No maps either. :( I had my 'historical atlas of the medieval world' beside me, opened to 'the spread of the world's religions' map, which was useful even though it was 600 years too late. I also pulled out my Timetables of History, but since it's in 50-year increments, it wasn't as helpful. Sigh.

Next up is Andy Weir's The Martian.

I just finished Grace Draven's fantasy/romance Master of Crows, which I devoured in two sittings. I am definitely a fan, and I've now read all three of her novels and one novella. Master of Crows reminded me a bit of Emily Croy Barker's The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic (though Barker's book is definitely the better one, IMHO). It just fell into that sweet spot of strong female characters / magical realms & romance that I enjoy. ECB has a sequel -- possibly two -- coming to Thinking Woman's Guide and I so wish she would write faster!

Donnamira, I was completely impressed with The Martian -- I will be curious to know what you think of it. A movie is already in the works.

My copy of The Seven Daughters of Eve just arrived, so that might be next. Frieda, good to know his stance on Neanderthal genes at the time the book was written. I still have not found a recent book on Otzi. I'll make due with Iceman by Brenda Fowler for the moment.

Both my Father and Aunt suffered from Alzheimers. I saw the Daily Show interview with Julienne Moore promoting Still Alice, and though the movie looks excellent and I think she's a wonderful actress, neither my husband nor I have any desire to see it or read the book. Some heartbreaking stories hit too close to home. My mother is in her 90's and still quite sharp, so I'm hoping I take after her.

I've been reading the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I find it very funny that she talks to things, like thanking them for their service, or telling them they've done a good job and it's time for a rest (in the closet). And, I think someone is lying when she talks about folding laundry and states, "But, once they finish my course, all of them (her clients), without exception, have told me, 'Folding is fun!'" This is not to say she doesn't have an interesting approach and useful tips, but I kind of feel it's the diet book of home maintenance. Instead of saying "And you won't even miss eating brownies and pizza", she claims you'll always put your things away and enjoy folding laundry.

I usually do my folding and ironing while glancing at a television program! Often something like Judge Judy, where you can listen as there isn't a lot of action to follow...

I hate folding my fitted sheets now that we have a new(ish) mattress that is quite deep. I simply cannot get them to go quietly into a good night. My next mattress will be of normal thickness and not have a pillow top that now has body dents in it. The warranty says the present one is not replaceable unless the indentations are two inches deep! Sounds like something one could get lost in.

I'm re-reading Written in Bone by Simon Beckett (which I do not remember at all) that the library sent me instead of the ILL I requested by him. Guess I'll have a little chat with them when I take it back.

Folding is fun?! (rolling my eyes). It is not a burden for me, but I wouldn't call it fun. And laundry is the least of my problems. It is the never ending papers, mail, and professional journals.

Picked up at the library Very California, Travels in the Golden State. It is an illustrated travel journal by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler. She and her husband are driving from northern California to the Mexican border, along the coast. The illustrations are whimsical.

Carolyn, if I need to store a fitted sheet, I roll it up and stuff it into the pillow case from that sheet set.
I have had to order the latest Diva mystery by Krista Davis as my library system hasn't! They have been great fun and I love reading the tips by Natasha and Sophie. I noticed that they disagree about the best time to water plants. I prefer to water mine in the early summer evenings before the mosquitoes make an appearance.

I use one set of sheets until they wear out - wash and put them back on the bed. I haven't folded a sheet in months. :)

I haven't started The Martian yet - based on what I've heard from others, I figured I should plan to start it when it won't matter if I stay up all night to finish it. Meanwhile, I'm rereading an old favorite: one of the Esmay Suiza stories from E. Moon.

I learned how to fold a fitted sheet one slow Sunday AM using youtube. I've posted one that's similar to the one I used (but mine was an Aussie person). Takes practice, and I've not turned into Martha Stewart, at least I know how to make my sheets fit into the cupboard. (Plus - I must admit it's v satisfying to get a good fold at the end. Perhaps that shows how empty my life is. :-) )How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

Like Donnamira, I wash my sheets, one light set in Summer and a heavier set in Winter, and am able to put them back on the bed after line drying for a couple of hours usually.
When I had to store a set off-season, I tried folding the fitted one in a manner that I read about. I got too frustrated, so rolled it up and flattened the roll then put it in the pillow case. Works for me!

I have been absent for ages-sorry but health issues got in the way.

I have read several good library books lately, most recently Twelve Days the latest by Alex Berenson in his series about John /wells, I also read Escape by Baldacci in the John Puller series.

On my kindle I have continued reading J.A. Jance in her Det. Beaumont series and grab them when I see a price drop, there are lots of good reads in that series.

Pat

Welcome back, Pat. I hope you are doing well now. I always enjoy your recommendations for thrillers/mysteries. David Baldacci spoke at our library a couple of months ago. He is a wonderful speaker and very funny at times. He told about the extensive research he has done for the John Puller series, including some scary experiences at a military base.

Having just binge-watched Bosch on Amazon Prime, I'm giving up on saving my last two Michael Connelly books and am ready to start reading. I get them as soon as they are released and generally finish reading one in a couple of days and then have to wait and wait for the next. This time I managed to wait before reading. I thought Bosch (the TV series) was very well done and Titus Welliver, despite my initial misgivings, is just about perfect as Bosch.

Oh, Lemon, I know HOW to fold the sheets; it's just much more difficult since the sides are so much deeper in order to fit the newer mattresses. Part of the problem is that I'm very short! That woman in the demo has a definite advantage over me. If I hold them up in front of me, they drag the floor.

I have the new Charles Todd prequel ready to start tonight.

Carolyn, you have more patience than I have with fitted sheets. I have a deep mattress too but I also have a Home Help and she puts them on the bed and pulls them over the corners. That was my difficulty.
I don't like the top sheet tucked and let it hang loose. The sheets I bought before I got this mattress are not really wide enough to tuck anyway.

I realised that I am behind with the Hamish Macbeth series so am reading "Death of a Policeman" before requesting the new one "Death of a Liar".
I know that they are lightweight but too hot here for heavy reading and I have been recovering from shingles which is a very depressing virus.

Lemonhead,

Thanks for the "How to Fold a Fitted Sheet" link. I watched twice and will put into practice tomorrow, when I'll do laundry again.

Ann,

Sorry to hear about the shingles. A friend had it last month and she was miserable. Hope your recovery is speedier.

Sherwood,

Good to see you posting again!

I am currently reading Malicious Intent by Kathryn Fox which I got as a freebie for the kindle. Sometimes we get really pleasant surprises with these freebies and this is one, I plan to read more by her. She writes about Dr Anya Crichton in Oz-I am guessing those of you that live in OZ are familiar with her books?

Worrying that the RP 'purists' might take offence at time spent here discussing sheets I checked to see if there were any books on the topic.
Plenty about sheet-music, metal sheeting, spread sheets and so on but few pertaining to those articles that are used on beds.
'In Between the Sheets' by Ian McEwan, is a collection of short stories.
'Three Sheets to the Wind' by Pete Brown concerns drink!
'Wash-Away Applique Sheets' . . . I've no idea what that title means. ;-(

As for my sheet-folding I either rope-in DH or younger son; much quicker with two people.
I see no-one from the US mentions ironing. Has this become a lost art?
I find it a soothing occupation and have the radio on to keep me company. I no longer bother with sheets but 'flatten' T shirts and DH's better shirts. I know folk locally who iron underpants, sweaters and socks, which I consider a step too far.

Ann, shingles is an absolute 'bummer'. John had it/them down the side of his face a while ago and the nerves still pain him,
BTW the NHS now offers injections to stop a recurrence, at various 'older' ages. I think they starts when someone reaches 70.

Hi Pat; good to see you back!

Several things! I can't believe how many great books are listed here; I can barely list them all, much less read them! I'm still plugging away at Sayer's "Whose Body?"

Onto the sheet issue! Growing up on the Illinois/Iowa border, my mom always used the method of washing the sheets and putting them right back on (as stated above), thus evading the need to properly fold them. When I married a man from the South, however, his mother was appalled that I didn't know the first thing about folding sheets and set to work instructing me. I was very annoyed at the time, but now I'm actually grateful. My husband died suddenly after a heart attack at age 32, but I went on to marry again, this time to a man from Liverpool, England. And here's where Vee's comment (above) about ironing comes into play. Imagine my disappointment that I once again did not live up to the mother-in-laws expectations! Not only was I now supposed the fold the sheets correctly, but IRON them as well! However, I was not such a young chicken as I was the first time around, and immediately tossed that advice out the window. I was flabbergasted to discover that what seems the whole of the British Isles has some sort of ironing obsession. EVERYTHING gets ironed there...sheets....towels...dish towels...pajama's...underwear (really? Underwear?). A friend of mine is married to a Portugese man, and she reports that his family is the same way. Is it a European thing? This, I'm pretty sure, is some type of obsessive-compulsive behavior. I iron my kid's school uniforms and nice clothes and send my husband's business shirts and pants to the cleaners, but I really must draw the line at under garments. I'm pretty sure that if your hubby or other intimate partner judges you on the wrinkled state of your underwear as you hop into bed, you might want to reconsider the relationship! ;) Just a thought! I've brought this up to my mother-in-law (who actually is a very sweet woman), and she says it's just a habit. Hmmmm. Maybe....

We ironed my brothers' underwear tee shirts at home because my mother had a wringer washer and they came through it so wrinkled, but with the advent of dryers I certainly have never ironed one since leaving home. I also don't iron sheets except the embroidered top hem on one pretty one, but I do iron the pillow cases so that they are nice and smooth. I don't mind ironing except the newer slacks and shorts that have some stretch fabric in them. I can iron more wrinkles in than out of them, and the wrinkles are the dickens to get out. Vee, I can remember my little sister and me holding sheet and quilt corners and walking toward each other to fold them neatly long before fitted sheets came along.

Reading away on A Fine Summer's Day, the new Charles Todd prequel to his WWI series featuring Ian Rutledge.

I'm reading LITTLE CLEMENTINA , a delightful story.

Ironing......I actually like it !

It makes me feel like I am putting everything in order:0)

My mother used to iron underwear and that is where I draw the line,,,,at the drawers ! I also love to hang sheets out to dry in the sunshine HOWEVER the last time I snuggled down into bed I discovered that some spiders hitched a ride in the linens.

I am wondering if the ironing done in the UK and elsewhere in Europe has to do with the climate. It was the final stage of drying. Although before the coming of the steam iron we damped things, so that might knock out my theory!
I rarely iron and my daughter never had one. We tend to line dry in the hot sun and fold clothes away and put sheets on the bed as they come off the line. Such a lovely change after the fuss I remember when I lived with my grandmother.
She used to put sheets and the tablecloth under my granddad's chair cushion to help flatten them before she ironed on the kitchen table. A nice larger area than an ironing board. She was scared of electricity so used flat irons heated on a gas ring!
Vee, do we still have purists? I haven't heard from any for a long while!

Ann, my Mother always used to iron on the kitchen table.
As you say I think our weather plays a part in the washing/drying habit. There are probably less than half-a-dozen days in the year that sheets can be hung out on the line to dry completely. Ironing becomes part of the drying process . . .to be followed by lots of 'airing' in the linen/airing cupboard, still a feature of every UK home.
I think the idea of electric dryers, either as part of the washing machine or separate has only come into general use with the the younger generation. A s-in-law, who's husband recently upped sticks and left to find a 'newer model' has wisely filled her large house with 'lodgers', yet provides nowhere for them to dry their laundry, except the line in the garden. She expects them to hang sheets, towels, clothes etc on the radiators in their bedrooms. The same radiators that are only 'on' in the evening and early morning. She is unable to see that 'saving electricity' is a false economy when she is left with a cold, damp house for several hours during the day

Pat, glad to see you are back.

Re shingles: we in the US can get a vaccine against this if we are of a "certain age."

I've just finished "Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand" by James Crisp. It's a sort of historical detective work, with the author delving into research far and wide in order to divorce myths of the Wild West from realities. Not dry or dull at all.

As for sheets, in the deep South, when I was growing up, sheets had a higher thread count with no added synthetics. It was considered proper to iron them. I ironed everything else but never underwear nor sheets nor towels, in my day. Now, I only iron if the item is linen. I used to find ironing restful, but only if I could listen to music. Now, not so much.

I've inherited an antique table made by my grandfather that came to me through my mother's family. It is lovely wood, but my mother explained to me that the black marks on it are from when my grandmother used it to iron on, when they lived at the NC farm.

Yay! I finally finished A Thousand Miles up the Nile by Amelia Edwards. It was a slow read but very interesting. As I mentioned in my original post about this book, Elizabeth Peters loosely based her Amelia Peabody character on Amelia Edwards. AP definitely took on her own persona right from the get go but I was amused to see that her reis and dahabeeyah kept the same names as those of AE's boat and reis.

Now I have three nonfiction books waiting for me as well as two fiction (all library books). One is the Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle that set them Free by Hector Tobar. I also have Saxons, Vikings, and Celts by Bryan Sykes and Lone Survivors by Chris Stringer waiting to be read. These should keep me busy for the next several days...or weeks.

Sherwood, I haven't read any of Kathryn Fox's books but will check them out. I think the only Aussie mystery writer I have read is Kerry Greenwood. Have you read any of her books? Her Phyrne Fisher series has been made into a TV series and is excellent. It is on DVD.

I have met and had a two long conversations with Kathryn Fox and she is a really nice person. However, I'm not so keen on her books. I'm not sure why, maybe I should give her another go.

I see that Kathryn Fox writes about a forensic pathologist. I like "cosy mysteries" so not my genre!

I haven't heard of Kerry Greenwood, but plan to look her up.

I was so surprised when I went to Amazon yesterday to ck the price of Fox's 2nd book in that series to see that Malicious Intent was now over $10.. & I got it free a few days earlier. I have found that you really have to stay on top of Amazon's prices daily to find the deals and they don't last long!

I am reading The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and am absolutely loving it. A.J. is a not very successful bookstore owner on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts whose wife has died and left him trying to drink himself to death. One of the blurbs on the back cover says, " . . . an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read and why we love."

Carolyn,

That book--The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry-- is on my "for later" list, but at this moment there are at the library 101 holds on 31 copies. I'll have to wait a while to read it.

wow! must be good!

Michelle, it's wonderful. I finished it last night. Talk about a book leaving you with nothing else to read! It's short, sweet, and simple but full of good stuff.

You finished that book fast! Glad to hear it is a good book, it will be worth the wait.

The long wait has to do with the book (got good reviews, it was featured in "Great Reads from Indie Next List") and also the high use of our library system.

Thanks again for the recommendation! I'll add it to my list. I'm about to start "The Invention of Wings" for a new book club I just joined. I've always run from book clubs, so wish me luck!

woodnymph, I also dislike this new format. Too bright and the font lacks boldness or thickness or it is too small or SOMETHING. But after a few weeks WITHOUT RP, I would prefer to deal with this format than not have RP at all.

As far as reading goes:

Chef by Jaspreet Singh was painful. And believe it or not, there were those in my book club who gushed, absolutely GUSHED over this book. I found that the characters seemed to run away from the author and go their own ways. The author would try to round them up and get them to behave, but there were just too many for him to handle. Insipid. Not recommended.

Next, I read Lillian on Life by Alison Jean Lester. What fun. A delightful and light yet somewhat philosophical look backward on the main character's life as she reviews life and loves and family and choices and observations. A very quick read, funny, witty, fresh. Reading it was like that first open window on a lovely spring day.

Now reading The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. Non-fiction. Baltimore. Two boys are born a few blocks from each other... both named Wes Moore. Similar socio-economic backgrounds.. one ends up a Rhoads scholar and respected journalist. The other is serving a life sentence for murder. A fascinating look on how peer pressure and the choices we make can impact our lives forever. Very readable. I hesitate to say "enjoyable" because these kids have rough lives that did not seem to hold much sunshine. But I am riveted.

PAM

MichelleCox,

best of luck with your new book club. I have been in the same one for 12 years now. Sometimes hate hate hate the books, but always love the other members so it is a highlight of my month. Hope you find the same happiness.

PAM

I finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, and thought it was OK, although there weren't any really likeable characters in it.

I also finished Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. This is about a woman with dementia who remembers a mystery from her past as she tries to deal with a mystery in her present. I enjoyed it while reading it but found the ending less than satisfactory, and sometimes that is the most important part of a mystery book.

I finished the book about the Chilean miners trapped underground and then went on to read Saxons, Vikings and Celts. I thought both were interesting but since I had finished the book about the seven daughters of Eve as well as Svante Paabo's book on the Neanderthals, I think I need a break from genetics and am ready to look for something different for my next read.

Pam, thanks for your advice and sharing regarding your book club. I've never wanted to be in one because I didn't want to be forced to read something I don't want to read, but I have more reading time now than I used to (I suddenly realized one day that my youngest of three kids is nine now - time to do more things for me!), so I guess I can afford to suffer through some horrible picks. And you're right, I'm mostly doing it for the women in the group. They've been asking me to join for a long time now, and I've finally conceded. One thing I really like about this forum (a sort-of book club) is that everyone is so very honest about what they're reading - whether it got great "professional" reviews or not. Sometimes people on Goodreads seems to be overly gushing about every single book they read. Is that really possible? Anyway, thanks everyone!

Yes, I think Goodreads can be a little overwhelming. It's easy to get lost and waste a lot of time that could be spent reading, or otherwise!...

Thought I would give my assessment of Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers. I thought this was well written - clever, witty prose, though some of the British, aristocratic slang of the time period was lost on me. It's not really my style of book, however, as it is a straight-up mystery. A murder, lots of clues, a motive, the suspects, the solution. While Lord Peter and his butler, Bunter, are likable characters in their own way, they are very two-dimensional, serving only to drive the plot forward. It's just my personal preference to like mysteries which are as much about the characters as the mystery. Several people have told me that this series gets better as it progresses, so I might give the second one a try.

I'd skip Clouds of Witness then, and go straight to Strong Poison, which introduces Harriet Vane.

Thanks for that! I will.

I just finished "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd, my first "book club" book. This is not my usual pick, so I went into it without a lot of expectation. Surprisingly, however, I liked it. I thought it was well written, the tale of two women bound by the society they live in - one the daughter of a plantation owner, the other, of course, a slave. I wanted to keep reading and enjoyed the story, but I have to say that I don't generally like books in which not a lot of good things happen. Call me an escapist! I suppose the ending could be considered a happy one...sort of, but is the pay off after all the suffering of the whole book worth it? For me, no, but then, that's just the type of reader I am...! Onto "Crocodile on the Sandbank," by Elizabeth Peters.

Is anyone still there?

Michelle, to stop threads dragging on and on we start a new one listing and commenting on what we have read each month, so look for the one with April in the title.

Thanks, Vee! I'll look for it!

hello everyone!

https://wordpress.com/page/90626581/19

is an attempt at online writing my very first novel while taking into account your comments and suggestions. The process is ongoing so make yourselves heard :). Share thestoryofmaya and make it yours. Plots unfortunately won't change because that's the whole fun in a book :). However, I will appreciate a lot any feedback on the story line or characters. So let's dig into reading and writing!!! Start with the Prologue and continue with Chapter 1- Part 1. Every day a continuation will be posted so be on the look out for that and let me know if thestoryofmaya has caught your eye or still has a loooong way to go (I hope not:))

All the best,

Maria

Not the purpose of this forum!