Category Archives: books

2023, books, Mysteries

Long and Short of It

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Several weeks back Linda (I believe it was Linda anyway) recommended The English Understand Wool. I don’t even remember what we were talking about but I thought the title sounded quirky so I looked it up on the library website.  It had a good-size waiting list and I noticed that the author was Helen DeWitt.  I almost didn’t request it because I remember how long DeWitt’s first book was… The Last Samurai… almost 600 pages and DENSE. 

The Last Samurai was enjoyable, although a little sad in some places.  I try not to let long tomes scare me off so I went ahead and clicked on the “Place Hold” button for Wool.   Imagine my surprise when I went to pick it up on Saturday… just 69 pages!  I read the whole thing in about an hour – so I read it again. 

I’m reading another fairly short book this week – The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson.  I wasn’t sure how long it would be before I requested it (yes, I know I could look up page numbers on the library site if I wanted to….) but I would have guessed that it wouldn’t be too terribly long.  Neil’s books aren’t usually really long; I assume he works hard not to overwhelm his readers with all he knows. 

Not sure how long my upcoming requests will be but I feel like a massive tome would be OK since I’ve had a few short books in a row now.

Do you know the longest book you’ve ever read?

2023, animals, books, Food, Gatherings

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut…

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For those of you not at Blevins yesterday, I tried out a new cookie cutter.  It was very cute and I couldn’t resist it when I saw it.

Unfortunately it was a big bust.  The little ears and feet often got stuck in the cutter and pulled off when I took the dough out of the cutter.  I tried extra flour, baking spray, even washing it off and re-flouring (repeatedly) but nothing helped.  I would get one, maybe two good cuts and then the problem began again.  For many of the cookies, I had to add little teeny bits of dough for the ears and/or feet.  It was really irritating and took the fun right out of the project. 

At Blevins, the cookies were a hit and got gobbled up by the end of book club.  (I used a cinnamon roll out cookie recipe and a roasted almond.)  It almost made me want to retrieve the cookie cutter from the trash can where I had thrown it.  I humored myself by sending off an email of complaint to the company.  I don’t know if I’ll hear from them – I’ve never had an issue with them before. 

Not sure if I will cave and rescue the cookie cutter before the trash gets picked up.

Any second chances that you’ve granted recently?

animals, books, Fantasy, TV

Claws for Alarm

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My local library (Washburn) has several little tables and displays at the entrance.  There is a revolving bookcase for the Book Sale, a table with the library’s BookPage publication and other library information (and masks).  Then there is my favorite display curated by the Washburn librarians which they change out every couple of weeks.  There is always an easily discernable theme but they choose books from all genres: fiction, childrens, non-fiction, poetry.  I love seeing what the librarians come up with and I often will pick a book from the display.

The beginning of September was all about bees and honey.  I noticed The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King, which is a favorite of mine.  Last week they put up a new theme – cats.  All kinds of fun stuff and I couldn’t help but be drawn to Claws for Alarm, a cozy mystery that I assume includes a cat.  You all know that I can’t keep away from silly titles so I scooped it up.  

As soon as I got home I looked it up to see how far along in the series it sits – I usually like to start at the beginning but wasn’t sure I wanted to read a bunch of cozies to get to the cat story.  That’s when I found out that “Claws for Alarm” isn’t nearly as original/funny as I thought it was.  I found FOUR books with the same title – all of them fall into the cozy genre.  These were easy to find so I’m guessing there may be more.  I even found this:

So now that I’m not as impressed with a silly title as I was when I was standing in the library, I’m not sure if I’ll read it.  Or maybe I’ll go off the deep end and read all four to see which is best!

What’s the last “unusual” title that you’ve picked up?  Did you finish it?

2023, books, History, Mysteries

Quitting

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Pretty sure I’ve mentioned that I’m reading biographies of the English monarchs in order.  It’s been awhile since anything got added to the list and when I clicked on the tab of my spreadsheet, I realized why.  Richard II is up next.  I suppose there might be a few more controversial English kings than this one but it would be a close race.  I don’t know all that much about Richard II but I do know that his death ended the reign of his line and that victors always write/rewrite history.  So when I went looking for a biography, I tried to find something more recent and hopefully balanced.

I did watch the series “The Hollow Crown” a ways back but never read the book so when I found Within the Hollow Crown I thought I’d give it a shot.  After two pages it went back to the library.  I’d prefer to have a more straight-forward biography without the author writing whole swaths of what they believe the historical figure is thinking.  If I had known this book was historical fiction, I wouldn’t have checked it out.  Just not my cup of tea.

Now I’m back to a hunt for a balanced biography… or even if I can’t find one that doesn’t absolutely vilify Richard II, I’d at least like one that doesn’t try to fill in the mental gaps!

If you start a book, do you feel compelled to finish it?  What was the last book you abandoned?

2023, books, Family, Food, home, Media, Uncategorized

The Curator

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We find recipes from numerous internet sources, and are rarely purchasing cookbooks these days. I subscribe to the The New York Times Food app, and that has tons of great recipes as well. We like to have paper copies of the recipes, however, and a week doesn’t go by that we aren’t running recipes off on the printer.

Husband loves putting the recipes in plastic slip covers and filing them in their respective three ring binders. He has the binders labeled. There is one large binder devoted solely to rye breads and sourdoughs. I am not allowed to rearrange the binders. That is his role.

When a sufficient number of new recipes have accumulated on the buffet, Husband puts them in their binders, culling older recipes we either didn’t like or never made in the first place. There are fewer and fewer of those. His devotion to the recipes does not extend to our bank and tax papers, however, and it is my thankless task to organize those.

How do you store your recipes? What is your filing system for important papers? What kind of a librarian or museum curator would you have been?

2023, Automotive, books, Fantasy, Food, Kids, Travel

Road Trip

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When I was packing for a long weekend in Madison, I noticed Henrietta watching me from her spot on my little dresser.  Since Henrietta was a gift from my Madison friend, I thought I would take her along.  She seemed excited to be on the move.

It was overall a very lazy and relaxing weekend – we spent a lot of time sitting and reading but we did have a few outings so Henrietta could get some fresh air!

We did the farmer’s market at the capital.  Henrietta enjoyed meeting some of the vendors and smelling all the good smells.  We stopped at the library to pick up a couple of books and then had to have ice cream from Sassy Cow, a great creamery close to my friend’s house.  Henrietta met two little girls there who petted and hugged her.

My friend is seriously considering buying a Tesla so we had a loaner for the weekend.  Henrietta enjoyed the view but didn’t get to drive because she couldn’t reach the pedals.  We drove up to Lake Merrimac and took the ferry across and back.  Henrietta appointed herself “authorized personnel” but since the ferry ride is only four minutes, she didn’t get to flex that authority!

All in all a great trip although Henrietta is not a great conversationalist so the drive to and from Madison was a little quiet!

Who do you like to travel with?

2023, books, Gatherings, Media, Mysteries, Stories

Six Degrees of Separation

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Today’s post comes to us from Cynthia!

“Six Degrees of Separation” is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of “friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.

 I recently listened to Garrison Keiller’s “Writer’s Almanac” after many years of just reading at the printed version.  Maybe I haven’t listened since it went off the air. While listening I remember 1975 when I first discovered and loved Garrison’s radio show. We went to several of his live versions before and after it went national. But before it went national, I was visiting with a school friend and our English teacher in Cloquet. In the middle of the conversation my friend mentioned Garrison. She knew him! She had been the editor of the University of Minnesota’s monthly literary magazine, Ivory Tower in 1963 and 1964, and Garrison was her assistant editor. I was so happily astounded that I knew someone who knew him…Six Degrees of Separation!  When I finally met Garrison while working at MPR in Duluth, I asked him if he remembered her. Of course, he did. They reconnected again not too long ago. And she and I are still close friends.

 Another “Six Degree” tale to tell:

One of my favorite MPR classical music hosts was Australian Stephanie Wendt. I met her in person when she was the host of an event in Duluth and I was her “assistant.” She is also a classical pianist. She married a choral director and they moved to Sweden. We were Facebook friends and then I joined her blog where she posted beautiful photographs of where she lives. I recently asked a friend, Gunilla, who lives on the farm in Mahtowa she inherited from her uncle. She also lives and is a pastor in Sweden: “Is the town where my online friend, Stephanie, lives close to where you live?” Gunilla said, “Yes! I know Stephanie! She and her husband were just at and often are at my church!”

Do you have any “Six Degree of Separation” tales to tell?

2023, books, Business, Fantasy, gardening

Re-Retirement

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Yesterday was my last “real” day of work.  I probably have a handful of hours to put in on final accounting but from my perspective, I am no RE-retired.

I had only agreed to come out of retirement because the programs were our local warehouse programs – a little like the old supermarket sweep programs.  You get a big cart on wheels and a minute to run through our warehouse, all the while flinging stuff into the cart.   These are great programs as they usually target folks who might not otherwise have the opportunity to qualify for an incentive program.  The winners are all (well, just about all) extremely grateful to win these trips, even though it usually only involves one night at a Minneapolis hotel and you can’t bring your spouse/SO.  We even take them straight from the warehouse to the airport!  But they still seem to love it. 

The photo above is the decorations for the festivities.  Lots of beverages and snacks including a dilly bar car and a catered box lunch.  In addition to the fun of the run, we also had a 360° photo experience in which you stand on a platform (hopefully with a tiara and bubble machine or some such accoutrements) and the camera circles around you.  Then you can get the video emailed to you (or airdropped).  A hoot.

I have a few things on my to-do list for the few days, but mostly I think I’m going to laze around and read and work in my garden.

If you won a prize like this, what would you prefer — a warehouse, a supermarket, a bookstore?

2023, books, Fantasy, Food, Mysteries

Cheese Poll

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Photo credit: The Cricket Gallery

I do most of my “library-ing” at the Washburn Library.  It’s just 2 blocks away and it would be a lie if I said it was on the list of considerations when I bought this house.  I’m probably there twice a week.

Last week I needed a copy of something right away (for my other book club) and the closest copy was at the Southdale location.  At Southdale, all the library action begins on the second floor and as I came up the steps and rounded the corner, I encountered this table:

Apparently May is National Cheese month.  Who knew?  Anyway, it looks like they do a tally like this every month.  You choose a little paper slip and put it in the cylinder of your choice.  Not sure why they do this, but seemed like a bit of harmless fun.

I voted for Paneer because I love the underdog.

Did you have a favorite childhood cartoon? Or we can discuss cheese!

2023, books, home, Mysteries, Words

Bookmark That!

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Last week when I stopped at the library, I noticed a basket on the little table inside the door, filled with bookmarks.  A sign on the basket said “A Year’s Worth of Bookmakrs. Please take one.”   Turns out it was a collection of all the bookmarks found in returned books over the last year.  Apparently they do this every year; I must have just missed it before. 

There were a good 40 bookmarks in the basket and I was tempted to look through them all to see if any of them were mine.  I expect with the number of library books I borrow that one or two bookmarks might have found their way to the library!

I have a cannister on my dresser that is filled with my bookmarks.  I will always pick up a bookmark if one is being offered.  (Ask Chris, I have several of his!) One of my latest favorites is a cutout of Smokey the Bear that I got at the state fair last year. 

You’d think that with at least 25 bookmarks in my cannister that I wouldn’t need to take another one from the library basket.  Well, you’d be wrong, I flipped through them all and picked out a striking one from a publisher with brightly colored book spines on it!

Do you have bookmarks?  Do you have a place to keep your bookmarks?