rosalita ROOTs around again in 2024 - Chapter 1

My name’s Julia, and I have too many books. Well, that’s not really possible but it’s fair to say I have too many books I haven’t read yet. I’ve participated in the ROOTs group for three years, and have met my goal of 48 ROOTs each year. I’m going to aim for that same target this year, just 4 per month. Under-promise and over-deliver is the hope for 2024!

I work at my alma mater, the University of Iowa, so my thread topper features seasonal images from the campus, often of the Old Capitol building at the center of campus.

That’s enough of the blather — on to the books!

Keeping Score

ROOTs


Total books read


Acquisitions

ROOTed in 2024
January through March

January
1. The Mystery of the Nervous Lion by Nick West.
2. Flowers, War and Rebellion: Flashbacks From the 1960s by Geoffrey Giuliano.

KEY: Italics = non-ROOTs. Bold = Favorite book of the month.

Added to the shelf in 2024
January through June

January
1. The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver. ($1.99 ebook/Kobo)




KEY: ✔︎ indicates books that I have read, either this year or previously.

Glad you're back!

>5 cyderry: Thanks, Chèli! And I've just realized I put 2023 in the title of my thread — is that something you can fix as the group admin?

Hey Julia, I actually think a person can have too many books because I'm running out of space. Not that that could ever happen to you. Best of luck with this year's ROOTing.

>7 Familyhistorian: Happy New Year, Meg! It won't happen to me ONLY because I have largely shifted to buying ebooks, which take up no physical space. Otherwise, I'd have to sleep outside! :-)

Happy new year, Julia!

Happy New Year, Julia. I'm glad to see you back -- in 2023 again. :)

Hi Julia, glad to see you back for another year of ROOTing. Go get them! And Happy New Year.

Hi Julia! Thanks for linking from your 2023 thread. I'll be watching your reading with interest!

Hooray, Julia's back! :D

Thanks for finding me despite my title woes, Katie, Beth, Connie, Laura and Jackie! Let's hope that's not a harbinger for how this year is going to unwind.

I enjoy seeing how other people solve Wordle, so I'll try posting mine here as well, at least for a while. Today:

Wordle 927 4/6
⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, PAINT, AMINO AGING

WordleBot
Skill 90/99
Luck 60/99

Morning, Julia!

I got skunked today on the Wordle. And it was one of those times when Try #3, 4, & 5 had 4 green tiles. Fantastic start to the year. Yoicks. I always have trouble when a letter is repeated. Like a dummy.

>15 scaifea: There are certain letter patterns (and this is one of them) that have far too many possibilities to make getting it in 6 or less a sure thing. I have the same repeated letters blind spot, which nearly led me to go with AXING instead of AGING. Thankfully, I followed my mantra to trust my first instinct and not second-guess myself.

>16 rosalita: That's very true about the too many possibilities. Plus, my brain tends to go for the more obscure words first, for some reason? *rolls eyes*

You're making me go through 2023 again!? - NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

>18 lyzard: Well, first you have to go back and read the last reviews I posted on my last (actual) 2023 thread. THEN I'll change the thread title to 2024 here so we don't all go through some sort of time warp. :-D

>19 rosalita:

I did that before I came here! - so please please take away that trigger...!! :D

>20 lyzard: I've messaged the group admin, so hopefully we will get a resolution (not THAT kind) soon!

Welcome back, Julia! I'm going to be typing 2023 for at least three months, so I didn't notice ;) Have a great year, whatever it happens to be!

>22 rabbitprincess: Thanks RP!

Morning, Julia!

Continuing the public domain discussion, look at this:

https://people.com/mickey-mouse-unveiled-as-masked-killer-in-trailer-for-new-hor...

Yoicks.

>24 scaifea: Yoicks, indeed! How long before Pooh and Mickey face off in a duel to the death? I do not like this new reality (not the expiration of copyright, to be clear; that's long overdue. But the ways that people are deliberately sullying childhood innocence gives me the icks.)

Wordle 928 3/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, SPORT, TWIRL

WordleBot
Skill 92/99
Luck 60/99
According to my frenemy WordleBot, only two words were possible after my second guess: THIRD and the winning word. That surprised me.

>25 rosalita: It's pretty disturbing, isn't it. I think Pooh bothers me more than MM, though; Steamboat Willie was already a little creepy, I think.

I'd watch a steel cage match between Pooh and Mickey. Pooh's got the strength, but Mickey's more agile. It would be epic.

Morning, Julia!

Daily* Link

What Can We Look Forward to in 2024? Books, always books. — This is not a list of upcoming book releases. Indeed, it's so much more, a lovely meditation by Michael Dirda about books that have had special meaning for him over the years.

As 2023 winds down and 2024 prepares to rush in, people quietly reveal their true natures: Some of us look back on the year past, while others look forward to the year to come. My own sensibility has always been retrospective, but I fall into an even deeper “auld lang syne” mood whenever the present starts to seem overwhelming. There have been times — many, many times — in 2023 when my job, writing about books, has struck me as meaningless and irrelevant.

* I doubt I'll find an article or story to share every day, but I'll try to limit myself to just one per day.

>29 rosalita: - Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

>30 katiekrug: You're welcome!

Well, this was highly satisfying.

Wordle 929 2/6
🟨⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, SCANT

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 99/99

Hi Julia, good luck on your ROOTing this year. I've started to acknowledge that book buying and book reading might actually be two different hobbies, so don't worry about what others are saying! Hehe. :)

>32 rosalita: I had the same result today! My starting word was STARE.

>33 handshakes: Yes! Two completely unrelated hobbies. I like the way you think. :-)

>34 curioussquared: Oh, that's a good starter word, too! I try to use the same word every day and I think overall it works in my favor but I might just be deluding myself.

>35 rosalita: I'm the same :) I used TRAIN until it was an answer one day (I screamed; my husband was concerned) and then switched to my current starter.

>29 rosalita: Very nice, Julia. I do like Dirda, and the illustration is striking.

>36 curioussquared: I thought about changing mine after it was the answer a while back (I may also have let out a yelp) but so far it's continuing to serve me pretty well. I do miss the thrill of typing in your starter word and wondering if you'll get a hole-in-one, though. :-D

>37 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. The illustration really captures the mood of the writing, doesn't it?

I like the "Daily Link" idea, Julia, even if it doesn't happen on a daily basis!

Happy New Year and Happy ROOTing, Julia!

>39 lauralkeet: Oh, good! I like seeing the interesting links other people find, so I hope I can do the same.

>40 MissWatson: Thanks, Birgit!

There was a loooooong pause between Turns 2 and 3 today.

Wordle 930 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, SNIDE, LUNGE

WordleBot
Skill 96/99
Luck 59/99

Hey, I finished a book!



1. The Mystery of the Nervous Lion by Nick West.

The Three Investigators — intrepid California teens Jupiter, Pete and Bob — get a tip from Alfred Hitchcock to investigate a situation at his friend's wildlife park, where his formerly tame lion George is exhibiting unusual levels of nervousness that make using him in a movie shooting at the location a little dicey. The mystery involves multiple sets of bad guys, smuggled diamonds, a Rwandan gorilla and a snarling panther in addition to lion George, and a business setup that would last about 30 seconds in today's litigious society. Apparently in 1971, you could charge people money to come and wander around on foot with a bunch of wild animals not contained in cages because they are "tame"? Sheesh. I tagged the main perp pretty quickly but that's hardly the point of these books. This wasn't the best of the series but it wasn't bad.

Side note: Even those these books were written by Americans and set in California, my ebook is clearly a British edition, judging by the copious mentions of "lorries". A bit jarring but I got used to it eventually.

Huge thanks to Kristi for correcting my thread title to the year we are actually living in. I know no one wanted to go through 2023 again!

Link of the Day


(Photo by Rachel Wisniewski)

How Many Books Did You Read in 2023? See How You Stack Up! — Your occasional reminder that the people on LibraryThing are a special breed. (via Washington Post — link should work even for non-subscribers)

"Of 1,500 Americans surveyed, a less-than-ideal 46 percent finished zero books last year and 5 percent read just one. ... Reading five books put you in the top 33 percent, while reading 10 books put you in the top 21 percent. Those of us who read more than 50 books are the true one-percenters: people who read more books than 99 percent of their fellow Americans.

>45 rosalita: On the one hand I'm glad to know so many people in that top 1%, and on the other hand I really wish more people would read more books...it could only improve things overall.

>45 rosalita: Wow - that's pretty dismal. In Canada (my home country) it's a similar number; in France (I checked because it's my other country), it's a little lower at 30% who read between 0 and 4 books in 2023.

I can't believe there are people that read zero books.

>46 laytonwoman3rd: I agree, Linda. I wish everyone got the same feeling out of reading that we do!

>47 Cecilturtle: It is striking to me that the numbers are similar across the world; as an American it's nice not to be the (negative) outlier for a change.

>48 connie53: I know what you mean, Connie.

>45 rosalita: Interesting article and nice to know that I'm in the rarefied 1% but I kind of had that suspicion anyway. I remember the presenter in one of my writing groups advising us to read more which is what she said she did because she read about 20 books a year. I didn't roll my eyes because it was on Zoom.

>50 Familyhistorian: Meg, I find myself muting my sound on Zoom meetings so I can turn slightly away from the camera and say out loud the things you can't say to a person's face. It's very therapeutic!

>51 rosalita: Good plan Julia, I'm usually on mute but turning away as well so no one asked if you wanted to say something would be better!

>52 Familyhistorian: Yes, once I forgot to turn away and three people chorused, "You're on mute!" because they assumed I was trying to participate in the conversation. I learned my lesson!

>45 rosalita:

Well, that makes me feel a little better about my disappointing 100. :)

>54 lyzard: I remember when I used to read in triple digits ... sigh.

On another topic, how many Three Investigators books am I still behind?

>55 rosalita:

You're one behind me in reading, but one ahead of me in reviewing. :D

>56 lyzard: So it's a wash, then? :-P

>45 rosalita: We are one percenters! Great article. I can believe there are people who don't read a book a year, not people I want to spend time with, but...

>58 BLBera: When I was a journalist I was always shocked at how many reporters and editors did not read books. They read the newspaper (or at least the parts they had a hand in) but reading for pleasure was a foreign concept to them. I never understood it, and I still don't.

That is surprising to me, Julia.

Happy 2024, Julia!

It's shocking and sad how many people never pick up a book. I mean, how do they entertain themselves or learn about stuff or about how other people live. I don't know what I'd do without my books. I'm so glad that I grew up in a family of readers, raised a reader, and found this wonderful community of one-percenters!

Like everyone here, I am always surprised by reading statistics like the ones in that article. I've come to expect that most people I meet IRL are not the sort of avid readers that all of us are, but I tend to assume they still enjoy reading. Sigh.

Hi Julia! Happy New Year and happy first ROOTs thread of 2024.

>1 rosalita: I think I’m in the same boat book-wise, possibly having too many. That means culling more. I really need to get rid of most of my mass market paperbacks.

>29 rosalita: I have a sweet little book by Dirda called Caring For Your Books that I acquired from the Book-of-the-Month Club in 1990. Of course I haven’t read it…

There have been times — many, many times — in 2023 when my job, writing about books, has struck me as meaningless and irrelevant. I can relate and hope your 2024 activities are more meaningful and relevant. Way too much change for me last year and potential change for me this year, but I find solace in keeping track of what I read and writing reviews, mostly Lightning Round reviews.

>42 rosalita: I changed my starting word recently after Peggy posted the link to a NY Times article about what good starting words are and dissed the one I’d been using forever. My new word is really working out well.

>46 laytonwoman3rd: It only takes 50 books to make us top 1%ers? My oh my. Sadness.

>62 lauralkeet: I’ve only got a few friends who have bookshelves with books on them instead of stuff… Kindle and Library have deprived me of figuring out things about people.

I'm going to create a ROOT thread soon, because I'll finish a ROOT today. It's not much, but I count every book.

>60 BLBera: Me, too.

>61 Copperskye: Hi, Joanne! There have been times in my life when I have read more and times when I have read less, but I've never not read books. I have a hard time picturing what people do with all that extra time. :-)

>62 lauralkeet: Exactly, Laura. I have a good friend who doesn't finish a lot of books in a year, but she always has a book in progress. And she also reads the Walt Longmire series so it's a joy to talk about those with her (she's almost finished with the latest).

>63 karenmarie: Good to see you, Karen! I got my current starter word for Wordle from an article in the early NYT days and it has served me well, even though the NYT moved on to a different recommendation. I will keep an eye out for your ROOTs thread.

All right! I'm caught up here. A bit of a jolt to come over to check in this group and find your thread already with 61 messages! All fun to scroll through, of course, so it's all good, but now I'm caught up. Cheers and happy reading!

>65 rocketjk: Good to see you, Jerry! Take heart — I can't keep up this pace all year. Maybe not even all month!

Not my best effort, especially on Turn 3. What was I thinking with that word?!

Wordle 931 4/6

🟩⬜🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, CAUSE, CADGE, CABLE

WordleBot
Skill 74/99
Luck 61/99

People who don't know us well, who come into our home, ALWAYS comment on the number of books they see (and usually, being tradesmen or such, they don't see a fraction of what's really here). But I try to temper my wonderment about people who don't read much (not those who never read anything), because there were years when my husband, who is also a former English major and enjoys reading, read only around 10 books a year. He has always had multiple interests, and during his work life often spent his evenings listening to classical music, building intricate models, listening to shortwave radio, etc., when I would be reading (and a lot of people would be watching TV). He read a while before turning out the light, but just didn't spend nearly as much time at it as I did then. He's greatly increased his reading in the last few years, but still comes nowhere near 50 books annually.

>68 laytonwoman3rd: My husband is the same way, Linda. He reads much more during the winter than summer, with bedtime reading year-round. He's happy to read just a few pages a day, and take weeks to finish a book. But he's still very much a reader. You make a good point about "tempering your wonderment."

>68 laytonwoman3rd: For me, it's less about the number of books and more the reading itself that has the real value. Sinking into a book-length story is magical.

>69 lauralkeet: We cross-posted, Laura, but my response to Linda also applies here.

2. Flowers, War and Rebellion: Flashbacks From the 1960s by Geoffrey Giuliano.

My first non-ROOT is a weird one. This is an audio biography of Janis Joplin which is produced in a format that makes me think it was originally a radio production or something similar. For one thing, it's only ~1 hour long. It is narrated by Kris Kristofferson (and why he is featured in the cover image instead of Janis Joplin is another mystery) and includes lots of audio excerpts of interviews with people who knew Joplin to tell the story of her life from her childhood in Port Arthur, Texas, to her death from a heroin overdose just as her fame was peaking in 1970. I learned a lot of details of Joplin's life that I didn't know but I can't say I feel like I know the full story. And I don't think there were any (or not many) clips of her actual music, which would have livened things up.

There are others in this series of whatever this is, and I'll probably sample at least one more at some point.

Currently Reading
(as of January 6)

  

I went on a little buying spree at the end of last year, picking up three used books about various topics in country music. Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville is first up.

That one's a hardcover ex-library book, so I'm also reading an ebook when I want to give my wrists and eyes a break. Right now that's The Devil's Steps, the 10th entry in Arthur Upfield's Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte mystery series, in tandem with Liz.

Wordle 932 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, SHOUT, STONY

WordleBot
Skill 94/99
Luck 69/99

Trying something new ... I always enjoy folks' reports of how their day went. I'd like to do something similar, but the problem is ... I don't do anything interesting. :-) but I do track my media consumption, so I can at least post that.

Yesterday's Media Report
What I’m Listening To
• Don Quixote, Carefree Highway Revisited podcast, Ep17
• How a Whistleblower Changed the Course of History, On the Media podcast, Ep1.5.24
• Rolling Out Vision Pro (and giving thanks), Six Colors podcast, Ep1.5.24
• Carly Simon, No Secrets
• Waylon Jennings, Honky Town Heroes
What I’m reading
• Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville, Michael Streissguth
• The Devil's Steps, Arthur Upfield
What I’m watching
• Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, NFL football (Fox)
• Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers, NFL football (CBS)

Wordle 933 3/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, ANVIL, FINAL

WordleBot
Skill 83/99
Luck 74/99

Morning, Julia!

I love your Media Report! And I don't let my uneventful life stop me from reporting my day, so...

I was going to say the same thing Amber did about my uneventful life :)

I like seeing your varied media consumption!

>76 scaifea: >77 katiekrug: You both do all sorts of different things throughout the day! My report would be copy-and-paste every day. :-)

>78 rosalita: Huh. I do? It really feels like the same old same old to me... Am I more exciting than I think?! Clearly I need to pop some popcorn and have a good look at my life. Or maybe just eat some popcorn.

>79 scaifea: You're always working a different schedule, attending various Charlie-centric school events, sharing funny stories about your library patrons or the pups, making delicious food, etc. Trust me, your life is a whirlwind of variety compared to mine!

>80 rosalita: You make it sound so glamorous! Ha! Well, I love visiting here because you always have such cool article links and such interesting things to say about your reading.

>81 scaifea: Aw, shucks! I love having you visit.

Link of the Day



Where to Start With: Wilkie Collins — Well, this was a well-timed article, and I don't just mean that it was published today, on Wilkie Collins' 200th birthday (random trivia: Also born on January 8? Elvis Presley. Why do I know that?!)

It's also well-timed because one of my nebulous reading not-a-goals is to finally read something from this author. I have The Woman in White on my e-reader, but maybe I should grab The Moonstone to begin? Although the article does say if you can only read one, it should be TWiW. If you've read any Collins and have advice to give, please do!

Bonus: The article is written by author Elly Griffiths, a favorite of mine and I know many others around here.

I love your media report, Julia. Good idea.

I'm pretty sure I read The Moonstone, but I have little memory of it...

>82 rosalita: Aw shucks right back atcha!

>83 rosalita: Hm. I've read both and although I enjoyed The Woman in White, I much prefer The Moonstone.

>83 rosalita: well, I like them both and have read them both several times but if I have to choose it's The Woman in White

>84 BLBera: Thanks, Beth.

>85 scaifea: Well, at least neither of them was terrible, Amber.

>86 CDVicarage: So good to see you here, Kerry! I think I missed starring your 75er thread, so I'll go do that now. I'm leaning toward starting with TWiW just because it's what I have on hand, but I definitely want to read The Moonstone as well.

You do you on the daily post, Julia. I like your media report! You also find interesting links to share with us. It's all good!

>83 rosalita: I've read them both, and enjoyed both, but I think I'll give a nod to The Woman in White. Also there is a fantastic BBC mini-series from 2018.

I tried to read TWiW when I was a teenager and couldn't get on with it. I should give it another try.

I saw at the bottom of the article that Griffiths has a new novel coming out at the end of this month. I looked it up and it sounds good!

I find your thread interesting too, with or without a daily report! I suppose everybody's life is interesting to someone else, in my case though as I work in health care I can't really talk about it because of confidentiality etc. And much of the rest of it isn't that interesting, unless you're fascinated by failed attempts at decluttering and the angst associated with it!

>90 katiekrug: I've already pre-ordered the new Elly Griffiths. :-) It's got the same cast of characters from The Postscript Murders, which I really enjoyed.

Edited to add: It comes out the end of this month in the UK but won't be published here until April.

>89 kac522: Thanks for the tip about the BBC miniseries, Kathy. I'll have to see if I can access that here.

>91 Jackie_K: I do enjoy reading about your book-buying adventures, Jackie, so there's that, at least! I bought my first one of 2024 today (listed in >4 rosalita:) and of course I have three other books on pre-order that will be published between now and April. Just trying to keep up with you. :-)

>92 rosalita: - OIC! I thought it was a standalone. I still haven't gotten to any of Griffiths stuff beyond the Ruth Galloway series...

>94 katiekrug: It's sorta kinda part of a series featuring DI Harbinder Kaur, but Griffiths says it's not a series and Kaur didn't have a big presence in The Postscript Murders so maybe that's why? But the good news about the new one, The Last Word, not being out until April here is that you have time to read The Postscript Murders first. :-)

I really don't think you need to read the others in the not-a-series but Postscript would introduce you to the characters and the setup. I liked all the books, though, so if you get on with these you may want to circle back to the other two eventually.

>93 rosalita: Haha, you're not even close! I bought a book (via Bookbub) today, which is my 7th of the year. I'd better get my reading skates on, because I'm vaguely thinking I should try and read 2 more than I acquire each month in order to start lowering Mt TBR a bit.

>95 rosalita: - I have The Stranger Diaries on my Kindle, so I'll probably start with that one.

>96 Jackie_K: I should try and read 2 more than I acquire each month

Wait, does that mean for every acquisition you have to read 3 ROOTs?! Oof. Good luck with that, sister!

>97 katiekrug: The book you already have is the best book to start with, for sure!

>95 rosalita: There's also Bleeding Heart Yard, which is the third book featuring Harbinder Kaur, following on from The Stranger Diaries and The Postscript Murders.

>100 CDVicarage: Yep, I didn't mention it because it doesn't have the same cast of characters as Stranger Diaries and Postscript Murders. I didn't want to pressure Katie into thinking she had to read all three before reading the new one if she didn't want to. As I said to her, though, they are all good and recommended by me!

>89 kac522: I just happened across the mini-series of The Woman in White when I was browsing the other day, and I am glad to hear you enjoyed it! Going on the list.

>101 rosalita: Understood. I was a little disappointed that in Bleeding Heart Yard Harbinder had moved to London as I had liked the characters and situation of Postscript Diaries but I still enjoyed it.

>103 CDVicarage: I felt the same way, Kerry! I'm glad those characters are coming back in The Last Word.

>102 Caramellunacy: I did enjoy that mini-series, especially how the script portrays Marian Halcombe's character.

Thanks for posting about the Griffiths Kaur related books, Julia. I think I only read The Stranger Diaries. Will have to follow up on that. So many series, so little time!

Wow, the activity on your thread is almost overwhelming :-)!
Re >83 rosalita: Our main intellectual daily had an article about Collins, too, on Saturday, and the reviewer mentioned particularly that TWIW features two wonderful villains, and I agree. I've read both and prefer TWIW for the character of Marian Halcombe. My personal favourite is Armadale, though, but that may be coloured by the German TV version which had a fabulous actress play Lydia Gwilt. Who is another great female character. Collins is rather good at that.

Thanks for the info on The Last Word, Julia. I like Harbinder Kaur and as you and others have said, I'm glad this new book features the cast from The Postscript Murders. I know this is not-a-series, but after Bleeding Heart Yard I was worried Griffiths was leaving those other characters behind.

Morning, Julia!

I've been texting with Tomm already this morning and he says where he is they've got 4-5 inches already, it's still coming down, and the winds are really blowing. And here I am complaining about a little bit of slush. What's going on where you are? Stay safe!

>106 Familyhistorian: You're very welcome, Meg!

>107 MissWatson: Thanks for the Wilkie Collins info, Birgit — you're making me eager to dig into TWiW soon.

>108 lauralkeet: They are such good characters, Laura, that I'm glad she's revisiting them. I wonder if she got a lot of feedback from readers about how much they enjoyed the "detectives" in The Postscript Murders? I'm curious to see if Harbinder Kaur is even in the new one, since she has been transferred to London.

>109 scaifea: We've got about 4-5 inches so far, and the local TV weather guy said we can expect another 4-6 before it all wraps up this evening. So that's ... delightful. Is Tomm in Dubuque? I think the storm track is heavier to the south of there (right around Iowa City, in fact, which is also ... delightful). I hope the snow doesn't interfere with his travel back to Ohio!

As I mentioned in my reply to Amber, we're in the midst of a big ole snowstorm, and I have never been so happy to be able to work from home full time!

Yesterday's Media Report
What I’m Listening To
• Rolling Out Vision Pro (and giving thanks), Six Colors podcast, Ep1.5.24
• Both Sides Now, How Good It Is podcast, Ep53
• A Detached View of Living, Pants in the Boot podcast, Ep30
• 'Halos and Harps', with Casey Liss, The Talk Show podcast, Ep392
• Get Up! Mix, Apple Music playlist
• Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger
• Rosanne Cash, Seven Year Ache
• Kris Kristofferson, Broken Freedom Song
What I’m reading
• Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville, Michael Streissguth
• The Devil's Steps, Arthur Upfield
What I’m watching
• Washington Huskies vs Michigan Wolverines, NCAA football (ESPN)

Wordle 934 2/6
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
CRANE, LINER

WordleBot
Skill 77/99
Luck 83/99

>98 rosalita: No, good grief!!! I mean that if I acquired (say) 4 books one month, I want to read 6 books that month so that the TBR total goes down. That way it would go down by 24 books over the year (2 books per month). The next month if I acquired 7, I'd aim to read 9 that month. Does that make more sense? Of course I'm never going to manage it at my current rates of both reading and acquiring, but a girl can dream.

>110 rosalita: He's on Adel, wherever that is. I'm honestly not sure, since I've never been out there with him.

Wordle in 2?! I got skunked today. Yeesh.

>112 Jackie_K: Well, that sounds much more reasonable!

>113 scaifea: Adel is in central Iowa, near Des Moines, so about 2 hours or so west of Iowa City.

>114 rosalita: Well, it would if I hadn't just bought my 9th book of the month! :D

>107 MissWatson:

I was going to mention Armadale too, which is not as well known as it should be and a personal favourite; that said, I'm not sure it's the right place to start with Collins. (Thank you for the heads-up on the German series, Birgit!)

Collins' women are very much the point to me: he's that rare Victorian male writer who you feel really liked women as people, and the latitude that he allowed his female characters is a big part of the attraction. (Though it does annoy me that, as a man, he got away with stuff in this area that Mary Elizabeth Braddon got crucified by the critics for.)

>116 lyzard: Yes, on re-reading Armadale recently I thought so, too. But it keeps its special place in my heart.
And I really want to read more M E Braddon... I really liked Aurora Floyd and Lady Audley's Secret. Like and unlike not so much...

Just checking in, Julia, since I didn't see your regular weekday morning posts on Blue Sky yesterday :)

Hope the snow hasn't affected you too much!

To Julia's LT friends:

Terrible news.

I just received a message that Julia has passed away. Apparently she hadn't been feeling well for a few days and passed away in her sleep a couple of days ago.

This makes me so, so sad. I've met Julia twice - once in Dallas when she and I and another LTer had a reading retreat before she went to see her beloved Bruce Springsteen play a concert, and once in Colorado when we both attended a Booktopia event. She was funny and sharp and I am so sorry she is gone.

>119 katiekrug: Oh Katie, what awful news! Julia was always so funny and quirky here, and I will miss her posts enormously.

My thoughts are with all those (including many here) who knew and loved her.

What sad news! Thanks for letting us know, Katie. She will be missed here, and my heart goes out to all who knew and loved her, whether in real life or here on LT.

Thanks for the news, Katie. I just talked to her!

Thank you for letting us know, Katie. How awful. Her presence and posts will be missed, and my heart goes out to her family and friends.

I am so sorry to hear this. Rosalita's thread has been a "must visit" for me. Condolences to her family, friends, LT community and colleagues.

Oh, wow. This is terrible, sad news. What a bright spirit she was. I just yesterday put a book in the mail to her. Peace and love to all.

Oh no! This is so sad :( I loved Julia's book links and her way with words. We will miss her.

This is dreadful news. We have shared so much bookishness over my years on LT.

I'm so sorry to hear this. My condolences to her family and friends.

I'm really sorry to hear this sad news. I loved visiting Julia's thread and will miss her.

Thank you, Katie. I'm shocked and saddened - I saw this on Mark's 75ers thread, where he said you'd told him. He posted a wonderful pic from 2014.

By way of tribute. And the source of Julia's LT moniker:

https://youtu.be/WZQrCLPf5kc

>131 rocketjk: Whenever I would see rosalita’s handle, that song would immediately jump to mind and be in my head for hours.

We’ll certainly miss her lots.

Thanks for posting this link, rocketjk.

Karen O

Such sad news. She will be missed around here.

Jump a little higher, Julia. I will surely miss you. Rest in peace.

Public Service Announcement - Friends of Julia

Information on a Celebration of Life for Julia (rosalita) is here: https://international.uiowa.edu/news/2024/02/memory-julia-labua.

It includes a link to register, if you'd like to receive the Zoom link to attend virtually.

>135 katiekrug: Thank you, Katie

Oh, no! This is crazy.