Happy Halloween

 Hope you have a sweet and spooky Halloween 🎃

Jack o' lanterns used to be carved from turnips. This one is in the National Museum of Ireland in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

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Beginnings and Endings

 The dawn of a new day as seen from the bed in my temporary digs:

This day marks the last day of summertime as we move the clocks back an hour in the middle of the night tonight. I look forward to the dark evenings and long nights all year so I'm thrilled that this day has arrived!

I think this black grass in one of my friend's gardens is very cool.

If there were some orange flowers around it, it would be ready for Halloween. 🎃

I might ask to take a small bit home to plant there. Also some rosemary--there's a huge plant outside. I like it as an infusion in the cooler weather--it's especially good with lemon. I cut a couple of pieces yesterday in between rain showers and I have lemons, so I'll enjoy some later. The same friend gave me lemon balm seeds last year so I now have a thriving lemon balm plant in my kitchen. A couple months ago she gave me an applemint plant, which is doing very well on my kitchen windowsill. I was going to plant it outside, but since it's happy where it is, I think I'll wait until spring. Those two also make an excellent infusion, either individually or combined. I used to love Tazo Tea Zen blend, which is a mint-lemon combination. I don't see that tea here, but I can now make my own version--at least when I'm at home.

When we went to get some groceries the other day, I stopped at the small section of Polish and Ukrainian food and spotted a box of tea bags--black tea with raspberry and vanilla (it's apparently Ukrainian). I had to get a box to try it. We both love it, so I plan to get more boxes while we're here so I can bring some home. And my friend gave me a few boxes of Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder tea which, like the Zen tea, isn't something I find here. I love it though, so am thrilled to have a supply. One thing I love about the cool/cold weather is sitting down with a nice hot beverage--it's one of the simple joys of the seasons for me. For some reason, when it's chilly I tend to want more tea. I drink both coffee and tea year round, but more tea in winter and more coffee in summer, so it's good to be prepared.

As summertime ends, I don't think I'll be awake to see daybreak tomorrow morning--at least I hope not, since it's going to be an hour earlier and today was already too early for me. Fortunately the dog isn't an early riser either. But I will certainly enjoy the beginning of wintertime and the start of the season of long nights. Good-bye to the 'grand stretch in the evening' that people go on about. Hello to chilly darkness outside, soft lighting and a cozy atmosphere inside, with cups of tea, woolly shawls, peace and quiet. 

Whatever you're doing in your part of the world today, I hope it's pleasant.

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Picking Up Where We Left Off

 We have revisited our roles as humble servants and professional dogball players. We're caring for the furry boss man once again, this time in his own neighborhood. He wasted no time in making it clear where we were to begin our duties.

Let the games begin!

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Vegan (or Not) Creamy Veg Soup

 I've been making this soup on repeat lately. It's so simple yet so good. I often make it with a few basic ingredients, but sometimes add more. It's so versatile and can be made in many different ways, but here's my basic process. I don't measure and it's really not necessary. It's just whatever you like, really, in whatever amounts suit you.

To make this soup, I rinse some red lentils and leave them to soak for 15 minutes while I chop up (into fairly small pieces) an onion, a red bell pepper, some carrots, floury potatoes (we like roosters), and some garlic. A glug of olive oil in a saucepan and in go the veggies, except for the red lentils and spuds. I sweat the veg, stirring all the while, for just a few minutes. Then I add the spuds and lentils, stir everything together and add either water and a couple of bouillon cubes or stock/broth, if I have any. I add just enough liquid to cover the veg completely--I don't want a runny soup. Cook for 10 or 15 minutes or until the veg is tender. Stir in whatever herbs and/or spices you like. I use dill and oregano. Crushed chilli would be yummy, too. Then I use my stick blender to puree a little bit, leaving some veggies chunks. It's so good. I always make extra so we can have leftovers. It's so creamy without any cream. 

The color in the photo is quite pale--the actual soup is more orange from the carrots and red pepper. 

Broccoli is a nice addition to the veggie mix here--peeled stem and all. Cauliflower, too. If you like sweet potatoes or squash, that would probably work (I've never tried it). Corn is nice added after the pureeing. Fresh herbs sprinkled on top would be tasty--chives, parsley, fennel fronds. There are a gazillion ways to make creamy veg soup, whether vegan or not. This is my favorite way and I expect I'll continue to make it right the way through soup season.

Are you a soup fan? What's your favorite?

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October: Mid-Month Reading Wrap Up

 Well somehow we find ourselves past a halfway point of October. It's been a lovely peaceful month so far. For many reasons I remain grateful to be where I am and not where I've been. As always, I've been reading. Here's what I've read in the first half of the month.

The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (read on the Serial Reader app)

I was watching a booktube video a few weeks ago and the person said she was going to read this book in Victober (a booktube event in which people read Victorian literature in October). I was at the end of the Serial Reader book I was reading and remembered this book being on the list there. Also, since it's a Gothic novel, it seemed good for spooky season, so I selected it and started reading a little every day. It's a novella so not a long book. It's weird. The story is about a mad scientist sort of chap who has a friend come to watch an experiment in which he does something to the brain of a young woman he has raised for the purpose so she can 'see the great god Pan.' The friend, who is writing a book attempting to provide proof that Satan exists, reluctantly agrees to witness the experiment but is horrified at the resulting mental breakdown of the young woman, Mary. Nevertheless, he writes down what he sees. Then the story leaps forward to some disturbing experiences various people have when in the company of a woman called Helen Vaughan until it reaches the conclusion in which things are explained. Nothing is graphically described in the book, but rather implied. This didn't stop people from being scandalized in 1894 when it was published. I didn't love it and didn't hate it. It was OK.

The Nazi Conscience By Claudia Koonz (borrowed from the library)

I was reading an article about the role of women in extremist right wing movements in which Koonz was quoted. I'd read her book about Nazi women, but I hadn't read this one, so I requested it from the library. It's an excellent book that explains how the Nazis--who were not that popular at first-- got people to gradually get used to and comfortable with the obscene and horrific ideas and actions that would follow. How did they use various aspects of culture to spread their vile ideas and make them not only palatable, but righteous? As Koonz says, "The road to Auschwitz was paved with righteousness." (p 3)  She goes on to say, "In this book, I examine the incursion of a secular ethnic faith into an area of human life traditionally assigned to religion: the formation of a conscience." (p 3) She does this quite well, illustrating how this was done and what resulted from it. It's impossible to read today without applying her arguments to what's going on in various places in the world today. Of course, I am most familiar with the States (no point calling them 'united' states, which would be rather absurd) and it's particularly glaring there as the cult of the red hat follows the same basic playbook. It was interesting to be reminded of how the Nazis were inspired by the Jim Crow laws and other racial discrimination in the States and now we see the current regime in the States taking inspiration from the Nazis--a deplorable full circle of hate. I suppose authoritarians keep playing the same game over and over with culturally appropriate adaptations. And somehow people keep falling for this stuff over and over again or they think that what worked in other places won't work in their own country. It can happen anywhere and Claudia Koonz has done a fine job of showing us exactly how. 

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (e-audiobook from BorrowBox)

A Shedunnit podcast episode several weeks ago was a deep dive into this book. When it came out, I thought I'd re-read it before listening to the pod. But then I remembered that BorrowBox had an audiobook read by Joan Hickson who is THE Miss Marple, so I decided to put myself in the queue for that and wait to listen to the pod after I'd listened to the audiobook. I loved it, although I did have to remind myself frequently that it was the vicar telling the story and not Miss Marple. Joan Hickson's voice is associated in my mind with Miss Marple so I kept hearing things from her point of view until something happened to remind me that it was the vicar. This is the first Miss Marple novel. Before this book she had always appeared in short stories. So in this book, readers are introduced to her village, St Mary Mead, and some of the characters that will appear in future Marple novels. We also get a sense of Jane Marple's understanding of the wickedness of humans and human nature. She is a realist, a woman with a sharp mind, and someone with great powers of observation. She is also dismissed as an annoying old busybody, which is actually helpful. Sometimes it's useful to be underestimated. When one of the church wardens is found dead in the vicar's office, suspects abound. There are mysterious newcomers to the village, interpersonal squabbles, and various people confessing. The police are baffled. The vicar is baffled. Miss Marple is not baffled. Eventually, the vicar admits Miss Marple isn't who he thought she was. The police just take credit for solving the mystery, but they'll meet Marple again. 

Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp (borrowed from the library)

This is an outstanding book. Kemp begins by pointing out that human history is the story of power struggles, which he says can be categorized into four different types of state control: "control of decision-making, including by setting up a centralized government; control of the resources that others depend on, such as the wheat and rice that people eat every day; control through threats of violence; and control of information to understand and manipulate others, whether by a bureaucracy, a priesthood, or a big tech company." (p 1) He also points out that it depends on who is being controlled by the states--the size, skills, and health of the population under control matters. Every state throughout history has ended at some point, although not always in the form of collapse. Kemp is clear-eyed about what we call civilization really is. He (correctly, in my view) states that, "The problem is that most of us are uncomfortable in recognizing the most common element of civilization: rule through domination." (p 5)

 So what does he mean by a Goliath? "A Goliath is a collection of hierarchies in which some individuals dominate others to control energy and labour." (p 5) Goliaths arose when human societies began organizing themselves much like our cousins, the chimpanzees do, featuring dominance hierarchies, social ranking, and violence. All Goliaths contain the seeds of their own destruction and collapse has repeatedly occurred, whether quickly and catastrophically or slowly and imperceptibly. Collapse doesn't necessarily mean the cultures and people who created the collapsed cultures disappear, but that societies are transformed into something different. Some societies are even better off after collapse. Kemp carefully and thoroughly lays out his arguments and the reasoning behind them. He draws on work from across many disciplines to explain our human evolutionary history which brought us to our present Global Goliath, why we're in danger of collapse from many different directions, and what we can do about it. The threats we face are multi-faceted and have to do with our own psychology, the fact that cultural evolution moves faster that biological evolution does, our destruction of our habitat, and more. The solutions he offers are probably good ones, but even he admits that they are highly unlikely to actually be implemented, humans being what we are. I loved this book. If it was mine, I would've had notes everywhere. It is a book about collapse and the possibility of the extinction of homo sapiens, but I found it oddly uplifting in it's directness. I do expect things to fall apart and I don't see any reason why our species of human would not go extinct and/or evolve. That's what has happened before when there were several human species wandering around the planet until only we were left. That doesn't mean we're invincible. We're another species on the planet and the only one who happens to have created systems and societies that aren't actually well adapted in the long run to the natural world in which we live. Natural disasters aren't the only reason for collapse. We humans are very creative and seem to be quite good at finding ways to harm ourselves. I highly recommend this fascinating and very accessible book.

The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly (borrowed from the library)

This is a British Library Crime Classics publication. It was a strange book. I think it was described as unique. Indeed. An elderly Russian countess is found deceased in her dingy bed in her dingy flat. Jewels and other valuable items are missing. Where are they? Did she die of natural causes? Did someone kill her? An investigation ensues. This wasn't my favorite BLCC book by any means. I don't think I would seek out more by this author, although there's not much in this series to look for. I think this detective only appeared in three novels and then it was briefly mentioned in one of her other books that he'd died in a car crash. I didn't get a sense of who the detective was--the characterization wasn't great. Why his wife was even in the book I don't know. The book does take place at Christmastime, over three days. There's not much festive about it although there is lots of snow. Meh.

This book will be published in a few weeks:

Freezing Point by Anders Bodelsen, translated from Danish by Joan Tate (read via NetGalley-- to be published on November 6, 2025 by Faber)

January, 1973. Bruno is shaving when his razor meets a lump and he cuts himself. He realizes that he noticed the lump recently, but it's grown larger. He sees the doctor, who says there's probably nothing to worry about but wants to do tests. Turns out there is something to worry about. Bruno has an untreatable form of cancer. But the doctor has a proposition for Bruno. He could choose to be frozen until such time as a cure is found, which the doctor thinks will be in 10 or 15 years. Bruno has a few days to decide. At first he's not sure what to do, but he suddenly decides to do it and wants it done quickly. When he comes back to consciousness, it's 1995. His cancer is gone and he is physically healthy, but society has changed so much during the time he's been frozen that his problems are just beginning. It's not a matter of simply starting his life from where he left off but without being sick. The world is different and as Bruno learns bit by bit what it's like now, he quickly learns he doesn't like it. But he's owned by society now and what can he do about it?

This book, although written over half a century ago, has so many resonances with the world today. As I was reading I kept thinking about people who have plastic surgery over and over again to try to look young and the people who want to live forever in some form. These are not new ideas of course, just the methods change as the available technology changes. When Bruno is offered the choice between living out whatever time he has left and being frozen so he can wake up cancer-free and pick up his life where he left off, he doesn't really give it that much thought. Would it have mattered if he did? Could he have even imagined the kind of world he'd come back to? Would he have been able to grasp that his status as a 'guinea pig' for this technology would cost him something in the end? Would he have gotten to the point where he'd consider the difference between extending an existence indefinitely and living a life? Whether he would've gotten to these questions before he was frozen or not, he was certainly faced with them when he was brought back to consciousness.

The book is extremely well written. I was hooked from the very beginning. Bodelsen creates a cold atmosphere throughout. The book starts in January, so we're cold from the start. Bruno has a recurring thought/memory of a time when he went skating with friends and realized that he was on thin ice, which was cracking all around him as he desperately tried to get back to shore. He doesn't have any close relationships, and seems a bit detached from others. When he's brought back from his frozen state, the environment he's in is sterile and cold--not in terms of temperature, but in terms of human connection and warmth. As reality slowly dawns on him, he struggles to make sense of his situation and to change it. Does he succeed? I'll leave it to readers to find out for themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent book and highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher for a digital review copy.

I had one DNF so far this month, which was the book group book for the November meeting, which I will miss anyway. The book is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It didn't seem like my kind of book, but I took it and gave it a shot. I was right--it's not for me. I told myself I'd give it a hundred pages (my copy was over 800 pages long). I could barely drag myself through the first chapter, which ended on page 62. The meandering sentences and jumps from topic to topic drove me nuts. I clearly do not get on with Irving's writing style. I did not care about the characters. Some stuff just felt icky. I got to the end of chapter one with relief, put it on the return pile, and got it back to the library yesterday. 

I hope you're having an excellent October so far with lots of good reading. 

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Treasure!

 It's Thursday, so after breakfast off I went to the library to hang out for a while with the yarn women. We were in a room off to the side today because Wainfest, an arts and culture celebration for children, is happening and there were lots of kids in the library doing fun things. We had our coffee/tea/treat cart in our room and had a lovely time once again. I am really enjoying this group of women and it's fun chatting and discovering the ways in which we're kindred spirits and how we're different. And of course we all enjoy seeing what we're each working on. 

Today as soon as I walked in, one of the women (I'll call her Ginny, which is not her real name) said she had something for me and handed me this:

She explained that it used to belong to a dear friend who passed away several years ago and that it came to Ginny. t's at least 40 years old, she said. Inside the case, we have these:

What a treasure! Ginny does crochet, but these are too small for her to use and she wanted them to go to someone who would love them. I will definitely love them!  I am very excited about these for a few reasons. First of all, I absolutely love using tools and materials that belonged to women in generations before me. There is something special to me about creating with tools that other women have used to create with decades ago--my hands and their hands taking what is essentially string and, with the help of these hooks, turning it into something beautiful. My life is very different from what their lives were but we have this in common. A former colleague gave me her grandma's circular knitting needles and the case they live in a decade or so ago. She also wanted them to go to someone who would love them. I use them all the time and have made many hats and other things that keep me warm, just as grandma would have done. Another thing that's great about these hooks for me is that, with the exception of one of them, they're all brands I've not used before because they weren't sold in the States. This matters because they're shaped differently and will feel different in my hands. This is true of the knitting needles as well--they're made of different materials than modern ones and they're much nicer to work with. Finally, these hooks are in slightly different sizes than ones I already have. The smallest in the case above is .75mm, which would be for something the thickness of sewing thread. I'm going to have some fun playing with those. 

I'd set aside the socks I worked on for the first couple meetings, but finished them the other night.

I'm wearing them with my Birkenstocks today and they're soft, squishy, and I love them!

I started a new project last night. I did some swatching and in the end decided on small 3 round solid granny squares with some surface crochet as the beginning of a hat. I have light hats for summer and thick, squishy hats for winter, but I could use a hat for in-between sorts of days like today. I'm using some deep purple wool that a friend brough back for me a couple years ago when she went to Boston--she found several hanks at Goodwill there. I used most of it with some other charity shop yarn to make a sweater, but I had one larger ball and a few wee balls left. I'm using that with some turquoise yarn given to me a couple weeks ago by Ginny. It belonged to her auntie. 

Ginny doesn't like wool and she was thrilled to see auntie's yarn being used. She said auntie would've loved to see it, which made me happy, too.

I'll make a few more squares like these and put them together for the main part of the hat then I'll crochet around the bottom for the brim and the top for the crown in the purple and I'll have my hat. Maybe I'll get it done so I can wear it next week. One of the other women there, Mary (again, not her real name) took one of the squares and copied it with some yarn she had so she'll be able to refer to it in future if she wants to. It's like the old sample books women used to keep with pages and pages of samples they'd crocheted for future reference. 

So it was another good time--a nice chat with very nice women, yarn, tea/coffee/treats, and I picked up some books while I was there. What's not to love? Hope you're having an excellent day, too.

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Autumn Sunset

 

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Saturday Snippets

 What was left of Hurricane Humberto was given the name Storm Amy before slamming into Ireland yesterday, with Donegal most affected. The wind was whipping, whining, whistling, and howling. We were under a status red wind warning for a couple of hours so public transport stopped and businesses closed early. I charged up my headlamps, desk lamp, mp3 player (has my audiobooks on it), phone, and e-reader. In case of power outage I'd be able to read and/or listen to an audiobook without external light or wifi/mobile phone signal. And the power did indeed go out just before 4. It stayed out for about 5 hours, so we had a cold supper and were both eager for a cup of tea. When the power came back on, I raced to turn on the kettle and had just enough time for it to come to a boil before the power went out again. But I had my vanilla chai (Tesco has some really nice vanilla chai tea bags--not the sweetened chai powder) and Bill had his black tea and it was so good. The power came back on again an hour or so later. The wind kept going though. I'd gone out before the storm to lay down the garbage and recycling bins, with the lids jammed against the wall and rocks on top, so they didn't go anywhere. I also filled buckets and various containers with water, which I didn't need, thankfully. I don't want to waste it though, so we'll be using that throughout the day. Still windy, but not like it was. Hopefully things are calming down now. Tragically, one man in Donegal died in the storm.

Thursday was windy, but in a normal kind of way. It was also raining. I knew this would probably be the case, so when I went to the library Wednesday night for book group, I told the librarian I might not make it to the knitting and crochet group the next day. Don't get me wrong--I don't mind walking in the rain and I often enjoy it. And light rain is fine in any case. But when I'm walking to a gathering of some kind I'd rather not be drenched when I get there and then hang around soaking wet for a couple hours and dripping all over carpet and furniture. I was bummed because I really enjoy the group. On Thursday morning, I was having my first cup of coffee when I got a call from the librarian saying that one of the women had just arrived and was offering to come and pick me up if I wanted to go. Wasn't that nice? I accepted, gulped down my coffee, grabbed a crochet project and stood in the doorway to meet her. Once again I had a great time. We exchanged numbers and she said she's happy to swing by and pick me up any time and I should just let her know. 

When I went to the book group on Wednesday night, I walked through the mizzle. I was damp when I got there, but no big deal. It's always such a pleasant experience walking in the misty air. The next book we're reading is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. When I heard this I immediately remembered that someone had recommended it to me, but I wasn't sure who. Then I had a vague memory of sitting in a cafe with a friend and her telling me she loved the book. I messaged her and asked if she recommended it. She said she may have done, since she loved the book. So it was her and I can stop wondering about it. It was one of those unimportant things that just kept hanging around in my head and I was glad to answer the nagging question. 😏 My first inclination was to not even start the book, especially since I likely won't be at the next meeting. It's a chunky book--the copy I borrowed is just shy of 800 pages. It's not the length that bothers me. It's that this doesn't seem like my kind of book and the time it would take to read it is time I wouldn't be spending with books that are my kind of books. Then I thought the best thing to do is to just begin and see how I get on with it. If I don't like it, I'll set it aside and if I do like it, I'll be happily surprised. Have any of you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?

And now I'm off to pour another cup of coffee and enjoy the rest of this rainy day at home with books, yarn, and Bill--my kind of day! Hope you're having your kind of day and doing things that bring you joy.

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September Reading Wrap-Up: The Second Half

 I'm not quite sure where September went, but here we are in October. One thing that never changes as time flies by is my voracious appetite for books. Here are the books that accompanied me through the second half of September.

Night and Day by Virginia Woolf (a book I own)

I was glad to read at least one book from my own TBR* pile(s) this month, and I've been wanting to read this for a while. This was the next book in my Woolf project--reading all of her novels in publication order. The last book of hers I read was The Waves, which I wasn't in love with.  I enjoyed this one far more. Like The Voyage Out, her first published novel, there isn't much plot here. We're following a group of people whose lives intersect in various ways at various times. These people come from different classes and backgrounds and one of the threads running through the novel is how the class system and gender roles of the time was changing and how that impacted people's lives and relationships. There's a lot of internal dialogue here, with people thinking one thing and saying/doing another. This is what I liked about it because it provided a window into the thinking that goes on below the surface, how outward appearances often don't match, and how people struggle with and chafe against societal expectations that don't fit their internal reality--and finally, how this changes them.

Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion by Agnes Arnold -Forster (borrowed from the library)

This is a fascinating book. In it, the author traces the history of the idea of nostalgia from its first known usage to the present day and the implications of this evolving idea on people and societies. When nostalgia first became a thing, it was considered an illness and Arnold-Forster gives examples of people in history who were incapacitated by it. Later, there was concern that there was too much nostalgia around and that it was emasculating, thus dangerous. Today (and in the recent past) we see how nostalgia is used to manipulate and oppress people in all sorts of ways as right wing groups use it to construct an imaginary past. However, the author points out that left-wing people tend to do this as well. I was pleased that she included this, because it's something I've noticed as well. There does seem to be a yearning for a past that seems like it was simpler and less distressing than the present, but of course, this past that some people long for wasn't actually real at a societal level. As I was reading, I kept thinking about a horrible town we lived in some years ago in which people were always going on about 'the way it used to be.' I'm interested in people's stories about their lives, but this was a fantasy past that never existed--and one they were desperate to return to. I saw much in this book to remind me of that place. Excellent book.

The Essential Fromm by Erich Fromm (borrowed from the library)

In one of the books I read earlier in the month, some of Fromm's ideas were discussed. I was intrigued, so I requested a couple of his books from the library. I started with this slim volume and by the time I was done, didn't feel like reading the other book. It's not that this was a bad book, but I didn't care for the style and some of it seemed dated. It was also slightly repetitive. The book is a collection of short excerpts from some of Fromm's writing and interviews. His ideas are interesting and I agreed with most of it, but as a reading experience, it was a bit dry. I did get a chuckle from the markings and notes someone had written in the book. At one point, 'WRONG' was written in the margin next to a paragraph about gender. In this instance, Fromm wasn't wrong and I have some thoughts about the person who wrote that. 😄

The Big Four by Agatha Christie (read on the Serial Reader app)

I've been re-reading some Christie on Serial Reader, in small chunks each day. I remembered this book as kind of silly and I still feel that way, but this time what jumped out at me was the prominent role of the friendship between Poirot and Hastings. I don't recall it ever being at the forefront of the novels in which Hastings appears before. Hastings isn't in many of the Poirot novels as he goes off to a ranch in Argentina. In this one, he's back in England on business and ready to surprise Poirot, only to get a surprise himself when Poirot is packed and catching a boat to South America at the behest of a wealthy US American. Poirot realizes in time that something is fishy and he's being got out of the way. A multinational gang--the Big Four--are intent upon world dominance. He and Hastings proceed to investigate. As I say, t's a silly book and a caricature in many ways, but it's kind of funny because of it. And the friendship aspect of it was actually quite lovely. Definitely not one of Christie's best, but not terrible, either.

Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks (borrowed from library for the library book group)

Meh. That's what I and the rest of the group thought of this book. Everyone felt it was mediocre, although some people found the informational aspect of it interesting. It's a historical fiction novel set in WWII. The title character is a young Scottish woman going to London to work as a receptionist in a GP office. On the train, she shares a compartment with two guys who find out she speaks French and think she could be useful to them as they assist the resistance in occupied France. Various things ensue, she ends up working for the British government in France under an assumed name. She has a specific task to do, but she knows before she leaves that she's going to stay in France to try to find the guy she instantly fell madly in love with when she got to London. He was a pilot and went missing. One of the storylines involves the French Nazi sympathizers and their activities. It was all too familiar and we see the same kinds of things going on today in various places. I found the book tedious, the characters superficial, and the story rather fluffy considering the subject matter. It's perfectly fine with the group if people don't finish a book and I could have DNFed* it, but I read it through. I'd never read anything by this author before and I wouldn't be quick to pick up another book by him, although others in the group said he has some excellent ones. Have any of you read his work and what did you think of it if you have?

I listened to a couple of audiobooks in September.

Country Christie by Agatha Christie (a BorrowBox audiobook)

I saw this in the 'new to library' section of BorrowBox one day. It was available so I downloaded it. It's a collection of Christie short stories read by various people. All the stories take place in Devon and the last one was an episode from The Big Four. This was an enjoyable collection even though I've read almost all the stories before. There was one that was new to me though and that was especially fun.

Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China by Jung Chang

I read the author's memoir, Wild Swans several years ago now and loved it. I went on to read more of this author's work, including Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister and Empress Dowager Cixi, both non-fiction books about women in China. All of these books were excellent and this one was no exception. It's a follow-up to Wild Swans, but you don't have to have read that to enjoy this book. Chang writes about her relationships with various people throughout her life as well as her relationship with the Chinese government, which has often been difficult, terrifying, and traumatic. When she and her husband wrote a biography of Mao, a new layer was added. I'd happily read whatever book Jung Chang writes next and I can heartily recommend this one.

Soon-to-be-published books I read in September were:

The Body at the Christmas Book Fair by Helen Cox (via NetGalley to be published on November 6, 2025)

Private investigator and part-time librarian Kitt Hartley is really looking forward to meeting her best friend, Evie, at the Christmas book fair. There are all the books of course, but they also have tickets to see the dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol, which is a highlight of the book fair. However, just as Marley's ghost is saying, "My time is nearly gone..." the actor's time is up. It's not a pretty sight and why is cinnamon such a factor in the whole mystery?

I'm a big fan of cozy Christmas mysteries and I found this to be an enjoyable book. It was pretty clear to me early on whodunnit, so it was more an "Am I right?" experience. Nonetheless, I happily read on. I enjoyed the Christmas/winter setting. I especially liked the appearances of the spirits of a few classic mystery authors. The characters were appropriately quirky and sometimes made me laugh. All in all, a fun read.

Lambs in Winter by Alexis Lathem (via NetGalley to be published on November 4, 2025 by University of Massachusetts Press)

I'll just cut to the chase--I loved this book. I was sorry to see it end, but there is no much to think about within these pages that I know it will stay with me for a long time. The book is a series of essays, each focused on a certain subject, but taken together they create a much larger whole. The essays form layers, much like the way the author describes the layout of the homestead she shares with her husband and their animals and the permaculture ideas that inspired it. This book is many things--memoir, nature writing, journalism, anthropology, and more. In each essay, Lathem situates herself within a certain time and place, exploring her own experiences and what they mean in the context of the community within which she finds herself. The book is structured in such a way that we see the evolution of her thought process, with three sections--early years, middle years, and later years. We also see how her community, which is near Burlington, Vermont, changes long with the weather, the climate, and the natural world surrounding her homestead. Lathem is clearly extremely well-read and has educated herself on the subjects she's writing about. There are extensive notes at the back of the book. She's refreshingly honest about her place in the larger scheme of things as well as her own privilege. In the introduction, she reflects on why she and her husband choose to live as and where they do, stating, "We do this on a very small scale as an exercise in freedom and personal sovereignty, and as a form of inquiry into what it will take for human and nonhuman life to endure." (p xiii)

I read this book from cover to cover, but it could also be read and enjoyed by opening it at random and reading whatever essay happens to be there. It's also a book that can be read and re-read with fresh insights appearing on each reading. This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.

Woman in the Pillory by Brigitte Reimann, translated from German by Lucy Jones (to be published on November 13, 2025 by Penguin Modern Classics)

This is a powerful novella. It's short but contains so much--love and fear, hope and despair, cruelty and kindness, idealism and reality, denial and self discovery. The story is told primarily from the point of view of Katrin, although occasionally readers get a glimpse into the minds of other characters. Katrin is a young woman who has been married for 5 year to Heinrich, who is away from his farm fighting against Russians in the German army. Theirs is not a happy marriage and Katrin is not unhappy that he's gone. Heinrich's sister, Frieda, also lives at the farm and she and Katrin try to do everything, which proves to be too much. Home for a few days on leave, Heinrich says he'll have a prisoner of war sent to work on the farm. Before long, Alexei arrives. He's from Ukraine where his village has been wiped out and his family disappeared. He has high hopes for the kind of society that Russia will create after the war is over, but largely keeps his thoughts to himself and does what he's told. Frieda treats him like a sub-human creature. Katrin sees through the common stereotypes about 'the enemy' and she and Alexei gradually become closer and closer. Village tongues start to wag and eventually, serious repercussions result.

This is an excellent book. The writing is beautiful and not a word is wasted. Reimann's descriptions of the farm at night or the thoughts of the characters grabbed me from the start. The book was originally published in 1956 and Reimann lived in East Germany, although she died quite young. So it was a decade after the war ended--enough time to see that the dreams Alexei described, which I'm sure were those of many real people, did not come to fruition. And although the book is short, Katrin's evolution and growth of self awareness were aspects of the book that I quite liked. This is a book that can be read and re-read with new insights appearing each time. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors for digital review copies of the soon-to-be-published books above.

There were a couple of books that I didn't finish. One was Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. read the first 60 pages, didn't care about anyone or what was going on, and set it aside. The other was a book about the history of human emotions that I started listening to on audio. It's read by the author and that kind of thing isn't his strong suit. I couldn't keep listening because he was so annoying. I did request the physical book from the library and brought it home, but by then I had other things I wanted to read, so I returned it unread. It seems like an interesting book that I might revisit sometime.

So that was a long ramble through my reading list for the second half of September. I hope October is an excellent reading month for all of us!

*TBR is 'to be read'

DNF is 'did not finish'

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