dtrpath27

Glad to hear it!

Good to know! I even went as far as to check it out of the library once, but still haven't read it.

Ha ha! You would be dying in New Orleans. I still think of the little girl I saw bundled up with earmuffs and mittens the day it got in the lower 50s (nice springtime weather elsewhere in the States). Her parents were taking no chances!

My computer has started sending the Windows 10 message as well. So. Completely. Frustrating. I hate that they are just doing this without permission.

I just started The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. It seems promising.

That's where I used to live! The weather is fantastic, so I bet she is having a hard time. There aren't a lot of gray days compared with up North, and it's pretty warm most of the year. I remember my first year living in New Orleans, I giggled at everyone complaining about the cold on a day that was in the 60s. (Where I'm originally from, one doesn't start complaining about the cold until it's in the twenties or teens.) By the following year, I was every bit as bad as the natives, though, in terms of not being able to handle the cold!

Hello, Kate! It's nice to be back. How are things in Louisiana? My family was just talking today about how much we miss it. All the pictures on FB of all the fun everyone is having and delicious food everyone is eating doesn't help! On books, this one was an extreme case for me as well. I'm usually ruthless when it comes to dropping a dud, but this one really seemed like it might be interesting -- but the interest never materialized. Oh well. Can't win them all.

Okay, I did manage to do it, but only by dividing it into children's lit and current top ten lists. (Only a little bit of cheating!) Children's Literature Little House in the Big Woods The Secret Garden The Voyage of the Dawn Treader The Crazy Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Tom Sawyer The Borrowers The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The Diary of Anne Frank Little Men The Collected Works of the Brothers Grimm Current Top Ten Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde Malice by Higashino Keigo Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley The Dark Age by Jason Gurley (short story) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card The Humans by Matt Haig

I'm so glad you enjoyed the audition -- fingers crossed!

That's how I felt. It was fine at first, but then at some point I lost my connection with the characters. Once that happens, there's no hope. It wasn't horrible in the beginning -- not remarkable, but not horrible either. I finally managed to skim through to the end this morning. The book was put in a book swap before noon.

Have you ever had a book that you can't finish? Not as in you lose interest in the first 50 pages, but as in you get to the home stretch -- 50 pages to go -- and you can't bring yourself to wrap it up. No interest left to even find out what's going to happen. I've been reading The Transcriptionist for what feels like an eternity. Normally, when I get to the last 100 pages of a book, I am racing to the end. With this book, I really don't care. I was enjoying it at first. I'm not sure where the line was crossed. 44 pages to go, and I don't think I can do it.

Has anyone read Little Paris Bookshop? I keep seeing it, but not reading it.

@annabegins: That is so funny about your dog! @gaia: I do have the replacement set. Sadly, my daughter has zero interest in reading them. Every once in a while, I'll pull one out and have a read. My favorite parts are the sugaring off dance from the Big Woods, and a part from one of the later books that I won't spoil.

I finished The Girl With All the Gifts about a week ago. I actually I really enjoyed it.

It sounds like you need a break! Visiting with family is fun but exhausting.

Virginia, laughter really is the best medicine, isn't it? Stress and anxiety really take their toll, but it sounds like you're taking a lot of positive steps. I just got home from the first big event I had to publicize for work, and we had a 15% increase in attendance! I had hoped for more, but I'm pleased with those numbers -- it's a step in the right direction. I'm pretty tired from being in the sun all day, but it was a lot of fun. I even got to get in (ahem, fall in) the pool and cool off a bit.

Ha! I know -- and for the same reasons, nontheless.

It sounds really interesting. Let me know how you like it.

Yes! You're up next. Did you like the bookish twist?

What a lucky find! The Little Free Libraries are great, but are hit or miss. I'm glad you found something you like. By the Shores of Silver Lake wasn't my favorite Little House book either, but it's still a wonderful series. As a child, we read it to death, so my mom got each of us our own replacement set.

Another bookshop book is The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend.

About 100 pages into The Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland. I've put off starting it for awhile, but I'm actually really enjoying it. It's slow-moving (perhaps deliberate is a better word?) and unique. It's set in the recent past, but it seems ages ago, so it's a bit surreal to me.

Thanks so much, ladies. It's nice to be back -- and reading -- again. Things are going well right now and settling down. I'm resisting the urge to bring work home, and am using my evenings for some guilt-free reading and relaxation.

This is an interesting topic. Hmm... I am like Hermione from Harry Potter in her propensity for being a rule-follower. I am like Don Tillman from The Rosie Project with my tendency to over-analyze everything. (Maybe not quite as much as he does, though.) Resourceful, determined, and hard-working like Laura Ingalls Wilder Passionate and creative like Jo from Little Women A bit of a daydreamer and honey-eater like Pooh

Okay -- I had to Google it to find the answer, though -- Krakow, Poland. I'm going to tweak mine a bit and add a bookish twist: This island is the setting of a series of books about a headstrong, yet loveable, red-headed orphan. Where am I?