but I wanted to thank you for giving me instructions on posting book images and links on my profile. I only today had time to attempt it. It took me a few tries, but I think it got it right finally (it looks right, anyway :). Thanks so much!

Beth

postet av emaestra kl. 1:51 pm (EST) den Aug 7, 2008

Hi, Tracy,

blogging is ok but real life is better. I was away from the blogosphere for a week--just started posting again and have not read any blogs except one post on the Honduran blog I like to follow. it's been pretty hair-raising around here, mostly playing vet tech. Today, after taking Fred back into the vet because his "mange" wasn't really getting any better, the vet decided what I had pretty much already figured out, thanks to reading on the Internet--Fred has a weak immune system that makes him susceptible to skin diseases. He's now being treated for s severe kind of dermatitis. i would say about 1/4 of his fur is gone, and more comes out by the day. He got a couple of shots today, and in two weeks, goes back for more, a treatment that will last until this damnable dermatitis is gone. We have him on immune system boosters, a frequent bath schedule with a special shampoo. a couple of weeks ago we were bathing him every other day with it. The reek from this skin disease is fearsome. Seborrheic dermatitis smells to me like rancid bacon--this is something else and far more offensive.

so, it's been busy here. yes, I've been reading, all right! did i tell you that I've restarted the Martin series? I'm on the second one right now.

I've pretty much pulled out of the main threads--too many people. I'm following about a half dozen Challenge threads right now, yours included. keeps me in plenty of good book ideas! :-)

Keep in touch and let me know how your summer is going!

Belly rub to Brix.

by the way, I just got "A Dog Among Diplomats'. i'll let you know how it is. loved the first in the series.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 6:09 pm (EST) den Aug 5, 2008

Thanks for adding me to your interesting libraries list! It looks like we share some reading interests ... and a love of dogs!

Laura

postet av lindsacl kl. 8:09 am (EST) den Aug 4, 2008

Hi Tracy, Just finished A Feast for Crows. I was stunned to read that last bit that said A Dance for Dragons will be about the other characters we missed - and I will have to wait until the book AFTER that to find out if That Thing (avoiding spoilers) really happened to Brienne! Argh....!

I agree with the comments that the series is like a high-class soap opera, but I didn't feel any lag in quality in Feast for Crows from the others.

postet av ChocolateMuse kl. 11:35 pm (EST) den Jul 28, 2008

Hi, Tracy,
Let me know, please, how the dog tricks book turns out. could be something that Fred would love to do.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 6:41 pm (EST) den Jul 23, 2008

I'm hoping to hold off until September, because I know perfectly well what will happen--I'll throw all other reading to the winds and just tear through the books. So I have to try and scrounge up some self-discipline from somewhere!

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 1:25 pm (EST) den Jul 6, 2008

it's terrible, Tracy, but I am getting the itch, stronger every day, to reread the 4 books in A Song of Fire and Ice. I'm backed up to the sea in TBR books but I swear I will not be able to hold off too much longer. Just a few months more til A Dance of Dragons! And I want to be ready.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 9:17 am (EST) den Jul 4, 2008

You made a comment somewhere, and, curious, I clicked on your profile. Totally unrelated the comment, how do you put the cover image on your profile? I'm not totally tech-illiterate, but I'm still finding my way.

Thanks, Beth

postet av emaestra kl. 10:34 am (EST) den Jul 3, 2008

Tracy! Tracy! a [Dance of Dragons] is coming out September 30th!!! I just pre-ordered it.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 8:41 am (EST) den Jun 30, 2008

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for dropping in to my profile! I'm not a big fantasy reader either - apart from Pratchett and the Wheel of Time series - that's about where I stop. There are an awful lot of George Martin spoilers floating around LT - there might even be some on your profile page, I'm carefully closing my eyes to your other comments just in case ;p I know there's something about Tyrion that's going to surprise me, but I've been quick enough to avoid the spoilers so far... hoping I can keep it up!

Here's to 'A dance with dragons' when it finally comes out! :)

postet av ChocolateMuse kl. 2:09 am (EST) den Jun 30, 2008

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for adding me to your "Interesting Libraries" list. Your dog is adorable and I look forward to looking at your library too.

Rebecca

postet av rebeccanyc kl. 1:04 pm (EST) den Jun 10, 2008

Hi Tracy,
thank you for considering my library worthy of notice.
I see Willa Cather among your favourite authors. I love her too!
I will enjoy taking a look at your library.
Happy reading!

Paola :-))

postet av aluvalibri kl. 5:53 pm (EST) den Jun 9, 2008

I do read a lot of classics, foreign fiction in translation, multicultural novels, etc. Plus all those lovely Persephones and Viragos. Hope you find some good suggestions in my library.

There's a group read about to start on What Are You Reading? It's for Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Thought you might be interested.

Yes, the painting is of Ophelia. It's by John William Waterhouse, one of the pre-Raphaelites.

postet av Cariola kl. 5:33 pm (EST) den Jun 9, 2008

Hi, Tracy. Thanks for adding my library to your list of interesting one. It looks like we share a lot of classic novels.

~Deborah

postet av Cariola kl. 3:03 pm (EST) den Jun 9, 2008

A belated thank you for your comments on my screen name. As you surmised, I loved the Betsy-Tacy books when I was growing up, too. Not only did I love the stories, but there weren't too many literary characters (other than cows and cars) that shared my name. I was never a big fan of Carolyn Haywood's Betsy books, but Betsy Ray and her friends were right up my alley. Some day I'd like to visit the Maud Hart Lovelace sites in Mankato.

postet av betsytacy kl. 11:55 am (EST) den May 26, 2008

I've never heard of that kind of stone, but it certainly is beautiful. Mine are just volcanic rocks that we've removed from the ground here. But they do make decorative fences (functional, too), and they are serving quite well in my raised beds.

This afternoon for lunch we had our first mixed salad, with Italiensicher lettuce leaves that we harvested for the first time. It was wonderful to have lettuce again. The taste is not so good as it was in WA, but the texture was crisp and it was such a treat. I put the inferior taste down to inferior soil. I'm improving it all the time, but there's such a long, long way to go. Just ordered a roll of cyclone fencing to make compost bins. Once I get those going, I should see a distinct improvement in everything.

I really should be posting this to your garden blog!

postet av Joycepa kl. 3:01 pm (EST) den May 15, 2008

Hi, Tracy,

I'm moving Water For Elephants up so that I'll probably start it some time this weekend. I'm STILL working my way through the Richard Sharpe books--in the middle of one and have one more to go (that I possess). They're just too good to stop now and read something else.

Hugs for that cutie, Brix!

Joyce

Oh by the way, I think that your "borders" on your veggie beds are just beautiful. What are they made of? Mine are stone.

postet av Joycepa kl. 1:28 pm (EST) den May 15, 2008

OK, Tracy, hang on to your hat--here goes a wild guess as to the other two dragon riders: Jon. What do we know about his mother? Nothing. I'm formally on record with this wild guess.

I'm going to read Water for Elephants soon, after I finish off one or two books that have been hanging fire for entirely too long.

As for blogging: who has time? I've managed two back-to-back posts but only because they were all texts and I was fired up at the time to write about inflation here and a great many idiot Americans who come here. I sweaqr some of them need a 10 page booklet and a set of detailed maps just to cross the street! I'd much rather write about bougainvillea, gardens of two Panamanian friends--and write a lot about one, which is just spectacular--Ricardo and Maritza have done a stunning interplanting that I'm dying to document. I also want to get more of my videos up--but who has time?

Oh well. When the rains really start, it'll be somewhat easier, although I'll be weed eating at least 4 days a week and it would be better if it were more. You simply can not imagine how fast things grow here. But other things such as planting and some projects that I've started will go on hold.

I want to read your other gardening posts. I just loved that picture of the willows--so beautiful, so peaceful.

If you start Water for Elephants before I do, please let me know what Brix thinks of it. :-)

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 4:13 pm (EST) den May 6, 2008

And are you planning on reading Water for Elephants soon? i notice that that's in your up next list.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 3:03 pm (EST) den May 6, 2008

The problem I faced with the cast of characters is that by book 4, so much had happened and there were so many, I lost track of what they had done maybe in book 2. Or even 3. I wound up just shrugging my shoulders and moving on.

I'm absolutely fascinated by the way he has set up Danaerys. And I'm sure we both think that Cercei's Maggy the Frog prophecy is not about Margaery but Danaerys. And how about Cercei's little predicament? As usual, Martin has left us hanging-- what Jaime is really going to do?

Really, it's a high-class soap opera! ;-)

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 3:01 pm (EST) den May 6, 2008

Hi, Tracy,

Your comment reached me about 10 minutes before I was going to send you one, telling you that I had just finished A Feast For Crows! How's that for serendipity!? :-)

Again, I agree with you, totally. A journey book is a great way to describe it. The twists and turns continue, but clearly he's setting up for the Big Confrontation. I, too, wasn't quite so taken with it, and I thought his longer chapters didn't move the story in quite such an interesting way, but it was still excellent. I deiced to concentrate on it and finish it so that I could get back to "real life" reading!

Terrific series, though. A Dance of Dragons is coming out at the end of this year, right? I'll have to check with Amazon and see if I can pre-order.

Hugs to Brix.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 1:48 pm (EST) den May 6, 2008

By the way, say "Hi" to Brix for me! :-)

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 12:50 pm (EST) den May 1, 2008

Hi, Tracy!

I'm about half-way through Book 3, A Storm of Swords, and all I can say is ditto to every comment or observation you've made so far. the books are obsessive, no question, but certainly Book 3 could have been shaped up a little better. At one point it dawned on me that the whole thing was like a very high-class literary soap opera! I couldn't agree more about too many cliff-hanger chapters.

The writing, though, continues to be excellent, and although I'n starting to have a few quibbles about how the story is going, fact is, given the length, I can't remember when I've been this interested in a series since the Harry Potter books.

I've slowed down, too, although with me it's a lack of time to read. I have been frantically busy for about 10 days, and that will just continue for at least a few weeks longer. Means that I'm reading mostly at night. I'm doing a lot of heavy physical labor and I'm really wiped out at night, and this series is just too good--deserves more--than to have me fall asleep and not remember what I read during the last half hour! Plus I have other books I'd like to finish; then I won't start anymore until I'm done with a Feast of Crows.

I'd love to hear whatever further thoughts you have about A Feast of Crows as you work your way through it.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 12:30 pm (EST) den May 1, 2008

Hi, Tracy,

I've said it on the thread and then remembered that you don't automatically read it, so I'll say it again--this series is terrific. and I agree with you totally in the sense that it's just "tinged' with fantasy--i like that description--and more Arthurian--but with the difference that there is a reality to the brutality of war that the Arthurian legends never addressed. I also red, before I bought the books, that [A Feast of Crows] is not as good as the first three, but as I remarked on the thread, I think that happens frequently when the author is writing an installment that is meant to be a transition to the end. I really feel that way about JK Rowling and HP6--loved the book but it was clear what she was doing and there really wasn't the intensity of the others until the end. I know that there's at least one more book in the Song of Fire and Ice series, to be published in December, if I remember correctly.

Meantime, I'm totally caught up in the story line.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 7:42 am (EST) den Apr 27, 2008

And Brix is a doll! I'm sure Fred would love to meet up and play with him.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 10:20 am (EST) den Apr 24, 2008

Hi, Tracy!

I received the Song of Fire and Ice series yesterday, and absolutely couldn't wait--I started A Game of Thrones immediately, last night. I used to be a big fantasy reader many, many years ago and then just drifted off. I've read a few recently, and have LeGuin's latest on my TBR, but these books looked so enticing...! I also was startled by the size of them--you just don't see that in fantasy, usually.

As for LOTR--I call down curses on my grey head when I remark to Tolkien fanatics that I think the movies overall were better than the books at least because peter jackson and his co-script writers have a sense of humor and it's clear Tolkien did not! And parts of that series are just plain boring, period. Interestingly, jackson and company thought so, too, because they got cut or abbreviated in the movies.

Enough about LOTR which I still like.

I'm only about 50 pages, if that, into the Game of Thrones, and it's clear Martin is setting the stage. The writing is very, very good, and I'm enjoying the book very much so far.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 10:18 am (EST) den Apr 24, 2008

I jumped over to your profile after reading your review of a book I got and entered today (Two Gardeners, about White and Lawrence). I just wanted to let you know that I think your dog looks adorable!

postet av christiguc kl. 3:41 pm (EST) den Feb 28, 2008

Hi Tracy-

Just stumbled upon your library and you have a nice selection! I love that you have your recently read book covers on your profile page. Did you use LT's widget for that or another way? I know I could add them to a site like Flickr and grab the html code for here, but I like that yours link to the LT page, not Flickr or photobucket.

Happy Reading! Annie

postet av blissfulwitch kl. 5:31 pm (EST) den Feb 27, 2008

Hello and welcome to 40 Something Library Thingers!

postet av MDLady kl. 12:59 pm (EST) den Jan 7, 2008

The secret Santa books arrived today! I probably wasn't supposed to, but I opened the box. (Since I'm travelling on Christmas day, I'd need to open it a little early anyway.) You made some great picks! I've been wanting to read both of these books for a while. You did a great job inferring my tastes from my library!

postet av BrianDewey kl. 10:58 pm (EST) den Dec 19, 2007