Clam Devours Books & Shares Cheese ❂ 2023 ~ Part IV ❂

New season, new thread!



Well now... I am a huge fan of Barbara Kingsolver's so I was unnerved when I started reading Pulitzer Prize winning Demon Copperhead a few months ago and found it too depressing. I decided to trade in an Audible credit for the audio book and try again. I had my socks blown off. There is a lot of dark humor in here which the narrator Charlie Thurston manages to convey perfectly. I think I was missing out on that when I tried to read it because a lot of it is written in dialect.

I really can't praise this one enough. It's a retelling of David Copperfield. Damon (Demon) is born in Appalachia, in the era of opioid addiction. I knew it was a bad problem in this area, but I really didn't know why, and now I do. I won't rant in here, but ruthless pharmaceutical companies, brutal physical labor (coal mining, etc) and a lack of decent health insurance combined to create this disaster. If you can stomach reading about heavy Rx drug use in parts of the book then I recommend this one. For some reason it didn't bother me the way the drug use in The Goldfinch* did. Perhaps because this is definitely not glorifying it. Five stars from me. I'd give it six if I could.

*This one also won the Pulitzer.

Happy new thread! I'm glad your new thread is starting off with a book you thoroughly enjoyed.

Happy new thread! I think I have to read the original before reading Demon Copperhead, though from your description I'm not sure it is my kind of book.

Happy new thread.

>2 jillmwo: & >4 pgmcc: Thank you.

>3 Karlstar: Before you decide to give it a pass read this LT review. It does a much better job of explaining what I loved about the book than I could: https://www.librarything.com/work/27996967/reviews/233434523

>5 clamairy: Thank you, I was getting the sense that I would really like to read it, but then was conflicted by your experience. From your review I think there may be sections that I really won't want to read, it may be one of those books where I just skip small sections.

>6 Karlstar: She certainly doesn't glorify prescription drug abuse, and she casts the blame where it belongs and not on the victims. I was able to get through all it, even though my husband was one of those victims. He was prescribed Vicodin by a well-meaning but not well informed neurologist for his back pain. (Back pain is very common in people with MS.) Then the doctor just kept increasing the dose. It was a long stint in the hospital and rehab for a bowel obstruction caused by the Vicodin that hastened my husband's death. So I found the book very cathartic.

Happy new thread! I know Demon Copperhead has been getting all the raves, but I’m still on the fence about reading it.

>8 foggidawn: I understand. Perhaps you can try borrowing the audio through OverDrive.

>1 clamairy: >5 clamairy: Since I've resumed a bit of activity around here, I've met a barrage of BBs. Now Demon Copperhead is another one. Unfortunately I can relate to your personal experience watching a family member go through that hell. Thank you for sharing that with us, together with your comments on this book. I'm not a huge fan of Kingsolver nor of books heavy with dialect (unless they're 19th c. British or Scots), but I'll go with your recommendation.

>1 clamairy: Kingsolver is a very hit and miss author for me. I have found several of her works hopeless and depressing. Then other times she can almost make me sing.

>10 Meredy: I hope it works for you.
>11 MrsLee: There has only been one book of hers that I read and didn't love, Prodigal Summer. I still have a few in my TBR stack, though.

Another great read for me! Tom Lake by Ann Patchett is, on the surface, about one woman's memories of her short acting career. It's really about how precious the love of family can be. This one was another slow burn. I'm giving it 4½ stars because it seemed like it took a while to grab me. But when it did, oh boy. At it's center is the play Our Town by Thorton Wilder, and if you haven't ever read it, or been privileged enough to see it performed live, then you might want to brush up on it before reading this. I think this book might end up in the running for next year's Pulitzer.

She kept the red leather-bound dictionary her husband had given to her on their first anniversary on the bedside table where another woman might have kept a Bible.

Yes, anthropology can be both humorous and informative! Who Ate the First Oyster was another great listen from Audible. My only complaint was that this was too short. I will be reading and/or listening to more by Cody Cassidy.

>14 clamairy: That one is a good question. Who decided that the shell full of mucus was edible and took a chance on it? They thought it was a clam?

>15 Karlstar: *whispers* Shhh, we don't talk about eating clams in here.

>15 Karlstar: I happen to love oysters and clams (and scallops and mussels) so it all makes perfect sense to me.

>16 MrsLee: 😆

Happy new thread! I'm so glad you were able to get into Demon Copperhead on the second try, and ended up loving it. It really was such a good read, and Demon's narrative voice stopped it from being totally depressing.

>17 clamairy: Ooops?? I can do scallops and mussels, though I don't eat them often and clams even less often, just can't do oysters.

>17 clamairy: & >19 Karlstar:
I love oysters, mussels and cockles.

>20 pgmcc: Do cockles taste like clams, I wonder? Because the shells look scallop-like, but animal inside does not.

>19 Karlstar: More for me, then!

>18 Sakerfalcon: Yes. When I was reading it I couldn't find much humor, but as soon as I switched to the audio it was all there!

>21 clamairy:
They have s stronger flavour and are gorgeous with buttered wheaten bread. Unfortunately I am finding it difficult to get them in the shops. I may have to start gathering some for myself.

>23 pgmcc: They sound delicious. Why are they harder to find? Are people just not eating them as much or have they become more scarce?

>17 clamairy: and >23 pgmcc: One of the joys of visiting New Orleans back when I was young was discovering the place that listed Oysters Rockefeller as part of its menu of "take-out" food. I think I must have had it three or four times that trip. So good.

>25 jillmwo: Yum!!! There's a fish market in town that sells Oysters Rockefeller prepped and frozen. Since I am rubbish at shucking my own oysters these are the ones that I buy when I have company. Soooo good.

>24 clamairy:
I do not know why they have become difficult to find in supermarkets. Tesco used to sell bags of frozen, shelled cockles and that is where I got mine. These disappeared from the freezers and I have no idea why.

My first cockles where in a bar on the south coast. They were provided free as nibbles at the bar.

>27 pgmcc: Because Molly Malone is no more, perhaps?

>28 hfglen: Molly M still exists, immortalised in bronze, in Dublin.

>29 haydninvienna: However, "she died of a fever / and no one could save her / and that was the end of sweet Molly Malone ..." and even if "her ghost wheels her barrow / through streets broad and narrow / crying cockles and mussels ..." it might be rather hard to stop her for a purchase ;-), despite the presence of The Tart With A Cart.

I think the reference to Molly Malone and her statue, "The Tart With A Cart", requires a picture for those readers not familiar with the bronze commemoration* statue in Dublin.



*Commemoration is probably not an appropriate term for a statue of a fictional character in a song, but I could not think of a better one. It could be argued it is a commemoration a past way of life for some people. There are still market stalls in Dublin and the ladies running them carry on the tradition of Molly, well, her goods selling traditions. There is at least one fish stall on Moore Street, but I have not noticed cockles or mussels on it.

>31 pgmcc: Are we sure mollusks were the only thing on sale?

>32 clamairy:
I see you noticed the between the lines message. She may have been selling crabs.

>32 clamairy: >31 pgmcc: >29 haydninvienna: >30 hfglen:. You all have me cackling when I should really be doing other things this morning. I'd never heard of such a statue. The Tart with a Cart - ROFL.

However, I will say that the Weather Channel this am was showing a chilly, rainy Dublin street from their Earthcam. Did no one think to offer the poor woman a shawl or perhaps a rain poncho?

>34 jillmwo:
It is indeed a wet and windy day in Dublin. It is Storm Agnes which I understand is a consequence of your recent Storm Ophelia. We had a Storm Ophelia a few years ago and it was devastating.

I suspect a shawl would not last long on Molly’s shoulders due to the wind.

>31 pgmcc: and the rest of you, made me snort.

I've started reading spooky things for Halloween season. I found a list here on LT of Ghost Stories. https://www.librarything.com/list/10358/Ghosts And I spotted one that looked familiar. Turns out that sakerfalcon had recommended it a couple of years ago, and it was on my OverDrive list, so I snagged it.



The Broken Girls scared me so much that the first few nights I had to switch to reading something else before I fell asleep. I no longer have a dog to protect me. My cat is great company, but she also excels at staring at things I can't see, which can be unsettling. This book is about an abandoned (and haunted!) girls school in Vermont, and jumps back in forth in time between the 50s, and 2014. There are new owners of the property who are doing construction and uncover a body. It was a bit slow to grab me, and then got extremely creepy, and I couldn't put it down. Four stars.

There is no justice, Malcolm had told her once, but we stand for it anyway. Justice is the ideal, but justice is not the reality.

I have already started The Shadow Rising (Book Four of The Wheel of Time), because season 2 of the show is already messing with my memory of what happened in books 2 & 3!

>37 clamairy: I REALLY enjoyed that one! Glad you did too!

The Broken Girls looks intriguing. I put it on a list somewhere...maybe the library (overdrive) or maybe audible. Thanks for the bb.

>37 clamairy: That one got me too. Not by the subject matter but by your strong reaction.

>38 Sakerfalcon: Thank you... two years late. I will be reading more of her books. (I might take a break halfway through my Wheel of Time book to read something shorter and scarier.)

>39 Bookmarque: & >40 Meredy: I hope you both enjoy it. It's a lot more involved than I've indicated, but I didn't know how to dish the details without giving anything away.

>37 clamairy: Maybe your home is haunted by a Greeble?

>42 libraryperilous: Probably several!

I've had a lot of good but time consuming stuff happening in RL. We've had several family gatherings, and I enjoyed a few outings with friends, and one of my brothers was staying with me for much of this week. So I haven't been posting much. Also, I have gotten somewhat stuck about ⅓ of the way through The Shadow Rising. It's good, I'm just not picking it up when I have free time during the day, like I would with a book I was fully immersed in. So, I think I'm going to return the eBook and get on the wait-list to borrow the audiobook. (I don't want to spend an Audible credit on any version that isn't narrated by Rosamund Pike). In the meantime, I think I'm going to borrow something suitably creepy.

>44 clamairy: It is just me, or does the TV show feel like it is setting up to pretty much entirely skip book 4?

>45 Karlstar: They might squish it all into one episode. :(

>46 clamairy: I looked last week and I read that one in 2021 to get ready for the show, not knowing at the time they'd take so long to get season two out. Have you read New Spring?

>47 Karlstar: I have not. Am I missing anything?

>49 Karlstar: I think you are at the right spot to read that one, especially with the focus on Lan and Moiraine in season 2. It is basically the story of how she started her quest and met Lan. One of my favorite books of the series.
It was originally published between book 10 and book 11, after Jordan wrote a short story/novella for the Legends collection. No reason to wait that long though.

Put Broken Girls on my For Later shelf at the library.

Also, my cat sees things that aren’t there all the time. I swear we have a ghost cat in our house that hangs out in the kitchen.

>49 Karlstar: Okay, I might try that one. In the meantime I'm going back to listening.

>50 catzteach: I hope you enjoy it.

>50 catzteach: Cats are what guard us against malicious spirits and fairies that would mess with us otherwise. At least that's what my cats told me.

>52 MrsLee: I think the dog farts were keeping them away, now Belle must be on active duty again!

>53 clamairy: Haha! If that were the case, one would think my husband would be protection enough, but apparently they become immune to gassing after 32 years in a home.

>54 MrsLee: Bwahaha!!!

I finished listening to Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind, and I almost deducted a half of a star because the narrator appears to have attended the William Shatner School of Elocution. The delivery was oddly choppy, with some words bunched together and longer pauses than needed in between. I got used to it, so it wasn't as distracting. The book itself was a bit of a shock. I remember in Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything he talked about how cutthroat the archaeologists in the 'old days' were. Things haven't changed much, at least not in the study of physical anthropology. Tim D. White's team discovered the fossil remains of 'Ardi'- the most complete skeleton found so far of a proposed human ancestor. She dates from 4.4 million years ago. It took decades for her to be accepted by those who make these decisions. Everyone seemed to be in love with 'Lucy' who lived about 3.2 million years ago. Apparently Dr. White was abrasive and because of all the wars and revolutions in Ethiopia no one was able to see much of 'Ardi' for many years. There are now older fossils, but none as complete as this one.

I snagged The Night Hawks from OverDrive for my Kindle, and finished it in 24 hours. I have enjoyed this series immensely, and now there are only two left. :o( This one was excellent, with a Bronze Age skeleton found, and various other people turning up dead. There is also a large black dog on the loose which may or may not be the Black Shuck*. I've gotten very attached to many of the regular characters in this series.

* It's a real thing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Shuck

>57 clamairy: Yes, I enjoyed some of the mystery plots in that series more than others, but I kept coming back to it because I was so involved with the characters.

>57 clamairy: I had a vivid dream with the Black Shuck in it, I was trying to get my brothers, sons and husband away to a l place of safety from the beach when I saw it. I had the feeling I was missing someone. The next day I found out the the man who had been the gardener at our house since my grandmother's time, 40 years, had drowned at his house. I don't much care for prophetic dreams.

>59 MrsLee: Oh, yikes! I've had a few of those over the years*, and I don't appreciate them much either. They rarely seem to tell me when something good is going to happen.

*None included the Black Shuck.

>58 foggidawn: Can you think of any other series with a main character like Ruth? I just love her so much. I especially identify with her when she shows up for an event, and immediately thinks she's under dressed, or is trying to hide her hands, because she just came from a dig. LOL

>61 clamairy: I can't think of any off the top of my head. If anyone else can, I'd definitely be interested!

>57 clamairy: I have never encountered stories before about the Black Shuck. The Night Hawks sounds intriguing. And some part of me is wondering why I've never read anything by her before.

>59 MrsLee:
Not a dream I would like to have.
HUGS!

>63 jillmwo: The hound in The Hound of the Baskervilles is a littermate of the Black Shuck. For some reason, there are extensive stories about spectral or demonic black dogs in the Dartmoor region as well.

>63 jillmwo: They are entertaining. I'm not sure if she's a match for you, but borrow the first one (The Crossing Places) from OverDrive and give it a shot.

>65 Marissa_Doyle: It's always amazing to me how different parts of the world, and even different parts of individual countries have their own myths and legends of the supernatural. Here in the Northeast the idea of ghost ships were a big thing when I was little. When I got a little older it was the hookman stories. Now I am reading Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire and learning all about the various types of road ghosts in the US. It's fascinating and very entertaining stuff.

>66 clamairy: There's a semi-famous (and very eerie) one in my general area--the Rte. 44 hitchhiker in Rehoboth, MA. I need to see if I have that McGuire in my Nook...

>67 Marissa_Doyle: Oh, that's very cool. I seem to recall there was a woman in white on the road in Connecticut somewhere.

I don't know what I was expecting with the book, but this isn't it. This is so much better. The only thing I've read by her before was Every Heart a Doorway. Her writing style is kind of unusual and I greatly appreciate it.

I just finished Scalzi's Starter Villain as read by Wil Wheaton. Wonderful stuff. I threw an extra half of a star at it, because it's not often something that is pure fun crosses my path. I want one of those cats. Maybe...

Up next is the Audio of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which is free to Audible subscribers. It looks to be only about four hours long. Was that book a novella? (I looked it up. It's 198 pages.)

>69 clamairy: I should have picked up Starter Villain already, thanks for the confirmation that it is worth it!

>70 Karlstar: You're welcome. Narilka shot me between the eyes with that bullet. Not that I put up much of a fight.

>69 clamairy: I loved the movie of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Didn't know there was a book.