Ellen (EBT1002) reads what she can in 2023 - Thread 5

Hello all. Ellen here, an unreliable but enthusiastic member of the 75ers since 2011.

I'm in my last few months of working! While I manage the pressure and stress, I'm giving myself permission to read what I want when I can. I will most certainly not reach the 75-book mark this year. I have started learning to sketch and paint (a bit) with watercolors and that is also occupying my free time these days. I also do jigsaw puzzles, play Wordle every day, spend time with partner Prudence and ginger cat Carson...

My last day of work will be the Winter Solstice!

Carson, my favorite laptop (and yes, that is a heated bed in which he snoozes in the winter when not occupying my lap)

A sketch I did of clothes on the line on our back deck. Ink and watercolor pencils.

Prudence and yours truly in Ireland.
September 2023

COMPLETED IN JANUARY

1. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell 4.5 stars
2. Out of Bounds by Val McDermid 4 stars
3. The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield 3.5 stars
4. The Furrows by Namwali Serpell 3 stars
5. The Candy House by Jennifer Egan 4.5 stars
6. The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks 4 stars

COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY

7. What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez 3.5 stars
8. Horse by Geraldine Brooks 4.5 stars
9. The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor 2.5 stars
10. A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis 4 stars

COMPLETED IN MARCH

11. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 5 stars
12. I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai 4.5/5 stars
13. The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff 4.5 stars
14. Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet 4 stars
15. Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett 2.5 stars

COMPLETED IN APRIL

16. Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow 3.5 stars
17. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 3.5 stars
18. Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes 4.5 stars

COMPLETED IN MAY

19. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel 4 stars
20. Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
21. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy 4 stars
22. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton 3.5 stars

COMPLETED IN JUNE

23. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 3.5 stars
24. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers 3.5 stars
25. Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild 4 stars
26. The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith 4 stars
27. American Born Chinese GN by Gene Luen Yang 4 stars
28. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner 4 stars

COMPLETED IN JULY

29. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 4 stars
30. Galatea: A Short Story by Madeline Miller 5 stars
31. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 4.5 stars
32. A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet 3.5 stars
33. The Wind Knows My Name: A Novel by Isabel Allende (Frances Riddle, Translator) 3 stars
34. The Queen of Dirt Island: A Novel by Donal Ryan 4.5 stars

COMPLETED IN AUGUST

35. Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson 4 stars
36. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton 4.5 stars
37. Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris 5 stars
38. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery 3.5 stars
39. 11/22/63 by Stephen King 4.5 stars

COMPLETED IN SEPTEMBER

40. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks 4 stars
41. This Other Eden by Paul Harding 4 stars
42. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett 5 stars
43. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch 5 stars

COMPLETED IN OCTOBER

44. Old God's Time: A Novel by Sebastian Barry 4 stars

These are my shared / planned (so far) reads for the rest of the year:

October:
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray with Mark, Stasia, et al.
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood with Kim and Beth
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (currently reading) for RLBG
Weyward by Emilia Hart for RLBG

November:
The Fraud by Zadie Smith with Beth and Kim

December:
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng with Mark, Stasia, Beth, Kim, et al.

Carson helping me celebrate my last-ever September working day. We've been enjoying bubbly the last day of each month for about the past year.

Carson---best boy!

Happy New Thread, Ellen!

Happy new one, Ellen!

Happy new thread, Ellen!

>3 EBT1002: Love it.

>4 EBT1002: Happy hikers.

>10 EBT1002: ooo, I like that idea, despite my retirement being narly 3 years away.

Hi Carson. Skritch.

Happy Saturday, Ellen. Happy New Thread. I am 60 pages into Skippy Dies and I am enjoying it. Lots of characters to work through.

Happy new thread, Ellen!

Happy new one, Ellen (and Carson)!

Happy new thread Ellen!

Well wishes to Prudence!

Happy new thread, my dear Ellen.

I’m on page 46 of Skippy Dies. If I don’t care more about the characters or what happens to them by page 100, I’m bailing.

>21 EBT1002: Well, that is not the kind of news I want to hear since I am starting on the book tomorrow. I am sorry it is not a better read for you, Ellen.

Happy new thread, by the way.

I made it to page 60 of Skippy Dies. It’s just not for me. Too much adolescent boy energy and I just don’t care. Maybe it’s profound. I shall never know.

I’m moving on to Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood.

>23 EBT1002: I felt quite the same about Skippy Dies.

Happy new thread, Ellen!

>10 EBT1002: What a lovely way to count towards your last day.

>23 EBT1002: Sorry Skippy Dies doesn't work for you. I loved it a some years back, and go for a reread this month. At that time I hadn't read as many books as I have now, so my experience might be different this time.
I do remember much adolescent boy energy ;-)

>23 EBT1002: Sorry to hear you are bailing on Skippy Dies, Ellen. I am also at the 60 page mark and I am quite liking it. Hey, you gave it a reasonable try, right?

Wordle 841 4/6*

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early, scone, knife, binge

>23 EBT1002: I heard a lot of similar comments about Skippy Dies, Ellen.

>11 laytonwoman3rd: and >12 vancouverdeb: and >13 drneutron: and >14 katiekrug:
Thanks for the greetings, Linda, Deb, Jim, and Katie!

>15 Caroline_McElwee: Hi Caroline. We started the bubbly-on-the-last-day-of-the-month thing last August when I thought I would retire at the end of summer 2023. So it has carried on a bit longer than the full year. Still, it's a fun way to mark the time until 12/21/23. :-)

>16 msf59: Hi Mark. Yes, the characters in Skippy Dies take some time to sort through. I think that may have contributed to my impatience with it, although that quality doesn't usually lead me to avoid a novel. In any case, as I mentioned this morning on your thread, I'm going to hang in there. I'm giving Murray up to page 100 to garner my commitment. Heh.

>17 figsfromthistle: and >18 jessibud2: and >19 quondame: and >20 PaulCranswick:
Thanks for the greetings Anita, Shelley, Susan, and Paul!

>22 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. Last night I decided to bail on Skippy at page 60. This morning, in the fresh light of day, I'm deciding to hang in there. I read some with my breakfast cereal and it may pull me in after all. I'll do as originally planned and give it to page 100.

>24 quondame: It would be interesting to identify the demographics for whom Skippy Dies has appeal, Susan. I'm assuming age and gender might both affect how it lands for a reader. That said, as I dug back in this morning with my wheat flakes and milk, it may have started to grow on me. We'll see. I'm also interested in comparing Skippy with The Bee Sting, which sounds really good. I would assume an author might evolve pretty significantly over a decade or so of life and writing.

>25 FAMeulstee: Good to know you liked Skippy Dies when you originally read it, Anita. Yes, our reactions to books can certainly change over the years. I'll be interested in how you like it this time around. I'm still hanging in there with it. Feeling less grumpy than I was last night, I suppose.

>26 msf59: I do think 60 pages is a reasonable try, Mark, but I'm going to give it the full 100 page effort (Pearl Rule without the subtraction, haha). I usually like to hang in there with group reads because it's so fun to compare notes!

>28 BLBera: We'll see which side of the fence I land on after at least 100 pages, Beth.

Sunday in October. It's supposed to be sunny and 80F today so I've hung the sheets on the line. We'll go to the women's volleyball match on campus at noon. We haven't been to a match in a long time. I am not a fan of the coach's style off the court, but the Cougs are ranked #4 in the country, playing #3-ranked Stanford. It should be a good match.

I didn't paint yesterday after all. My current puzzle is a challenging one and I got pretty sucked into that. I ma paint today. I'd at least like to do some sketching as I've learned that learning to sketch/paint is like learning anything else: it takes patience, practice, and persistence. :-)

I sometimes have trouble with books that are about teenage boys. I had checked this book out back in 2015 and only read a few pages, so I am determined to try to read the entire thing this time around. However, I may have to use discipline in order to make it through the book. Books like this aggravate me to no end. I didn't finish reading Black Swan Green and I quit on other YA novels about this same age group, like Stargirl. I am going to give this one the "old college try" and see how it turns out.

>31 EBT1002: I have opted not to start Skippy Dies right now. I did not realize how long the book was and am already reading another of Murray's lengthy books, The Bee Sting. I feel as though I would have to rush to finish Skippy Dies and I do not want to have to do that because I do not think it is fair to either me as the reader or to the author. I am at least going to give it a try at some future point though.

Wordle 842 4/6*

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haste, filth, north, truth

I’m on page 113 of Skippy Dies and now I’m glad I stuck with it.

>34 benitastrnad: I hope Skippy Dies goes better for you this time, Benita. What pulled me in last evening was Howard’s story. And now I’m kind of curious as Skippy’s parents — or at least his dad — have made a minor appearance.

>35 alcottacre: That makes total sense, Stasia. At 660 pages, Skippy will certainly eat up a chunk of my October reading time. Are you liking The Bee Sting?

>38 EBT1002:
I have a good start on Howard's story, but didn't read as much this morning on the book as I would have liked. I will get back to it over lunch. So far there are lots of parallel's between Howard's story and so many of the Middle Grade books for boys that I have read over the years. I smiled reading Howard's clumsy attempts at impressing the substitute teacher. (Asking to carry her books, when his own arms were full and there was no way he could carry them. So fifth grade.) Do men, of any age, really act like that around women?

Of course they do. I have the same reaction as the substitute when I go to a store or restaurant. Men will stand there and stand there and stand there holding the door open when I am still 50 feet away weaving my way through the parking lot. Do they really think that I can't open the door for myself? If I was in a walker or wheelchair, perhaps I would be grateful for the open door, or to have some man carry my books - but really? Just leave me alone. I can be more efficient by myself.

On-the-other-hand, when I need help, like carrying all my groceries in at home, there is no Johnny-on-the-spot then. This behavior totally flummoxes me and Murray did such a good job writing that one little scene in Skippy Dies.

>38 EBT1002: >39 benitastrnad: Glad you are hanging in there, Ellen. I am nearly a third of the way through Skippy Dies. I was not paying close attention to the length of the book. I thought it was 550. Turns out it is 650. Hope it keeps my attention. So far so good.

At this point, I like Skippy best.

>37 EBT1002: That is good to hear!

>38 EBT1002: Yes, I am enjoying The Bee Sting although it still does not top Prophet Song for me, but I still have a ways to go.

I'm flummoxed. I thought all the Booker prizes were for new books, but Skippy Dies is definitely not new. I'll look up the criteria.

Personally , I am really loving The Bee Sting, Ellen. I particularly the lengthy portions about the adults in the novel , Imelda and Dickie, who are married to each other. I'm not sure yet whether Prophet Song or The Bee Sting will be the better read , from my point of view.

Wordle 843 3/6*

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heart, plain, snail

This was a fun one!

>39 benitastrnad: Your post made me chuckle, Benita.

>40 msf59: You’ll finish way ahead of me, Mark, but I’m glad I’m enjoying the book. I definitely like Skippy best of the characters. I suppose we’re meant to.

>41 alcottacre: I’m glad to hear The Bee Sting is good, Stasia. I have it on hold at the library.

>42 ffortsa: You’re correct, Judy. Our conversation is kind of two threads intertwined. Paul Murray is nominated for this year’s Booker for The Bee Sting but several of us are also reading Skippy Dies, his novel published in 2010. Sorry to confuse you!

>43 vancouverdeb: Wow, Deb, The Bee Sting is that good? Because Prophet Song was a 5+ star read for me. I’m glad I have TBS on hold at the library.

Regarding Skippy Dies, I chuckled out loud on page 134 when Skippy muses that he thought his life would have more narrative arc to it.

I bought a new iPad today....

>48 EBT1002: Oooo. Which one? I have a Samsung tablet, but every once in a while I think of betraying my breed and getting an iPad, especially for music. All the really hip classical music players have them.

>47 EBT1002:
Ruprecht became an interesting character for me when he says (p.25) "everything this is, everything that has ever been - every grain of sand, every drop of water, every star, every planet, space and time themselves - all crammed into one dimensionless point where no rules or laws apply, waiting to fly out and become the future. When you think about it, the Big Bang's a bit like school isn't it? ... one day we'll leave here and become scientists and bank clerks and diving instructors and hotel managers - the fabric of society, so to speak. But in the meantime, that fabric, ... us, the future, is crowded into one tiny little point where none of the laws of society applies, vis., this school."

I thought this captures the essence of Middle School and at the same time totally captured the thinking of the nerdiest kid in the class. You gotta love books about school. It brings out all those fond memories.

Two of my closest friends/colleagues and I reserved an AirBnB for Veterans Day weekend— a “readers’ retreat.” We’re going to have a quiet weekend, no spouses, just us, books, probably food and wine. Haha

Yay!!!

I finished The Bee Sting this evening, Ellen. I'm pretty sure it is a 5 star read for me, but I'll think on it overnight.

Enjoy your new Ipad.

>51 EBT1002: - What fun! My best friend and I have done that before, and it was lovely.

Wordle 844 4/6*

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arise, spout, slunk, skunk

I was pretty sure this would be the word even as I made my third guess but just couldn’t bring myself to go with those double letters so early.

>49 ffortsa: I got the iPad Air, Judy. My current iPad is the 9th generation so I really did not need a new one (they’re just on 10th generation now) but I think I’ll like this even better.

>50 benitastrnad: Great quote, Benita. And that general theme — the chaos and unexplainability (not a word, I know, but it feels more accurate, somehow, than inexplicability ) of the universe is recurring. I like it.

>52 vancouverdeb: Well, whether you give it the full five stars or not, Deb, it sounds like I’ll be glad I’ve got it on hold at the library!

>53 katiekrug: I’m really excited about it, Katie. It’s a house in a pretty isolated location with great views, a wood burning fireplace, hot tub, and what look like comfy couches on which to read.

>51 EBT1002: That sounds great.

Wordle 845 2/6*

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A very lucky first guess today. And, frankly, a lucky second guess.

dealt, knelt

>2 EBT1002: Carson is an endearing pet, and what better to have him near you when you completely unnoccupied. It's lovely that you try and read when you can. Reading is a wonderful thing.

>4 EBT1002: happy couple

Sweet Thursday, Ellen. Are you still hanging in there on Skippy Dies? I am hoping to get close to the 500 page mark today. It sure helps, that he has a fairly easy narrative. I also have The Bee Sting on my TBR but I may not get to it until early next year.

>27 EBT1002: great attempt...

>59 sarah_d_writer: and >60 sarah_d_writer: and >62 sarah_d_writer: hi and thanks, Sarah.

>61 msf59: I’m only on page 198 of Skippy Dies, Mark. Overall, I’m enjoying it but this scene at the Hop is dragging on and on…. I assume it’s going somewhere but at the moment it’s just not that interesting. So, the book is up and down for me.

>63 EBT1002: It sounds like you are at the point of no return. LOL. I agree the Hop did drag out a bit too long but I thought it ended up setting up a couple of important things, moving forward.

>64 msf59: I just finished the Hop, and Section I, and I’m definitely pulled back in. Looking forward to reading more this evening. Now I have to get ready for work. Bleh.

How many days left?

I am on page 130 and got totally sucked in last night. So much so that I had to read on it this morning before I starting working on other things. Like you and Mark, I am finding this novel easy to read. By that I mean that the narrative just flows.

When I said earlier that I had the plot figured out, I meant that I think I can see what literary devices the author is using and how the novel will be resolved. The author has introduced plenty of characters and each one has something intriguing about them that is a question just waiting to be answered. Since we already know the outcome (that was given to us in the first scene) a reader can start out knowing that all of these characters are connected to that event in some way. If you were going to map this novel it would look something like a river that has one single stream, but then it hits a low spot and starts to diverge into smaller streams that meander through the swamp, finding that one way out where the meanders come back together at one single point. (perhaps that is why Murray included the English teacher Slattery in the story - see page 123 in my copy?) Most of us readers are accustomed to a story starting and ending with the events between moving in a straight line. I think that the reason that Murray is being cited by the Booker Award people is for his technique of splitting the narrative in the manner I described above. This makes his novels intriguing for many readers and frustrating for others. Those who get frustrated will not continue to read to see how he resolves the problem he has set up in the first chapter, those who will continue reading. This type of book demands patience from readers.

By-the-way, has anybody read the Robert Graves book Goodbye to All That? This is the book that Howard reads aloud in his history class and finds that the boys become engrossed in it. Howard feels that he has imparted actual knowledge to the class and feels satisfaction with what he has done as a teacher. (pg. 121) I took a quick look at Murray's Wikipedia entry just to see if he is a teacher. He is not, but he has managed to capture the ennui in his description of Howard. Most teacher's experience ennui at some point in their careers. This teaching ennui is very common among teacher's and many refer to it as the mid-career blues, or mid-career slump. Nowadays, it is called burnout.

>46 EBT1002: I also finished The Bee Sting yesterday and I gave it 4.5 stars to Deborah's 5. I will be curious to see what you think of the book when you have a chance to read it, Ellen.

I became a bit? interested in Robert Graves. I knew that he was a British War Poet. One of those poets and artists who served in World War I and whose lives were affected by their experiences. I also knew that he was the author of Goodbye to All That. Goodbye is considered to be one of the best autobiographical books by the War Poets.

Graves full name was Robert von Renke Graves. (Similar to Ruprecht Van Doren?) I couldn't find out if there was any significance to this name like, was it a family name? or something his parents thought had cachet? Graves served in the British Army from 1914 to 1919 and was friends with Wilfred Owen - another war poet. He served in the same regiment as Siegfried Sassoon and he had a relationship with Sassoon. Graves was bisexual. After the war Graves was a prolific and long lived writer and lived a colorful life. He wrote poetry, literary criticism, and historical novels. He might be most popularly known for being the author of I, Claudius and its sequels.

I realize this is a digression from the topic of Skippy Dies but now I wonder if all of the digressions in the book work the same way?

>51 EBT1002: Ooo, Enjoy Ellen. Glad to see you are practicing for retirement.

>66 BLBera: SEVENTY days, Beth!

>67 benitastrnad: Love your analysis, Benita. "Since we already know the outcome (that was given to us in the first scene) a reader can start out knowing that all of these characters are connected to that event in some way." Just so.

I have not read Goodbye to All That but Skippy Dies is making me want to do so.

>68 alcottacre: I'm looking forward to it when my turn comes, Stasia!

>69 benitastrnad: Digressions are welcome, Benita. I do feel like Skippy Dies is so much more complex than it appears. I'm glad we're doing a group read. And thank you for sharing your digressions since I don't (yet) have time to go down research bunny trails. :-)

>70 Caroline_McElwee: Ha, I had not thought of the retreat as practice retirement, Caroline, but now I will!

>51 EBT1002: Have fun!

>58 EBT1002: Excellent wordling.

Seventy days! Not long now, Ellen!

>65 EBT1002: >67 benitastrnad: I don't think I am spoiling anything, but Skippy Dies does take a darker turn in Part 3, which I wasn't expecting. The novel keeps drawing you in, that is for sure. I will finish it this weekend. I loved doing a shared read of this one.

Happy Friday, Ellen.

Wordle 846 4/6*

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realm, stole, guile, uncle

I’m on page 258 of Skippy Dies. Carl and Barry just got into a scrape with their dealers.
Not yet halfway. I hope to spend some good time with it this weekend.

Is there an actual group thread for Skippy Dies?

>78 ffortsa:
No. That is why I have been posting on both This thread and on Mark's.

Wordle 847 3/6*

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>78 ffortsa: and >79 benitastrnad: We're just commenting here and on Mark's thread as we go.

It's Saturday! Yay!

On the docket for today is laundry (no more hanging it on the line, though, as it's cool and cloudy and damp), reading, starting a new jigsaw puzzle, maybe some sketching. We'll probably watch the Cougs play football. Making meatballs from scratch.

Tomorrow we have a rum-tasting event with friends.

I'm slowly making my way through Skippy Dies and very curious to see how all these characters come together in the novel's predetermined denouement.

I ended up putting some daffodil bulbs in the ground this morning. They'll be lovely come spring.

I'm just past the halfway mark in Skippy Dies. I'm enjoying it and I feel like I'm ultimately going to say it was an excellent 500-page novel crammed into 660 pages

I'm glad you are enjoying Skippy Dies, Ellen. I found that The Bee Sting read really quickly for me. But I really understand wanting to wait a while before diving into a chunkster. I'm hoping to get to The Covenant of Water sometime in the New Year. I had considered November, but like you, I want to space out my 650 - 750 page books. Starting a new jigsaw puzzle! How fun! I have one a I need to finish, as I have a fun Halloween jig saw puzzle waiting for me.

>83 EBT1002: THat reminds me that I have to put some bulbs in the ground as well. I have a lot of daffodils but not tulips. The squirrels prefer eating tulips. Do you have problems with squirrels eating bulbs?

Happy Sunday, Ellen. I rated Skippy Dies 4.3 stars. It certainly gets an A for effort. It's admirable to keep a 650 page book interesting. I don't want to spoil anything, so I will leave it there.

I hope you can get plenty of reading time in today.

Wordle 848 4/6*

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ideal, leash, learn, leaky

I started a new jigsaw puzzle this morning after reading some in Skippy Dies with my coffee. Watching the Seahawks at Cincinnati now but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice too much of my day to it. I did a bit of laundry. We're going to a bourbon tasting this afternoon.

Wordle 849 3/6*

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I found another reference to Robert Graves in Skippy Dies. This one is on page 160 in my copy and it is the scene in the classroom where the kids get the Irish teacher to talk about Halloween and its significance in Irish culture. The teacher tells them about the "White Goddess." This caught my eye as Robert Graves published a work of literary criticism titled White Goddess: a Historical Grammar Of Poetic Myth in 1948. It has never been out-of-print since then. In the book, Graves suggests that there is a White Goddess of birth, death, and love. Graves makes a case that true, or "pure" poetry is linked to this Goddess.

I haven't heard about the "White Goddess" myth until this book, and I am finding that Graves is now becoming an author of interest to me. I wonder if he is to Paul Murray?

>90 benitastrnad: I think he must be, Benita. Graves comes up several times throughout the novel (I just finished Part II, getting ready to start Part III, “Ghostland”). So far that section about the White Goddess discussion in class is the most detailed. I certainly find myself wanting to read some Graves.

Wordle 850 2/6*

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What a lucky first guess!

I managed to read a bit more in Skippy Dies this morning and am now on page 286. This is the part of the novel where the boys are discussing another legend. That of the Lorelei. They get the story a little twisted, but I do see a connection between the legend and the character Lorelei in the book.

The Lorelei refers to a rock with that name located in the middle Rhine Gorge. The river makes a bend around this rock and until the early 1900's there was a small waterfall there. (It was blasted out to make the Rhine the river highway it has become since then.) This was a dangerous section of the river and there were lots of shipwrecks at that spot. The acoustics of the Gorge produces a murmuring sound that was quite audible in the past, but can't be heard today due to the urbanization of the Gorge. This murmuring sound gave rise to the legend of a beautiful siren sitting on the top of the 1400 foot rock luring ships into dangerous waters.

This legend proved irresistible to authors. The first poem about the Lorelei was written in German in the early 1800's. Henrich Heine wrote the most famous one that was translated into English. Even Apollinaire wrote a French version.

What I found curious about this discussion in the novel was that in German the name is actually two words. Lurein, which means murmuring in the Rhine dialects and ley, which is Celtic and means rock. (The early Germans were Celts.) The English translation would be "murmuring rock." Isn't that what Lorelei in the book is - a whispering in the ear of wandering sailors? The characters, in this case, the sailors and Lorelei the rock on which they are lured to crash?

Wordle 851 5/6*

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laser, route, fiery, nerdy, mercy

As so often happens, I had two words in mind for my fourth guess and I simply chose wrong. 50/50 odds. Oh well.

"...history, in the end, is only another kind of story, and stories are different from the truth. The truth is messy and chaotic and all over the place. Often it just doesn't make sense. Stories make things make sense, but the way they do that is to leave out anything that doesn't fi. And often that is quite a lot."
~Skippy Dies, p. 556

I have about 100 pages to go in the novel and my opinion is still up and down but the scene where Howard takes the boys to the Memorial Garden is powerful, poignant, and a good place to stop reading for the morning.

One of the things I'm most excited about is later this fall, after laundering a work outfit, folding it up and putting it in the giveaway box rather than back in the closet because I'm certain I'll never need to wear it again. :-)

Happy Wednesday, Ellen. I am enjoying both of your comments on Skippy Dies, especially about Robert Graves. I had not heard of this author. I also liked the part when Howard took the boys on a field trip. I hope the last 100 pages works for you.

>96 EBT1002: A great feeling to have!

>93 benitastrnad: Interesting interpretation of the Lorelie element, Benita. I'd never have gotten there but I'm getting the idea that Paul Murray is well-read and a sophisticated thinker.

>97 msf59: Hello Mark and Happy Wednesday to you as well. I'm hoping to do some reading this evening although with a trip to Seattle this weekend for a joint memorial service (FIL and BIL, both of whom died in the spring), there is much prep to do. But I'm looking forward to the wrap-up of this story.

>98 quondame: I know, right?