Trish > Recent Status Updates

Listening to the audio. New Zealand is a special kind of place and was still the “younger sibling” of the huge democracy that was the United States when Ardern was coming up politically Now, I suppose, the internet has mashed our cultures such that anything good or bad can be found no matter how remote one’s nation actually is. Pity. But what a unique path she had in politics.

This was given so much attention in the national press this year I decided to check it out but have been struggling with it for a couple weeks. Until page 107 of the hardcopy. This chapter narrated by Cyrus's father, Ali Shams, is so gorgeous, full, meaningful it feels like one of those writing school essays that get critiqued by the class, over and over, until it shines like a diamond. No extra words..

East Germany is like a cardigan: if you fasten the first button incorrectly, you always need to start all over again.

I am taking this in tiny bites. Coates is an author who one cannot ignore. His questions should make all of us sit up and try to answer. If we can...

Im not gonna lie, I didn't like the Preface. But after that, this book is hard to put down. Brown Jackson is SO open, honest, and frankly aware of her inner life that she addresses questions we all might have. She is one special person. Thank goodness for her.

Omg. What a voice! Whip-smart, reasonable, querying…this woman sounds like a friend.

Ruth Rendell proves her bonafides by writing outside her comfort zone. She captures the very things that jump out at a tourist in China in the 1980s…remember, this is early on in the “opening.” She is so talented.

I hate the way Goodreads mushes all translations and editions of classics together. Am reading several editions at once 2 C differences, & 2 C which combination of language makes the whole comes alive. Mitchell's intro to his audio is fabulous...we have the sense of people traveling from all over the countryside to hear a portion of this tale declaimed, carrying their picnic baskets, carrying their children.

The shock, emotions, disgust, realizations hit hard. I have a vague remembrance of a childhood where race and slavery wasn't discussed with sufficient clarity. Even the short lessons seemed embarrassed, unable or unwilling to reveal the actual truth of it. I am grateful for these lessons, pointing the direction for learning as much as we can stomach. And am SO grateful for help in reading the material.

“By contrast, the emotional security of a marriage, the lack of any need to pretend, the level of understanding that develops over time between a man and a woman, provides an excellent regimen for turning even an ordinarily sensitive man into an attentive and satisfying lover.” Just sayin’. I think this guy gets it. Stay tuned.

Hang onto your hats, folks, because author Chris Coffman starts out with a four-continent playing field, and a business buyout in Hong among by a New York investment bank. It is glittering and high stakes all the way, just the way we like it. Out in stores THIS WEEK.

I opened this for a browse on a busy day and immediately I was caught up in the truly different world these folks inhabit. Be prepared to want to read this nonstop.

Atwood carries her story on with all the theatricality of a stage play. It is delightful, involving, and fierce--women are no pawns in this war of words.

While it is difficult for to concentrate on fiction these months, Atwood’s work I read for her humor, her deep insights into the human psyche & the battle between the sexes, and for her prescience.

Cusk chooses things to discuss and mull over like a pastor preparing her sermon. By the end of her turning an event or idea over and over for our consideration, we may be no further along but find ourselves curious or content with her choosing those subjects for scrutiny. My love of her writing & thought processes has not changed; she still may be my favorite living author.

Oh, a chance to look back at the hope we had. It almost feels as though Obama is dead & we are all old & watching the collapse of a world we could have had. ...But none of that is true because Obama took office in the middle of a financial crisis that looked insurmountable & we could never have had the world we dreamed of...

This is very skillfully done. Love it! Very fast start. Tons of personality. Old fashioned. A little like Poirot.

I warn you, this is 'holy smokes! hang onto your seat cushion because you may lose all sense of responsibility to do other things" kind of book. A young man, brought up as Christian fundamentalist...I'm saying no more. Holy moly. The books are free, apparently. Worthwhile. I'm going back to finish it, damn it, before I attend that long list of things that need doing.

omg. This thriller is based on a real story and it like watching a comedy of errors: a big theft and the keystone cops. One has an eye closed because the pain of watching all this unfold is too great. What a summer read this is!

Can't wait to see what happens here. Two main characters are Lebanese and Iranian immigrants to Sweden. To see the world anew...

VERY strong Scandinavian feel. Deliciously authentic.

This is academic but they have actual data on what makes the best gerrymander...They discuss the responsiveness of the seats/votes function: for PartyA, we can calculate how much its seat share wld increase if it won an additional percentage of the vote. "If state has many areas where supporters of ea party R v concentrated, then there will B tendency toward districting plans w/ many safe seats & low responsiveness."

This is kind of interesting. Melinda was a little more surprised than I was to discover women had no economic clout. She had the best science & tech schooling & then her first job was in a male dominated field, highly paid, one of the only women, and THEN she married the boss. Yeah, she had no idea.

Stacey Abrams' first romance, written under her pen name, Selena Montgomery. It's a total blast. Well written, the characters have some unusual traits: the Sheriff of a small town in south Georgia does not have prior employment w/ the military, though he is a military brat. "Nope, Went to college & studied English Lit & creative writing." And some steamy scenes btw Calder-is-his-name & a celebrity lawyer fm Atlanta.

This is a big book but it is an easy, interesting read. Justice Stevens came from vast wealth that was lost during the 30's and eventually regained by the talents of his family. He has a prodigious memory with lots of good stories to tell. I had to tweet his reminder that Roe v Wade was not merely based on privacy, but on liberty & was not nearly as contentious then as now.

Holy smokes! All you folks who love those dour Scandinavian thrillers better put your order in now for one of the best summer reads o he summer...and year...maybe even decade. Giolito gets everything right so far.

These authors were introduced to me by a friend & they are saying the words we need to hear. This one is not afraid to take a stand and talk sense.