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review
Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

I devoured this book. Part genealogical mystery, part loving mémoire, part philosophy of war and empire, it was shot through with Palin‘s intelligence and humor. Thanks to my cousin @barbwire for a lovely birthday present.

review
Lcsmcat
Dear Carolina | Kristy Woodson Harvey
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Panpan

This book has more similes than a 9th grade English assignment on descriptive writing, and if I had to read one more “I think I‘m southern if I can‘t say a sentence without some goofy expression” page I would have exploded like a too-ripe watermelon dropped from the back of the truck on a bumpy road heading to market. Sheesh!
Read Flannery O‘Connor - skip this one. #24in2024 number 9 also #doublespin

willaful 🤣 6d
44 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Memphis | Robert W. Dye
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My birthday was full of books (and grandson. And Six!) The little book on the bottom is the tagged book.

LeahBergen Happy birthday! ❤️ 1w
Lcsmcat @LeahBergen Thank you! 1w
Ruthiella Happy Birthday! 🥳🥳🥳 1w
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Graywacke Happy birthday! 🙂 1w
Lcsmcat @Ruthiella Thanks! 1w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Thanks! I‘m 60 pages in on the Michael Palin book already and I highly recommend it. 1w
Aimeesue HBD! 1w
TheSpineView Happy Birthday! 1w
Lcsmcat @TheSpineView Thank you! 1w
Leftcoastzen Happy Birthday!🎁🎂🎉 1w
batsy Happy birthday! 🎈🎂📚 Great stack 😍 1w
Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen Thank you. 1w
Lcsmcat @batsy Thanks. Have you read any of them? 1w
batsy No. I've had Miss Jane on my tbr for awhile and am keen about the Worsley, as well! I'm pretty sure you'll get to both before I do 😆 6d
50 likes15 comments
review
Lcsmcat
Fulton | Elizabeth R. Jones
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Pickpick

N J (Newton Julian) Paschall was my great-great grandfather and it was fun to read about his contributions to the town of Fulton. The Images of America series isn‘t particularly careful in its research, but they always have good pictures.

Graywacke Cool! 1w
Hooked_on_books That‘s so cool! 1w
39 likes2 comments
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Lcsmcat
Dune | Frank Herbert
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So relatable!

BeeCurious 😃👍 2w
37 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
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(Enlarge if necessary.)

LeahBergen 😂😂 2w
Dilara 😂Love this! 2w
Cuilin 😂, Hawthorne pukes! (edited) 2w
sarahbarnes 😂😂😂 2w
36 likes4 comments
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Lcsmcat
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Home sick today, so I‘ve already gotten in the first chapter (and the preface and dedication) of this #randomclassics @TheAromaofBooks

monalyisha Hope you feel better soon! ✨ 2w
Lcsmcat @monalyisha Thanks! (It‘s just a cold.) 2w
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Hope you're on the mend!! 2w
34 likes3 comments
review
Lcsmcat
Sight Hound: A Novel | Pam Houston
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Pickpick

Full of quirky Houston characters, two (or three) dogs, and one sardonic cat, this novel celebrates love, human and canine, without being sappy or emotionally manipulative. Prose that brings the west to life, & a surprise cameo of someone I once knew who is neither fictional nor famous. (Houston once went to the same church as me and knew this man there which makes me wonder if he asked her to write him into one of her stories.) No. 8 #24in2024

Bette What a good tidbit…knowing a character. Great review. 👍😊 3w
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review
Lcsmcat
The Personal Librarian | Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
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Pickpick

This is a very soft pick for me. I think I‘d have preferred a nonfiction account. I finished it because it‘s for my irl book club, and it sent me to the internet to find out more. But the writing itself was at best bland, at worst anachronistic. And the name dropping got tiresome. We know Bernard was a cad - no need to drag Edith Wharton into it.

Amiable Totally agree. I've read another Marie Benedict book and I thought the same thing -- it was dull, surface-level, and made me want to seek out a nonfiction account of the person who was profiled instead. I won't be picking up any more by Benedict --not for me. (edited) 3w
45 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Untitled
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My #bookspin list for March. @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3w
25 likes1 comment
review
Lcsmcat
The Mother's Recompense | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

Wharton messed with us in this book. Kate is both highly frustrating and yet to be pitied. Chris is the worst villain since Lovelace of Clarissa infamy, and Anne strikes me as fairly selfish herself, or at least spoiled and immature. Fred, well Fred just made me sad. He deserved so much better. Yet through it all Wharton‘s wit and humor and sparkling prose make this a pick. If you like moral dilemmas and no easy answers, this one‘s for you.

Daisey Wharton is rather hit or miss for me, but all the reviews I‘ve read today make me curious to read this one. As bad as Lovelace!?! 3w
Lcsmcat @Daisey Almost! 3w
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CoverToCoverGirl Great review! My favourite by her is 3w
Suet624 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 to everything you‘ve said. I felt very badly for Fred. And what a fascinating read. 3w
batsy Great summary. I, too, felt for Fred. Something about him—principled and steadfast. 3w
jewright @Daisey This book is so much shorter, and the evil guy isn‘t nearly as evil as Lovelace. 3w
45 likes7 comments
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Lcsmcat
The Mother's Recompense | Edith Wharton
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“His manly chest seemed outspread to receive the pectoral cross, and all his gestures were round and full, like the sleeves for which they were preparing.” I know that the Rev. Dr. Arklow is a minor character, but this quote was too good not to illustrate. (Above is an actual bishop of the era.) As CarolynM points out, this is a book of moral dilemmas. But was Arklow‘s advice moral? Or conventional ? Did Kate do the right thing toward Anne? Frank?

Lcsmcat And was the inevitable “sterile pain” the result of her first flight, or her return? #whartonbuddyread (edited) 3w
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Lcsmcat Now for all the other quotes. 😂 3w
Lcsmcat “The Drovers and Tresseltons were great at acting in concert, and at pretending that whatever happened was natural, usual, and not of a character to interfere with one‘s lunch.” 3w
Lcsmcat “A real mother is just a habit of thought to her children.” 🤨 3w
Lcsmcat “she had plied him [Frank]with uncomfortable questions, and detected in his kindly eyes the terror of the man who, all his life, has tried to buy off fate by optimistic evasions.” 3w
Lcsmcat “He had overcome his strongest feelings, his most deep-rooted repugnance; he had held out his hand to her, in the extremity of her need, across the whole width of his traditions and his convictions; and she had blessed him for it, and stood fast on her own side.” 3w
Graywacke I‘m struggling with how to process this one. What was Wharton doing? Is this about flawed Kate and/or a condemned Kate? Is Kate a victim or cause? I can‘t imagine abandoning Anne. But she did it twice. So is this her character flaw, to run away? Or are these completely different circumstances? 3w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I too am struggling. I know that in that era children “belonged” to their fathers legally. So had she tried to take Anne they would have hunted her down. But, finding the atmosphere too stifling to abide herself, she left a _daughter_ to be raised in it? And then, by withholding information on Chris, was she saving A or herself from pain? Because I don‘t trust him to keep quiet once the honeymoon is over. 👇🏻 3w
Lcsmcat 👆🏻The first fight they have I can just hear him fling out “You‘re just like your mother was!” And then how doubly betrayed would Anne feel?! 3w
Graywacke Of course, Kate avoided facing that. (But then even Fred said, after he knew, that he wasn‘t worried about Anne. She could take care of herself.) 3w
Graywacke I should add, I‘m struggling to understand what Wharton was doing to us, the reader. She left us in a tough spot. Me can simple say, well Kate was Kate and that‘s what she does. But in doing that, we are making a Kate of ourselves, avoiding all the hard questions in the book about social constrictions, women‘s positions, evolving and lost values, moral responsibilities … So, is she challenging us? Intentionally making us uncomfortable? 3w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke The title makes me think Wharton wants us on Kate‘s side. But was allowing Anne her way and then ducking out truly making amends? I don‘t know. I think Wharton is always trying to make her readers uncomfortable in some fashion, and she raised some serious questions in my mind, but I don‘t have the answers. 3w
batsy I feel that all outcomes would lead to the same situation: Kate alone, unable to be with her daughter. Had she told Anne she would have been banished from Anne's life by Anne herself, and now Kate has had to remove herself from Anne's life by not saying anything. Is this Wharton's way of saying Kate will always be punished for her original mistake—leaving her daughter? Isn't it great that Wharton makes us suffer this way? 🙃 3w
batsy Chris is total red flag. An absolute red flag. Of course he should have walked away regardless of what Anne wants. She'll be heartbroken, and then she'll be fine. I'm sort of aghast at how the circumstances made it so that he "wins". But then again, that's a window into the kind of world Wharton was writing about... 3w
Graywacke @Lcsmcat the title is bitter! 3w
Graywacke @batsy Agree about Chris, a creep. But like Fred, I trust Anne. She‘ll manage. And Kate certainly should have told Anne. Whatever consequences would have been temporary. Anne would forgive. Kate‘s affair wasn‘t criminal in Anne‘s world the way it was in Kate‘s. (Still, i appreciate the minister‘s flexibility, even if maybe being a stern inflexible Catholic priest might have been what Kate really needed.) - oops…too much in one comment 😁 3w
Graywacke Any thoughts on Kate thoroughly breaking her world‘s morality while still clinging desperately to it? 3w
TheBookHippie Not everyone wants to be a mother even when one becomes one- back then what was her choice, even now to say it or leave to pursue a life for yourself is okay for a man, not a woman. Kate would end up alone not fitting anywhere, in all the scenarios, maybe not fitting in anywhere and not longing to is the struggle. But I think Anne would have forgiven her. Shame regret and fear ? A woman‘s struggle.. I‘m still processing obviously ..Chris is 🤮 3w
TheBookHippie @Graywacke desperate for belonging or love ? I‘m still mulling it all over. 3w
Lcsmcat @TheBookHippie I think Kate did want to be a mother - just not enough to put up with her husband. She talks about having to fill her mind with other thoughts to avoid thinking about Anne. 3w
TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat I wonder though if she had a choice, since she didn‘t like him. At any rate children belonged to the father, probably why so many women left their children, sanity and distance from their husbands. It‘s all awful choices. Some women loved their children so much they put up with anything just to be with them. But she didn‘t. (Not that I would do any better. ) and children were seen differently than now- yes?⬇️ (edited) 3w
TheBookHippie @Graywacke the flexibility was refreshing. 3w
TheBookHippie ⬆️ you can love your child and not want to be a mother. The two aren‘t necessarily connected. I feel sorry for Kate and not Anne I think it‘s what the reader gets from this one is fascinating to me. 😮‍💨 3w
TheBookHippie @batsy did your intro to the book talk about this? Mine did. The window into the world being so accurate. 3w
Lcsmcat @batsy Yes, it felt inevitable that Kate would end up alone again, and (to me at least) that she would hurt others in the process. So is the “recompense” of the title meant to be “this is the thanklessness of being a mother” or “this is what you get as a woman trying to live your own life” or something else entirely? 3w
Currey @Lcsmcat Great discussion. I also was left largely confused about what Wharton wanted from us other than that confusion. Kate seemed to have left Anne twice for what she thought were the right reasons but which, at least the second time, felt totally wrong. Chris is ugly, Anne is tough, if you are going to be alone anyway, why not tell the truth before running? Why did Kate think she had done a noble thing? Punishing herself is a piece of it 3w
Lcsmcat @Currey It didn‘t feel noble to me either. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3w
Graywacke Psst - this was our 18th book by Wharton !! 👍 3w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke She was indeed prolific! 3w
Graywacke @Currey @Lcsmcat i really hope no one thought it was noble. Well, maybe except Kate. Don‘t be a Kate. 🤭 3w
Graywacke @Currey Anne tough - like strong or like you found her difficult? I found her tough in the sense of independent and resolute, and undeterred. I‘m an Anne fan. 🙂 3w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Really? I found her difficult to read. EW kept comparing her to her grandmother and I felt a bit of that selfishness coming through. She was loving and charming- until she wasn‘t getting what she wanted. I‘m Team Frank on this one. 3w
Graywacke @Lcsmcat team Fred? No, I understand Fred. But I‘m team Anne, our stately tough Greek goddess. 3w
CarolynM There‘s a lot to unpick isn‘t there? I‘m with @batsy re Chris - I didn‘t buy the reformed character thing at all. If Kate had accepted Anne‘s money there‘s no way he‘d have come back, reputation be damned. I give it maybe a year before he seduces some other woman & Anne throws him out, because I agree she‘s tough. But I also think Kate had to let Anne find out about him for herself. 3w
Lcsmcat @CarolynM Do you think that if Anne found out on her own after they were married, that she would seek out Kate? Because I don‘t. I think she would be furious that Kate hadn‘t told her and it‘ll be another 20 years before they speak. 3w
CarolynM I think Kate was trying to be noble by shielding Anne from the truth, but as @Lcsmcat said I can also see Chris telling her, especially once he realises she‘s really finished with him. I also think she was trying to be noble in leaving Fred. I kind of think that giving up what he offered her - social position, security, but most of all steadfast love - was the “recompense” of the title. (edited) 3w
CarolynM @Lcsmcat I‘m not sure. It might depend on the circumstances in which he told her, and also what he told her. But I don‘t think she‘d have forgiven Kate any faster if she had told her. 3w
arubabookwoman i think Kate left the 2nd time for 2 reasons. The first and most important was she was trying to follow the reverend's precise advise--if the daughter was not told before the wedding, the mother must be sure to keep her mouth shut forever. Since Kate did not tell Anne, I think she knew that if she had to spend time in the company of Chris & Anne, some word or action would let the truth be out. The only way to follow that advice was to leave 4ever. 3w
arubabookwoman She also left because she could not take Fred's pity. (Despite his sometimes purposeful obliviousness, Fred was my favorite character). I think that's why she rejected Fred, even tho' he was willing to leave NYC and live anywhere with her. 3w
arubabookwoman Does anyone know what "sterile pain" is? I really liked this entry into our Wharton reading. I was kept guessing til the very end about what Kate was going to do, whether the wedding would come off, and so on. I think after her return Kate realized how much she disliked the society & its rules, & the only thing keeping her there was her daughter. If, as it turned out, she lost her daughter there was no reason to stay, with Fred or otherwise. 3w
Lcsmcat @arubabookwoman That was one thing she did right (although she ought not to have given him hope in the first place) because no matter how long he‘d been crushing on her, I don‘t think they‘d have been happy together. 3w
batsy @TheBookHippie Sadly, no. I got the ebook off Gutenberg so no intros 🙁 3w
batsy @Currey I agree with you, it's not noble but Kate has that tendency to self-pity in her. My read of her character is that she would enjoy being a kind of martyr, and would want to punish herself whilst thinking it was noble. I don't mean that as a judgement on her character so much as how she has become, under the circumstances. 3w
Lcsmcat @batsy Yes, she does seem a bit martyrish. 3w
batsy @Graywacke @Lcsmcat I'm not so sure if I'm team Anne, either. Tough yes, and maybe admirable in some ways, but also ruthless in other ways, I think. The potential to be harsh is there. A part of me will forever be curious about how she would have reacted to what Kate told her. I'm not convinced she would have forgiven in time. But it would be nice to be wrong! (🕯️ Edith, we need a sequel 🕯️) 3w
Lcsmcat @batsy Call in the spiritualists! 😂 3w
batsy @Lcsmcat 😁 3w
Graywacke So interesting, the different takes. 3w
Currey @Graywacke Yes, tough as in strong and persevering and quite able to take care of herself. 3w
Currey @batsy but a touch of cold too. I think Anne would have forgiven Kate for the truth but in the same way she forgave the first running away. If Kate comes back and plays the perfect mommy then she will play the perfect daughter. 3w
jewright I feel like Kate leaves Fred to protect him, but she also doesn‘t want to be tied down again to any man. I can‘t decide about Anne and Chris. They do really seem to love each other, but it‘s just so icky. 3w
Graywacke @jewright Kate and Fred has me thinking. She was not attracted to Fred. He represented an ideal she didn‘t actually want. In a way, he was the best the NY crowd had to offer. And spurning him, she was really fully rejecting that whole world. And maybe we can appreciate that. Certainly we must assume Wharton could. 3w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke That‘s an interesting take on Kate and Fred‘s relationship. I tend to agree, although I‘m not sure Kate had anything to replace that world with, which leaves her detached or unmoored, depending on how you look at it. 3w
Graywacke @Lcsmcat that is maybe the main tragedy here (??) 3w
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I think it could be. Fred and Anne are hurt by her actions, but they have each other (& the rest of society) but Kate? Only other disconnected people who don‘t seem to have created anything substantial. 3w
Leftcoastzen I think Kate didn‘t have a good choice. If she stayed near Anne & Chris , it would hurt so much if they were happy, and hurt as much if Chris turns out to be a cad , hurts so much as well. Fred‘s gesture was nice, but I feel she had to escape the situation. Back to her comfortable exile! 3w
Leftcoastzen Wharton is such a wonderful writer , I guess I shouldn‘t be surprised that she was up to date with the younger set . You see the old standards seem to still apply to the older generation, the younger ones not so much. 3w
22 likes60 comments
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Lcsmcat
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My latest #treadmillBook. Read by Anderson Cooper, it‘s off to a great start.

review
Lcsmcat
Wilderness Tips | Margaret Atwood
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Pickpick

Number 6 for#24in2024, this is another set of short stories full of Atwood‘s mischievous humor and prescient insights. Loved it!

Jas16 6! That is incredible! 1mo
Lcsmcat @Jas16 I front-loaded it with books I knew I‘d get through so if I get distracted later in the year I can still make it. 😀 1mo
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review
Lcsmcat
Chestnut Street | Maeve Binchy
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Pickpick

Like any short story collection, some were stronger than others, but this was a pleasant listen each morning. #treadmillbook

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Lcsmcat
The Mother's Recompense | Edith Wharton
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Post WWI and a couple of affairs, Kate is “allowed” to return home to the US and her daughter. I don‘t think she likes what the US has become, especially the younger generation. They seem to get the most pointed (and witty) comments from Wharton‘s pen. Impressions of Kate? Anne? Chris? I‘ll post some favorite quotes below. #whartonbuddyread

Lcsmcat “They had all, she gathered, far more interests and ideas than had scantily furnished her own youth, but all so broken up, scattered, and perpetually interrupted by the strenuous labour of their endless forms of sport, that they reminded her of a band of young entomologists, equipped with the newest thing in nets, but in far too great a hurry ever to catch anything.” 1mo
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Lcsmcat “the little dinner with the Horace Betterlys and their dull noisy friends, who wanted to “see life” and didn‘t know that you can‘t see it unless you‘ve first had the brains to imagine it …” 1mo
Lcsmcat “It was one of the young men who came to the house; his fresh blunt face was as inexpressive as a foot-ball; he might have been made by a manufacturer of sporting-goods.” 1mo
Lcsmcat “She saw again, with gathering wonder, that one may be young and handsome and healthy and eager, and yet unable, out of such rich elements, to evolve a personality.” 1mo
Lcsmcat “Nothing shocks the young people nowadays—not even the Bible.” 1mo
Lcsmcat “Every moment of such purposeless lives was portioned out, packed with futilities.” 1mo
Lcsmcat “There they all were, the faces that had walled in her youth; she was not sure, at first, if they belonged to the same persons, or had been handed on, as part of the tradition, to a new generation.” 1mo
batsy That "inexpressive as a football line" is such a hoot. A perfect description and you immediately know the "type" ? In contrast, I loved this description when Kate sees Anne in person—"Anne was slightly the taller, and her pale face hung over her mother's like a young moon seen through the mist". At the moment, I dislike and don't quite trust Chris, but I've no idea if I'm being fair to him. Kate may be given to self-pity, Anne as yet a mystery... 1mo
Graywacke Oh, great quotes. And weird Litsy, I‘m just now seeing this. Book 1 is full of lush prose. I understand Kate so well after this. But it‘s a character attack on Kate, no? 1mo
Graywacke @batsy I think Chris is a creep, charming as he may be. 1mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Yes, Litsy was misbehaving this morning. And it is a character attack on Kate in a way. But a sympathetic one, if that makes sense. 1mo
Lcsmcat @batsy I loved that quote about Anne too! It makes her seem so ethereal and a little unreal. Definitely not like her contemporaries. 1mo
Currey @batsy @Lcsmcat Wonderful quotes. I found myself happy to be back in Wharton‘s prose if not in her New York world. I also do not trust Chris and Kate is strangely missing some insights into herself which you think she would have acquired after so many years. 1mo
Graywacke It‘s interesting how thoroughly Wharton creates Kate‘s background. Her life in Europe. Her re-experiencing New York after her 18 yr absence. The story doesn‘t need this, and yet it‘s so wonderfully done 1mo
Graywacke Kate‘s European world: “Not one of them, men or women, if asked where they had come from, where they were going, or why they had done such and such things, or refrained from doing such other, would have answered truthfully; 👇 1mo
Lcsmcat @Currey I don‘t trust Chris at all. As soon as he found out whose daughter Anne was he should have disappeared from her life. 1mo
Graywacke 👆 not, as Kate knew, from any particular, or at any rate permanent, need of concealment, but because they lived in a chronic state of mental inaccuracy, excitement and inertia,which made it vaguely exhilarating to lie and definitely fatiguing to be truthful.” 1mo
Graywacke Fred Landers is interesting too. This poor description could be me! 😁 “As he blinked at her with kindly brotherly eyes she saw in their ingenuous depths the terror of the man who has tried to buy off fate by one optimistic evasion after another, till it has become second nature to hand out his watch and pocket-book whenever reality waylays him.” (edited) 1mo
Currey @Graywacke Marvelous quote - that “inaccuracy, excitement and inertia” is such a quirky summation. It is difficult to put excitement and inertia together in the same being but Wharton does it 1mo
Graywacke @Currey right. She has a way. Her pen was rolling here. 1mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Landers is such an innocent, in his way, that I worry about what Wharton has in store for him. 1mo
Lcsmcat @Currey I have major jealousy over Wharton‘s prose. She‘s amazingly talented! 1mo
Graywacke Chris on Kate: “He told her she had run away from her real duties only for the pleasure of inventing new ones, and that to her they were none the less duties because she imagined them to be defiances. It was one of the paradoxes that most amused him: the picture of her flying from her conscience and always mneeting it again in her path, barely disguised by the audacities she had dressed it up in.” 1mo
Graywacke Having said all that, Kate‘s (muted) bond with Anne, and Anne‘s rediscovery of her mother is quite beautiful and moving. Imagine finding your mom again! That‘s special 1mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke We all know people like that, don‘t we? (At least anyone who raised a teenager does. 😂) (re: the duties quote) (edited) 1mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat i read a spoiler on Fred. 🙁🤐 (edited) 1mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat yes - teenagers! So true. 1mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I found that the least believable part. I feel like Anne would have absorbed enough of her father and grandmother‘s attitudes to be a bit resentful. And that the feeling of having been abandoned would show up more. I‘m kind of expecting a show-down along those lines in the next bit. Especially if she finds out Chris left at her mother‘s insistence without finding out about his affair with Kate. 1mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat interesting. I think Anne lived in this rich false NY world and always imagined something pure and associated that with her missing mother. I think she saw Kate as a salve for all that, something she felt she needed desperately. So i bought in! And it worked as long as Kate didn‘t communicate anything…and didn‘t do anything really really destructive 🙈 (edited) 1mo
Graywacke So my take at the moment is this is a novel of something beautiful turning bitter. ?? 1mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke Interesting. I can‘t wait to read the rest and see how it shakes out. 😀 1mo
TheBookHippie The prose!! She‘s really in her stride. I think Anne had a fairytale version of her mom in her head, which happens a lot in children whose parent is absent, so it‘s not about them. The Bible quote made me giggle hasn‘t that been said every generation? I do not trust Chris. Kate intrigues me. Now I‘m interested to see what happens to Fred! Sorry so late, insomnia and went for a late morning nap. 1mo
Suet624 I love all the quotes from the book that folks are posting. I finished the book a while ago and one of the things I still think about is when Kate talks about people filling their days in such a way that they didn‘t have too much free time. I assume they wouldn‘t want to have to think about how vacuous their days were. I was also surprised by Anne‘s complete acceptance of her mother, but a mother‘s love is always sought so I let that slide. 1mo
arubabookwoman my computer wasn't working this am so sorry for the delay in posting. The quote about "football faces" tickled me--I saw a lot of the frat boys from my college days. Definitely don't trust Chris. He does not seem like a nice guy. I think Anne is and hopefully continue to be a strong and independent-minded young woman. I'm hoping that if (when?) she learns the truth about Kate, she will still love and accept her. 1mo
Lcsmcat @arubabookwoman I hope it doesn‘t mess up their relationship too. 1mo
Leftcoastzen I am late to post because Litsy was wonky! I couldn‘t help but think of F. Scott Fitzgerald who made so much money writing about the vacuous young things that Wharton describes so well in this book.He was getting 1K each for his Saturday Evening Post stories. 1mo
Leftcoastzen I knew that Kate‘s “what happened in Europe stays in Europe “ luck would not last. Don‘t trust Chris either. 1mo
Leftcoastzen I can see both sides with a daughter who doesn‘t have her mother. Either wanting to do anything to have her back, like Anne , or a complete rejection, she didn‘t want me so I don‘t want her. Now with Chris in the mix , it could get more complicated. 1mo
batsy @Graywacke @Currey Agree about the prose. Felt that immediate comfort of being in a master's hands. "Readable" sounds like faint praise, but that's how good she is at drawing the reader into her world. To succumb to Wharton's narrative powers is always a treat. 1mo
batsy @Lcsmcat Yes, there is something ethereal and otherworldly about Anne at the moment. Part of it is the mystique of seeing her through a formerly estranged mother's eyes, but it also lends the character a certain kind of intrigue. It makes me like Anne, even if I don't really know her (yet). 1mo
Lcsmcat @batsy Yes, Anne feels like the least known character at this point. I feel like I know Nollie and Lilla better. 1mo
batsy @Lcsmcat I read on today & things escalate quickly. And we get to know Anne quickly, too 😅 1mo
Lcsmcat @batsy 😀 1mo
Graywacke @batsy we certainly do! Phew 1mo
jewright I feel super judgmental, but I can‘t imagine leaving my kids, so I judge Kate harshly. That part about her daughter crying for her and her not answering…so sad. And Anne takes her back happily? This is the honeymoon phase. It‘s going to get ugly over a stupid man. They both fell in love with the same man? Yuck. 1mo
Lcsmcat @jewright Yeah, I agree. Yuck. (edited) 1mo
CarolynM Interesting discussion. I‘m keen to see where this is going. How is Anne going to react when the truth comes out? What attitude will Nollie and Lilla take? 1mo
Graywacke @jewright I think that about nails it 1mo
Graywacke @CarolynM glad you‘re joining! And no idea (per those questions) 1mo
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Lcsmcat
Wilderness Tips | Margaret Atwood
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“Roughing it builds a boy‘s character, but only certain kinds of roughing it.”

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

I loved this quiet, deep, loving look at friendship, love, and age. And I‘ve never been so angry at a character as I was/am with Gene! Five stars! #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

Crazeedi I must read 1mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 1mo
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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

Fourth in my #24in2024, and for my irl book club, which I had to miss for a work trip. It‘s a tear-jerker and I usually don‘t like having my emotions manipulated. But the stories were so engaging and I was rooting for them both to make it to their 100th, so I didn‘t feel manipulated. I‘m just sorry I missed out on the discussion.

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Lcsmcat
The Mother's Recompense | Edith Wharton
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Just a reminder that the #whartonbuddyread of Books I and II is next Saturday the 17th

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

One of Dickens‘ earlier novels, NN gives me Pickwick vibes, especially with some of the over-the-top humor, and the pathos of The Old Curiosity Shop. Nicholas is a young man‘s hero - brash and hot headed and protective of his and his sister‘s honor. But also likable. And he sticks to his version of honorable behavior even when it goes against his feelings for Madeline. A typical Dickensian ending wraps it all up with a bow for an enjoyable read.

Lcsmcat This is number 3 of #24in2024 1mo
Ruthiella I loved how flawed Nicholas is, pretty rare for a Dickens‘ hero. 1mo
Lcsmcat @Ruthiella It is, although I find David Copperfield to be flawed, just in a less aggressive way if that makes sense. But children in Dickens? They‘re almost never flawed unless spoiled by a villainous parent. 👼 1mo
Pip2 Nice review! You sold me. 1mo
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Lcsmcat
Nicholas Nickelby | Charles Dickens
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Lcsmcat
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My #bookspin and #doublespin for February. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! Enjoy!! 2mo
Deblovestoread Loved Our Souls at Night! 1mo
Lcsmcat @Deblovestoread Good to hear! 1mo
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Lcsmcat
A Week in Winter | Maeve Binchy
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Pickpick

An excellent #treadmillBook with interesting characters and a positive story line.

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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Untitled
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Here‘s my February #bookspin. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2mo
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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

It‘s not Shakespeare, but it comes close. There are lots of quotable lines like “Whether we fall by ambition, blood or lust, Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.” And I liked the Duchess‘s spirit and Bosolo‘s complexity. Looking for videos, as I like to watch plays after I read them, I happened upon an English teacher‘s lectures from lockdown that were really good. (Lucky kids who had her!) 2 for #24in2024 @Jas16

rubyslippersreads I have a reproduction of this hanging on my wall. (My mom found it at a garage sale.) I might have to read the play. (edited) 2mo
Jas16 Great job. 2mo
Lcsmcat @rubyslippersreads The play is based on a real duchess. This is the cover on my edition, but it doesn‘t say who she is. I wonder if it‘s her? 2mo
Lcsmcat @rubyslippersreads Fascinating! Thanks for sharing. The attributes mentioned in the article certainly apply to the character in the play. 2mo
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Lcsmcat
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A very different duchess for my second #24in2024

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

This #chunkstermini has been hanging out on my shelves since it came out in the mid 1980s. It shows its age a bit, and by the last section the twists became ridiculous. But it was a fun soap opera of a book and I‘m glad I read it. My favorite character was the Duchess, and this is my image of her, except the facial expression isn‘t quite right. #bookspin for January and 1st #24in2024. @TheAromaofBooks @Jas16 @Amiable

Jas16 Glad it ended up being worth the wait! 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo
Amiable I love that you've checked it off your list after all these years! Good job! 2mo
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Lcsmcat
The Mother's Recompense | Edith Wharton
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#Whartonbuddyread February it is. I‘ve got a work trip the first weekend, so the schedule will be:
February 17 - Books I & II
February 24 - Book III

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

It‘s always easier to talk about the failings of previous generations than of our own, but if we try we can learn from them. The behavior of the main characters in this novel isn‘t always believable, and Mireille in particular seems to learn and unlearn the same lesson over and over again. The author is skillful at manipulating the reader‘s emotions, and the research is obviously there. My irl book club will discuss this week. 3⭐️

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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Untitled
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I‘m a bit of a mood reader, so I selected 36 books for my #24booksin2024. @Jas16

julieclair What a nice assortment of choices! 2mo
merelybookish Lots of good ones! 🧐 2mo
Jas16 Smart approach and great list. 2mo
41 likes3 comments
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Lcsmcat
Through a Glass Darkly | Karleen Koen
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My copy has a plain cover (the dust jacket was lost ages ago) so here‘s a picture of the beautiful endpapers for my first #bookspin and #chunksterchallenge of 2024. @TheAromaofBooks @Amiable

Amiable Gorgeous! 3mo
TheAromaofBooks Oooo lovely!!! 3mo
Tamra Beautiful! 3mo
Deblovestoread I read this years ago and loved it! 3mo
LeahBergen Oh, I read this years ago! 😍 3mo
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Lcsmcat
The Mother's Recompense | Edith Wharton
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So, #whartonbuddyread crew, this one is up next, since we seem to agree that Wharton is at her best in her novels. This is short (under 300 pages) and divided into 3 “Books” so I anticipate dividing it into 3 discussions. Are we ready? When would you want to start? After a crazy couple of months between work and the holidays when I was pretty absent from Litsy, I‘m rested and ready for 2024! Comment below if you‘re in, and Jan. or Feb. start date.

BookishTrish Feb? 3mo
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Currey In and prefer Feb 3mo
Lcsmcat Sorry if you got triple-tagged. My internet stuttered. 😀 3mo
TheBookHippie Feb! I‘m in. 3mo
Graywacke Any time. 🙂 3mo
Suet624 Any time. 3mo
willaful I think I'm out, have too many books going already. Thanks! 3mo
Lcsmcat @willaful I‘ll take you off the tag list, but let us know if you want to be added back at a later time. 3mo
willaful Thanks @Lcsmcat! 3mo
Leftcoastzen Anytime 3mo
IndoorDame I think I‘m out for now. Trying to take a step back from planned reading for the new year. 3mo
Lcsmcat @IndoorDame I get it. I‘ll remove you from the tag list. But we can add you back if a later volume catches your eye. 3mo
IndoorDame @Lcsmcat perfect, thanks ❤️ 3mo
arubabookwoman February works for me. 3mo
AllDebooks I've got a lot of catching up to do. February would be better for me, too. 3mo
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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Unknown
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Clarissa really increased my page count (but decreased my “books read” number). I‘m keeping my number low for 2024 to encourage myself to read longer books.

Ruthiella Great strategy! 3mo
Daisey My print/ebook to audio ratio down quite a bit this past year, but I‘m also blaming part of that on Clarissa. 3mo
Lcsmcat @Daisey I think Clarissa is to blame for a lot of things. But it‘s big enough to encompass them all. 😂 3mo
44 likes3 comments
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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Unknown
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I couldn‘t decide what to read for the 2024 #chunksterchallenge, so I decided to let #bookspin choose for me. Some of these are “almost a chunkster” or “chunkster minis,” but these are all on my shelves, and, after Clarissa, I think I‘m ok with that. 😀
@TheAromaofBooks @Amiable

Amiable I‘ve read 2, 7, 13 and 16 —good choices! 3mo
Lcsmcat @Amiable Good to know! 3mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3mo
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Lcsmcat
Wildfire at Midnight | Mary Stewart
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When I‘m feeling harried, Mary Stewart is a good nostalgic pick.

TheBookHippie I love her. 3mo
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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

My last #bookspin of the year, and what a way to go out! Atwood is amazing as always, and I see myself rereading these stories often. @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3mo
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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this look at a long life well lived. There was a bit philosophy, a bit of adventure, and an attempt by the author to distill wisdom from this life to pass down to his own children.

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Lcsmcat
Accordion Crimes | Annie Proulx
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Pickpick

I struggle to describe this book in a way that won‘t put you off from reading it. It can be dark (Proulx has the most creative ways to kill and maim her characters!) but it‘s also humorous. Each section has an illustration of a type of accordion, but this is the one the book follows through years and miles, as it is owned by successive players from various immigrant communities. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 4mo
33 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Untitled
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My December #bookspin list. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks for all the fun. I can‘t believe 2023 is almost over!

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 4mo
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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

Both a poignant memoir and a well-researched look at one of the most intractable problems in America, this book made me sad, made me think, and made me want to do better. She doesn‘t offer a simple solution to these complex problems, nor does she blame “the coastal elite” for the problems of rural America. She portrays the people sympathetically as fully human, neither demonizing nor canonizing them. Highly recommended.

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Lcsmcat
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When I need something uplifting, I can‘t go wrong with Bishop Curry. Starting this today.

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Lcsmcat
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Hoping the courage of the authors will rub off on me a bit. I‘m more than a third of the way in, and it is making me hopeful and uncomfortable; angry and shamed; but also energized to seek out my personal next steps.

willaful You might look into SURJ, an organization that encourages white folks to fight against racism. 4mo
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Lcsmcat
Varina | Charles Frazier
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Pickpick

Fighting a cold allowed me to do nothing today but read, and I devoured this in one day. Varina Davis, like most of us, was more complex than either side of the conflict wants to believe. Frazier‘s writing is exquisite, and I learned things I had not known - like the capital of the CSA was briefly in my hometown. Photo is from her New York days. So much of her life was controlled by others, I hope she was happy in those last years. #bookspin

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 4mo
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Lcsmcat
the monkey wrench gang | Edward Abbey
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Mehso-so

I enjoyed revisiting in my mind the western places I love, but I just can‘t get into this era/genre of literature. I can love older works and modern works, but the 60s and 70s style just leaves me cold. But at least I can mark this off my list. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

I have issues with the writing and some incidents that I consider lazy plotting, but I must say that this gave me lots to think about. So it‘s a three-star pick. I think it‘s easier to confront our older history (“yes, my ancestors held people in enslavement, but that was so long ago”) than to ponder nearer questions (“Did my grandfather belong to the KKK?”) I‘ve added the tagged nonfiction below to my reading list to work on the “what next?”

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Lcsmcat
Untitled | Unknown
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BarbaraJean This image is so very satisfying to me. 😊 5mo
Lcsmcat @BarbaraJean Somehow it felt like fall. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 5mo
BarbaraJean There‘s something about the image in combination with the white text, right-aligned… it‘s just very atmospheric and visually pleasing! 5mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 5mo
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Lcsmcat
Ghosts | Edith Wharton
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The final three stories only have two ghosts - Perrier is more a murder mystery. They were all a bit predictable, but held some sparkling Wharton sentences. I liked how, once Charlotte opened one of the letters, it was too pale to read. And in Mr. Jones, how the only one who could see him was the one who was annoyed by rather than scared of him. Thoughts? Do you think Wharton is as skilled with short stories as novels? #whartonbuddyread

See All 25 Comments
batsy I enjoyed these stories very much. I think it might not be as scary as some hope it might be but Wharton manages to infuse a sense of dread or anxiety in each one. Like in Pomegranate Seed: "In the deep silence of the room the tearing of the paper as she slit the envelope sounded like a human cry". Or the way she tells her mother-in-law, "I've known for a long time now that everything was possible". Delightfully gothic. 5mo
batsy Perrier was interesting for being a bit like a fairy tale, with some great set pieces with her deftness at description: "To anyone sick of the Western fret and fever the very walls of this desert fortress exuded peace." And this: "Almodham was out there somewhere under that canopy of fire, perhaps, as the servant said, absorbed in his dream. The land was full of spells." 5mo
Lcsmcat @batsy Yes! And this: “the gradual imprisonment in a pose assumed in youth, and into which middle age had slowly stiffened” (edited) 5mo
Currey I rather enjoyed Perrier although there turned out to be no ghosts because as @batsy mentioned, the setting was so well brought to life. I do believe that Wharton does better with anxiety and dread than with actual ghosts. 5mo
Graywacke Well, I really wanted to meet Henry Almodham, our scholar and misogynist in his desert refuge. So I‘m kind of annoyed at Gosling. 🙂 5mo
Graywacke I enjoyed reading all the stories, but didn‘t care for any of their closing twists. I liked the idea of servants running the home their own way in Mr Jones. And i liked the characters in Pomegranates Seed. I think I liked all the characters 5mo
Graywacke I‘m glad I didn‘t drink or bathe in that water… 5mo
Lcsmcat @Currey I think what made these stories was that Wharton focused on the people and their emotions/reactions rather than on the supernatural beings. 5mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I felt like the younger servants were afraid of Mr. Jones but the older ones weren‘t. Like maybe they were using him to keep the young ones in line. 5mo
dabbe @batsy Perrier also made me think of A PASSAGE TO INDIA. I just felt the same deserty-vibe. 5mo
dabbe In looking at all of the stories as a whole, I found Wharton excelled at building the tension and drama, which kept me turning those pages, and then leaving me flustered at the end because most of the endings were not complete resolutions. She made me have to attempt to put the two-and-two together. And her writing ... I just finished TESS OF THE d'URBERVILLES and kept thinking how gorgeous Hardy's writing was--reminding me of Wharton. 5mo
Graywacke @dabbe i went through that process with each story too. Tension and curiosity as i read, and they usually left me a little “flustered”. But then, even knowing this, i‘d hop into the next story happily. 🙂 5mo
Lcsmcat @dabbe I love Hardy‘s prose too, and for his time he held some feminist ideas. So another thing in common with Wharton. 5mo
dabbe @Graywacke Wharton just has that way, doesn't she? I even tried to find some analysis online to help me fill in the pieces, but I didn't find much. 5mo
dabbe @Lcsmcat Exactly! It's hard to read him nowadays because what women had to go through was so damn infuriating, but his prose would get me lost in the story--just like Wharton. 5mo
Lcsmcat @dabbe @Graywacke It felt very Henry James to me. Like Turn of the Screw. 5mo
Graywacke As a side note - looking ahead: We had talked about reading Italian Backgrounds next. It‘s only about 100 pages and would make a nice early December easy group read. However, the series Buccaneers is coming out on Apple TV November 8. So, maybe we sneak _that_ into November. It‘s 400 pages, so, it‘s not really a sneak, but a commitment. Anyway, share your thoughts. I‘m pretty happy any which way. (edited) 5mo
Graywacke (Amazon kindle gives a print length of one page. 🙂) 5mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke I‘m happy to go either way - whatever the group wants. 5mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat i think squeezing Buccaneers in would take a whole lot of enthusiasm. Based on the response here… 🙂… i‘ll go with Italian Backgrounds for December. I‘m looking forward to it. 5mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke 😂😂Sounds like a plan. 5mo
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Lcsmcat
Dear Edward | Ann Napolitano
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Pickpick

I finished the tagged book and started the next as my #treadmillBook. Dear Edward was a weak pick for me. I could see what the author was trying to do, but for me it fell short. The ending felt rushed. But I cared enough about it to finish it (and keep walking.)

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

This was just what I needed after Clarissa! Light, hope-filled, and fun. With Smiley‘s deft prose to boot. It was also my April #doublespin and I finally got around to it. 😂

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