Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Hello. Forgot to do an intro before this posted. Weather has changed from hot and humid to cooler and sunny, minimal humidity. Great weather for anything. Windows wide open.

The Astronaut and the Star is a bit of a romance novel which isn't usually my thing, but this was cute. She is a top notch astronaut at one time thought to be the first woman on the moon, but is now in the dog house due to a PR issue. He is an airhead actor who she is assigned to train so he can star in a movie. Do the sparks fly or is it failure to launch?

Blood Sugar, Ruby is accused of murdering her husband but that isn't true. He died from complications of Type 1 diabetes. There are however three other deaths that she could claim. Will the police be able to pin her down on these deaths?

The Body in Berkeley Square and The Corpses at Waterloo these two books are books three and four in the Mayfair 100 series by Lynn Brittney. My local library system had the first two books but not the next two. So I asked my librarians to see if they could track them down. They did, from a library in northern Wisconsin, about 4 hours away. Books are a special of the books investigative group in London during World War I.

What I though was interesting was that our normal check out period is three weeks but the two that came from the other library I had 5+ weeks!  I actually read these first from the checkouts that day. 

I believe in getting books back as soon as I can. There is always the transit time and that takes these books out of circulation for a longer time. Even within my local system, I read the books from other libraries first. 

Mini-ManCat Monday

 You can't own a cat. The best you can do is be partners. - Sir Harry Swanson 

I think me and mum are pretty good partners. I look cute for her and she is good at giving me foods, treats and love. 

We both survived the hots. Mum stayed inside as much as possible where our air chiller was hard at work. Plus the fans to keep the air moving. Mum took pics of our outside temperature things to show the high of the day on Wednesday. This is way too hot!

 So I did lots of being lazy and so did mum for a few days. Mum readed her books, did some knitting too. Making scarves for little peple. Once the weather got nicer mum has been working on evening off the grass again. 

 Auntie Kellie came over on Caturday and brought mum this big ball. Too big for me to push around. Mum says it has lovely stuff inside to eat!

Woo, last few days of August. Have a good weekend everyone!

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Hello, the really hot weather is back and also very humid so there is an excessive heat warning in place for a couple of days. Not doing much outside as I don't do well with this type of weather. The worst is supposed to be over by the weekend. Following that the extended forecast looks for more reasonable temperatures. I hope so!

So that means staying inside and reading, plus a bit of knitting as well. A friend gave me yarn that is too thick for hats, so knitting scarves instead. 

I did a serious scrub of my TBR list in the last week and dropped it from over 250 to about 190. I found multiple duplicates, books I had already read and I checked to see if the local library system had the books. For the books that were on the fence to keep on the list I read the plot synopsis and looked at the classification if it was fiction, non-fiction, mystery, thriller etc. That help weed out a few more books too.

The Lunar Housewife was inspired by the CIA's use of literary and arts publications to promote the US way of life. Based in 1953-1955 shows also the male dominance of publishing to the point even stories written by women were published with male bylines. A novel within a novel, Louise who is writing and trying to get her novel published feels like she and her editor boyfriend are being watched and manipulated by outside forces.

The Woman in the Library I couldn't get into this book. I tried to start it one evening and it wasn't gelling, so I tried again the next day when I wasn't tired. Still nothing for me. Basic plot is four people at the Boston Public Library reading room, friends, but one of them is a murderer.

The Death of Mrs Westaway another goodie from Ruth Ware. Harriet (Hal) Westaway is struggling to make ends meet when she gets a letter in regards to an inheritance. She doesn't think they have the correct party but figures maybe she could pretend and at least get a little bit of money. She gets a lot more than she expects.

Be My Baby is a memoir written by Ronnie Spector who was the lead singer for the Ronettes in the 1960s. Phil Spector had a huge impact on her career and life as they were also married. The bulk of the book covers her early performing life and relationship / marriage to Spector. Originally written in 1990 the book was updated with a postscript as of November 2021 and she died in January of 2022.

 

 

Mini-ManCat Monday

If animals could speak the dog would be a a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much. - Mark Twain 

Thanks Mr. T for the compliment! 

The hots are back for this next week. Sunday was super hot and sticky and a few more of those this week. Then mum says the weather looks like it will shift to more normal and nice weather!

Mum got me snoozing in her lap while she did crow-shay this past week. Using up the left over yarns from that last blankie. Plus a furiend gave her yarns but mum is knitting scarves from the stuff.

Plus mum got a nice shot of me and my tail last week when we actually had an evening nice enuf to have the window open.
 

Hope all my peeps in the southwest are staying safe if not dry with the hurry-cane. 

Have a good week everyone!

 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Howdy! We have hit the middle of August. The dog days of summer and we have had a couple of cooler days and Monday a soaking rain. I had nearly 2.5 inches of rain. Considering we have been in a drought situation the rain was welcome. It was a good day to stay inside and read, although I hit some clunkers in the current batch I checked out. The ones below were good!

Peril on the Page the latest Open Door Bookstore mystery. Pen finds herself trying to figure out who killed the painting instructor of the local girl's school. She died at the bookstore. Also, is her detective boyfriend married?

Trick or Treat Murder Lucy, our mom heroine, gets into helping figure out why there have been so many arson happening in her little town, including having a fatality. Lucy has a close call nearly getting trapped in a burning building.

Back to School Murder a bomb goes off on the first day of school at the local elementary school. The assistant principal saves a young disabled student. Is she a hero or was this a set up to make her look like a hero.

The Lies I Tell two women on a collision course. A con artist and a reporter and each of them have their side of the story in the book. A quote "The difference between justice and revenge comes down to who is telling the story."

Everybody Thought We Were Crazy: Dennis Hopper, Brooke Hayward and 1960's Los Angeles. A joint biography of their lives together but includes some of their lives before they met and briefly on their lives after. Brook started out as a model and actress but did a great deal of writing. Dennis actor, director but also was an avid photographer. Together they fueled the movement in LA of Pop Art like Andy Warhol. Their marriage fell apart mostly on his substance abuse by late 1968. They were not married when his movie Easy Rider was released in 1969.

I don't do much shelf reading. I put my books on hold through the computer and just pick them up at the circulation desk. Done this for close to four years. Started when I broke my ankle and then as we moved into pickup only during the pandemic. Easier on my neck!

Happy Reading.  

Mini-ManCat Monday

A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him. - William Lyon Phelps

Another Monday is here and mum is bummed as the work that was supposed to happen today on the house won't cuz the sky is leaking! Mum is hooping for tomorrow!

Mum has been working on crow-shay with the kit she bought a bit ago. She wanted to see how it worked out. Mum says it is OK but she likes her usual pattern better. Says this is too close to a square versus being a rectangle. You saw the first set of colors a week ago, this is the final blankie.

 

Mum has left over yarns so she can make more hats. Plus she got a huge box with yarns this past week. Mum's yarn closet is FULL!!!!

Have a good week everyone!

 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Quiet time here at Casa de Ducky. He is checking out my books this week. Probably hoping since I was at the table I had foods he could mooch. Have lots of hummingbirds this summer, I have to put out more sugar water and more frequently than in past summers. I love my hummers! I also notice that early in the mornings I hear less bird song since they aren't singing for a mate!

Swerve or Die is a memoir by NASCAR race driver Kyle Petty. How his famous father, driver Richard Petty, introduced him to the sport. How Kyle competed and then the tragedy of the death of Kyle's son Adam.

How to Be Perfect well, we can't! Author goes into the deep moral and philosophical quandaries that we all find ourselves in. Is it better to do A or B. It may matter on the individual which is better for that person. In many cases the Golden Rule is a good thing, but decide what is best for you and don't judge others on their choices. In many places this book was putting me to sleep, I'm not into deep philosophy! We don't need to be perfect, just good. To ourselves and to others.

Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock. I didn't get into this and didn't read much more than the introduction. It seemed to me more about productivity and time management. The fact that I am retired, I don't have to worry about my time for anyone other than me! Although I remember back when I was working in a medical lab, each month we counted up and then recorded our statistics based on how long the "experts" decide it should take. It was very dependent on how automated the lab was.

Stumbling Around the Bases is a brief account on how Major League Baseball and primarily the American League has messed up time and again over multiple decades when it comes to expansion and getting financially solid ownership. Reading it provided an interesting look into the personalities who were in baseball's drivers seat for decades. 

My memes this week are a bit political, but they speak to truth. 

Happy Reading.

Mini-ManCat Monday

There is, incidently, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person. - Dan Greenberg 

HA! That means mum is crazy, well if not crazy at least a bit off her rocker! That is a good thing for us kits!

It got nice enuf to have open windows this weekend. Mum even could work outside, she evened off most of the grass. She didn't do it all, some of it still isn't growing much. She even cut off some of the lower branches of the trees. Seems she was getting smacked in the face with branches when mowing. 

Me making mum rest. If she does to much I have to sit on her and make her rest. So I was doing this, laying my head across mum's head, stretched across her lap and my tail across the other arm.

Me enjoying the open window. Although mum is keeping an eye on me, says I am not jumping like I usually do. Even for some short distances. At least some days I am jumping fine and then others not. Mum says that is going to mean a trip to the vet man!
 

 Mum started on her yarns kit she got recently. She did the first set of colors, two rows of each. Now she has to do this three or four more times, then she will be done. Mum usually doesn't start with the crow-shay this early but she wanted to try this kit. 

Have a good week everyone!