Clam Shares Books & Cheese ❂ 2024 ~ Part II ❂

A few days past time for me to start my Spring Thread.

Here's the photo I promised of my Kirk's much loved and recently lost cat, Domino. (Curled up and posing with a Godzilla plushie.) Today we took some of her fur down to the bay and set it adrift.

So far this year I have read 18 books and listened to 8, so I am at 26 books 'consumed.'

Right now I am reading Poor Things and poyums and listening to Pandora's Jar.

Happy new thread and condolences to the family on the loss of the pet.

>1 clamairy:
Domino looks beautiful. Kirk must be in bits. It is always hard.

>2 clamairy: I look forward to reading your thoughts on Poor Things.

Your consumed book count for 2024 is impressive. I hope you have many great books in your coming reads.

>3 Karlstar: Thank you.

>4 pgmcc: When they are young and it's completely unexpected the impact of their loss can be very difficult to face. But it is painful at all stages of their lives, no matter how hard we try to brace ourselves.

Thank you, Poor Things has been awesome so far. I'm just past the ½ way mark.

>1 clamairy: oh Domino is lovely. I love her big plushy feets. I hope you all have plenty of good memories to carry you.

>6 Darth-Heather: Thank you. I didn't get to spend much time with her, but she was very sweet. I'm just so sad for my son.

>1 clamairy: *hugs* for Kirk. Such a lovely kitty.

May your spring reading be joyful, renewing and abundant!

So sorry about Domino...

I hope this spring thread brings you many good books.

>1 clamairy: Loads of sympathy to Kirk about Domino. She looks a lot like our Astrid, who loves bed-warming, cuddling (and bopping hoomins), eating and purring. So even more sympathy at losing a treasured Companion.

What a beauty Domino was. I'm so sorry she's left you already. Lots of sympathy to you all.

>8 MrsLee:, >9 Alexandra_book_life:, >10 hfglen: & >11 Sakerfalcon: Many thanks.

>1 clamairy: Such a lovely photo. I'm so sorry to hear of Domino's passing.

>1 clamairy: I'm sorry Kirk lost such a regal gal. I hope he has lots of good snuggle memories to help him remember Domino.

Well, that was interesting! I decided to read this after I watched the Oscar winning (for best actress) film version a few weeks ago. The book definitely does a better (and less jarring) job of telling the tale of Bella Baxter. However, the book muddies its own waters (intentionally) by telling different versions of the same events. A lot of fun, and some very memorable bits! Here are just two:

"... poor-houses where children are divided from parents and husbands from wives—places so deliberately grim that people with a spark of self-respect spend their last few pennies on cheap gin and die of exposure in ditches rather than enter them. That is how we have organized the world’s richest industrial nation and it works very well.”

“Natives,” said Mr. Astley carefully, “are people who live on the soil where they were born, and do not want to leave it. Not many English can be regarded as natives because we have a romantic preference for other people’s soils..."

Thank you to pgmcc for the nudge to give this author a try.

I have started Drums Along the Mohawk, and have already been sucked in. It's both an era (the American Revolutionary War) and a specific location (the Mohawk River Valley in NY) that I am very interested in.

Oh boy. I don't know if I can speak rationally about Pandora's Jar. I am very thankful for the many plays of Euripides that shed light on the women of mythology, because these same women barely exist in the margins of most of the other works that have survived to this day. This audio book is read by the author, Natalie Haynes and she's awesome.

I think I would like to attempt to watch a few of the plays mentioned, but I am not sure I could get through any of them.

Thanks to Bookmarque for recommending this one.

I have already started listening to Entangled Life.

>16 clamairy:. I have a print copy of Pandora's Jar somewhere around in the living room, but haven't yet gotten around to reading it. (In part, because I am still reading one of the other titles you'd recommended. Can you slow down a bit and allow some of us the chance to catch up? I am jogging along here in my own little lane but between your BBs and those flung by pgmcc, my TBR is getting taller and taller.

>17 jillmwo: Hahaha! No promises! I have had A Thousand Ships by the same author languishing on my Kindle for ages. I believe we are all in the same boat. We have such good intentions, but not enough hours in the day. And the TBR stacks, both physical and virtual, continue to grow.

Woo hoo! I'm so glad you liked it. Usually author-read books are a no-go for me, but she did a great job. I have Divine Might on my wishlist at Audible. Similar idea, but with goddesses rather than mere mythological figures. Ha!

>16 clamairy: Pandora's Jar was really good! I've been meaning to read more by Natalie Haynes.

>19 Bookmarque: Thanks for the heads up. That looks good, too. I think I'm going to read some of her fiction soon(ish.)

>20 Alexandra_book_life: I was very impressed with the level of scholarship.

I did some Googling and apparently all of Euripides' plays are available to view on YouTube.

I found this article fascinating. I love the guy who gets fixated on one topic and reads everything he can find, both fiction and nonfiction.

Shared as a gift, so no paywall!
Super readers share their tips.
https://wapo.st/3IZ8K5y

>22 clamairy: Yes, but 350 to 400 pages PER DAY? I was looking at something today that was only 150 pages and doubted whether I'd be able to get through it this weekend. I only qualify for the minor leagues compared to your guy.

But how did you compare to the woman who mostly only did audio books?

>23 jillmwo: I was impressed that she was doing them at three times normal speed. That's how I talk when I've had too much caffeine, but I don't think my comprehension could keep up with that pace at all. I could possibly do fiction at twice normal speed, but definitely not nonfiction. LOL

Edited to add: Audible adapts the voice if you speed it up, but there have been some apps I've used in the past where the narrator starts to sound like one of the Chipmunks if you speed it up.

>22 clamairy: That's a lot of reading! I need to cut back on my TV and computer time and read more, but unlike that one guy, I don't think I can read straight through from 4:30 to 8:30 in the morning, my vision is just not up for that. >24 clamairy: I like to watch/listen to podcasts at 1.5x, but I'm actually trying to discourage myself from doing that too much, unless the speaker is a slow talker. It is starting to feel like a bad habit. Faster than 1.5x and I feel like I'm not giving the person the right level of attention. That's just me.

>23 jillmwo: I don't think I could do that much reading every day. Maybe?

>25 Karlstar: I don't think I could sit still for for four hours unless I was sick. I can read for a couple of hours in the evening when I'm tired out, and in bed an night when I can keep my eyes open.

As far as speeding books up to squeeze more of them in goes, the listening experience for me is as much about enjoyment as accomplishment. I just tried to speed up Entangled life and it sounded choppy. I might try it again and see if it smooths out because he is a bit of a slow narrator, but I think I might find that choppiness too annoying to get past.

I look forward to reading this much when I retire. I'm between jobs right now and I can easily read for 6 hours most days. It's so sweet.

>27 reconditereader: I can do six hours total, I can't do six hours in one go. Hmmm... Let me take that back. I'm pretty sure I came very close to doing six hours straight more than once last Summer when I was getting over COVID.

I'm glad you're able to take advantage of your free time!

It's easy to do 6 hours straight. Just get a book that really grips you, start reading it before bedtime, and make sure that you have something really important happening at work the next day, like a big presentation. You'll find that you don't put the book down until it's finished, probably around 3 or 4am. Never fails.

>29 MrAndrew: Ha! Yes. Or an important DR's appointment at the crack of dawn...

I finished Drums Along the Mohawk the other day. This was a BB from ludmillalotaria, and I would like to say thank you for the reminder to read this. I enjoyed this book, though it was rough to read in places, and being almost 100 years old there is quite of bit of racism and sexism. That said, the story is still engrossing. I had no idea how difficult it was for the settlers of this area during that period. I won't get into the fact they were living on stolen land. I had no idea there was such anger felt by these predominantly German & Dutch settlers in this part of Upstate NY for the 'Yankees' in New England who were mainly of English descent. The armies they were fighting were English and Native American, and both side were guilty of horrific war crimes.

This book has been on my TBR since I was working in the Historical Room at the East Granby Public Library. The 300+ year old remains of a copper mine that was turned into a prison for the Tories and British spies during the American Revolution was located in town, and I read a history of the mine back in 2016. (It's Newgate of Connecticut, Its Origin and Early History by Richard H Phelps. At the time the mines were excavated the property was in the town of Simsbury.) I had also been down into the mine back in 2001 before they closed it for renovations. It was extremely creepy, and I had no trouble recalling the place while reading the bits in the book that take place there.

Here's a photo of the ruins of the prison on the surface as it looks today:



Here is one from underground:

>31 clamairy: My son and his wife bought a house in Simsbury. I will have to share your information with them.

>32 jillmwo: Cool! I hope they have many happy years there.

>31 clamairy: Photos of prisons send chills down my spine. Modern as well as ancient. I went to visit Alcatraz and have dark memories still. A good deterrent to leave a life of crime to others! *shudder*

>31 clamairy: Very interesting.

>34 MrsLee: just think, if you had never visited Alcatraz, your life might have taken a totally different direction. I'm thinking professional jewel thief.

>31 clamairy: Glad you found it engrossing. I know these older books can strike readers so differently. Thanks for the pics. So interesting that so much of the mine/prison ruins are still there.

>37 ludmillalotaria: If he mentioned how greasy and foul smelling the Native Americans were one more time I think my head would have exploded. Did he think all those unwashed settlers smelled good to the "Indians?" And his treatment of Nancy, who was obviously Intellectual disabled, was also a bit tough to read. Don't get me started on his descriptions of the slaves. Still, I was mostly able to get past much of that. I gave it four stars.

>36 MrAndrew: Ah the twists and turns our lives take. It was either jewel thief or assassin, but one small trip put and end to all that.

>39 MrsLee: Officially, at least.

>36 MrAndrew: & >39 MrsLee: I like the idea of jewel thievery as your hobby.

>41 clamairy: Full disclosure. I have a LOT of shiny bits and bobs of jewelry. Almost all costume though. *She said convincingly. *

And your garden has suspicious mounds.

Into the Riverlands, parts three of The Singing Hills Cycle was quite good. In fact I enjoyed it almost as much as the first book, The Empress of Salt and Fortune. Thank you Tor, for giving me the second book in this series for free, which forced me to buy and read the first one. LOL Yes, that might sound like sarcasm, but it isn't. They are good fun.

Does anyone know why Tor is no longer giving away freebeies?

I am already halfway through An Enchantment of Ravens, which came highly recommended by my daughter as a lightweight good vibe read.

>44 clamairy: This is such a nice series! I am looking forward to reading Mammoths at the Gates soon (ish).

>45 Alexandra_book_life: Me, too. I snagged that one when it was on sale, but I'm saving it for a later date.

>46 clamairy: I read both Into the Riverlands and Mammoths at the Gates a couple of weeks ago. All four novellas are delightful.

I snagged the first two when they were TOR freebies and borrowed the other two via Libby/Overdrive. I don't know what is up with TOR giveaways but I suspect they are going through some things over there, what with the name change and everything. Maybe freebies are now a thing of the past?

I borrowed the 3rd one from OverDrive as well. (I'm so thankful they have almost everything I look for.) I only paid $2.99 for the other two, but they wanted $11.99 for the 3rd book. I might snag it if it goes on sale.

I went into An Enchantment of Ravens with relatively low expectations, because it's a YA romance/fantasy, but I ended up enjoying it, despite the over-the-top bits. I like her writing style, and may give the better rated Sorcery of Thorns a shot at some point if I need a palate cleanser.

I have already finished roughly half of our own dodger 's just published book A Gentle Slope*, and I am hooked.

*I guess it's so new that I can't use a touchstone! https://www.librarything.com/work/31909242/

>49 clamairy: I’ve enjoyed all of Rogerson’s books so far, but especially enjoyed the characters in SoT. I hope we’ll get a new Vespertine book this year! She’s one of the few newish writers that have impressed me with the elegance of her prose and storytelling.

>50 ludmillalotaria: Plus there was just enough humor in this one to keep me from rolling my eyes at the overly mushy bits. Does SoT have the same humor?

>51 clamairy:, yes, I think so. It’s been a few years since I read it. I think SoT has a better plot and balance of what the author does well. I also preferred the character dynamics in SoT to that of AEoR. I listened to SoT on audio (library book) though, so not sure if anything would strike me differently upon reading the text. The eBook is on my wishlist to buy, because I enjoyed it enough to want to own it and read again when I’m in the mood for a comfort read. Also, the author wrote a follow-up novella that I read last year which reinforced how much I enjoyed the characters and world of SoT.

>52 ludmillalotaria: Thank you. It's now on my Libby wishlist.

Seconding >52 ludmillalotaria:'s opinions on Sorcery of Thorns vs. An Enchantment of Ravens. Sorcery of Thorns also has a magical library which is always a plus in my book. I read it in print the first time and audio the second time and both were great experiences. Vespertine is also very good. I'm eagerly awaiting whatever Rogerson does next.

I finished dodger's book, The Gentle Slope. It's a solid first entry in a series. The pacing is perfect. There were so many red herrings! I am hoping main character, reporter Jakob Larson, gets fleshed out a bit more in subsequent books. I enjoyed his growing friendship with his co-worker, especially her banter.

I have already started The Morningside, which is post-apocalyptic fiction, written by the same author as The Tiger's Wife, which I adored. I am enjoying this one quite a bit so far.

I am still listening to Entangled Life, and I am not making as much progress as I should. I want to work outside, but the weather has been weird. Today I went to the beach to take a walk and the sky opened up. By the time I got home the sun was out again, so I decided to walk to the marina and the private beach I never use, and when I was about a mile from home the sky opened up again. Now the sun is blasting, but hear thunder booming. (I don't listen to audiobooks while I walk, except occasionally on the treadmill.)

>55 clamairy: I think you may have clicked on the wrong touchstone for The Morningside as the author shown is different from the one displayed for The Tiger's Wife.

Just intended as a heads-up!

>56 jillmwo: 💩 I know I had it right at one point, but I edited the post and it must have slipped back into the wrong title. Thank you for the heads up! I have fixed it.

>52 ludmillalotaria:, >54 curioussquared: I strongly agree with you both. EoR was too heavy on the romance for me (I am not a fan of insta-love but SoT was wonderful. I need to get to Vespertine, it's on my kindle but I keep forgetting it's there!

>55 clamairy: I really want to read The Morningside ; I look forward to your thoughts on it.

Hope your weather settles down. The thunderclaps sound alarming!

The Morningside was a disappointment. Don't waste your time. I gave it 3½ stars because I like her writing style, and the sense of place & time, but it just didn't deliver the goods. I like my post-apocalyptic fiction with a bit less WooWoo.

I've already started The Bone Harp, and I am having a bit of trouble getting into it. I will hang in there.

>59 clamairy: The Bone Harp is slow... I can imagine that it might put some readers off. There is magic there, though (imo, of course!). Good luck :)

>59 clamairy: Thanks for the warning re: The Morningside. If I see it in a kindle 99p deal I might grab it, but I shan't bother otherwise.

>60 Alexandra_book_life: It didn't take long. I think I'm about ¼ of the way in and I'm hooked.

>61 Sakerfalcon: It wasn't terrible, but I'm glad it was less than 300 pages.

>62 clamairy: I'm glad to hear that! :)

I finished The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard the other day, but I just haven't had time to write about it. Plus, I was still digesting it. This is such a beautiful story. I was put off a wee bit in the beginning by some of the repetition. (Tamsin spends quite a bit a time reaching for his sword.) But I began to realize this is not just just the tale of a bard, and that bard's fall and redemption, it's also a tale told somewhat in the manner of a bard's song, with certain phrases and themes acting as refrains.

It's not perfect, and the refrains/rephrasing doesn't always work, but when it does... watch out!

Five stars from me.

I have since started reading Starling House, and the change in voice & location have been a bit of a shock. I am enjoying it, though.

I bought Entangled Life as a trade paperback on Meredy's recommendation a few years back, and my daughter was enjoying it so much she absconded with it. I snagged it as an Audible book when it was on sale. I finally got to listen to it. I did thoroughly enjoy it, although it seemed a tad slow to get going. It is read by the author and he is very soft-spoken, so it took me a bit to get used to that. It is very detailed. I now have a massive amount of respect for all of the fungi in the world, and for all of the people who study them. Thank you, Meredy!

I have started listening to Catch-22, and it is at times like this that I am very thankful that I still have excellent bladder control. It is hilarious.

>65 clamairy: I love that bookcover.

>66 MrsLee: It is very cool, isn't it?

>64 clamairy: I hope you love Starling House as much as I did!

>68 Sakerfalcon: Thank you! It's good so far. I am pretty clueless as to what is actually happening. (But I'm okay with that!)

>64 clamairy: I am very happy that you loved Bone Harp! It's such a magical book :)

>64 clamairy:. I know I have The Bone Harp on my Kindle and now that I know that you (as someone whose tastes closely correlate with my own) have ranked it that highly, I'll be moving it up in the queue. Many thanks for the feedback on it.