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chris.wolak

chris.wolak

Joined June 2016

Book Cougars podcast cohost
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Rules of Magic, Volume 1 by Alice Hoffman
review
chris.wolak
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Pickpick

A fascinating combination of history, humor, travelogue, and the science surrounding the jackalope's probable inspiration from nature. Based on extensive research — from interviews at roadside museums to exploring international folktales & mythology about horned rabbits to the scientific discovery of the HPV vaccine — each chapter offers fascinating and often fun information about the jackalope and its meaning to people.

review
chris.wolak
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Pickpick

I‘ve read this one several times and am listening to it on audio for the first time. #roadtrip

blurb
chris.wolak
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Wishing school work wasn‘t getting in the way of devouring this book because it is fantastic! A highly anticipated book that shows just how vitally important Edith Lewis was to both Cather‘s writing and her life. Lewis has long been dismissed or denigrated by scholars. Homestead‘s work is based in decades of research and a deep familiarity with archival resources on both women, some of which have only recently been made available to researchers.

Suet624 I mentioned this to others on Litsy, but Edith Lewis was my great-aunt. 🙂 3y
chris.wolak @Suet624 Hi Sue, so nice to meet you! Are you going to or have you read Homestead‘s book? Is that being too nosey? 3y
Suet624 Definitely not nosey. (Give me ten minutes and I‘ll tell you my life story! 😂😂). I haven‘t read it and I want to. I‘ll order it this week. So glad to see that Edith is finally getting recognition, although I believe she would be embarrassed by it. I assume she believed that Cather should receive all the accolades. (edited) 3y
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Lcsmcat @CarolynM I‘m up for it if the group is! 3y
Graywacke Nice to see this post. And, @CarolynM @Lcsmcat I‘m up for it too. 3y
chris.wolak @Suet624 😂 I was surprised to learn that Edith had short stories published in college and just after. It‘ll be interesting to see what the family thinks! 3y
chris.wolak @Graywacke @Lcsmcat @CarolynM You are the best reading group. 🤩 3y
Suet624 @graywacke @carolynM @lcsmcat @chris.wolak Let me know when you might read it. I‘m going to order it soon. 3y
Lcsmcat @chris.wolak We‘ve been loving your blog as a resource. 3y
Lcsmcat @Suet624 @Graywacke @CarolynM I‘ll go with what the group wants to do as long as I have time to order it or reserve it from the library. 3y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat @Suet624 @CarolynM We finish her short story collection May 1. We could do this next... but I need to get a copy, see what we‘re getting into. 🙂 Might be a terrific summer read. Thinking... ( @batsy @Currey @jewright ) 3y
Graywacke @chris.wolak you‘re sweet, but I have to second that. This group is the best. ☺️🙂 Something special here. 3y
Currey @Graywacke @Lcsmcat @Suet624 @CarolynM @batsy I am continuing my catch up reading this summer (Song of the Lark and My Antonia) and I would love to add this to the mix. It would be a great way to keep you all around when I need you! 3y
batsy @Graywacke It sounds so interesting & I'd love to read it with the group, but I just checked the price of the Kindle and physical copies & it's very steep (in Malaysian ringgit) & I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's a university press. I will have to opt out of this one :( 3y
Graywacke @batsy That stinks. It‘s not so cheap here either. 3y
jewright Looks like it‘s almost $40. 3y
chris.wolak @jewright @Graywacke @batsy Oxford UP has ridiculously high prices. $40 is actually on the cheaper side for them. One new book I was interested in was $150! How they can possibly justify that, IDK. I can say that Homestead‘s writing is very readable, and not dense academic mumbo jumbo. Hopefully the paperback will be more reasonably priced. 3y
chris.wolak @Lcsmcat That makes me so happy to hear! 3y
Lcsmcat @batsy @Graywacke @Suet624 @CarolynM @Currey @jewright Do we want to wait on this until libraries get copies or it comes out in paperback? 3y
Suet624 @Lcsmcat @batsy @graywacke @currey @jewright @carolynm I was so surprised by the price. And then I wasn‘t. I remembered how much I had to spend for the college books my children had to have. I purchased this but it will be passed around to all the family members so it‘s worth it. Just let me know when you‘re up for a discussion. 3y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat Maybe we should re-think the choose-your-biography idea. Any thoughts on that? How it could work? Maybe some kind of round table discussion where someone leads a a thread by discussing the book they are currently reading. ?? 3y
Lcsmcat @Graywacke 🤔 That could be fun. I‘ll give some thought to how it might be formatted and get back to you. 3y
Lcsmcat @chris.wolak @Graywacke Yes. We had floated the idea of reading different biographies of her and comparing notes, or all reading the same biography. But we hadn‘t settled on a plan yet. 3y
chris.wolak That‘s cool. James Woodress‘s bio is free on the WC Archive (https://cather.unl.edu/life/woodress). It is older and repeats some now disproven myths (like that she and Edith Lewis systematically destroyed as many letters as they could), but for now it is still considered the standard cradle -to-grave bio on her. 3y
Graywacke @chris.wolak thanks for that reference. 3y
batsy @Lcsmcat I don't have a particular suggestion because I'm pretty sure this book won't ever appear in the local library system & I'm not sure when paperback copies are out. I'll be happy to go along with whatever the group decides & if I'm able to access a copy (of this book or any other bio), I'll join in :) 3y
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review
chris.wolak
Invited | Jennifer McMahon
Pickpick

The Invited is one of the most unique and believable ghost stories I've read. The unsuspecting couple doesn‘t move into a haunted house. They build one.

review
chris.wolak
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Pickpick

This debut novel is a page-turner that I highly recommend. If you like coming of age novels, historical fiction, stories about race, relationships, orphans, or foreign lands, you‘ll want to pick up Hum. If you‘re more of a non-fiction reader, this novel will provide loads of emotional context for what life was like under Apartheid.

TheNeverendingTBR Welcome back! 🙋‍♂️ 3y
Bakingbookworm I loved both of Bianca‘s books! I hope she has more coming. 3y
chris.wolak @TheNeverendingTBR Thank you! Hope to be a regular here. 3y
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chris.wolak @Bakingbookworm The last I heard she‘s working on a thriller. 3y
Bakingbookworm @chris.wolak Awesome! I like it when authors switch things up. I just finished Paula McLain‘s upcoming book When the Stars Go Dark and it‘s a huge shift in genre for her but it was excellent. 3y
chris.wolak @Bakingbookworm I‘ve only read The Paris Wife by McLain which I enjoyed. Just checked out her new one — is it really fast paced? 3y
Bakingbookworm @chris.wolak It‘s a suspense novel but she adds a lot of her own personal experiences into her main character. It‘s well paced with intense issues and it has a lot of characters to keep track of but it was quite good. I‘ll be posting my review in the next couple of days. 3y
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chris.wolak
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“Meg‘s high-heeled slippers were dreadfully tight, and hurt her, though she would not own it, and Jo‘s nineteen hair-pins all seemed stuck straight into her head, which was not exactly comfortable; but, dear me, let us be elegant or die.”

Feminist sarcasm from 1868. 👍

#bookcougars #readalong #summeroflittlewomen

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chris.wolak
Fatal Crossing | Lone Theils
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Whenever she was in Denmark, she always took the opportunity to enjoy a hotdog.

Overall, the British reputation for cooking the world‘s worst food was undeserved, in Nora‘s opinion. At least when in London. There you could get the world‘s best sushi, curry and Thai. But they had no idea how to do a proper hotdog.

chris.wolak As a Chicagoan now living in Connecticut, I also miss a good hot dog. 🌭 6y
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chris.wolak
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#FridayReads The book we‘ll be curling up with later tonight: The Paris Spy by Susan MacNeal. It‘s up for an Agatha Award in the Best Historical Novel category.

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chris.wolak
Maurice | E M Forster
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“Pain had shown him a niche behind the world‘s judgements, whither he could withdraw.”

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chris.wolak
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Opening lines: “Later, the four remaining women could fully agree on only two things. One: No-one saw the bush land swallow up Alice Russell. And two: Alice had a mean streak so sharp it could cut you.” Hooked!
I‘m reading outside, trying to get a little vitamin D while the dogs chew sticks. We all have our passions.
🌞📖🐶🐶🍂
#readingoutside #fridayreads #forceofnature #janeharper #readingbuddies #buddyfitzwilliam #beatricedashwood #aww2018

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chris.wolak
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“With age everything starts reminding you of something else.” Finishing this one today before I get out of bed.

DebbieGrillo Welcome to Litsy! #LitsyWelcomeWagon 6y
chris.wolak Thanks, Debbie! 6y
Nute Welcome to Litsy! It‘s a warm and caring community. I know that you will enjoy yourself here. I look forward to getting to know you! 5y
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