flight paths discussion

Is it just me or did January go by in a snap? Can I hope for all of us that we make the most of this short, dreary month and illuminate it with small joys, like reading. What are your small joys and what are you reading?

Hello all!

It's snowing like crazy here. Nothing new for you but amazing to us. It's been a long while since we've had snow like this!

As for me, I just read Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland which was extremely interesting. Now I'm reading Caste--yes, Magdelanye, I definitely misinterpreted you at first--not difficult and gripping. No matter how much I think I know of my country's history of slavery and white supremacy I learn more of its horrors.

I'm also making progress on The Mirror & the Light. I was trying to read it at the beginning of the pandemic, and it was gibberish to me. I couldn't make sense of it at all. I am relieved that it was me and not the book but even more relieved that I can read again and my brain isn't (entirely) fried. Now I'm enjoying it although from my knowledge of history, I dread where we're headed. Maybe she'll eschew accuracy in the service of pleasure!

I've undertaken another meditation challenge for February--this one with Sharon Salzberg. I must be a glutton for punishment. As much as I enjoyed the last challenge I felt relieved when it was over--and then immediately plunge into another one!

Petra, how is your carving going?

And what is everyone reading? Today is a perfect day for me to read--cold and stormy. My kids are a little sad that with remote learning there are no "snow days" any more. But I have the luxury of retirement and the freedom to indulge in doing nothing but reading and talking to people. (I have a Zoom "date" with a friend this afternoon, and another call I owe, plus my exercise routine but that still leaves plenty of time for Caste & Mirror.)

Ellie I'm so glad that the fog has lifted somewhat and that you have the focus to enjoy reading again. You must be very relieved.

I saw Sharon S last week as part of the Best Year of Your Life summit. Finally I can see why she is so popular. There were some great presentations including JMW and it was a challenge not to over indulge. Because I just completed the Revolutionary Love Challenge and that was two sessions a day for 10 days. way too much computer time. But pretty awesome to have done that at the same time as im reading the book.

I had planned to investigate HM at last but it wont happen just yet.

Hope the weather will calm down.
Im thinking about Petra stuck in the house with the reno men and without the opportunity to get out for a run.

Megan only yesterday I came across the native name for Edmonton so i should be able to find it to include next post. Maybe you know it already. Hope things have calmed down there.

Hows your workout program going Ice Bear? May this find you well

Hello everyone!

Ellie, keep warm and safe. NY has been getting so much snow! It's nice to be snug inside and watch it fall outside.
Personally, I like a day or two of falling snow, if I don't have to go out.

It's always good to learn more about anything that troubles one's Country. I'm currently trying to read more about the First Nations, in particular about the Residential Schools. It's a starting place as the subject matter is huge and one doesn't know where to start.


Magdelanye, I am able to get out for runs. As long as either hubby or I are here, the other one can get out. We take turns.
It's been too rainy lately for getting out for a run. I really wanted to go out today but it was too wet. I don't mind a drizzle, but not steady drops.

I'm not sure what the Summit was about but it sounds like you had a very good time, despite being on the computer so much. It's wonderful that these things can happen and enlighten us all.


Ellie, my carving is coming along nicely. Thank you for asking!

I carved another hillbilly in January: https://images.gr-assets.com/photos/1... (the guy on the right) (his feet are really big. LOL)
Magdelanye, just over his hat is the door to our powder room.

I have a subscription to a carving magazine. The last magazine asked for pictures of snowmen. They will pick a few submitted pictures to print in the next issue. I sent them a picture of snowmen I had carved during the Autumn.
I'm sure they will receive a ton of snowmen pictures, so am not expecting mine to be printed, but it's fun to send in anyway. :D
Snowmen: https://images.gr-assets.com/photos/1...

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

@Petra you're a rock star with all your bathroom renos. I've done one bathroom reno and it was a nightmare.

@Ellie, I hope that the mood in your country is starting to turn to the positive. Also a meditation challenge sounds wonderful, I hope it is great for you. :)

@Magdelanye, I hope you're all settled into your new place and things are going well with your new tablet. What a game changer!

I've been here just buried. The new puppy is a terror but she's adorable. She requires a lot more attention than I originally thought. I thought she'd sleep on my lap while I read. hahahahaha!! Maybe when she's older?
My husband and I's stress levels are still flying high with this awful Alberta government. Every day there seems to be a new horror. We are VERY upset about opening up coal mining and this blustering about the cancelled pipeline. It's embarrassing.
However, I have been out on my X country skis a bit more, things at my work are going well, my son is doing really well in french immersion, so there are pockets of joy to be found.

I find my reading capabilities are somewhat diminished. I find that I can't read two hard hitting books in a row right now, so I'm alternating them with a silly/fluffy book. Please don't judge me too harshly if you see my books on your timeline. ha!
I"m working my way through Canada Reads: I've read The Midnight Bargain, jonny appleseed, and Butter Honey Pig Bread. The last is my favourite so far.

Hopefully you're all staying warm and cozy!

Slowly losing weight, not sure if I feel any fitter, but perhaps with some supplemental exercise outside with winter garden projects will assist. Reading the Vera Stanhope detective series by Ann Cleeves, an unusual heroine.

Megan, your life sounds so busy and the new puppy is adding to that. LOL. He sounds adorable. Puppies are busy but they are the best.

We have someone doing the renos. We're not doing them ourselves. We'd never get finished with one, if we were doing it. We're watching the process and asking questions. It's fascinating and there is so much work involved. Building a room is a detailed process. Lots to learn.

Ice, I enjoy the TV series, Vera. She's is truly unusual.
I have tried getting the first book of the series from the library but every time I go to request it, it is already signed out, so I wait a bit longer. I'm glad to hear that the series is worth reading.

https://www.facebook.com/1593390393/p...

this link will hopefully take you to an amazing photoshoot of polar bear families

hope that linked worked for you
just checked and it seems fine, except that its insanely cluttered with ads. But i love the calm mother and of course the cubs are essence of cute.
Keep up your new routine Ice, we are all rooting for you.
Megan i have Appleseed book planning to read soon. How did you like it?
Never feel ashamed of your book choices! If fluff is what you crave, fluff it!
I personally cant do pure fluff but i have discovered hard core fluff that i occassionally use for a wedge book. i think its important for balance maybe and comic relief.
Have you been able to train the dog yet not to chew on your books? Or to refrain from jumping all over you while you are trying to read?

You must be nearing the end of the renos Petra? What a relief that will be. And great satisfaction!

Ellie just dont disappear completely into nirvana! I am taking a break from on line commitments on the whole, tho tomorrow is Zen peacemakers with David Treleven who i really like. so today i am skipping the laptop and pecking on the fone.
may this find you all smiling !
enduring grace

Magdelanye, I can't see the link. I get a very quick glimpse of polar bear without seeing the entire picture, then the sign in for Facebook. I don't have a Facebook account. I'm sure it's really sweet. Polar bears are such lovely creatures.

The bathrooms are only about half done. The master bath is taking a long time. They are in the "putting it back together" phase but each step is slow. The tiling starts tomorrow.

I finished reading They Were Found Wanting, the middle book of a trilogy. This is an overlooked gem of a story. I've enjoyed both volumes and will read the last one soon.
I'm now reading Indian Horse.

Hope all is well with everyone.

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Magdelanye, I'm back.

Petra, I bought They were found wanting, but have not yet read it--I guess that's up next!

I just finished Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning which was very good and am reading Angela Davis' Freedom Is a Constant Struggle. Still seem to be more focused on non-fiction than fiction--must be the times!

I had both doses of the vaccine. The second dose was rough--I had a very strong reaction to it. A most unpleasant day. But it's over now.

We're all (the people I know anyway) angered but not surprised by the results of the impeachment. I think people would feel better if we felt safer from the rise of fascism.

Hi @Magdelanye, I enjoyed Jonny Appleseed. It's not a book I normally read and was a glimpse into a life that is far beyond what mine is.
Puppy is slowly getting there. We haven't had any accidents in the house for 3 weeks (knock on wood), the biting is still crazy. Those puppy teeth can come out now please!
Fluff books are definitely needed for me, especially i feel now where my focus is being pulled in so many directions.
@Ellie, I'm glad you got your vaccine! What a relief that must be.

@Petra, the renos are getting so close!!
I really enjoyed Indian Horse, I still haven't seen the move yet, but I want to.

I just finished reading Hench for Canada Reads. I ended up loving it. It was a book that I would have never picked up but I enjoyed a lot.

Ellie I hope the ill effects of the 2nd vaccine are truly over. I hope that you are feeling less anxious now and I hope this makes a difference. I don't like how within a week of the "triumphant process" of rolling out the vaccine,new wild strains were announced. It seems to me there is a determination to keep people unsettled and in fear.
How is the meditation challenge coming along?

Indian Horse is one of my favourite Wagamese. I have his last book but I am saving it. I just wrote my review for Jonny Appleseed, a whole other Native experience. I'm kind of impressed that it is a Canada Reads selection. Not so family friendly. Anybody planning to watch on March 8?
I wonder if they will acknowledge IWD? I should have Hench read by then. I am delighted that you were delighted by it Megan

Petra, I looked up that trilogy...sounds really interesting. I am sure you enjoyed our 2 day break in the weather. That snow was the most Ive seen on the coast but it is all gone now.

Finally getting in to John Boynes A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom which I must have started 3 times and had to put aside for the newer nonrenewable stuff, like the David Mitchell and Jonny Appleseed. Its an unusual format which requires some extremely imaginative leaps on the part of the reader.

That Thursday blank entry was the library tech trying to load an image. She couldnt figure it out either. And Yesterday I spent hours on the phone with my mobile carrier trying to sort out my issues with the lack of service. The good news, we may have. Then today when I logged in google demanded an update and a new password. I'm not getting used to these machines and devices, in fact I find them so draining I resist.

I cant seem to find an uplifting way to end this....ah! spring is coming. Do you notice?

sitting here Saturday afternoon quite gobsmacked by Traveler at the Gate which i finished about 15 minutes ago.
What can one do but check into GR or take a nap?

Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend +

You are doing a lot of reading and all of it good! Nothing better to get through these colder days, Magdelanye.

Ellie, I hope you are feeling better after the second vaccine.
You probably know this, but just in case.....They Were Found Wanting is the second of a trilogy. Have you read They Were Counted, the first? It sets the characters and storyline.
(there's a fair amount of politics in They Were Found Wanting to allow the reader to see what was happening in Europe at the time of this story)

Megan, your puppy sounds delightful. No accidents in the house is a bonus!

The renos are getting there. Another week or 10 days and they will be completely done. Our house will be our own again! Yay!

Magdelanye, we hardly got any snow here at all. Just a bare dusting. The snow bypassed us completely. We did get a brisk wind, though. Our dusting is long gone.

I enjoyed Indian Horse but preferred Medicine Walk. Too much hockey in Indian Horse......not just hockey but detailed description of every hockey move and shot. Medicine Walk was phenomenal.

In order to post an image, you have to have the image on a photo site or in your profile pictures here on GR. You can then link to the photosite or use the address in the address bar when you have the largest picture here on GR.
Loading images is cumbersome here on GR. I use my GR profile page but the picture disappears when I remove it.

I'm now reading Dombey and Son with a group here on GR and am about to start Red Sorghum.

Megan if you can post a photo of puppy i think we'd all love to see.

Ellie sure hope you are recovered from your vaccine. Did the kids get it?
I'm also wondering about your meditation challenge.

Petra I surprised myself when i ended up loving Indian Horse so much. I have no interest in hockey whatsover but it touched a chord and i remember bawling at the end. Of course Medicine Walk is perhaps my favourite of his fiction but really i love that man so much i consider all of his books outstanding.
I looked up that trilogy by Miklos Banffy, first under his name which yielded nada.
Looking up the individual titles though all 3 are listed as ebooks. Is that the format you are persuing? I have managed to get myself to listen to books on CD but i wont read a whole book on a device.

Im planning to do a library run on Tuesday to pick up Hench and a couple other special orders. That should give me enough time to read it before CR. Im not picking up any enthusiasm from anyone here (maybe Megan?) Im not super psyched but i imagine it will be a hoot.I finally got Megan Coles short stories which i had ordered after her big win. Only read two stories so far, the first very good the second one quite meh.
And Ive just begun Anxious People which i finally got after being #32 on hold.
I have lethargic memories of me at 13 or 14 falling asleep over Dombey. Hopefully a mature mind would get more out of it

Actually Petra you have made posting pictures seem doable and i will try again.
And of course we will want to see your renos!

Magdelanye, I hope you can post a picture soon. I'll try to answer any questions, should you have them.

I am reading the Miklos Banffy triloty as ebooks but they are available in print as well: They Were Counted.


I don't follow awards of any sort, not even book awards, so I am not reading the Canada Reads books as part of the discussion. I may watch an episode or two, if I remember.

Dombey is pretty good so far. Dickens can be a bit wordy for a 13/14 year old. That's a time when one wants a story to move quickly. Dickens uses a lot of words, making a story slower than a 13/14 year old would like, I think.

Yes, Meghan, a picture of the puppy would be appreciated.

I saw many dogs walking their people this morning on my jog. I was able to stop and pat a couple of them. Dogs are so wonderful.

Petra, I loved Dombey & Son when I read it 100 years ago. I can't wait to hear your reaction; maybe I'll even do a reread (if I ever do the reread I've been promising myself of Middlemarch).

Megan, good luck with your puppy! I'd love to see a picture of them. We just got a pair of kittens. They can't, of course, replace our Boo but they are adorable and a great distraction. We're keeping him away from our old cat Charlie for a week and then getting them checked out this Friday by our vet. Charlie has seen them and while not freaking out does not seem happy. But as long as they can co-exist I'll be happy.

That's wonderful Ellie, kittens.
There's a cat door in my front door and I had a little fantasy of a kitten. But I live in bear and coyote country so not an especially good idea.

Petra I never imagined I'd turn out to be someone who followed any kind of award froufra. Since leaving the bookstore and my brief time in CanCon group I seem have got pulled in to the book awards. Certainly its got me reading a wider range and its a kick seeing other people passionate abot books.
I'm definitely going to track dwn the Banffy trilogy.
Megan I picked up Hench yestetday.
Im like #32 and 37 on the lists for honey pig and the Taiwanese trees

I started The City in the Middle of the night which i was expecting to savour. It was so poorly written and cliiche ridden that after 30 pages or so I just couldn't bear the idea of spending the next 4 days with it. Instead I read the amazing Cemetery in Barnes and am well into Where The Dead Sit Talking. Sorry not linked as Im on the fone.

heres an idle thought for the middle of the night.: what if we separate this thread into two? So we would have what are you reading and what are you doing
that way when we want to refer back, which i often do, to check what was thatt book that whomever was intp, which i sometimes misremember. Thoughts?

Today was a gold star day for me. Finally-o joy- Philip made it down from Powell River with the shelves he crafted for me out of old siding from his house circa 1940s. Now I can finish this!

that didnt post last night but was waiting fo me just now, and when i first tried to post again i was told i had to be a member to post. Luckily i have learned to copy! But are there not a lot of glitches lately?

Magdelanye, we should try separating this thread into a book thread and a chat thread. It would make it easier to see what we are reading and to keep chats flowing smoothly, too.
If it doesn't work as foreseen, we can combine them again.

I don't recall you mentioning these shelves before, Magdelanye. They sound wonderful. I'm glad you now have them. Let us know when they are set up.

Ellie, I'm enjoying Dombey & Son quite a bit. I'm reading it in another group where we're reading a chapter a day. I like it spread out like this because it gives me a chance to think about the story and nuances. It's an interesting way to read Dickens and more in the line of how original readers read the instalments.

Bathroom renos almost done. This coming week should be the last one and may not be a full week.

Yesterday was almost Spring-like. Spring is coming. Yay! I went for a good run and thoroughly enjoyed being outside.

Ice, how are you doing? How are things in the UK?

I agree Magdelanye: I think two threads would keep things clearer. Worth a try anyway.

Petra, I'm glad you're enjoying Dombey. And I think it's a great idea to spread it out, a little like the original instalments.

So I have created a new thread in the flight paths lounge.
If it is cumbersome we can revert back.
Let me know what you think.

I have spent more time on the machine this weekend with the wonderful purpose summit. https://purposeblackbelt.com/summit/#...
Ellie did you catch any of it? Ilan Stephani is amazing.

I'm glad you have a nice group to work through Dombey Petra. And the renos almost done!
And spring coming after all!

I am reading Divergent at last. Have I outgrown YA fantasy which I so loved? It is marginally better than The City in the Middle of the Night and I will keep at it but glad to take on another book so its not my main book as I finish up Pankaj Mishra s dense but fascinating From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia.
So I have just started what seems a way more thrilling true fantasy, The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life by Tom Reiss as well as a book of poems by Julie Bruck called How to Avoid Huge Ships. It was ordered, presumably by me some time ago. Was it one you recommended Ellie?
I am still like 9th on the lists for 3 of the Canada Reads books but picked up Hench on Friday. The reactions to that book are divided; I hope to be in Megans camp.

Ice may you be well, may your friends be well, may spring be close

Magdelanye, where do you find your books?! I just read the GR blurb on The Orientalist and it sounds spectacular. The weird kind of True Life story that sounds more like fiction than real life. That man lead quite the life! Now I'm keen on reading the book.

There's nothing wrong with a good YA book. I enjoy them at times. I'm out of touch with the titles and find the ones that interest me by accident but I never pass up a good sounding story because it's rated as YA.
That said, there are some that don't tickle my fancy but I don't know that until I go to read them. Sometimes they really are too YA in writing style.

Mostly in the library. Igo by intuition, follow up references, read friends reviews and recommendations and note adjacentl names in the library catalogue I cant even remember how I came to get this one but I note that I have a hold on the novel that the subject wrote.
I will probably plough through Divergent and finish off the Pankaj Mishra which is taking a lot of concentration as he just piles on the names and events I know nothing about. Well, thats why I'm reading it.

you said Petra : There's nothing wrong with a good YA book.
I feel the same, or I did until I admitted how bored Ive been getting lately with the books I chose in that category, without realizing even that that was what they were. I'm Referring especially The City in the Middle of the Night Sneak Peek to Charlie Jane Anders, whose work I was following..Don't we actually have a thread devoted to this question?