Peacefield

But it's oh-so deliciously scary and fabulous, Anna!! I love this one, definitely in my top 10!

I can think of one thing in particular that should NOT have happened, Athena! I watched Mad Max: Fury Road this weekend and aside from the silly musical rig with a suspended guitar player in the front and drummers in the back, I quite enjoyed it! Not normally a movie in my wheel house, but I'm glad I saw it!

Yes, that's exactly what a farmer's tan is, Frankie! Dads always sport things like that My dad was fond of not wearing a shirt at all but he wore pants all the time so he looked so silly with a completely tanned upper half and white as can be legs! He was one of those pale Norwegian/English types LOL I haven't yet started a new book. I can't decide what mood I'm in or if I'm in one at all. Lots on my mind which is the cause, I suspect. My friend just finished In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume so I might check that out. Have any of you read it?

One that I'd highly recommend is called Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo. Which is a true account of the New Jersey shore shark attacks of 1917. It's not true crime, but oh-so interesting and fascinating! I loved it .

Like many others here, Dumas and Dickens are tops for me 1. The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 2. A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 3. Great Expectations Charles Dickens

I'll have to think more on this, but War and Peace also comes to mind for me, as well as The Iliad and The Odyssey. I'll also say that several of Iain Pears' novels are close to or over 600 pages and while at first they seemed intimidating, once I started I felt good and was overwhelmingly happy that I read them by the time I finished.

Who knew a vest top could inspire so many interesting little details?! I do quite like the term 'waistcoat,' although that and the term 'singlet' are never used here, at least in my neck of the woods. Frankie, I am in constant awe of Chevalier's novels. I'm so sad this latest is over already and I have to wait again for something new from her! Also, you need to resurrect your Languages and Culture thread so we can have more discussions like this one . Admit away, Kylie! A tank top is pretty much the norm here during the summer. People in MN do an awful lot of outdoor activities during those months and who wants to go out with a farmers tan? That's a very interesting piece of information about the origins of 'tarmac,' Willoyd! I'm very curious about how a word with that background came to be used here, exclusively for airport runways. I finished Lament last night and it was very meh. I'm underwhelmed by it I can't even think of anything to say! Ha! Not sure what I'm going to read next, but rest assured it won't be fluff! I need serious again.

I Googled 'singlet' and got some interesting-looking photos of men in what reminded me of a wrestling uniform, Chesil! One of them even had a huge cat face on it! I guess we call 'vest' and 'singlet' tops here 'tank' tops.

I could've sworn I voted before but it let me vote again today so I did, though it displeased me to have to choose the 41-50 bracket!

Very interesting, Athena! The author in this case is American but when I looked on the back of the book the only pricing it had was in British pounds, so I assumed it was published there. I knew what 'boot' meant, and yes, we call that a 'trunk' here (which was the context of this book). Also we use the term 'tarmac' but only when referring to airports and runways - "the plane is out on the tarmac," etc. For the roads we drive on, we use the terms 'concrete,' 'cement,' and 'asphalt.' I can imagine how tricky it can be sometimes if your first language isn't English, Athena, and you're trying to work out two different versions of it.

Yes, one of my favorite genres, Bobbly! After finishing the Chevalier I started Maggie Steifvater's Lament and am a little over halfway through. It's pretty good, but I believe I more prefer her 'Mercy Falls' books. For some reason her faerie premise isn't as promising as wolves! This one is also throwing me off a bit because without realizing it I purchased a UK copy. No biggie reading words with a 'u' in them, but the metric measurements and words like 'boot' and 'tarmac' make me pause Oh, and 'vest' tops! I forgot what those are, can someone remind me? I'm used to those words here on BCF, but not necessarily in my reading .

I finished At the Edge of the Orchard on Saturday. There's a special place in my heart for Tracy Chevalier's writing and that was reaffirmed after reading this latest of hers. How she always knows which subjects interest me the most and then writes about them is pretty miraculous Orchard was an especially peaceful book, I thought, and I learned a LOT. Not only about trees, but also about certain aspects of American pioneer life in the midwest as well as on the west coast. Plus, who knew that it was a 'thing' to have giant Sequoias and Redwoods on English estates in the 1800's?? Such a lovely read . Here is a synopsis from Amazon since I'm sure my little blurb wasn't much of a review 1838: James and Sadie Goodenough have settled where their wagon got stuck – in the muddy, stagnant swamps of northwest Ohio. They and their five children work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying saplings from a local tree man known as John Appleseed so they can cultivate the fifty apple trees required to stake their claim on the property. But the orchard they plant sows the seeds of a long battle. James loves the apples, reminders of an easier life back in Connecticut; while Sadie prefers the applejack they make, an alcoholic refuge from brutal frontier life. 1853: Their youngest child Robert is wandering through Gold Rush California. Restless and haunted by the broken family he left behind, he has made his way alone across the country. In the redwood and giant sequoia groves he finds some solace, collecting seeds for a naturalist who sells plants from the new world to the gardeners of England. But you can run only so far, even in America, and when Robert’s past makes an unexpected appearance he must decide whether to strike out again or stake his own claim to a home at last.

I finished At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier on Saturday night and yesterday started Lament by Maggie Steifvater.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of The Little Friend when you get around to reading it, Bobbly!

I'm in a church, at night, and I've just gone all telekinetic-like and caused a yellow rose to bloom in my hand. Oh, and there's this insanely cute guy watching what I'm doing . Lament - Maggie Stiefvater

I did it with one of my recent books, I'll admit it. I read a little at the end because I suspected I was being tricked and since I hate those kinds of endings, I had to look ahead. Luckily It was not a 'gotcha!' ending so I read the rest of the book . I've done it a handful of times in the past, because if I'm only feeling so-so about a book, I really don't want to waste what little time I have for reading on it.

I'm so pleased you enjoyed this book, Muggle Not! I felt like Krueger perfectly captured decades-old small town life here in MN. In the early 70's it wasn't much different - I remember listening to baseball and disappearing after school for hours playing, and not having to be home until the street lights came on. I'm sure it was like that all over the country way back when. I just remember feeling how quiet this book felt, and how lovely that was!

I read the first 20 pages of At the Edge of the Orchard last night but couldn't read more as my eyes were very droopy.

I feel the same, DC and A&D are the best out of the bunch. I did read Inferno, yes. My relationship with Brown has evolved into the fact that while I like the history and settings of his books, I'm not excited at all about the story. But that's just me!

I finished The Asylum this morning and loved it. John Harwood writes creepy like few can, and this one is tops! I believe I'll start the new Chevalier next - At the Edge of the Orchard.

Hey there and welcome to BCF, Steve! I think I've read all but one of Brown's novels and I enjoyed Angels & Demons the most. Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird before? If not you're in for a major treat!

Yahoo!!

You work at a university, still, right Noll? And how are your housemate's doing? I keep meaning to ask you. Happy relaxing weekend to you, Claire! I thought maybe I was falling for an early April Fool's joke yesterday at work, but unfortunately not. We were given the news that some departments are going to be outsourced in 2017 I know my particular team will be impacted, but it's unclear right now by how much. I have my 17 year anniversary this year with my company and I honestly wasn't expecting this. Hopefully when it's all said and done I'll still have a job but you never know. So, I'm going to try my best not to be too sad this weekend and focus on other things. At least it's pay day today, right??

Yay!! I'm so sorry I missed this post before! I love Nancy's voice On the opposite end of the musical spectrum, I'm listening to the only Snoop Dog song in my collection, Signs.

Chilly but sunny here, and there's frost over everything. It's 35f (1c) out but hopefully it'll warm up this afternoon!